Resolve, currently in version 18.6.6, is available in a slightly slimmed-down free version or for currently 329 euros as a studio version online, or as a free add-on when purchasing high-quality hardware, such as film cameras from Blackmagic Design).
It is claimed by Blackmagic, but also by many users, that the possibilities of the free version of DaVinci already completely fulfil the requirements of most users for video editing, effects, grading and sound and would “put many paid-for software applications in the shade”.
A public beta version 19 is also currently available (users must register before downloading), which replaces the current version during installation if this is not explicitly prevented (backup of the current database and renaming of the DaVinci programme folder – instructions on how users can upgrade to the new version 19 and use several versions of DaVinci at the same time can be found on YouTube – e.g. here: is.gd/resolve18_and_19

What are we talking about today?

When looking at the current version of DaVinci, we have dispensed with all the possibilities of video editing, sophisticated grading or the complex options of sound editing (Fairlight) and have instead focussed on a few (small) “delicacies” of the programme.

Install beta

At the launch of beta version 19, which will also be available in German at the request of numerous users, an overview of the upcoming innovations is provided – including Postproductions with live replays, AI tracking with Intellitrack, Colorslice – grading with 6 vectors, improved noise reduction thanks to DaVinci Neural AI Engine, text-based timeline editing, film look creator, refined volumetric rendering of smoke and flame effects, audio-to-video panning (tracks objects in the viewer for spatial sound distribution).

And let’s go into parallax!

In “mini-projects”, in which we added some (rather suptile) effects and animations to static images – cinemagrams, parallax animations – some motion graphics for beginners, so to speak, we tried out some effects, animation options with keyframes and masking options.

Static images – moving effects

Applying animation effects to static images (photo animations/cinemagraphs) is a popular method of increasing the visual impact of digital media such as videos, animations or interactive presentations. The possibilities are almost limitless and only determined by taste.

Ready for Burns!

In addition to fast, attention-grabbing movements, such as those often used in PowerPoint presentations or on advertising websites, subtle movements and effects are likely to attract more attention when it comes to dynamically conveying information, concepts or stories. Slight camera pans or zoom movements on still images (also known as the “Ken Burns effect” after the American documentary filmmaker) can be created in DaVinci Resolve both as keyframe animations and automatically using the “Dynamic Zoom effect”.
Animations in which cropped objects in the image move at different speeds can convey a spatial impression (parallax effect). Object movements that take place close to the viewer’s eye appear faster than those further away. If a gentle zoom or a small camera movement causes foreground objects to move in front of more distant objects, the three-dimensional impression is further emphasised.

Cinemagrams

Cinemagrams, i.e. photo animations in which static images are supplemented with mostly subtle, repetitive animations of individual, smaller parts of the image, are neither pure photos nor videos and are intended to attract attention, create atmosphere and evoke emotional effects.
DaVinci Resolve Studio promises to offer all the necessary tools and effects in one application – and should therefore be suitable. In addition to the wide range of effects, the current Studio version also advertises simple cropping with the help of AI – sounds ideal for our experiments with the aforementioned “mini projects”. Even if this is a bit of “shooting with cannons on sparrows” – let’s try out some of the functions. As mentioned, DaVinci is not only powerful, but also extensive and complex. Nevertheless, the software promises an easy introduction even for programme newcomers – at least to the basic functions.

PingPong – animation in a loop

Probably the simplest way to animate images is to move an entire image that is larger than the video in the inspector and set keyframes. It is advisable to “round” the animation curves, i.e. to make them “smooth”. With a “ping pong” effect, the image will move smoothly in one direction, then gradually stop to return to the starting point. Of course, scaling and rotation can also be incorporated. Dynamic Zoom is much faster and more effective.

Dynamic Zoom

All you have to do is select the relevant clip (an image) in the edit page and then switch on Dynamic Zoom in the Inspector. A drop-down menu can be opened below the viewer window, which uses two coloured rectangles to set the start and end values for zooming. The direction can be reversed using the “Swap” option. To change the duration of the zoom effect (normally applied to the duration of an entire clip), it is advisable to use an Adjustment Clip.

Automated collages with images or videos

The “Video Collage” effect offers an interesting way of arranging and animating several objects (moving images) in a scene. A grid, a kind of table with adjustable rows and columns, is superimposed on a clip with this effect. As with comic panels in graphics software, images or videos can be placed under the effect clip, allowing several objects to be arranged quickly and correctly. The parameters can also be animated here.

