OK, so I was looking through the advertisements that come with the Sunday paper, and I found out that there's a program called Anime Studio that lets users create their own animations. Since I couldn't get much info from an itty-bitty picture of it (other than that it was on sale and that the character on the front looked more like something out of South Park than an anime character), I decided to drive to the store and see if I could get more information. When I finally found the product, I looked the box over to see what I could learn from it. Here's what I found out:
- It's for 2-D animation
- It has video tutorials included with the program
- It contains a bunch of stock images
- Users can import photos or artwork to animate
- Animations can be exported and the files can be posted on sites like YouTube
- It's "easy to use" (but all companies say that about their products!)
- It's from the makers of the program Manga Studio
Now, I own Manga Studio, even though I've never taken the time to actually sit down and learn it. But I do know that Manga Studio is a very professional-looking program. However, Anime Studio doesn't look very professional at all. It looks more like something a kid would have fun with. Pictures such as large photographed heads on tiny cartoon bodies gave my that impression.
Also, I get the feeling that one can do more with the stock characters than with their own art. Although the box said that Anime Studio can be used with programs that can make artwork (such as Photoshop), I think that images that aren't stock might be harder to deal with.
Despite all these negative assumptions, I was considering buying the product. Heck, it was on sale! Then I thought things over. I've dealt with hand-drawn animation, before. I thought I would like it, but animating turned out to be a royal pain in the butt. There were many times that I wanted to give up on my short animated sequence. What if I become frustrated with Anime Studio, too?
Then, there's the point I made about Manga Studio: I've never taken the time to teach it to myself. Would Anime Studio be any different?
The final thing that didn't make me buy the product on the spot were the system requirements. Even though it works for Windows XP (yes, my PC is about five years old and it still works), I figured that the program, as well as the files I would create, would take up a lot of space. And I'm sure that it requires more RAM than my computer can provide.
So, I set the box back on the shelf. Maybe I'd buy it another day when I get a more powerful computer. Maybe I'll never buy it at all. Maybe I should ask other people for their opinions.
Actually, I WILL ask other people for their opinions. So if you, yes you who is reading this, happen to have used Anime Studio, could you please tell me what the program is like? How easy/hard is it to use? What are you capable of doing with your original artwork in Anime Studio? Are any of my assumptions about the program correct or did I totally misjudge it? Please tell me anything you can about Anime Studio. Thanks!
