Anime Studio Pro 11
Pro art The software is already well loved, but will new tools and features, tweaks and updates make it worth an upgrade for artists?
Anime Studio Pro 11 takes what was already a wellloved and strong toolset, and adds a number of welcome new tools and features, not to mention a raft of tweaks, updates and enhancements.
The big new features and updates to the toolset and workflow are layer based. While Anime Studio isn’t new to a layered workspace, there have been some areas that needed a bit extra and version 11 doesn’t disappoint.
XRef layers, or layer referencing, and shape ordering Frame-by-frame animation are all new, and alone make the upgrade worthwhile. When referencing layers, if a change is made to one layer the changes flow through, which can save a lot of duplicating. Similarly, being able to quickly animate the order of your shapes will make for a less-cluttered workspace and a much more navigable scene.
Improved camera movements mean no warping and or stretching, and if you’re working within a 3D scene you can display the axis handles. Now its much easier to navigate and get your bearings. This leads on to the 3D aspects of the software. It’s a simple import job to load up any .OBJ file, bringing in textures and UVs. What’s more, understandably given they’re both from the same company, you can import Poser scenes directly, enabling you to animate with Anime Studio. This is a big plus for artists who like to stay
This all adds up to a piece of software that does as much to get out of your way and let you stay creative as it can
within a given ecosystem, or who won’t be creating 3D assets themselves.
Along with the scene and camera updates the preview render options now make it possible to create a quick preview that has no antialiasing. In practice this is fantastic, as previews are great for checking timings and flow.
In addition to all the creative tool updates there are usability tweaks, starting with a new pre-flighting system that collates all your media into a single directory. Improved exporting options mean that rendering is a far tidier experience than before, so you can take a look at the huge, expanded content library to start your next project much sooner.
What this all adds up to is a piece of software that does as much to get out of your way and let you stay creative as it can. Many of the laborious tasks have been removed or reduced significantly, and you’re much more free to concentrate on what matters: creating art and telling stories.