Masquerade

If only parts of the image are to be animated, you need the individual parts. DaVinci offers various options for masking, editing and cropping objects. The mask tools include basic shapes such as rectangles, circles, polygon and BSpline curves, colour selections – and in the Colour Page – Magic Mask. The shape masks can be combined, inverted and the deformations animated. There is even an Onion Skin function to better control the animation of the mask curves.

There are several tutorials on YouTube in which users demonstrate how to create dynamic masks and even cartoons with the shape tools (to fill the shapes with colour or image content, a suitable background must be created each time, which then becomes visible within the overlying mask).
You can also use these masks to make objects “disappear” – like with Photoshop’s copy stamp. This is also possible with the Paint tool, e.g. in clone mode. If masks are applied to moving videos, you can try using DaVinci’s intelligent tracking. But: Since we are only working with single images this time and not with moving images, this does not apply. Next time!
Ideally, masks no longer have to be adapted to movements frame by frame, but “only” tracked – DaVinci tries to track the selected object and adjust the mask so that the masking is retained even when there is movement. One of the sensations of the new version is the “Magic Mask”, which now has a person and an object mode. With just a few strokes and a few adjustable parameters, DaVinci generates amazingly good masks of objects or backgrounds surprisingly quickly.

With the Magic Mask in particular, it is possible to quickly select objects in order to apply effects to them or, in conjunction with “Add Alpha Output” in the Node window of the Colour Page, to cut them out completely. This allows you to quickly place text in front of or behind (cropped) parts of the image, for example.
Convincing effects can be achieved with a little effort using DaVinci’s 3D tools. Real parallax effects can be created here due to the spatial depth. The depth of field of a camera can also be simulated.

The actually spartan software is still in the beta phase and can be used free of charge, even commercially. An enthusiastic fan community shows some impressive results online, which were created in collaboration between EbSynth and various, mostly AI-controlled effect and video tools. We started the programme and applied some keyframes to short video sequences.

Naturally stupid – or artificially intelligent?

You can’t hear it anymore: AI – artificial intelligence – will change all our lives. Some hope that smart decisions will finally improve our lives. Others are afraid. The fact that graphics and video applications are now so dominated by AI tools is something that the occasional user may well only realise when working with graphics and videos and EbSynth, for example. EbSynth “needs the support” of video and graphics software – and effective ones at that. Most modern tools promise to make use of the new artificial intelligence, as does EbSynth itself. To create and manipulate images and videos, there is hardly any way around “AI” (the website is.gd/buzz_AItools is said to list over 1000 AI tools, including a large number of graphics programmes).

EbSynth – great image effects for a whole video?

The EbSynth website, www.ebsynth.com, shows large-scale impressive effects on video sequences and advertises with the slogan: “Bring your paintings to animated life”. Otherwise it is “very tidy” and apart from the link to download the programme and a more detailed video with examples of effects, “before” and “after”, it only offers buttons for email contact, social media channels, including the Secret Weapons YouTube channel, which has almost 14,000 subscribers, and a FAQ list. The download button shows a Windows and an apple symbol.

If you haven’t “learnt the ropes” beforehand, you will probably be a little confused when you first start the programme: The start window of EbSynth – the actual programme window – is almost as spartan as the website. There are no menus apart from links for Open, Save and Export to After Effects.

In order for the programme to do anything with a new project, paths for prepared directories with corresponding image files must be placed in fields for “Keyframes”, “Video” and optionally also for “Mask” (“Select” buttons or via drag & drop). Values can also be assigned for weighting the influence of the effects of the keyframes or the original video. Under “Advanced” there are input fields for mapping, de-flicker, diversity and synthesis detail, which are explained in the FAQ. An output directory (for individual images) can be specified and there is an option to switch on the GPU for rendering. The calculation process is started with one of the two green buttons: “Synth” if only one keyframe is used, “Run All” if several keyframes are used.

MAPPING: A higher mapping ensures that the output dashes appear in the same position as in the keyframe. If the mapping is lower, EbSynth can rearrange the input features so that they appear in other places in the output. Good values are between 5 and 50.

DE-FLICKER: De-flicker suppresses texture flickering between consecutive frames. Good values are between 0.3 and 2.0. If the value is set to zero, the output sequence flickers as if each image were painted independently each image is painted independently. The stronger the value for de-flicker, the more coherent the output will be over time.

