How to choose the right software for your animation?

How to choose the right software for animation

Choosing the right animation software for your animation project can be a very tricky process. This is because of the advancement in technology, even though the programmers and software developers in the animation industry have heard of different super advanced and easy software for animation. However, these software bear some counting differences that are either related to the performance of the software, ease of use, or even the robustness of the software and thus bring up some factors that one has to consider when choosing the best or rather the right software for their animation. Therefore, the following are some of the tips to follow to ensure you get the best software for your animation.

Firstly, before choosing the software to develop your video, you have to have some basic knowledge about the type of your project and what you require. Additionally, the type of software that one can choose depends on your skill and experience in animation, whether you are an expert in animation as well as the specific need and requirements of your animation.  As a result, if your animation desire lies in 2D, 3D, or motion picture, you have to choose software that best suits the application

Additionally, choosing good software for your animation also depends on the amount of money that you want to spend or rather your budget for the animation. There are various software’s that support special effects in animation and are user friendly though their cost is quite high. At the same time, there are other software that are user-friendly do not offer special effects, and do not require special skills to handle. These types of software offer standard work, however, not fully satisfy the client’s requirement.

Last but not least, the final stage for choosing the best software for your animation lies in the decision that you make as the owner of the above-described features. If your budget is targeting a good and high-quality animation at the end of the day, then you have to choose the best software for the same. On the other hand, if your budget is not as high and the requirements are not so complex, just choose the ordinary software but the question is what the output is.

In summary, in order that you choose the best software for your animation, there are three basic things that you need to know. The first one is what is important to you. The second one is the kind of budget that you have and the last one lies in the decision that you make. For more advice on the best software for your animation click the Contact Us button and we will reply to you.

The advantage of an animated movie over the live action movie

Advantage of an animated movie over live action movie

When comparing animated movies and live film movies, many parameters can be considered apart from personal preferences and tastes. Basically, an animated movie can be said to be better compared to a live-action film simply because animated movies require more talented and skilled personnel to handle than a regular standard live-action movie. Furthermore, a live-action movie does not require much attention as far as creation is concerned apart from proper lighting, coloring, and small digital enhancements by the use of the computer to improve the appearance and quality. Whereas, in animated movies, there is a direct exhibition of special skills and effort. In line with the above, the following are some of the advantages that animated movies have over live-action movies.

Firstly, animated movies do not require actors, props many stage objects, or some expensive locations in order that they may be produced. This means that there are no sets to build or locations to find and hence no temperamental actors to overprotect. Compared to live-action films, this saves you time, energy, and money.

Additionally, animated video movies require fewer resources and have a short production time to create compared to live-action videos. In a more elaborative manner, the point means that animated videos have the advantage over live-action videos in that for live-action videos, there needs to be some camera, props, shooting, traveling, and time for editing is also required whereas, for an animated video, time for scripting and voice-over are the only times required hence less time to produce an animated video than a live-action video.

Additionally, animation videos enjoy the merit that it is possible to quickly and effectively explain a concept in a short while. For instance, a whiteboard animation in such a case can simply use a few steps to take one through an intricate topic or even link a series of diverse yet related scenarios in a concise way just in a short time.

From the above-stated points, it is clear that the animated video is quite advantageous compared to the live-action video since the animated video has simple development methods and also takes a short time to create and supply. Additionally, the animated video takes little resources and production costs.

Importance of Rotoscoping in Animation Industry

Importance of Rotoscoping in Animation Industry

Rotoscoping is one of the most important processes in the animation industry that cannot be ignored at all nor underrated at all. In getting to know it well, it is very vital and poignant to have a gist of how the animations are made from a tiny process to the complete project as per the process, each action frame is captured carefully to make a live stream; it helps in pulling out or adding a frame to an already live stream so as to make any significant or minimal changes.

In the film industry today, rotoscoping is highly used to make movies but in a much-updated way, not using the traditional process. Nowadays the software does that process through projecting how the element is set up. In the former, actions were redrawn from the projections on the frosted glass, and it was more hectic.

The sweetness of rotoscoping gives the artists the freedom to add other elements that they forgot on a frame over a live frame. Many times this becomes handy when making changes to a script or a decoration. Therefore, to change the appearance of a scene or a character will be easy with rotoscoping.  This can be achieved today through the various techniques of rotoscoping such as articulated rotoscoping, garbage matte, matte generation/creation, rotosplining, 2D motion tracking, or paint touch-up; a mask is made around the object that should be removed or added onto the live frame. Simply cutting an object from a frame and placing it on another frame.

