How To Create Animation

Software and Tools for Creating Animation:
Toon Boom Studio 4
Animation Software Review

Toon Boom Studio 4 is ideal for individuals looking for an all-in-one animation software solution. From drawing digitally, scanning hand-drawn animations or seamlessly importing existing artwork, Studio 4 enables you to lip-sync your animation, setup the action in a 3D space and publish your animation projects for TV, HDTV, the Web and iPod!Covering the entire animation workflow from sketching to final publishing, you will find Toon Boom Studio to be a great tool to create or learn animation. Once you master the aspects of Studio, you can "upgrade" to the "pro" version, Toon Boom Digital Pro - the only complete paperless animation software.

Toon Boom Studio offers intuitive and easy to use drawing tools. Take advantage of customizable grid, auto gap closing and a unique powerful Color Palette system. Use advanced features such as feathered edges or line styles to create a personalized look. With Toon Boom Studio, you can import and manage all kinds of assets, including digital pictures, swf movies or sound files. In addition to supporting all-well known standard formats, Toon Boom Studio includes advanced import and vectorizing capabilities to import and animate paper drawings or digital pictures.

Toon Boom also provides e-learning modules for use with Studio to help animation students get used to the concepts and environment of the software. Full of examples and tips, these modules take the mystery out of the animation process, and let you focus on creating your animated masterpiece.

Toon Boom Studio is available from the manufacturer, and is available for download, and demo versions of the products can be downloaded from their website.
Hash Inc Animation:Master
Animation Software Review

Hash Animation Master started life as an Amiga program (software that was around probably before most of you reading these words were even born), and if you don't know what an Amiga Computer is, Google it, and prepare to be impressed. Nowadays, however, this software supports Windows 2000, XP, Mac OS 9.2 or OS X 10.3.4 or greater.
Hash Animation Master contains many easy to use tools that, although seemingly simple are enormously powerful, and therein lies the elegance of the entire package. For a mere $200, you're getting an animation software package that should be costing thousands. Visit their website and go through the tutorials to see just how powerful this software suite is.

Even though it's a full 3D animation suite, Animation Master supports a "Toon Rendering" mode that allows for a very anime style look (or you can ramp up the level of detail to make it look like the latest PS3 games from Japan). Watch some of the Hash "Anime" films and prepare to be impressed.
Professional Cartoonist Kit
Animation Kit Review

For those of us too poor, or too young to play with the high-end anime-making software previously reviewed in this spot, we present Toysmith Professional Cartoonist Kit, a great package that allows you to create animation the old-fashioned way, with paper and pencil and making things that flip the images for you.
For ages 7 and up, simply sit down and start to create cartoon strips, flipbooks and zoetrope strips. Everything you need, including desktop, tracing underlays, templates, pencils, paper, an animation zoetrope and a 28 page drawing guide are stored in a handy portable briefcase.

Featuring Career Kid Pro Gene Hamm Draw, Damert's award winning Career Kids series give children a first hand insight into exciting professions because they truly learn from a pro! Damert has teamed up with recognized individuals in their profession, and worked closely with them to develop each aspect of the subject. They have helped pick the appropriate gear to include and have written the step-by-step book that comes with each kit. This unique approach creates an authentic connection to a actual person who is a recognized professional in their field.
eFrontier Anime Studio 5
Anime Software Review

From the software guys that brought you "Manga Studio", this program — Anime Studio — is a full-featured 2D "cartoon" animation package all in one box. Everything from simplistic "South Park" style animations to more realistic anime is within your grasp. All you need to do is draw.

Even if you can't draw, Anime Studio is packed with ready-to-use anime style characters so you can create your own animations right out of the box. Furthermore, tutorials and sample files show you how to maximize Anime Studio's powerful features giving you the jump start you'll need to begin your first project.The software's magic comes from treating the drawings as soft rubber mannequins with stiff wires inside that allow you to position the "key frames". These "bones" are not displayed in the final render, but they are visible during the animation production process, and by creating keyframe positions, the software will render the in-betweens for you by manipulating the "timeline", which is very much like an animation exposure sheet (or like the "score" from another popular animation product, Macromedia Director).

Anime Studio will output your work to AVI, MOV, and Flash formats for web-publishing (or making a very custom MySpace page!) The version shown here is limited to an animation 2 minutes in length, but, if you decide you're ready to make your own feature film they also sell a "pro" version with unlimited length.

Anime Studio takes the tedium out of animation production and allows you to create awesome looking results with only a few minutes of work. Everything from fan-parodies of existing anime to all-original epic creations are now possible — all you need is your imagination.Hollywood 2D Digital Animation:
The New Flash Production Revolution
Animation Book Review

Once upon a time, the only way to make your own animated movie was to spend a zillion dollars on paper, cels, paint, film, sound, editing, developing, etc. Now, you can do the whole thing on your computer, and do the whole thing in pretty much one application — Macromedia Flash.

This very comprehensive book gets you started in creating your own anime for broadcast or film production (as well as the web) — using the tools within Flash. Now you can achieve professional results at a fraction of the production costs. This is the future of animation production, so join the revolution now!