Animation program

[Drew Fleming]

I am just getting started in this video editing mad house.

Can some cool dude advise me which is the most basic program to cut my teeth on, without driving me directly to the funny farm.

CHEERS!

[fluggo99]

It depends... particularly as to your goals, entry level, $$$$, etc.

MediaStudio Pro is a good all-around editing package. It handles editing, basic titles/touch-up, and capture. It does NOT do audio editing, despite the inclusion of a so-called "Audio Editor" program in the package. This function is best left to an independent audio editor.

If it's animation you want, like the topic title says, MSP is okay, but probably not what you're after. You may prefer Flash for easy animation, or if you really want to go professional, Photoshop + an editor. Books are necessary to fully grasp Photoshop & Flash.

[Drew Fleming]

Thanks Fluggo99 I will look at Photoshop. Which editor should I use? (I did not understand this bit)

I agree without step by step books books I would be lost!!! (in fact I get lost a lot)

Do you know why Matrox does not like Adobe Premere, they plug Ulead. I tied it and was not happy with it at all. I have a Matrox G400-TV card, which I was told not to try editing without one. I have had some problems with Premere (mainly my fault not setting up the dialog boves correctly).But touch wood it is now not dropping frames, time will tell however.

I also tried 3D Max It was in my opinion fantastic but way over my head (which is not hard). Any other pointers in the animation business would be appreciated.

CHEERS!

[fluggo99]

Which editor with Photoshop? The cheapest you could find would be my pick, but if you've got a little dough to spare, MSP is my first choice (for ease-of-use and price), Premiere my second (for difficult-to-learn and incompatibility with Matrox cards, but it also works well with other Adobe products). One of these would be necessary to turn your still images into videos. Since it sounds like you've already got an editor, you ought to stick with it.

I've got no clue how you might go about doing actual animation... this may be a process you want to invent yourself. I can see this as a possible workflow (see note below pertaining to "scanning"):

(1) Sketch keyframes on paper, scan, and import into a video editor timeline to work out timing of the frames.

(2) Back to the drawing board, to rough out the rest of the animation, scan, import, test.

(3) Once you're done tweaking and/or adding details to the sketches, bring into Flash (vector w/ anim capabilities) or Photoshop (raster w/o anim capabilities) to trace & color sketches for that nifty finished look.

(4a) In the case of Flash, after putting backgrounds and other layers in place, export to an uncompressed AVI file. Flash doesn't do the compression right for some reason. Bring the AVI into Premiere to render it with compression, and voila!

(4b) In the case of Photoshop, leave the background transparent so you can make changes w/o having to open all your previous files again. Premiere readily accepts PSD files, so Premiere users can now just import to the timeline. MSP users will have to add an alpha channel, save to TGA, and then import into the timeline. Add backgrounds and voila!

Since scanning will be a major part of what you do, may I recommend you not use a flatbed scanner, which will likely take FOR-E-VER. Instead, rig your camera to face your animation board, then capture one frame at a time (read the software documentation on how to do it; it's really easy) as you flip the pages.

Considering what you're doing doesn't exactly fit into the lines of video editing, you might look for software made specifically for animation (for example, those listed in <a href="http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_Services/Arts_and_Crafts/Visual_Arts/Animation/Computer_Animation/Software/">this Yahoo category</a>). The above is a description of how I, with my limited software & equipment (and budget), would approach the problem, but there's far more animation-specific stuff out there that would make the job incredibly easier. (You realize, of course, that the big studios write their own software for the task!!!) I'll pose your question to one of the newsgroups I frequent; I'm curious how it would be done on a desktop.

Matrox & Adobe software don't get along in a few arenas; I don't know why. I don't have Premiere, but After Effects suffers from the same problem as Flash, in that it doesn't do compression right. I think there's several more issues with using Premiere, but the general advice from this forum has been to go with the cheaper, easier, and more Matrox-compatible MSP. Your mileage may vary. If you've already picked one, and you're not having trouble, don't switch now.

I must confess I'm not an animator, I've only read some on the subject. Dean Dodrill owns the <a href="http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=animators;index">Animator's Web Ring</a>, which would probably be of great interest to you. (Dodrill's site, <a href="http://www.noogy.com/">www.noogy.com</a> makes an incredible use of Flash)

[Drew Fleming]

Thanks for the time and trouble you have taken on my behalf. Let me digest your info and get back to you (if that's OK).

Will I be wasting my time and cause more frustration using Premere with my Matrox card. What are the problems? or what problems can I expect?

Being a Scot and also being careful not mean ( the latter it a rumour we put about to create an image), while assembling enough knowledge to put togrther a dedicated machine (see my other cries for help in the forum) I bought Premere plus the Classroom in a Book with the CD lessons. I am very impressed with the program but, will not take it further if there is going to be problems. Ulead seams to be, for what I have seen of it OK, but it is not what I have been working on. Should I start again with Ulead? I am a button pusher as well as being retired so dosh is a factor but i want to get it right.

I will check out these web sites you included.

Thanks once again

Drew Fleming.

[fluggo99]

Like I said, if you're not having problems, don't switch. Premiere isn't really that bad a program (it's usually the one that gets the "professional" label), and several have used it just fine with Matrox hardware. On the flip side, some have had a lot of trouble using MSP with their equipment. Your mileage may vary. You've already invested much money and time into it, so it certainly isn't worth it to drop Premiere for a program you've never used before.

[Drew Fleming]

Thanks Fluggo99.

I will work on and who knows one day I may be deemed passable at this editing and animation business.

CHEERS!