Suggest software for backgrounds and character creation-animation

I have toonboom studio and find it very easy to work with. Some people like to import 3d objects in Manga Studio and ink them ...

Update:
Currently i'm learning blender (the basics) and i must say it's a powerful 3d engine capable of many stuff even for 2d animation (?!) when you import the necessary png's.
I'm also playing with Synfig which is a serious 2d animation free platform and inkscape the best free software for vector graphics i think.
I also watched alot of videos concerning flash pro and i think it's the best software for my needs because it combines everything (character design, 2d animation, sounds) in a very smooth way. But.... the cost is a bit high. We'll see......

If you are looking at flash I would check ToonBoom Studio

hi ocimpean. i took a look at toonboom studio. it's quite impressive and is much cheaper than flash. but what's bugging me is the features of studio compared to the other versions like harmony, animation etc. what exactly are the limitations of studio compared to those versions.

1) Harmony is the flagship, it has 3d import, spline deformers for animation etc., super expensive @3500 US$ was recently on sale 40% off.
2) Animate pro (3d camera) and Animate is targeting Television Animation market. 1200 and 600 US$ approx..
3) TB Studio, is a nice program, that can do a lot, for much less right now on sale for $199. I found it very easy to use, this is an example of a test animation done in less than an hour, including rendering, immediately after I downloaded the trial version: http://www.micestudio.com/animation.html
After seeing how easy it is to work with, I bought it

I suggest read the comparison on their site:
https://www.toonboom.com/animation-software/compare-animatio...

and download the trial version of TBS and Animate and see if you like them: https://store.toonboom.com/downloads/try


A Wacom tablet will help. Good luck!

haha very nice video there. it reminds me of the sincity movie...
i read the features and the comparison between tb studio vs animate, saw a bunch of videos and tried out tb studio. it has very nice drawing tools and seems a to have a lean UI. also the addition of bone tools in studio 8 is very possitive (you can avoid cut-out etc). i'm thinking very seriously about it. either that or anime studio.
what's your opinion on Anime Studio?

I own the debut version of Anime Studio and the predecessor named Moho. I remember I bought Moho when it was released originally for BEOS at Siggraph, at the booth.
Is a good software, the bones are easy to work with. But I use TBS more, as a personal preference.

Other 2D animation software I like is CTP. http://www.cratersoftware.com/

More info about 2d animation: http://www.awn.com/animationworld

I use Corel Painter and Photoshop to create all my art, but Ive been seriously thinking about making things in Daz first, like I imagine i could make a lot of character walkcycles alot easier and faster if I first rendered them in DAZ, then use those frames as reference for my drawings/paintings

From what i gather there are multiple communities online where free DAZ assets can be used commercially free, which is great for us poor artists

I checked out google sketch and it is neat, but not really the look Im going for

good luck with your quest, let us know how it goes

That's a pretty nice idea fritoz.
Like this dude in the follwoing link:
http://www.gamefromscratch.com/post/2012/02/13/Creating-a-sp...
I'll definetly check it out.
In the meantime i'm working on toon boom studio for animation and cut scene creation. It's going quite well. But maybe your idea is quicker and more flexible. I'll let you know.
Let's be in touch.

check out "keymate" and "graphmate" for DAZ- they really help with simplifying animation in DAZ-

check it out-

youtube.com/watch?v=ryUgvapGUG0

only problem, they cost $20 each...


EDIT!

I also just found this program tonight- its called "Mischief"

madewithmischief.com

it is all vector based, but you draw just like in photoshop, and it can dang near scale infinitely

and its only like $65 for the whole program, i really am excited to try the demo, wish i had a cool surface enabled device so i could use touch screen drawing for this

Hi fritoz. Thanks for the update.

I tried to follow the instructions in the link: http://www.gamefromscratch.com/post/2012/02/13/Creating-a-sp...
and i could'nt manage to complete it. The timeline feature in DAZ is very difficult and cumbersome.

So I checked the video and yeah these tools make animation in DAZ much easier. The cost is not too much i think. I might purchase them but right now i'm struggling to find some time and write the storyline of my project. Let me know if you use these tools and how's it going.

Mischief seems very nice but i think that the job can be done also with inkscape which is free. I'll try the demo and get back. In the meantime i suggest you buy a wacom tablet (the cheapest it doesn't matter). It's very handy. It might take you some time to get used to it but after that you'll be able to draw in the computer by hand saving tons of time.