Which animation software for my needs?

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Puffin
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Which animation software for my needs?

Post by Puffin »

Hello, I'm looking to do an animated political satire show. I know next to nothing about drawing, so I'm not looking to make the show all that fancy animation wise... more like a south park style show. The main focus will be the plot/characters/dialogue. I guess the easiest for me would be to have a selection of backgrounds and character features that I can add together at will and then animate.

I haven't purchased any animation software yet. Which would be ideal for my purpose, do you think? :?
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GCharb
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Post by GCharb »

From my experience, Anime Studio is the easiest one, Toon Boom Studio is also widely used, but is more complex and lacks some of the tools found in Anime Studio and is also more expensive!

There are free software as well, like Synfig.

But again, Anime studio is the one that will have you going the quickest!
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jahnocli
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Post by jahnocli »

Crazy Talk Animator will also do what you want, but the Pro version is expensive and you can do a LOT more with Anime Studio once you're used to it. All the software mentioned have trial versions -- the best way is to download them and try them out for yourself.
You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
wizaerd
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Post by wizaerd »

jahnocli wrote:Crazy Talk Animator will also do what you want, but the Pro version is expensive and you can do a LOT more with Anime Studio once you're used to it. All the software mentioned have trial versions -- the best way is to download them and try them out for yourself.
CrazyTalk Standard $49.95
CrazyTalk Pro - $179.95

Anime Studio Debut 8 - $49.99
Anime Studio Pro 8 - $199.99

You can do a lot more with Anime Studio, but it is far more difficult to learn, much more technical when it comes to creating and rigging characters, and is more involved in creating animations.

But CrazyTalk, which is not all that expensive (it's cheaper than ASP), was made for animation but is lacking in the drawing arena. You'll have to create your artwork outside of CTA and import it.
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Dust
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Post by Dust »

Hi Puffin
I am getting more convinced about the use of Anime Studio. Of course, being on a forum for Anime Studio, you will find a lot of enthousiasts for Anime Studio, but I have done quite a search myself and ended up with Anime Studio. One of the reasons I like this software is precisely because although I consider myself to be creative, I am not a super artist. With Anime Studio you don't necessarily need to be a top notch artist. At least I have found the program to do a lot of work for me.
Having said that, I must confess it took my quite some time to figure Anime Studio out. It is not difficult, but really, the only way to properly learn is to put in the needed time. There are however lots of good tutorials. It just is not true that you can buy the software and after an hour or so you have your first cartoon. It does not work that way.
Toon Boom is probably one of the most professional programs, but it also has a pretty steep learning curve and in my opinion it is suited better for 'real artists'.
Yes the forum members here mention Crazy Talk. I looked at it and it does seem to do the job quickly. However in the long run I think you will find yourself limited by Crazy Talk, at least that was the way I felt in the end. Indeed as was suggested it does not hurt to spend some time playing around with the different trial version options, but for me,. Anime Studio is simply best suited.
Puffin
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Post by Puffin »

Thank you for the suggestions! :D

It's now down to either Anime Studio or CrazyTalk. I think I will, as Jahnocli suggested, download the trial versions and play around with them. Although I agree that CrazyTalk does seem somewhat limited.

I'm not so scared of complexity, as I'm fairly good with computers. I just can't draw. :)
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Dust
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Post by Dust »

Hi Puffin.
Nothing against crazy Talk, as I have seen some people that made quite impressive cartoons with CT. What I especially meant by 'limited', is that after you get the hang of the program, usually people are getting bigger and better ideas and then you suddenly are faced with things you can't do. Very frustrating.
However it also depends on how serious you are in getting it all down pat, as it seems you can get good results fairly quick with CT. So if you just want to do a 'once in awhile' cartoon, Crazy talk could be a good option.
But having said that, I am a convinced Anime Studio convert. :D
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GCharb
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Post by GCharb »

I played with crazy talk, it is fun and easy, but i find it too limiting!

With time, as You get better, You will want more, and You will look for a more versatile animation software!

Anime Studio is not that hard, and you don't really need to know how to draw with it.

Here is a short tutorial on how to make a simple head turn, simple, but effective nonetheless.

http://gcharb2d.blogspot.com/2011/07/he ... ogues.html

Plenty more ways to achieve good results with ASP.
nbryant
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Post by nbryant »

I have to agree, anime studio is very easy and something that will be light for those who are just starting out. Toon Studio is another possibility for another option but it is more complex and sort of lagging in behind in terms of some functionality.

The only drawback is the fact that it is paid but that is probably going to make up for it through the lot of advantages it poses.
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