DIVERSITY: The visual variety of the style in the keyframes in the output sequence is determined by the diversity. Good values are between 1,000 and 20,000. If the diversity is set too low, some repeating patterns may appear in the output, similar to the artefacts that can be caused by overlapping when setting a clone brush in Photoshop.

Synthesis – the workflow

In order to be able to edit a video with EbSynth, the beta version must still be available as a sequence of individual images – in the “Video” folder – which can be done with most common video programmes. Depending on the image content or movement in the scene, the copy of an image in the sequence can be made into a keyframe, or it may be necessary to define several keyframes. Painting or other effects are then applied to these keyframes. It is important that the same names and the same resolution are used as for the images in the “Video” directory. A missing file in the video directory can also lead to premature termination of the programme. In many examples found online, AI software such as Stable Diffusion is used to manipulate the key frames. There are also commercial offers for manipulating videos that specifically advertise the use of Stable Diffusion and EbSynth. “Simple painting” with any paint software or rotoscoping with Davinci Resolve or After Effects, for example, are also possible. With suitable content, complete animations can be created with just a few key frames. The FAQs point out that it makes sense to prepare videos that EbSynth is to process properly during filming.

Among other things, it is emphasised that the image material used should be correctly exposed and as diffuse as possible so that EbSynth can track the effects in the moving image content well. Hard and moving shadows are also problematic. For the clothing of characters, it is recommended to use appealing, clearly recognisable prints, for example. Flat textures, monochrome fabrics and reflective material and repeating patterns that tend to moiré are also problematic, as with “normal” video recordings. If visual tracking with a keyframe is no longer sufficient, it is recommended to manually rework the first “unclean” image to create a next keyframe. In EbSynth, areas can be defined for the individual keyframes. Crossfades can later be defined where the keyframe areas overlap. When EbSynth is finished with its synthesis, it can be exported to After Effects. However, the finished individual frames, which are located in the “Output” folder, can be further processed with any other video software. Keyframes and effects can be painted onto transparent backgrounds. Painted and reference frames must be precisely matched (fit on top of each other). However, it is also possible to rotoscope the foreground and add an alpha mask sequence as a mask input in EbSynth (“Mask” folder).

Initial tests have shown that EbSynth does its job. But without thorough planning and preparation, it can quickly happen that EbSynth transfers the desired effects to the video completely incorrectly (actually slowly, because results only become visible after the calculation process). Short, quiet sequences that fulfil the conditions listed – and possibly splitting the video material into several scenes, or filming people who overlap in the image separately (cropped, later rearranged as video layers) can help to improve the results.

Conclusion

In our opinion, EbSynth is an interesting approach and even in the beta version it produces appealing results. The biggest advantage is that image manipulations in videos only need to be carried out on specific images (keyframes). EbSynth then transfers the respective image style quite precisely to the individual frames of the video. It is possible to create complete animations in a simple style with just a few rotoscope drawings.

EbSynth’s UI is fairly spartan and the workflow essentially consists of splitting the original video into individual frames in suitable software. Depending on the action, one or more keyframes must be defined and manipulated using any tool. A mask can be defined for certain areas and some parameters can be set to control the output quality. Trial and error is the order of the day here. The results of EbSynth’s work are once again individual images that need to be processed further.

The technique is only suitable for short sequences and the results are heavily dependent on the scene content, among other things. We find that the workflow is still a little cumbersome and results are not very good due to the “tight” UI and lack of programme help, despite the fact that it is actually easy to use, results require a lot of time and practice. However, EbSynth also produces fascinating results. We are looking forward to the further development of the programme (including the price).

In its own words, the biggest upgrade to date advertises the best 2D rigging system, the combination of unique traditional and non-traditional animation tools, a completely new graphics engine and many new tools, such as Liquid Shapes, Multi Strokes, Smart Line
Boil, Delayed Constraints, Vitruvian Bones, Physics, Particles, Dynamics… Despite obvious adversities in the past and great competition, Moho now wants to find and maintain its place among professional 2D animation programmes.

