Hi Everyone;
I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this question-if not , please move it to the right spot.
I'm trying to get some information on software for my daughter. She is 16 and wants to be an animator. She currently draws on appleworks and then crops the pictures and puts them in sequence in imovie , with or without music. My question is- what would be the next step she should take , as far as software/technology, is concerned in order to prepare her for an animation career.
She has talked about Flash , but I've also heard of Anime Studio, Maya, and ToonBoom. I'd like the program to be challenging for her but not overwhelming. She wants to post her work on websites.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanx.
Bill
Software Question
Software Question
Hi wjennis3,
You can also use TVPaint Animation which allows to animate in a more traditional way than Flash. ( Using vectors is not the only way to animate with a computer ... :p )
In this software, all pictures have to be scanned or hand drawn. There are also a lot of classical tools to help the animator : LightTable, Rotative Drawing Disk, SketchPanel, XSheet, ScanCleaner ...
I know it works on Mac but I don't know if it is ok for OSX 10.2.8.
that's just my 2 cents ;)
Hi wjennis3, and welcome to the AWN Forums. I'm always glad to see parents taking an active roll and encouraging their childrens dreams of becoming an animator. So Kudos to you.
Personally I would go with Flash. This program is perfect for your daughter to publish her animation on the web, as that is mainly what Flash was designed to do. It's a very versatile program. She can draw directly in it using a mouse or drawing tablet. It's a pretty simple program to learn. You can buy one of those quickstart books, and it will show her how to use most of the tools she'll be using. Once she learns Flash, which she can do over a week end really, she can just concentrate on her animation and not have to worry about the program.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
The software will depend on the kind of animation she's interested in pursuing. 2D animators should consider Flash or Toon Boom (or others, but those are great programs with a large user community). 3D animation programs are Maya, Lightwave, etc.
3D programs generally have a steeper learning curve. The nice thing about a 2D program like Flash is that, although there is a lot to learn, you can master some basic techniques quickly and build on them from there--delving into more advanced areas as you feel up to it. Flash and Toon Boom, I think (and others) also more closely follow the metaphor of traditional cel-based animation: i.e. elements in layers and a frame-based timeline.
As for posting on a website, almost any animation software will be able to export filetypes suitable for uploading. Again, Flash, Toon Boom, or other "vector-based" programs have the advantage of exporting .swf files, which usually have smaller filesizes. That's why they are so popular for web-based animation.
Ted Nunes - www.tedtoons.com
Thanks Animated Ape and Tedtoons;
She/we were leaning towards Flash so your info confirms our thoughts.
One more question-her apple runs OS 10.2.8 and I think Flash 8 needs ~ 10.4. Are older versions of Flash available and wothwhile to use such as Flash 5 ?
Thanks again for your quick answers.
Bill
Flash 5 would be fine for her and it's a little easier to use since it doesn't have all the extensions and later innovations.
You can sometimes find copies available on ebay.
Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.
Yes, Flash MX and Flash MX 2004 will also run on 10.2 (those are the two versions that followed 5).
I'm not a Mac guy, but if I remember right, the earlier apple versions of Flash were very buggy. You might want to get the most recent version of Flash that'll run on your Mac. You might be able to buy pretty cheap copies at student prices at educational sites like Journey Ed.
Flash wasn't always Mac compatible so make sure the one you buy is.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
Thanks to everyone for their answers.
I'm going to encourage my daughter to join awn and post some of her work here.
Thanks again.
Bill
Flash has always been available on the Mac (I was thinking it was Mac-only at the beginning, but that was Director). I've never had any problem since version 5 on (but I've heard others who have), but the playback is never as smooth as it is on the PC unless your files are streamlined well. Of course, if your final output is for broadcast, it doesn't really matter.
Actually the ealier versions were less buggy than the heavy new ones. Macromedia after 5 seemed less inclined to patch the Mac version. Even Flash 4 would do everthing your daughter needs, and it would be a good introduction for her. I gave my old copy away or I'd offer to send it to her.
I'd love to see some of her work. I just hope everyone here promises to behave in front of her.
Actually Grumbleboy the Mac processor is better at rendering than Windows, it's just sometimes Macromedia didn't spend as much time debugging their Mac version. And the Mac players had more bugs than the Windows players, until people complained. But overall you can't tell them apart on the net. Except for the fact that Mac Gamma doesn't completely match Windows, and Mac presentations sometimes come off very dark.
Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.
Flash might become more of a limiting element than a help. It depends on what you want to do. Many animations I've seen in Flash have either very stilted movement or very digital looking animation, as opposed to more fluid and organic animation the way it used to be when it was all done by hand on paper.
I've used Flash quite a bit over the years for a number of solutions and I still refuse to draw with it, even with a Wacom tablet.
The software really needs to be a tool and not the method.
Do a search in the "Show and Tell" Forum for Pascal and watch a few of his little shorts. They are rough and fluid and show what can be accomplished with Flash.
And yes it is a tool. Everything is a tool, but you need a tool to animate with.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
I agree with you on that point, it is difficult to draw in Flash ...
That's the reason why, I always recommend to use a good bitmap animation software in conjunction with vector based software like Flash / ToonBoom.
All tools have their advantage and disavantages :)
I get very annoyed at Flash. Almost impossible to draw with the mouse and brush tool...and it'd take precious time learning to use a graphics tablet (which, on first try, I found to be rather unwieldly). Lucky that people here can't hear the profanities I come out with when using the programme...
But, that doesn't mean it can't be done. I just find it too frustrating...
Get to know me more through my blog at http://kaidonni.animationblogspot.com/! :cool:
Is there a program anyone would recommend for drawing/animating with a tablet? I've been wanting to get a tablet and acclamate myself to it.
That is a never ending topic of discussion here. All the drawing programs will work with a tablet so that is not going to be a problem.