I wonder if the TB team is planning to release v2.5 for PC? It seems now that the Mac users are getting a better deal with more functionalities of their TBS. I especially like the new export function from v2.5 (Image Sequences, DV, & AVI). Anybody knows if they’re going to have that for PC version as well?
Export
* QuickTime with alpha, sound
* Color palette export in Flash files
* DV Stream
* AVI
* Image Sequences
A new version of Toon Boom Studio for Windows is in the developpement plans but we don’t have a date of timeframe.
Regards,
Can I say this is completely lame? >:(
I’ve been evaluating the demo of v2 with the idea a 2.5 was coming, but now I see it’s only just in “development plans”.
To me that means it’s little more than a vague possibility.
Should I expect there will even be a v3, if PC will skip 2.5 release, or is there an equal possibility that PC development is ended?
I don’t want to purchase v2 if that’s it for the forseeable future.
I was going to pose the same question about v2.5 for PC, and fully expected the vague noncommital response that was offered.
TBS is a great program which I use frequently. But support for the product is virtually nonexistent. They’ve known of numerous bugs ever since version 1, and refuse to make even the most minor fix to release as a patch. As for program development, it is quite ad hoc.
I too look forward to version 2.5 with its essential added features. But with answers like these, and as other rival programs rapidly catch up with (and, with certain features, overtake) Toon Boom Studio*, I’m afraid it will be left in the dust.
I assume that Toon Boom’s programming department is understaffed and overworked, to develop TBS and Opus for numerous platforms, so it’s hard to blame them.
What they really need is a PR person to give the company a more caring face and to give real answers to real questions.
(*check out The Tab from Digital Video. Still not as advanced as TBS, but a much nicer interface, great line textures, and alpha channel export)
Hello,
My name is Karina and I am the Marketing Director at Toon Boom.
Our answer is not noncommital and vague, but honest.
We are actively working on developing and improving all our products, including Toon Boom Studio. The R&D and QA teams are dedicated to delivering new releases in the best time possible. You may have noticed that on our Jobs page, we are looking for new developers who will help speed up the process. The sooner we find the right candidates, the sooner releases will be available.
Things are so busy that nothing is left in the dust!! No need to look elsewhere as we are confident you will be very satisfied customers when releases come out.
Regards,
Karina
Just a ball park guess would be great…
I’m assuming that it will accept work done in previous versions of TB?
Maybe it will have some features that 2.5 for Mac doesn’t have since it has more time behind it?
And this is mostly in good fun: Karina, thanks for checking in with us, but I’d think that as a Toon Boom employee, you’d have to pull to boost your ID beyond “newbie”??
The more I use Toon Boom, the more I like it. I think some of us are just anxious to get the goods on the new version…
Karina,
I personally would be very satisfied with a few simple bug fixes in the meantime.
Since you are the Marketing Director, let me give you a suggestion: give the customers a little something. Get the programmers to release an interim patch to the PC version of TBS v2. There are numerous minor bugs that they have been aware of for TWO YEARS. All of these are well-documented elsewhere throughout these forums. I’m talking about BUG FIXES, not new features. For example, the smoothing setting for pens (which always annoyingly resets to 2!),
Your company would gain a lot of credibility from loyal users like myself if you’d just do a quickie bug fix release (for free, of course), which would be a much better demonstration of your company’s sincerity than the vague (honest, but vague) replies that normally appear in these forums.
PR and marketing is about promoting loyalty by keeping the customers satisfied, not keeping them guessing!
Thanks for reading this.
Hey all. I am looking into 2D software with an emphasis on easy/fast lip sync. Having been in the computer industry for quite some time, red flags go up when I see software that has not been updated for (near as I can figure) two years now.
On top of that, they are just now looking to hire programmers so they can begin a PC update. Looks like the software is at the stage where it needs a complete overhaul.
This would indicate a lengthy process, most likely a year +.
So, two questions before I buy:
1. Are there planned updates this year for the PC version (Toonboom must have functionality updates/bug fixes identified and ordered in importance/time to complete - what’s the tentative schedule?)
2. Since 2.5 is out (just for Mac users) Will the upgrade to 2.5 for PC be free for those who have purchased 2.0 now?
For those users of Toonboom studio, is it still the best available solution today? You’re input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
-GReg
Greg,
For lip synch, TBS is still the only program which enables animation and lip synch, for under US$9000. There are specialized (and costly) lip synch programs which work slightly better than TBS’s lip synch, but believe me, there is nothing that will do a perfect job all-automatically. TBS lip synch works best with a midwestern USA accent, but will still need frame-by-frame tweaking in production. The same can be said for even some expensive high-end animation programs. So, to answer your question, TBS is really the only all-in-one solution, aside from the multi-thousand dollar programs like USAnimation and Animo.
If you read above, you’ll see my comments about their product updates and support, which, no matter how they protest, is ad hoc: first they release a new version, then as far as I can tell, the whole company goes on holiday for a year or two.
The PC version 2 is a good program, with numerous minor bugs but no major ones. I use it a lot, even for non-animation drawing: I find it better (and more enjoyable) than Illustrator or Flash for drawing with vector lines.
It doesn’t need a complete overhaul, as you say, just a few updated features and many bug fixes. But don’t figure on a new version soon. And don’t EVER figure on a patch release which fixes even a single one of the bugs they’ve known about for over 2 years. That is beyond the will of this company.
Thanks for the insight Fong, it was extremely helpful, and I have gone ahead and purchased the PC version of TBS.
From what I have seen, it is still the best solution for the price out there and I am excited to begin using the program.
My observation that it would need a complete overhaul is directed more to the backend coding vs. functionality. Since the Mac and PC versions are out of sync, it looks like it is time to develop a new code base that will allow them to easily port from platform to another.
Cheers!
-Greg