Moving story – from Moho to Moho 14 (2023)

According to Wikipedia, Michael Clifton, founder of Lost Marble LCC, published his animation software before the year 2000. Simple vector animation and a bone system that was already advanced at the time immediately attracted the attention of users interested in animation, who hoped for further rapid developments. As Clifton originally developed Moho for BeOS, which came to an end in 2001, he had to port his programme. He subsequently adapted his software for Windows, Mac OS and also Linux. in 2006, the programme – and the developer – moved to the company e-Frontier, which wanted to continue marketing it. A new change came in 2007, this time to Smith Micro Software. From then on, the software was called Anime Studio, but was renamed Moho again in 2016.

in 2020, many users in the Moho forum were delighted to learn that Moho was back in the hands of Lost Marble. Lost Marble acquired the software with the support of Cartoon Saloon. The Irish animation studio, Cartoon Saloon, is probably known to connoisseurs for animated films such as The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea and Wolfwalkers. It has received five Oscar nominations, among others.

“We always called Moho ‘our secret weapon'”, says Tomm Moore, co-director of Wolfwalkers
Director of “Wolfwalkers” and “Secret of Kells”, is said to have said at the time. This autumn, Lost Marble announced the release of Moho, Release 14, as a pro and debut version. While these lines were still being written, the first update, 14.1, was released, which Moho’s search for updates on a Windows 10 system did not (yet) recognise. The list of new features made us curious..

A lot of talk about a little 2D animation?

Despite the huge boom in the 3D sector, 2D animation will retain its justification in various sectors and in different media. This is not really the place to discuss design or media trends or the pros and cons of 2D or 3D. A look at 2D software, such as Moho, reveals a rather complex situation that is constantly being determined by new technologies and may soon change fundamentally through the use of AI. 2D animation has long since ceased to be limited to pure frame-by-frame animation, i.e. the classic animated cartoon that older people may still remember from early animated films, but now refers to various 2D animation techniques. The market now offers a whole range of programmes for animating with different approaches, including programmes with very different prices, such as Animate CC (adobe.com), Toon Boom Harmony (toonboom.com), TVPaint (tvpaint.com), CelAction2D (celaction.com), Pencil2D Animation (pencil2d.org), Cartoon Animator (reallusion.com), Synfig (www.synfig.org), OpenToonz (opentoonz.github.io/e)… This list is arbitrary and absolutely incomplete, but should give an impression of the fact that “simple” 2D – and the software for it – is still in demand. A look at current media also shows this: animated films still exist, advertising and explanatory videos can be found on almost every website and some stories or product information are more convincing through the graphical means of 2D design than through more elaborate, hyper-realistic 3D animations.
Meanwhile, the many programs and online platforms promise to simplify and revolutionise 2D animation and achieve the best results with the least amount of effort. Moho also aims to be such a tool. Moho is a versatile software with lots of tools that attempts to cover every area of (2D) animation and make everything animatable.

What can Moho do?

Moho Animation Software promises professional, powerful and user-friendly 2D rigging and animation tools as well as new drawing, deformation and effect tools. The list of new features is long and fills several pages in the manual, but only supplements the many tools already available. Moho is a vector drawing programme with a range of special drawing tools that now also enable a natural look similar to that of raster graphics. Thanks to the newly developed graphics engine, drawings, styles and effects should be displayed much better and more smoothly. The current version offers various drawing styles such as wet ink, charcoal, gouache, rough ink, watercolour and others, as well as several dozen preset brushes with complex adjustment options. By using styles, you can control the exact look of your drawings and edit multiple drawings at the same time, changing the shape, colour, line width, brush settings and effects.

Animations can be achieved by simply manipulating individual selected control points of the drawn (vector) curves – optionally also controllable with Bezier handlers or, for example, with a variable magnet tool or various deformation tools in the timeline, whereby Moho automatically sets keyframes. Fills and strokes can be varied as desired and thus also animated. There are a number of different tools and methods for deforming drawings (e.g. Liquid Shapes are new). Keyframes can also be set for effect settings.
In fact, everything can be animated in Moho. Moho supports the animation of vector points, strokes, shapes and layers as well as various effects in different ways. Moho allows better frame by frame animation in the current version, especially through improvements in the timeline. Although we are talking about frame-by-frame animation, with Moho this means that all of the programme’s manipulation options for vectors are available in every frame. Rotoscoping should also not be a problem.

Moho aims to support all conceivable animation options and technologies, which are almost impossible to list here: Already mentioned are animations of vector shapes (points, fills and lines), object and path animations, deformations through warping (also for imported images), bones that can be controlled with constraints (targets, IK stretching, IK solvier), or the use of physical rules, such as reactions to gravity or wind and adjustable collision detection.