To extensively perform this task various software are used, which brings about the aspects of precision and Efficiency. In that sense, other software makes the work of rotoscoping easy and fast while others take time; the best ones offer features like image stabilization, 3D compositing, flash output, and expressions.

But to achieve the best results in rotoscoping apply the following

  • Use a green screen to remove an object
  • Reduce the motion blur so that the object can be cleanly removed
  • Pick up the frame that is properly lit and the elements are visually separate
  • Avoid creating too many points to make sure the outline is proper

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ToonBoom vs TV Paint Animation: Prayan Animation

ToonBoom vs TV Paint Animation

I think it comes down to preference in most cases. I am sure each program has its special features and such, but when doing traditional hand-drawn animation, all the specials are not really needed. When I was in college (computer animation) we had to take several traditional animation classes as well, and the college I attended had ToonBoom. It was a great program and worked very well for what we needed it to do. I personally have not tried Harmony or TV paint, but like I said ToonBoom worked beautifully.

Harmony Essentials does NOT offer any bitmap painting tools – only vector tools. Harmony Advanced and Premium have bitmap painting tools, however, and quite painterly drawing is possible.

Harmony is not only a digital puppet animation app – it does far more than that. You can animate traditional frame by frame and combine these techniques with digital puppets.

TV Paint does have more natural feeling media tools, though. It’s a bit like comparing Photoshop to Painter. It depends on how far you want or need to go with more a simulated natural media approach of drawing and painting. TV Paint focuses solely on bitmap-based (mostly frame-by-frame) animation while you can definitely do traditional hand-painted work in ToonBoom. It has a good combination of vector and bitmap layers and brushes. For example, in ToonBoom you can have a brush with a bitmap texture and color it in with a vector layer.

Krita, for example, also supports frame-by-frame animation and has much more powerful bitmap drawing and painting tools compared to Harmony. So do ClipStudio EX, and the latest version of OpenToonz integrates the MyPaint bitmap brush engine, which is arguably more advanced than Harmony features.

It is also possible to combine the strengths of two or more animation applications. If you need more painterly animated background drawings, you might decide to do those in TV Paint or Krita, and then export the animation as an image sequence for import into Toonboom Harmony, and use the vector tools in Harmony to do other parts of the animation.

Anyway, it is best to not focus too much on the software, and rather define what you actually need for the execution of your animation. My animation toolkit consists of a number of apps to do what I want – not just one. Stop worrying about the software.

Old is Gold: Recreating old Animation Characters in Modern Era

Recreating old Animation Characters in Modern Era

Since time immemorial, animation has won its reason for existence in many different sectors for various applications despite the technical challenges in the means of generating these animations that acted as major drawbacks in the olden days. However, this did not prevent the animators from achieving their goals in the creation of desired animations.

In the present-day animation world, the techniques and methods of generating these animations have greatly improved due to technological advancement and therefore it has led to the easy and quick development of technical animation characters compared to the olden times. At the same time, despite the advancement in technology for developing these animation characters, the animation producers are, however, reproducing the old characters in this new era and hence are openly justifying the love they had for this type of animation; old is gold. This happens as a result of several hidden reasons which are explained in this characteristic article.

To begin with, in the olden days, personal artists were required to draw animation art in large numbers, and hence many artists were required to do the same, however, the equal task can be done by only a few artists with the aid of computers and all will be achieved in fact in a more effective and efficient way with quality animations on the screen. Furthermore, it also makes it easier to manage a few workers than a number working on the same project.

Additionally, old animation characters are simple and efficient in storytelling. What does this simply mean? In the olden days, the main excuse for animation production was that in order that a certain story is properly compelled to the viewer’s understanding it could take longer than expected because it takes quite a long time to produce the same. However, in the present-day animation industry, it is easier and more efficient to do the same. This shows that old animation is eye-catching.

In summary, the old animation is something that cannot be done away with as quickly as one might think. This type of animation as much as it involved much work and took a lot of time to develop, is easily done and also to the audience, it is enjoyable and attractive compared to the types of animation developed in this era of modernity. As a result, it should be clearly understood that modern-day animation is equally talking down memory lane.

How does Markerless Motion Capture Work?

