Free 2-D animation software

by **BarbaraC** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 4:17 pm

Searching for a way to get better animation when I was using Gold, I scoured the internet and fell upon CreaToon, a commercial product that the makers decided to stop upgrading and are now offering free for the download. If you've never done any cartooning before, it won't matter since it's easy to get a handle on. I'm freshly back from animating a feather cut from a photograph and placed on a transparent background which I then was able to easily make float and sway from the top of the screen down to the bottom as if it was being carried by a small breeze. It took much more time to cut the feather than it did to animate it.

If you're interested, you'll find CreaToon here: http://www.creatoon.com/

--Barbara

by **vciro** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 4:27 pm

Thanks very much, Barbara, for sharing. Greatly appreciated.

by **Brenda** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 10:41 pm

Barbara,

Thank you very much, I have just downloaded the programme.

Brenda

by **BarbaraC** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 3:17 am

If anyone needs help getting started with it, just let me know. Any complicated questions are completely out of my domain because I use it only to create the kind of motions that are either extremely difficult or totally impossible in ProShow. I do know how to prepare a picture for use in it, how to create smooth motion, how to place rotation points, and how to alter basic settings. Here's my very first effort with it, using various photos I'd done of colored smoke:

http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewshow.html?fl=2858585&alb=0

It may not be the best, but it does show some of the possibilities.

--Barbara

by **vciro** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 5:39 am

Barbara,
I can honestly say that I have never seen anything like this before. At first, I was a bit taken back but after a few slides, the motion, timing with the music and overall effect were very, very entertaining. Then to find out that this was simply smoke with a bit of embelishment....wow.

Nice job. Thank you for sharing your very unique and entertaining show.

by **BarbaraC** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 5:46 am

Vinny, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I certainly enjoyed, not just making the show, but doing an extremely long series of smoke pictures down in my basement studio where everything was draped in black and my slide projector was throwing colored light on the smoke as it wound its way upward. Watching smoke through the lens of a camera is better than being a little kid with a kaleidoscope. The downside of the project was...well, it was all that darned smoke.

--Barbara

by **trulytango** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 6:59 am

Hello Barbara

I really enjoyed the show... the colours were so subtle and beautiful. It was really entertaining and held my attention throughout. And CONGRATULATIONS to you also, for winning the recent Photodex contest... 'Bottled Chaos' was absolutely brilliant - magical. I had a look at your other shows too - a real breath of fresh air. Your soundtracks are very clever and thought provoking.

Thanks for sharing... I am looking forward to seeing some more of your shows.

Regards

Iris
UK

by **cherub** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 7:28 am

Barbara, what a show!
Forgive me, but until trulytango said it, I never realized that you are the winner of The Bottled Chaos !
Congratulations!. Well deserved!
Though personally I enjoyed much more the Colored smoke, and on a different level, the Tick Tack show.
You are a true artist, and what you are doing in Producer is simply amazing.
Thank you for sharing your shows with us, and do post some more

by **BarbaraC** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 7:32 am

Iris, you've made me blush, which after all these years, isn't an easy thing to do. Thank you!

I worked like crazy on the Bottled Chaos show for only one reason: I was using ProShow Gold, I wanted Producer but couldn't afford it, and I figured that if I could win, I'd essentially be getting Producer for free. And I did.

Shameless plug: Much of the music comes either directly from my son's own mind and guitar, or if not, it comes from his badly needed help when using sound-editing software. He's got rhythm; I've got none. He's had formal training; I haven't had even the informal sort. He has a good ear for musical nuance; my kind of nuance is one-dimensional. I knew there had to be an up-side to having kids.

--Barbara

by **Brenda** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 7:36 am

Barbara

Great show, entertaining, artistic, original and brilliant.

Brenda

by **BarbaraC** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:21 am

Okay, folks, that's enough! Notice the grin on my face? Keep it up, and it'll wrap right around to the back and then the top of my head will fall off. :!:

Cherub, I agree with you. I actually prefer Tick Tock because it expresses something I think about a lot.

B.

by **magnusg** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 3:26 pm

Hi Barbara,
Somehow I can't get the software to start. I click on the icon and it's starts loading, and before it fully loaded it closes.
What to do?

Magnus

by **BarbaraC** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 3:40 pm

Magnus, I haven't a single idea of what's gone wrong. Did you try uninstalling and then reinstalling it? The only thing I can figure is (1) there was a glitch in the installation, or (2) something went wrong in the download. I've had both these things happen to me during my computing year, and I hope this is what it is because redownloading/reinstalling is easy.

Let me know if you manage to get it up and running.

--Barbara

by **vciro** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 5:42 pm

Magnus,
I had the same issue. You need to start the program. Then, after it closes (prematurely), you need to run the unlock key software. If you don't have it, I can email it to you. After this, it will run normally....I hope.

by **magnusg** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 6:07 pm

That did it. I ran the unlock key as the software was loading.

Thanks again!

Magnus

Free 2-D animation software

Free 2-D animation software

Waw !!

Thanks

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