Hey all,
I’m an idiot. I don’t know what these programs do, but I know that my son needs some outlet for his animation creativity. What can you do with Toon Boom Studio? Do you need additional hardware/tablets? I’m clueless. I need help so that I can help my son. Should I look to another software package? Please help. Thanks in advance.
You say “animation creativity.” Animation is an advanced expression of drawing. It is coupling drawing skill and some technology to put it in motion. From this description he must be trying things like maybe drawing movement using flip book with tablets or something?
I could be wrong but I would not think Studio could be properly put to use earlier than high school level. I have seen classes for younger kids but they are receiving ongoing instruction in a classroom environment. I imagine your son will be learning on his own. Adults have a hard time with some of the concepts. Some kids take to technology quickly though. At it simplest it could be a matter of taking a doodle and making it move. However, there are other things to comprehend in order to make everything work out relative to one another.
IMO Studio is really a stripped down version of higher level software. It is not so much a beginner program. It is doing things with rougher tools like cutting with a hand saw instead of a table saw. Most kids taking wood shop prefer the table saw. If your son is seriously interested ($$) I would think about Animate instead. It offers more and has more to learn but it does everything with refined tools, is consequently easier and produces better results.
There are programs like Flip Boom, Animation-ish and others from different companies but I don’t know whether they allow you to use your own artwork. Toon Boom software from Studio on up can be used for the two basic types of animation, cutout puppet and frame-by-frame hand drawn animation. There will be a learning period before getting off the ground but there are a lot of resources online especially if you jump to Animate level. I was frustrated with Studio and jumped from Studio to Animate Pro. I am very happy I did.
All of this animation software really cannot be adequately used without a graphics tablet like a Wacom. I have Animate Pro 3 and am using hardware that does not meet the minimum requirements and it still runs fine.