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Product: 2D animation

Developer: Toon Boom Animation, Inc.

Minimum Requirements: Power Mac G4 (works with some G3s), Mac OS X v10.3, 256MB RAM, 100MB hard disk space, 1024x768 resolution 24-bit color display with 8MB VRAM, WACOM Tablet (recommended)

Retail Price: $374 ($199 upgrade from previous versions, $230 upgrade Toon Boom Studio Express, special education and WACOM table bundles are available)

Availability: Out now

Well, it's about time.

Toon Boom has been teasing Mac users with the potential of Toon Boom Studio ever since...well, since New York had an Expo. That was where I first saw a demo of this 2D animation program, and I was instantly hooked but what can be done with it. Unfortunately, the versions I reviewed never quite matched up to that original demo. v1.2.1 was cool, but it was lacking some of the key features that its PC brother was already showing off. Toon Boom Studio Express was a decent, cheaper way to learn animation, but its limited tools only left you wanting more, and they didn't justify the $145 price tag.

So, if you've been sitting patiently, waiting for Toon Boom Animation to finally release a full-featured Mac OS X version of Toon Boom Studio, it's here. It's here, and it's wonderful.

I'll start this review with my usual disclaimer: I'm not an animator. My illustration skills peaked in sixth grade. On the other hand, I love animation. I find cartoons, anime, etc. to be more appealing visually than live action film (although, let's be honest, most live action movies these days are mostly cartoons), and, next to The State, I believe that Liquid Television was the only good show MTV ever aired. I can be equally entertained by both the rudimentary pen and ink animation of Bullwinkle and the ground breaking computer animation of Final Fantasy. I just dig it.

As I've mentioned in past reviews (which you should read by clicking the links above if you want more explanation on the basic tool set), Toon Boom Studio makes animators out of Mac users much as iMovie makes directors out of Mac users...albeit at a heftier price and with more complexity. You won't be making Final Fantasy any time soon, but Bullwinkle is certainly within reach.

How does Toon Boom Studio do this? Here's the workflow, as defined by Toon Boom:

1. Draw line art and gather multimedia - You can draw directly in Toon Boom using the drawing tools or a WACOM table (recommended), or you can import Flash files, vector illustrations, bitmaps, etc. If you're importing bitmaps, you can even have Toon Boom Studio convert them to vector images on the fly.
2. Add the sound track - This part rocks. The voice track analyzer will match lip positions with your voice track, which you can then use as a guide when drawing your character's lips. The sound element editor can then be used to fine tune the sound synchronization. More on this later.
3. Ink and paint your drawings - Here, you create color palettes for your character. You can create multiple palettes for a character, if you desire, and changes made to the palette are automatically applied to each cell that utilizes that palette.
4. Change the sequence/timing of images - The longer and more complex your animations get, the more you may find yourself adding/removing elements and extending/shortening their durations. This is all easily handled in the Exposure Sheet.
5. Choreograph the elements of the scene - Those who have used iMovie will recognize this step. You're presented with a timeline window, which you use to position the elements of your animation so that everything fits together. This is more powerful than iMovie's, though, as you're also given a Sceneplanning Mode in which you can view and edit your elements from three different perspectives, moving your "camera" around these elements to give an illusion of depth to your "flat" animation.
6. Export - You can save your animation as a Flash file, QuickTime movie, AVI, DV stream (perfect for use with iMovie) and image sequence.

Now, aside from the sound features and a couple export formats mentioned above, this was all pretty much available in the previous version. So, what's new and improved? A ton of little tweaks, and a couple major new features. You can see the full list here, I'll just focus on a couple of my favorites.

First up, color tweening. This feature allows you to change the color of elements in your animation over time. You can now easily create gradual color fades, which is a really nice effect when used properly.

There are quite a few new drawing capabilities that greatly increase the power and speed of the program. My two favorites here are the ability to manually select pieces that you'd like to have removed from your drawing, even if they're connected elements you want to leave (tremendously helpful when editing vector artwork that was converted from a bitmap), and the vector optimization tool, which smooths out drawing and merges layers to reduce their complexity (and, threfore, their file size). Of course, onion skinning is always tremendously helpful, especially to those of us who aren't great illustrators. By showing the previous and next frame, it's easy to create smooth animations.

A big improvement is support for bitmap images, which you use as paint fills to provide extra texture. You can also use them as backgrounds for your animation, giving it an entirely different look. I'm guessing that many animators won't bother with these tools, but it's good to have that option.

Everyone, however, will be using the new lip syncing features. Toon Boom has been promising automated lip mapping, and it's finally here. With this, you can have Toon Boom Studio automatically apply your illustrations of the seven phonemes (mouth positions when speaking) and the closed mouth position to your animation. Obviously, this is a huge time saver, and it greatly eases the animation process. For those who want more precise control of the lip syncing process, the sound scrubbing feature will be equally welcome. Sound scrubbing, which allows you to fine tune the lip syncing, can be done directly from the timeline. It's nothing short of amazing, and it was definitely worth the wait.

And yet, there's plenty more. You can now more easily repeat frame sequences (great when having characters run, for example), drag and drop support has been improved throughout, editing a template will automatically update all animations that link to that template, you can easily set a background color to each scene, and more. If some of these seem like they should be obvious features, yeah, they should have been. That's why they're so welcome here, finally.

Of course, all of this comes at a price, and the price here is the learning curve. On their own, each of these capabilities is fairly simple to grasp. Putting them all together can be quite daunting. Proof of this is in the manual, which is an over 430-plus page PDF with the download version of Toon Boom Studio. There's an online help file, but I find those too cumbersome when I have to switch between them and the program I'm learning. Toon Boom also sets you up with numerous tutorials and sample files. You'll need them, trust me. I've now reviewed two versions of Toon Boom Studio plus Toon Boom Studio Express, and I still feel I'm barely scratching the surface of this program. It's too bad there are no QuickStart or Missing Manual books on Toon Boom Studio.

And yet, I'm having fun. The ability to create full animations without actually being able to draw is liberating. Ideas for shorts I could never accomplish with iMovie can be done in Toon Boom Studio...albeit with a lot more work.

And so, anyone using a previous version of Toon Boom Studio or Toon Boom Studio Express should upgrade immediately. There's simply no reason not to...the money you spend will be quickly made up in time saved. If you're not sure if computer animation is for you, Toon Boom could be an expensive mistake. Download the free trial or try Toon Boom Studio Express first. It's still fairly expensive at $145.00, but an upgrade from that would cost the same as if you bought Toon Boom Studio straight out. Either way, give yourself some time to practice, give yourself a few easy projects to get started, and then give yourself a pat on the back when you start winning all those animation awards.