Wonders about Moho debut

[Crystal Noir]

Hi there,

I'm looking at Moho Debut 12 but I wonder if this software is capable enough. I know that it's normal that there are a lot of differences between Debut and Pro (prices are not cheap for pro) but I think some features should be in Debut, not all of course but some that are important at the same as that Debut is for hobbyists or beginners, like particles for example or "group" layers.

However, I'm not a pro and I can't afford the pro version. I know that there are some limitations with the format and the duration of the clip but in general, I wonder if this software is capable enough to play with, without being "frustrated" because we can't do some things that are almost "mandatory" to be successfull with animes.

Please apologize for my english, I try to do my best to make you be able to understand me.

Thank you in advance for your advices

Cheers !

Crystal

[jezjones29]

Just as an option, you could look at getting Anime Studio Pro 11, it's only $59.99 on Amazon.com at the moment.
I know a lot of users on the FB groups are fed up with the bugs in Moho Pro 12 and are going back to 11 until fixed. (I personally haven't had a problem with 12 and use it daily).

[Crystal Noir]

Thank you, but I like the "new features" of moho 12 and the interface (got the trial version). But I didn't see all the things it has to offer that's why I ask this question and also because it's on sale til 16 of August.

[jezjones29]

ok, but debut like you say is limited. It's ok if you only want to do basic animations. There are no smart bones, actions, particles (read only), groups (use bone groups instead), 3D or physics. But you can easily create good looking animations without these.

Have you seen this page? http://my.smithmicro.com/anime-studio-p ... sions.html
also the pdf manual (page 501+).

[jezjones29]

Greenlaw also has a good reply here that may help: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=30174

[Crystal Noir]

Thank you, yes I already read the comparison between both, but a lot of feature that I didn't know, so it doesn't help that's why, I asked in this forum. I'm not using Moho for games but this topic is a great source of informations.

[hayasidist]

Hi there, I'm looking at Moho Debut 12 ...

did you ever buy an earlier version of AS(P/D) (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15189) ? I started with ASD6... the draw and bone tools are way better (IMO) now.

[Crystal Noir]

Hi,

Yes you are right but it's old and I didn't get in because too much functions for me and I got some healths problems. I didn't touch it since and now a lot of things have changed that's why I "start"from scratch.

I test the trial and it seems that a lot of things are better than old versions. I wonder how to make some effects like rains without particles for example, that is just an example. That I have tested there are some great features to make something it seems. Before, ASP was cheaper than today (for the pro version, with upgrade or not).

Please apologize for my english, I am very sorry, hope I didn't made too mistakes for your eyes !

[hayasidist]

Your English is good enough for me to understand! No apologies needed!

Yes - Pro is more expensive now. That's an SM decision that did attract some negative reactions here viewtopic.php?f=5&t=29650

To answer your question about working without particles for things such as rain -- IMO that depends in part on the style you want to achieve. But I think it's perfectly possible - for example: use scatter brush to paint a lot of droplets on a vector layer - duplicate that layer a few times and animate layer position so all the drops "fall" differently...

plenty of ways to tackle the challenge - if you have a specific need you'll (usually) find a lot of help here!

[Crystal Noir]

Thank you all. I'm going to think about it and decide what to do !

[Crystal Noir]

Just a note : It seems that the PDF comparison chart is wrong confuse :

On the second page of the document it says "scripting" for Moho Debut 12 is ok but it seems that there isn't any scripting capabilities.
On the document, it talks about "image masking" for Debut version but it seems that there is no masking option in it (or I didn't find it).

[hayasidist]

On the second page of the document it says "scripting" for Moho Debut 12 is ok but it seems that there isn't any scripting capabilities.

scripts are written in a programming language called LUA. You can create these using any text editor. You don't need a special run-time environment - Moho will run the scripts for you.

To use tool scripts in debut set a "custom content folder" and add the xxx.lua files to <your content path>\Moho Debut\scripts\tool folder. Restart Moho to see them.

(there are lots of scripts around -- by way of example - you could grab my drawing script here: http://lostmarble.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=29621 and try it)

On the document, it talks about "image masking" for Debut version but it seems that there is no masking option in it (or I didn't find it).

Image masking is there -- make sure you have an image layer selected and then there's a "magic wand" in tools/special - click that on an area of (solid) colour in the image and the area becomes transparent.

[Crystal Noir]

My bad ! Thank you for all informations, I will test that !

With script what sort of things can we do ? (I will try yours but I ask in general because I develop some things time to time )

[hayasidist]

With script what sort of things can we do ? (I will try yours but I ask in general because I develop some things time to time )

*** If you're not familiar with programming in languages such as c then scripting is going to be a challenge you might not want to face*** (but if you are then read on and enjoy!!)

if you want to take a look at: http://www.mohoscripting.com/ -- you'll see all the ways your script can interact with Moho.
And this is all about lua: https://www.lua.org/manual/5.2/manual.html


as for what your script can do -- well -- just about anything "relevant" to animation.

In debut you have tool scripts (the standard ones are all in the "release" directories for you to look at; plus all the user-created ones you'll find) and also Layer Scripts -- these are "embedded" in a layer so, for example, you can have points move up and down in a wave pattern with this:

Code: Select all

function LayerScript(moho)
	local vec = LM.Vector2:new_local()
	if moho.frame == 0 then
		return true
	end
	local mesh = moho:Mesh()
	if not mesh then
		return false
	end
	local i, Pt
	local ct = mesh:CountPoints()
	local step = 2 * math.pi / 60

	for i = 0, ct - 1 do
		Pt = mesh:Point(i)
		vec = Pt.fAnimPos:GetValue(0)
		vec.y = vec.y + (0.5 * math.sin(step * (moho.frame - 1 + i)))
		Pt.fPos.x = vec.x
		Pt.fPos.y = vec.y
	end
end

(this works on point-in-mesh order, not point-in-curve order, so you can get interesting effects by adding points in the middle of a line)

If you want to try it - save that code to a file (e.g. wave.lua); create a vector layer with a few points in it; then open up the layer settings and in the General tab check the "embedded script file" option and point Moho at the .lua

[Crystal Noir]

Thank you ! As I said I'm a dev time to time (java, C# etc...or some scripting like gml (GMS) or lua (for the pico-8 for example). Lua is not very difficult to play with. I will get into this when I will be more familiar with the product but it's an interesting part !

Finally, I bought Moho Debut 12