I was also expecting a move towards 3D, having seen that video, and so too am disappointed.
Apart from obj import, another option would be DAE (Digital Asset Exchange). For $250 you can buy Swift3D from http://www.erain.com/ . Swift3D can export a model as a DAE file. The code that Animate Pro would need to use to import the DAE file is freely available. It is part of the Papervision3D (and away3D) library of source code, written in ActionScript 3. It could easily be converted to ToonBoom’s code base. The code for overlaying the model with bitmaps is also part of that library.
A solution is there, waiting to be used.
John
I’m not sure who the user is who posted that video, but as it stands right now the 3D feature is only a working component within Harmony. If you are a studio who is interested in using the 3D feature on a production, then you can feel free to talk to your sales rep regarding the status of the 3D feature. For Animate Pro users this feature is not available.
~Lilly
The reason is that the workflow in which you need to integrate a 2D-3D pipeline is very complex. Every time a studio would like to do 2D-3D integration, we send in a consultant to analyse that studio’s needs and find the best possible outcome for that particular project. The process is a bit too complex to do on a 1-to-1 basis.
There are some things that I can say here though. There are three different types of workflow:
1) Exporting a 3D model that is imported into Harmony then exported through a 3D rendering engine
2) Exporting a 3D model that is imported into Harmony and then rotoscoped on top of
3) Exporting an image sequence that is imported into Harmony - this can be either a final image sequence, or a proxy render that is used to rotoscope on top of
Although 1 and 2 cannot be done in Animate Pro, 3 can be done and if you’re looking at integrating 2D-3D it really is the easiest way to go. You can do your model and animation inside your 3D package of choice, export an image sequence, and use this to rotoscope or to export again directly.
Also the type of pipeline that we would create for each studio depends on how much of the project is done in 3D, how much is done in 2D, what style they would like to achieve, and a variety of other concerns.
~Lilly
We will definitely investigate your suggestions, Donbartolo!
TheRaider - just for my personal knowledge, I always like to investigate and understand what users would like to see from other softwares, so do you mind telling us which software it is so I can take a look at it? Thanks!
~Lilly