How does Markerless Motion Capture Work

The possibility to work markerless is advantageous in various ways: Working Markerless is one of the achievements that have improved the analyzing of objects and one can easily deconstruct and put together a complex figure or get the desired results of a process.

  • – No time loss due to attaching markers
  • – Less failure potential due to misplacement of markers
  • – No artifacts because of markers moving on skin or clothes
  • – No disturbance of movement caused by markers
  • – Hybrid tracking possibility
  • – Automatic processing

One of the famous tools used in the markerless process is a depth-sensitive camera; most depth-sensitive cameras are just more like digital cameras only that they contain information about the distance of an object. Hence, a scene can be digitally free and constructed into a 3D form with much ease. These cameras are used to analyze the mechanical aspect of running with much precision.

In contrast to traditional motion capture systems, depth cameras do not rely on physical body markers. Instead, they use a pattern of near-infrared light to perceive depth. In a way, one can say that a depth camera generates its own body markers made of light. Therefore, no special suits or body stickers need to be worn which makes running analysis very fast and easy. You just need to step on the treadmill and run and that’s it.

The cameras that are used in this markerless capture process come with the built-in tracking capability which works better for the general areas where precision and speed are not that crucial. For vigorous action such as running, that is not adequate, hence, most analysis software such as SIMI shape 3D and MotionMetrix come with their algorithms for proper 3D reconstruction. This helps in getting the exact movements of each segment for clear analysis.

The following are common set-ups for the markerless motion capture

  • – Kinetic cameras, wall mounted or on floor stands or placed around the actor (circular form around the room)
  • – A Windows computer with markerless motion capture software.
  • – A stable placing of background cameras.
  • – Room space: 3 x 4 square meters or more

When the set-up is complete, the silhouettes from the actor are extracted and used to reconstruct an object for analysis. The results are 3D joint positions and joint angles (similar to marker-based systems but without using markers)

All categories rely on rigorous kinematic and kinetic calculations to extract the angles, forces, timing parameters, and everything else that matters for a complete running mechanics assessment. Before, you needed to visit a fully equipped biomechanics lab and spend a day to get the same parameters.

Prayan Animation Studio

How to choose children’s book illustration portfolio?

How to choose children’s book illustration portfolio

Do you have a story that you can’t wait to put down on paper for children and don’t know how? Well, you are not alone. Many of the authors out there would wish to write children’s books but are too afraid given that they aren’t sure if they have what it takes to start writing.

The best way to write a book that will have children glued to it from the first to the last page is by having a basic illustration that brings out their imagination. And putting up a children’s book illustration portfolio is never a walk in the park. This article looks at how one can be able to carry out this task without feeling the immense pressure of writing children’s book illustrations.

Before you start writing a children’s book, there are some things you first need to understand. Below are some of them:

Purpose of the book

What do you want to achieve from the book? Is it to educate the children or just entertain them with pictures and illustrations? This is an essential consideration before you start writing a children’s book.

What is your target age group?

What is the age of the children you are targeting? We all know that children get interested in various books depending on how old they are. For this reason, you need to be sure of the age of the children that you are targeting.

Publication platform

After writing the book, how will it reach the children? There are various platforms that you can engage to reach as many children as possible. Research the best platform before you start writing.

There many other factors that you have to consider, among them the characters to use, the color of the characters, and other illustrations in the book among many other things.

And how do you choose the right company for your children’s book portfolio?

Choosing the right Illustration company to publish your children’s book is equally important. There are many things you have to look at before assigning the task to any particular company. Below are some of the things you have to pay close attention to:

Responsiveness of the publisher’s website

You want the book to reach as many children as possible, and the loading time of the website is a great determinant. Ensure that the website does not take more than ten seconds to load, noting that website visitors don’t have all the patience on a single website.

The color of the items on the website

The display on the company’s profile plays a very significant role when it comes to attracting the attention of readers. Note that it will mostly be parents looking to purchase children’s books for their kids. And therefore the color of the items on the website will play a vital role in catching their attention.

Customer service of the company

The company should provide all the details on how to contact them in the event you have any issue that needs clarification. At the same time, how fast the customer desk of the company responds to your inquiries is vital when deciding which company to use.

Portfolio

What other projects has the company done before? Or are you going to be the fast client on their portfolio? It is always recommended to avoid those companies with no prior experience when it comes to creating and publishing children’s books.