New in Moho 14 are Delayed Constraints. A bone (Control Bone) to control everything! In the Bone Constraints, where Bone Dynamics and Control Bones are defined for controlling angles, position and scaling of individual bones, there is now also the option of specifying a delay for subsequent movements of bones. Controlled bones can be “told” when they should follow the control bone and by what percentage (before or after their movement, with smaller or larger amplitudes). There is an example in the Moho tutorials that shows how, for example, an (octopus) tentacle can move very lively and elastically after such settings.

Also new are the aforementioned Liquid Shapes: For shapes within a layer, it is possible to apply Boolean operations to each other. Each shape can be assigned either “Normal”, “Add”, “Subtract” or “Clip”. “Normal” shapes that are overlapped by others can then be “manipulated” by the shapes above them, as with Boolean functions in other programmes (the order of the shapes can be moved up and down within a layer using the Shift and arrow keys). The function is made particularly interesting by the “Blend” option, which, depending on the value, softly rounds off the resulting shapes. The result can be fixed with “Merge”.
As long as “everything is still in flux”, everything remains animatable and it is amazing what a variety of shapes and smooth animations are possible with this new option. The shapes behave in real time, like fluid forms that displace each other or seem to flow into each other. This technique, combined with various layer effects, is demonstrated in the trailer for Moho’s tutorial videos.
Although Moho is a 2D software, movements are also possible in 3D space. Moho can import 3D objects and also generate simple shapes from 2D shapes (rotation and extrusion bodies are defined in the layer properties, or layers are rotated and positioned around the X or Y axis).
Moho offers a rudimentary 3D view for working in space. When the 3D button is clicked, Moho still jumps to an obviously preset view, which has to be corrected every time you want to use the 3D space. A “smoother” camera pan or even the selection of possible camera settings would be more pleasant. Most users probably use the 3D options mainly to arrange objects in space and to create camera movements with parallax and depth of field effects.

Many tools

Many tools offer many possibilities, but also require a lot of work with the programme in order to be able to exhaust all the possibilities and use the respective settings and options effectively. Everything is easy if you know how to do it. – Or as the old maths teacher used to say: “The solver can see immediately what the result is”. This also applies to Moho.

A beginner can either be delighted by the ease with which lines and shapes can be animated in Moho, or frustrated by the sheer endless possibilities – and the corresponding settings and options that need to be “figured out” first. Accordingly (and irrespective of the fact that in many computer forums “your own software is always the best”), opinions also differ there, from rejection because it is too complicated, to euphoric statements about the “best 2D animation programme”. The tenor is that Moho offers a professional approach with a corresponding learning curve.
The community of Moho users appears to be quite large and there are numerous tutorials online (also on commercial learning platforms such as http://www.udemy.com or http://www.toonfiles.com) and also help, e.g. in the Moho forum of Lost Marble (see the box with links). Lost Marble provides dozens of tutorials and webinars on the software and also offers learning courses on its website in addition to various paid content and some brush packs (including character, cartoon and Halloween content packs…).
A first look at the software shows us that there can’t be too many of these courses.
The current version of Moho can be used in several languages, including German. We find the German version more convenient to use, but most of the help can be found in English-language sources, which is why we use modern, occasional German or English expressions in the programme. In addition to context-sensitive tool tips for all functions and information on the currently selected tools in the programme’s status bar, Moho offers help in the form of a wiki. Unfortunately, this is only available online. In some forums there have been requests for a downloadable PDF file or similar, which would be easier to access and perhaps more searchable.

We are sure that not all aspects of this software can be discussed here. We have limited ourselves to a general overview and some of the “specialities” and new features of Moho in order to convey at least some of the “Moho feeling”.

An easy start?

At first glance, Moho seems as simple as software is usually advertised by the manufacturers. And indeed, even beginners seem to find it easy to take their first steps in the programme. By default, a randomly selected sample animation opens after the splash screen – a nice way to see Moho in action. You can switch this off in the preferences, along with other settings, but you can also simply open several files in parallel.

Of course, everyone has already seen a graphics application, perhaps even an animation programme. Then the default UI of Moho will already appear somewhat familiar.

