The lines between Web animation and animation for film and
television seemingly narrow on a daily basis, and a new software
product named Toon Boom Studio is further blurring those
boundaries with its immense power and creative features.
While Toon Boom Studio is excellent for Web animations, it has
also been used in the creation of the Rugrats in Paris
movie, Sugar Ray's [the band] videos, Midol commercials and more.
To get the full kick out of Toon Boom Studio, it helps to have
artistic skills and to be somewhat familiar with
Flash. However,
if those skills are lacking, it can be used by importing graphics
and editing them. Still, the primary benefactors are likely to be
2D artists who wish to turn their work into animation.
Here are the steps to create an animation with sound, after it
has been planned. That planning, in fact, points to the one
feature lacking in Toon Boom Studio — the capability of
story boarding directly within the program.
Switch to Sceneplanning mode, which is available in the Mode
toolbar. Using the generous drawing tools, users can draw the
background scene directly into the software. Those drawing tools
allow users to choose the types of lines they want to use, as
well as the lines' smoothness. Users can also use a digital
tablet to create their scene, using the program's onion skinning
and light table features.
Users can see their scene from camera, top, and side views. The
program uses so-called "pegs" that allow users to apply a set of
changes — in position, scaling, rotation, or any
combination of those three — over time to an element layer.
Draw the animation without the use of paper or importing
images, if you prefer. Toon Boom Studio allows users to alter the
stroke of their digital pen by reacting to the amount of pressure
placed on the pen. The onion skin feature makes it much easier to
animate files by showing all drawings before and after the
current one. The light table feature allows users to see all
drawings below the current one. The program itself offers no
preset animations. Users can go cell by cell, making the subtle
changes that can keep an animation from appearing jerky. When a
cell is completed, click on the next cell, and the onion skin is
already there waiting for changes.
Add color to the animation. Should you decide to change a
color in one cell, that color is updated in all other cells to
eliminate needless repainting. The color tools are similar to
those used in Photoshop.
Add sound using the program's soundtrack and lip-sync tools,
the latter of which analyzes the recorded dialogue to determine
lip positions. The program then shows samples of what the lips
should look like to make those sounds so the user can see how the
lips should be drawn.
Export the scene as a Flash file. The program has been
optimized to create the smallest possible file sizes.
The bottom line is that Toon Boom Studio is a great tool for Web
designers, online advertising, music videos, cartooning, film and
television studios and game designers. It has a number of unique
features, yet its cost is quite reasonable.
What is it called again? Toon
Boom Studio 1.0 for PC or Mac
How big is the download? It takes 100 MB of hard
disk space
Is it worth it? For a person
with artistic talent, it's a tremendous program. For those
without artistic talent, I'd suggest using it on a trial basis
first.
While Toon Boom Studio is excellent for Web animations, it has
also been used in the creation of the Rugrats in Paris
movie, Sugar Ray's [the band] videos, Midol commercials and more.
