Easy Web Animation
By Clayton Crooks
While you may not have heard of a company called Toon Boom Technologies, you've undoubtedly heard of many of their customers such as Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks, and Klasky Csupo. All of these studios use USAnimation, the industry standard 2D animation package developed by Toon Boom Technologies. A high-end package that retails for approximately $20,000, USAnimation has been used in the development of movies such as Rugrats and television shows such as The Simpsons and Paddington Bear. Now, with its latest product, Toon Boom Studio, Toon Boom Technologies is hoping to capitalize on its 2D-animation experience to bring easy animation to the Web. By incorporating the features normally found in several independent tools, Toon Boom Studio (in beta release at the time of this review) makes it easier for developers to add rich animation to Web sites.
Program Overview
Toon Boom Studio offers a complete package for 2D Web animation and a powerful interface that takes some getting used to, but once you have it mastered, the layout becomes very intuitive. Toon Boom Studio uses two distinct modes of operation: a Drawing mode, in which you create drawings using traditional vector graphics tools; and a Sceneplanning mode to arrange these components. When you first open the application, a new session in the Toon Boom Studio window appears. The windows, panels, and toolbars that are available to you depend on the mode you've selected and the tasks you're performing.
