OpenToonz software (Free)

[Rodney]

The 2D animaiton software used by Studio Ghibli (of japanese anime fame) is going open source according to a recent press release.

Other than that I don't know much about it.

 

From their site:

 

Effective Saturday March 26, the TOONZ Studio Ghibli Version will be made available to the animation community as a free download.

 

 

So... six days away.

 

Here's the press release:

http://www.toonzpremium.com/#!news/aawrs

 

Here's a video of Toonz Harlequin 7.1 in action. I'm not sure what is different from that release and the one going open source.

 

xhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jjeh1USIlY

[largento]

Very interesting. Certainly a shot over the bow of ToonBoom's software.

[Rodney]

Perhaps the most anticipated aspect of this software's release (to me) is the xsheet capability.

 

Animator-friendly Xsheet Interface
Composite the scene in the xsheet with
spreadsheet-like editing tools, context sensitive
menus and drag & drop actions.

 

[Rodney]

I haven't yet seen the official release announcement but went a'lookin' for the OpenToonz software and looks like I found it.

Downloading now...

 

For the brave and adventurous, here's the link:

 

https://opentoonz.github.io/e/index.html

 

 

The announcement is/was to be 26 March but that is in Japan so... should have already happened.

 

 

And of course the big question: how to best integrate OpenToonz with A:M!

The scanning interface alone with Xsheet should prove valuable.

[nemyax]

The download page urges you to agree to the Terms of Use before you continue. Those are only in Japanese. Nice one.

Blender's own Campbell Barton is already busy porting the stuff to Linux: https://github.com/ideasman42/opentoonz

[Rodney]

The download page urges you to agree to the Terms of Use before you continue. Those are only in Japanese. Nice one.

 

 

I've been brushing up on my Japanese language skills and see just how easy it is to lose what you don't use.

Not that I was ever skilled at reading kanji!

 

I can see why the companies involved felt the need to open source.

There is much work to be done.

 

 

Blender's own Campbell Barton is already busy porting the stuff to Linux:

 

I've noticed several names that make this project well worth watching.

The interest in getting Toonz ramped up and where it needs to be (largely documentation and workflow related) is certainly there.

[Rodney]

There are a lot of things to get sorted out but I already anticipate adding OpenToonz to my workflow.

 

I need to get busy and put together some useful animation sequences in A:M that can demonstrate the benefits of using OpenToonz.

 

In a way OpenToonz is a bit like Blender (but more user friendly), a bit like Fusion (but with a very useful Xsheet premise) and certainly compatible with imagery rendered out of A:M. If OpenToonz gets a bit more streamlined I can see it moving onto the Top 10 list of software I use and (potentially) replacing Fusion at the Number 2 spot. This is saying something (IMO) because Fusion is an impressive piece of software that I wouldn't want to give up.

 

Rather than spam the forum with OpenToonz postings I've started adding some basic information and resources related to it on my blog.

 

I have a vision for what might be done relative to matching A:M with OpenToonz but it's too early to tell whether any of that will pan out. The potential is certainly there.

[Rodney]

I'm pretty sure Steph Greenberg used Toonz with A:M for his "The Physics of Cartoons".

That was way... way... way back in the day.

 

xhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_QAeicX-Rw

[ernesttx]

I've been playing with it for the past couple of days and really enjoying it. It seems to have a great workflow, if you are a traditionally inclined animator. The toolset, x-sheet, FX, and schematic view are outstanding. I'll probably use it as my main animation software going forward (I have and still used Mirage, TB Harmony, Flipbook, Anime Studio Pro and a few others). But, after putting OpenToonz through the paces, it just somehow clicks better for me.

 

And, no, Rodney, I will never give up Fusion. hehehe

[Rodney]

Glad to see others are exploring too.

 

I haven't been able to get the scanner process (a program called GTS) to work yet. (I probably need to read the instructions)

Here's a shot at what a test sequence looks like going the longer route to getting the images in after scanning outside of OpenToonz and drag/dropping the images into he Xsheet:

[Rodney]

Times are certainly a-changing...

It's worth noting that by at least one account, not long ago Toonz would set you back about $30,000 per seat. (or rented seats on a monthly basis for about $600 each as of Toonz 5.0 timeframe)
Now here we are in 2016 with OpenToonz available for free.

OpenToonz now has nightly builds for Windows and Mac as well as access to source (not sure about Linux).
This can be useful if staring at something that doesn't appear to be working but has been tagged for fixing. It may have been fixed but is just awaiting the next official release.
Someone with a talent for programming can also examine the source to shed more light on outstanding issues.


For those with the time and interest, I recommend the current nightly build over the initial v1 release and the subsequent v1.01 update as it replaces a lot of code that was set aside by Studio Ghibli, which formed the majority of the initial release of OpenToonz. The reason for this is that Ghibli worked mainly from paper with a team of animators, inkers/painters that each had customized 'rooms' to work in that didn't distract them from their task at hand. The elements not needed were still in the code but hidden.

 

Now the initial set of those features has been replaced.

So creating and storing customized rooms can easily be accomplished from within the OpenToonz interface.

Don't like the general layout or workflow... change it.

If previously installed you'll need to uninstall OpenToonz first before installing the nightly build.
Installing over the top of previous setup will likely not work.

There have been three releases to date (if you count the nightly builds as one):

https://github.com/opentoonz/opentoonz/releases

[Rodney]

It'll take a bit of imagination to consider the potential but the following video tutorial by Greg Smith demonstrates some useful workflow in OpenToonz.

It can help to think of images rendered in A:M in the place of the hill he draws and the ball he animates.

Of specific interest is the path he draws that is then used to direct the animation.

 

This same basic workflow can be accomplished in A:M but it can help to prototype that workflow elsewhere and then tailor the workflow to fit more perfectly in A:M.

 

xhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIIMh2PVc2A

 

This should also demonstrate how a program such as OpenToonz can be quickly used to storyboard and plan projects that will be modeled, textured, animated and lit in A:M.

[Rodney]

Ah, good news.

 

v1.02 of OpenToonz has been released and it addresses several major issues facing potential users.

The greatest of these was very likely the need to save files in multiple places which is now covered by the Save All command.

The other major updates are mostly those captured in the various nightly builds that primarily restore the Toonz Harlequin features that were set aside to optimize workflow for Studio Ghibli.

 

https://github.com/opentoonz/opentoonz/releases

[Rodney]

This guy (with the somewhat unlikely name of TurtleTooth*) has made a portable version of OpenToonz.

 

What does that mean?

 

Once downloaded the program doesn't have to be installed. The files can simply be extracted from the zip file and launched.

And perhaps best of all... it can be run from a USB stick.

 

The portable version is Windows only at this point as far as I can tell.

For Mac and Linux installers (as well as the regular Windows installer) look to the official release.

 

The Link:

https://github.com/turtletooth/OpenToonzPortable/releases/tag/1.02

 

Me likey.

 

 

Disclaimer: This is not a release by the OpenToonz team but one by someone that had a desire to teach with OpenToonz and needed as portable version as possible.