If you want, you can change the brightness and the display of some editor colours, e.g. for objects, selections or the canvas background, in the default settings. Menus can be docked or undocked in the Window menu and, of course, customised shortcuts are possible.
There is the usual menu bar at the top of the screen. In the centre of the screen is the canvas, Moho’s drawing area (the view can be split, display settings can hide certain content), to the left of it is the toolbar, which is equipped with different tools depending on the selected layer type. A new file opens with a vector layer by default. Accordingly, some drawing and layer tools as well as buttons for controlling the camera and screen navigation are offered (if a bone layer is active, the corresponding bone tools are activated). Depending on the active tool, a tool options bar above the canvas shows further options. To the right of the canvas, either the Style or Actions menu can be displayed. Below this is the layer menu (similar to the layer palette in other applications).

The centrepiece for animations is of course the timeline with the playback controls at the bottom of the screen. The timeline shows the current position of the playhead for the animation (a very narrow vertical line), animation channels for objects and, of course, keyframes, which can be set, moved, copied or deleted here.

There are various display modes (Channels, Sequencer, Motion Graph). The interpolation methods between keyframes can also be changed here. Onion skins can be switched on or off and the length of the animation can be set. The Relative Keyframing option allows animated objects to be repositioned and existing keyframes to be moved “relatively” with them. Perhaps a small pitfall for newcomers to the programme: objects and drawings, as well as receipt assignments… are created in frame 0 by default in Moho! No animation can be tried out here, while no drawing and no objects can be created within the timeline (except in FBF mode).

A look at different layers

Moho uses different types of layers for different purposes. Vector layers are the standard layers for all vector drawings, similar to
in common graphic programmes such as Adobe Illustrator.
There are a variety of layer options for different purposes. Among other things, there are settings for effects such as shading, the vector display (e.g. whether an animated “noise” of outlines should simulate the style of hand-drawn animations), there are also options for display, opacity, motion blur… In the layer settings, you can also specify whether elements of the layer are captured by Moho’s camera at all, whether DOF affects them – or how a layer should interact with other objects, e.g. follow a path or react to a warp layer..
Whether depth of field (as Moho calls the depth of field in the German translation) affects the layers at all, which render style, image resolution is used, or whether, for example, layers are displayed sorted by depth, is specified in the project settings. There are layers for imported images and image sequences. There are currently no more bitmap tools in Moho. Technical difficulties in editing and displaying bitmaps in earlier versions are cited as the reason. But apparently the developers are planning to fix this problem later. For the time being, the main focus was on the vector tools and the new graphics engine.
However, bitmaps can be imported and deformed, e.g. with Bones. Meshes can be
Meshes can be defined as warp layers or an automatic function for mesh creation can be used (Draw/Create Mesh Layer). Images can be masked in the same way as vector layers. Various options can be set under “Masking” in the group settings for layers. The lowest vector layer serves as a mask for the layers above it. Masks can be used to simulate light and shadow effects by applying layers with different colours, intensities, blur and layer modes to objects – but only up to the edge of the mask. In the test with a Windows 10 system, an assigned shadow effect was often only displayed in the render preview.

Patch layers offer a special type of masking, e.g. to conceal overlapping contours at joints. Patch layers (round vector shapes) “hide” the overlapping layer, e.g. exactly at the joint.
The new Curver layers are used for simple but effective deformation of vector or image layers. If a layer is selected, a new type of warp layer can be created under “Draw/Create Curver Layer”. The layers to be deformed are specified in the layer settings, under “Vectors”, to which warp layer they should react. Curver layers, originally consisting of just two points, can be customised in terms of size, thickness (area of influence) and number and position of points. Smooth distortions are then possible in the timeline.

