Cartoon animations ?

[Romanianuser]

Hi ! I just wanted to know what software did u use in creating the cartoon videos . I use flash < not good for cartoons . Some of u work in Adobe After effects . But in what program are the cartoons made ?

[Dan Buck]

I think that any single program is very limited. Different programs do different things better, so mix them. Right now, I'm using traditional techniques, Maya, After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, Apple iStopmotion, Premier Pro, and Garageband. No matter how efficiently you can perform a task in one program (or by hand) there's always a better way to do it.

Flash is an excellent program in its own right. So stick with it and start hunting for programs that complement your skill set. For a Flash user I recommend Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, and Premier Pro because they integrate well.

Sorry If I repeated anything from before. I skimmed through the posts.

[J.C. Rider II]

I agree with Dan I use what programs work best for the piece I am currently working on and bounce back and forth accordingly.

I ask has anyone used the time line feature in the new Photoshop? It looks great for animation and on the bug story I have in progress it will be what I use to do the beginning stages of that animation.

[Dan Buck]

I've been using the timeline feature in Photoshop to do digital ink and paint. I think it's really efficient actually. I scan my hand drawn animation and convert the image sequence into a MOV. Then I open it in PS. (I recommend making yourself a hotkey if you want to go frame by frame) If you want to animate totally within PS I wouldn't recommend it however. If you want to stay digital I would do my drawings in flash with a wacom then import it to PS because Flash has better onion skinning.

The great thing about ink and paint in PS is it allows you to make video layers so you can keep your digital lines and color separate from your original artwork.

It's also great for rotoscoping.

[J.C. Rider II]

You rock...

This is the info I've looked for on the internet with little success.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Abhinab]

Flash is grt for cartoon it gives u ultimate control as a tool of course. If you are good at animation or understand the medium then u are only few frames away to make your cartoon.

[Greg David]

We're developing a series for TV that is using Toon Boom Digital Pro at the moment. I used Flash and Photoshop to create the initial designs, but all the animation and effects will be done in Digital Pro.

The main difference with all these pieces of software is their capability to work on large scale projects. This show will total 136 minutes of animation, and hopefully soon we'll be upgrading to Toon Boom Harmony, which is the network version of Digital Pro. This will enable the studio as a whole to share files between each member of staff. Obviously as a production grows, so does the amount of work. Having gone through all the headwork of production budgets versus time management, for us this is the way to go.

Flash is being widely used, but my studio is more traditionally based. With Toon Boom you have the option of creating very basic cut-out animation to full-blown feature quality animation. The Simpsons and Family Guy are produced using Harmony, but the reason why a lot of studios use Flash is because it's the cheaper option, and unfortunately, this is the way the industry has been since TV cut budgets back in the 1950s.

Our aim as a studio is to create the same quality animation that was seen in 1930s Hollywood, using the technology of today.

The great thing about Flash is that it makes it easier for people to create animation. However, the downside is that it makes it easier for people to create animation. From a studio's standpoint, a lot of the time, when we get people sending their showreels to us, it proves that just because they can make something move, it doesn't make them an animator. A solid drawing ability is everything in animation - even a monkey can use a computer.