Toon Boom Technologies, a leading supplier of 2D animation software for major film and television studios, announced Toon Boom Studio 1.0, a new software program the brings high-end 2D animation tools and capabilities to the Web. Targeted at Web designers, advertising agencies and other online content creators, the software is designed to simplify the creation process by automating traditional animation tasks. The new software derives its high-end features from Toon Boom Technologies' acknowledged expertise in the animation market. The new program automates the production workflow process, allowing fortighter control over drawing. It includes paperless drawing, inking and painting, and the ability to plan scenes in a 3D space. It also includes 3D scene planning for greater scene complexity, lip synchronization to eliminate delays in vocal adjustments while increasing drawing accuracy and an optimized SWF rendering engine producing very compact Flash format files for greater motion dynamics. According to CEO Jacques Bilodeau, "Toon Boom Studio changes the way Web content is developed. By bridging the gap between animation and the Web, our software frees creativity from technological constraints. We see tremendous opportunities as Toon Boom Studio 1.0 opens the door for Web developers to leverage animation in the online community." The public beta for both Mac and PC platforms will be available May 23, and commercial release is slated for late June 2001. For additional information, visit Toon Boom at www.toonboom.com.
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