Curver layers can be combined with Bones. The animations can also be controlled with Smart Bones. Compressible Curver layers do not distort their objects “linearly”, but according to exactly which points are moved. This means that part of a figure can remain “untouched” while the rest is wildly distorted. This is a very simple way of creating organic-looking deformations (which can of course be animated).
Special layers also contain particles and bones. Switch layers contain elements that are only displayed “switched”. Switch layers group different elements, but only display one at a time. This means that predefined or drawn hand positions (as vector or bitmap graphics) can be exchanged in animations using keyframes, for example. When importing Photoshop files, layer groups in which only one element is visible are automatically converted to switch layers. Moho also uses the same principle for FBF animations
principle is also used for FBF animations, as well as for lip synchronisation. Here, as with
Switch Layers, the most suitable mouth shapes are made visible according to the imported sound curve of a speaker. Moho attempts to do this fully automatically, but also works together with Papagayo, for example, a tool that simplifies lip synchronisation. Of course, the images for the respective phonemes can also be set by hand or Smartbone, as in “normal” switch layers. If vector drawings that have been “morphed” are used for the mouth shapes, Moho can even calculate smooth transitions here. However, the smooth transitions should not be visible when using Smartbones.
Layers can be sorted and summarised in groups in the layer menu. Different blending modes (as in other graphics applications) can also be selected there, for example.
If bones are used, all elements to be animated must be subordinate to a bone group. To do this, either create a bone layer in the layer menu and then move the layers to be manipulated underneath it, or create a layer group by right-clicking on selected layers, which can then be converted into a bone layer. Switch layers can also be created in exactly the same way. And Moho also has a text layer.

Bony

Lost Marble advertises a sophisticated bone system. Not all bones are the same in Moho. There are bones that are “simply” drawn hierarchically.
Every bone that is drawn on an active bone is automatically bound to it. With the “Reparent Bone” icon, the hierarchy, represented by green and, for selected bones, red arrows, can be viewed and changed. Sketch bones are drawn even more simply, in a single line. This allows long bone chains to be created. The length of the individual bones can be preset. Smart Bones can probably control every animation that has been summarised in an action via its respective angle – including the order of the objects in switch layers. Actions can be reused as required. Under “suitable” conditions, e.g. if bone structures with the same structure are used, they can even be used in different projects.
The Vitruvian Man, or rather the famous depiction by Leonardo da Vinci, was the model for the name Vitruvian Bones. When using these bones, similar to switch layers, elements (e.g. body parts, but with the bones included) are exchanged in the animation. For example, a character has four arms, like Shiba. Each arm has a different posture and position. By switching the individual poses of the arms, animation time is to be saved considerably.
Pin bones are created by simply placing a point when drawing a bone. They can be used like “normal” bones but, depending on the specified bone strength, they enable special distortion effects to be created both for vector drawings and imported bitmaps by moving (T), rotating (T Alt) or scaling (T CTRL). As mentioned, bones always affect the objects that are subordinate to them.
Binding in Moho, as in 3D software, is the linking of bones and “content”. Flexi-Bind Points is the standard method; it binds points to bones in such a way that they are influenced by all the bones in the parent bone layer, depending on the Bone Strength, the area of influence of each bone. More control is achieved with the direct binding of selected points to selected bones (bind points). When recreating classic cutout animations, it makes sense to have all the body parts of a figure to be animated in individual layers. Bones that are connected to these layers (bind layers) then only affect these elements.

Moho still offers some options to make rigging more efficient, e.g. the option to “Create Smooth Joint for Bone Pair” (tries to create smooth joints between two bones). This is probably best suited for bending bitmaps, e.g. when bending a leg.

Conclusion

Moho clearly claims to do 2D animation at a professional level, and not just because of the $400 price tag for the Pro version. Moho offers a wealth of drawing and animation options that cover almost every possible 2D task. However, the software also requires a corresponding amount of effort before it can be used effectively. We will save ourselves a comparison with other applications that are either easier to use but offer fewer possibilities – or can do even more, but are then also more complex.
If you are serious about 2D animation and want to try out the advantages of vector graphics and, above all, Moho’s Bone system, you should take a look at the demo versions. We think that the latest upgrade, especially because of the new graphics engine, has really taken Moho to a new level. We wish Moho a good way into the future and hope for good news from Lost Marble.

A collection of Moho scripts

There are various instructions for installing the scripts in Moho, including here:
is.gd/moho_scripts_install. At least for most of the scripts in this list there is the option “Download for Install Script command”. In this case, the installation was successful with just a few clicks using the installation script integrated in Moho. Please make sure that the scripts are intended for the current Moho version!

