As Pixar's "Toy Story 3" rockets to box office success, audiences who have been dazzled by Pixar's animation for years can now do something about it. They can make their own animated movies.
Smith Micro wants to be to animated movie fans what Apple's Final Cut Pro has been to film fans: A great equalizer, letting wanna-be filmmakers do the real thing.
Smith's latest software offering, called "Anime Studio Pro 7," lets you craft your own animation, bringing in enough physics and 3D technology to boggle the mind. But, what makes it work is that you don't notice all that stuff - you just get in there and do it. There's even a "Debut" version for those first-timers out there.
Unlike what the Pixar and DreamWorks animators have to go through, Smith software spares you the tedious frame-by-frame work, instead letting you design and move your figures in ways that make more sense to those who don't do it full time.
The goal? Let you get creative, without being a rendering professional. Says Smith Micro's Sarina DuPont, the new product gives users "everything needed to create and share professional quality animation in a complete package that saves time and resources."
Saving time and resources? No, you don't have to do that if you're a billion dollar animation powerhouse, owned by an entertainment giant, who cranks out movies that gross a billion dollars every two years or so. For the rest of us, this is a chance to save time, and money, while still having fun.
Scott is still amazed at how it's done. He's on twitter @scottbudman