Generally, there is a lot of information that one can get from the company profile before settling on it to create a portfolio for you. Reviews by previous clients form the basis of what to consider when choosing a good company.

How Animation can make Learning Interesting?

How animation can make learning interesting

Animations have made learning more exciting and full of enjoyment. Getting knowledge these days is not glued to reading books and writing with pens as it used to be in the recent past. It has taken a completely different turn. There are no longer boring long class lessons as cartoons are exciting and informative.

Below are the advantages of using animation in learning:

It has improved communication

The use of caricature has become an excellent way to motivate students to communicate stories. Not every student can be able to communicate using a pen and a book. It encourages creativity among those students who cannot express themselves well through writing. Many learners can concentrate more on animated videos than reading books. Therefore, animation has brought a lot of creativity and improved communication skills to many learners who could otherwise not make it.

It brings interaction

Imagery is a brilliant tool to bring students together across the border. Learners share funny videos through websites with their peers and friends in the classroom or outside the school, and this brings interaction among them. With the fact that animation removes language barriers, students across the world understand each other better, and this brings social ties. Learning, therefore, becomes more interesting as learners from all over the world learn from each other.

It improves presentation skills

Something interesting about picture representation is that it helps someone develop excellent presentation skills. From the examples they see in animation videos, they get encouraged to work harder and harder to stand in front of others and present fantastic work, create slides, and even explain concepts with a lot of originality and excellent skills. This helps learners in their future careers.

Self-expression

Animations greatly help those learners who don’t have artistic skills. Drawing is delightful, but not everybody can draw. The good thing with animations is that readily drawn characters are put in ready-made environments in which learners can learn while still having the ability to art for those who have great artistic skills. Therefore, the learners who could not have expressed themselves using drawings can benefit from animations, and this makes it very interesting for learners.

Enhanced e-learning experience

The most important thing here is fun. Animations in learning are more engaging and motivating too. Online learners track their own time, and most of the time they need encouragement from educators. The problem is that these educators don’t find time for all the students. What they do is use animated videos to encourage the students while marinating academic excellence.

Accessibility for the users

Online learners find e-learning very interactive and more effective. The rate of learning can be controlled in eLearning, and also learners can change the animated graphics to view the effects on them. This enables learners to get information on their mobile phones.

Demonstrating the subject visually

E-learning allows educators to demonstrate subjects visually. If something like a procedure is being demonstrated, educators will just demonstrate the progress in the whole process. The learners also have an opportunity to rewind the process halfway or pause it even when required. This makes the learning process very effective.

Explains large content within a short time

ELearning economizes the time needed to teach learners. E-learning enables learners to be taught large content within a short time. This, therefore, saves time for the students and save financial resources for the learners.

Powerful learning mechanism

E-learning makes it easy for learners to understand complex subjects easily as the learning process is multi-sensory. It involves images, visuals, narratives, and much more. This powerful learning mechanism helps the learners retain what they were taught for a long.

Why interactive learning Apps and Games are becoming a trend in current society?

Why interactive learning Apps and games are becoming a trend in current society

The technological revolution has changed how things are done, and this is not just in the manufacturing sector, but in education as well. While many people have always associated the advancement in technology with everything bad in education, the truth is entirely different. Critical scrutiny of the impact of interactive learning apps and games in education has revealed amazing development both in the quality of education and teaching.

Engaged and interactive society

Interactive learning apps and games are an essential component of a child’s development. Unlike the traditional textbooks and whiteboards, the apps and games engage the child’s mind, making him more active when learning. Note that there are apps for all levels of learning, and also for the various skill levels. This is made possible through various techniques such as video tutorials, Qs and As, and many others.

Learning can happen outside of class

With the coming of learning apps as well as games, students now know the benefits of continuing with their studies even after school hours. Millions of downloads are witnessed every year, suggesting how important these apps can be when it comes to helping students retain essential notes and other learning materials.

Individually focused learning

Each pupil has his/her way of learning, and their retention capacity can best define this. Not all students retain content in the same where hence the disparity in pupils’ performance even though the teacher can be the most effective. The inability of the teacher to focus solely on the needs of one pupil can be hampered by the need for other students to get the teacher’s attention as well. For this reason, the apps and games play a critical role in helping children get individually focused learning.

Truth be told, technological advancements have really improved how learning is done, moving it out of class to a more individual level, where children can learn even when doing other house chores. It is easy to create interactive apps and games. Just contact: Prayan Infotech