Open Source software options, needs some experimentation however...

I just thought I'd share the fruits of my research here with everybody under this group:
First, what re-inspired me to pursue the idea of animation once again was stumbling across an open-source program called "Pencil" that was designed to provide folks like us with a tool to do pencil test animations, and even has a basic vector graphics option. It looks like Mac and Linux users are able to export animations in Quicktime or other video formats, but MS Windows users like myself have to be content with exporting them as a string of .png files and finding some other program to put the pictures together.

As far as stop motion animation goes (and maybe a way of stringing .png files together and turning them into movies...) is Anasazi by animateclay.com. I'm going to see if I can take my Pencil animation and use Anasazi to get the .png files together... I'll let you know what I find out.

For RASTR graphics and photo manipulation, I've found the GNU Image Manipulation Program, or GIMP, quite handy. I'm probably not going to ever invest in Photoshop until I go to school or get serious! It can be found at www.gimp.org and is on version 2.6.1 as its most stable and can be downloaded for just about any platform (Windows, Mac, UNIX, Linux).

3-D CGI artist should try Blender. Its at blender.org and can be downloaded for Linux, Mac, or Windows. Not one I know well at all, but my brothers are pretty big into it, my younger brother who did 3D modeling at Mississippi Engineering Research Center loves it... So its got great potential and shouldn't be thrown under the bus because its open source.

So, if anybody is like me and spent all they're money on a computer and maybe a graphics tablet, there is your software answers for $0.00!

Tags: anasazi, blender, gimp, open, pencil, source

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Permalink Reply by SudsySutherland on October 15, 2008 at 1:34am: Anasazi will not work without a camera to feed it! So, if you have a camera, stand, and want to do things the old fashioned way... Its probably your program!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Karen Miller on November 6, 2008 at 12:54pm: Hi Sudsy, I'm new to this site and wanted to add to your post. There is a new site that you might want to check out... http://www.doink.com DoInk provides free drawing and animation tools through a browser so it works on either a pc or a mac. Full disclosure...I work for the company so I can vouch for its tools. It is a great place to learn animation and has a very supportive community that shares drawing and animation tips with each other. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at Karen@doink.com; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by SudsySutherland on November 7, 2008 at 1:36pm: looks great! I'll definitely check it out!

btw, Imagine FX issue 36 featured Art Rage 2, the GIMP, and Paint.NET in an article and on the DVD! So if you can find it snag it! Not to mention its a pretty good magazine no matter the media you like the most to produce works of art in...; ▶ Reply to This