Moho Animation Forum

Hello
As an animation beginner, I am comparing different 2D animation programs, to see which one would suit what I want to do. Anime Studio Pro 11 seems to be very good. But there is one thing I have noticed which really surprises, and disapoints me. It seems that it is not possible to draw a straight line when using the freehand drawing tool. This is a normal feature in other programs , e.g. Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel Painter, Flash, Toon Boom Harmony Etc. Where possible, I draw freehand with a Wacom pen, because I don't like the mechanical look of Illustrator type vector designs, so the ability to draw a straight line simply by pressing the shift key is a fundamental requirement that I have got used to in other digital art programs. I am amazed that Smith micro don't consider such a drawing feature to be important.
So far, that is the only thing I don't like in Anime Studio Pro. To me it is a very important feature for drawing a design which combines freehand curves and straight lines. I hope that the next version of Anime Studio Pro will have this feature.

Regards.

This shouldn't be a dealbreaker. If you highlight any two points on a freehand line, and press Ctrl-P, you've got a straight line. It's just a question of doing things slightly differently.

or you may find the higher values of freehand "smoothing" will help.

But AS has a really powerful set of tools. Start with "add point" to create your shape - if you're used to freehand, it's initially harder to be efficient with it, but it really does become easier with time. That in combination with a (custom) brush (such as one of Chucky's ink brushes - say CK Ink Drips) maybe along with adding a curve profile to give some minor irregularity akin to a hand-drawn "straight" line and you have a "freehand looking" path but with far fewer path points (makes for more efficient program operation).

I thought about writing a tool like the one in PS pen tool where you only need to hold the CRTL key to go into straight line drawing, but after thinking more about it, it became obvious that it was only a matter of workflow!

Things are a bit different in Anime Studio, but when you get used to the tools, it becomes really efficient to do anything, really fast!

I encourage you to play a bit more with it, I am sure the toolset will grow on you, and there are many ways to brake the Flash look, like using the different brushes on the strokes!