- Streamlines multiple animation processes into basic workflows.
- Easy, familiar timeline.
- Combines multiple animation processes into a single package.
- Slightly steep learning curve.
- Workspace is a bit cluttered.
- PLE edition is limited for non-commercial use with various restrictions.
- Toon Boom Digital Pro allows animators to go completely paperless.
- Allows you to create content from scratch, animate, and composite.
- Can create new objects or import objects.
- Objects can be saved in a library.
- Incorporates keyframes and inverse kinematics.
- Workable with a large variety of animation styles.
- Allows special effects without needing a separate software package.
- Multiplane camera creates a virtual 3D space to create depth and perspective in 2D animation.
- Glue effects for automatic joints and seams.
The resemblance ended there.
The layout blinded me at first, with work areas and options everywhere and hardly any labels to tell me where to start first. The blank canvas was obvious enough, though, and it didn't take long for me to figure out what went where - and the recognition of the familiar keyframed timeline is always a relief, although there's also X-sheet functionality for planning and timing, allowing for more options to suit your particular method of animation.
I never thought I'd say this, but as far as digital 2D animation is concerned, I think I could quickly come to prefer Toon Boom Digital Pro over Flash. Flash is great for applications with animation involved, but Toon Boom Digital Pro is designed wholly for animators producing visual content, rather than combining functionality for animators and developers. Toon Boom Digital Pro translates the workflow of traditional animation into an easy-to-follow process that just about any veteran animator can adapt to easily, while new animators can learn quickly from the expansive text and video library of tutorials.
Even better, Toon Boom Digital Pro combines classic animation with special effects, in an enormous upgrade from the animation functionality of Toon Boom Studio. I don't even have enough space to cover the impressive features involved in Toom Boom Digital Pro, but the introduction of a 3D workspace that adds a further level of depth to 2D animation is particularly impressive, and I'm looking forward to seeing what can be done with defined joints and seams in a 2D animated character.
With Toon Boom Digital Pro, Toon Boom has taken a great leap forward in becoming a premiere in the animation industry.