Some suggestions for testing
MR Curve Tool: This script simplifies the drawing of curves. One option is
z. Drawing outside frame 0. is.gd/mr_curve_tool

MR Pose Tool: Promises to speed up posing by combining the Transform Bone and Manipulate tools. is.gd/mr_pose_tool

MR Key Motion: Manipulates curves in the timeline by moving selected keyframes (Smooth, Pull
(Smooth, Pull, Scale, Flip). is.gd/mr_key_motion

MR Path: Should help to analyse animations by drawing “bone” and “point paths” across the animation layers for visualisation. is.gd/mr_path

MR Tween Machine: Anticipation and exaggeration – anticipating movements and “overshooting” are among the well-known principles of animation. This script generates additional keyframes before and after the end of a movement in order to achieve the desired behaviour. is.gd/mr_tween_machine

MR Transform Rig Tool: Parts of the rig can be deformed without affecting its functions. is.gd/mr_transform_rig

MR Guides: Create and edit guides without having to leave the current layer and action. is.gd/mr_guides

MR Overlay: Create an “overlay” to obtain a reference layer. is.gd/mr_overlay

MR Continue Animation: Extend existing animations based on two neighbouring keyframes up to the current frame. is.gd/mr_continue_animation

MR Track Bone: Transfer the transformation of a bone from an animation to any skeleton. is.gd/mr_track_bone

Script for importing Affinity Layers or Krita, Spine, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Gimp… into Moho is.gd/import_layers

LipSync with papagayo: An app to easily automate lip synchronisation lostmarble.com/papagayo

Specsheet

Moho Pro 14: 399.99 US dollars
Moho Debut 14: 59.99 US dollars
For the differences between the two versions, see here: is.gd/moho_debut_14
or is.gd/moho_pro_14

System requirements

Windows 10 or higher, 2.0 GHz Intel Core i3 or higher, 4 GB RAM or higher, 16 GB free hard drive space or more, OpenGL 4.1-supported graphics card required (1920 × 1080 recommended)

macOS 10.15, or higher, 2.0 GHz Intel Core i3 or higher, 4 GB RAM or higher,
1.6 GB free hard drive space or more, OpenGL 4.1-supported graphics card required (1920 × 1080 recommended) – Moho 14 is fully compatible with Apple silicon chips (M1) (M2)

For displays with high pixel density, the minimum resolution varies depending on the scaling level recommended by the operating system. For example, if the operating system recommends a scaling level of 200 per cent, the minimum requirement may be a resolution of 2736 × 1824. Or if the operating system recommends a scaling level of 150 per cent, the minimum requirement can be up to a resolution of 2160 × 1440.

A demo version is available. This is fully functional, allows opening and saving of Moho files, and is valid for 30 days. Restrictions are no import of external file formats (images, films) and no export of animations to other formats (MP4, MOV, PNG…)

Plasticity has caused quite a furore on the internet and in some forums of the maker scene in a short space of time. There are already hundreds of tutorials on YouTube, mostly by enthusiastic users who proudly share their first experiences and knowledge of the fairly new programme. Many of these videos have already been viewed by thousands of users within a short space of time and have received plenty of comments. We took a quick look at the latest version – and were equally impressed.

Design history and parametric modelling – or just simple direct modelling?

The release of Pro/ENGINEER in 1987, which introduced chronology-based parametric modelling to the CAD industry, is generally regarded as an important milestone in the history of computer-aided design (CAD). Since then, this modelling principle has been used in the most common CAD programs. The advantages of this method are the ability to retrace every design step and to edit all parameters, such as dimensions and dependencies, retrospectively. However, this work requires correct planning and structuring of the projects and some effort, e.g. when creating the obligatory sketches with dimensions and restrictions… Anyone who tries to model something “on the fly” with CAD software without prior knowledge is likely to be frustrated at first.

Plasticity as a pure direct modeller promises a remedy here. Reminiscent of the UI and workflow of Blender, modelling should be quick and easy – even for artists who are not so familiar with CAD – and shy away from the effort required to see results. Plasticity does without some of the important functions for the CAD industry: no parametric editing, no design history, no editable sketches with dimensions..

Is this a new Blender – in slimline?

Plasticity starts with a tidy interface. In the centre is a 3D work window, just like in Blender – even with the obligatory cube. There are no menus to be seen, just a few icons arranged in groups, which seem somewhat self-explanatory. Tool tips help to recognise the functions that are easy to understand at first glance. At the top left is a small circle with a “P” on it and a tick next to it. A menu can be opened here, including file commands and access to the preferences. Below this is the equivalent of Blender’s Outliner (lists all objects in the project).

At the bottom left there are icons for transformation and quickly accessible commands (Boolean, Cut solid width curve, Mirror, Duplicate Object). On the right-hand side of the work window, a vertical icon bar shows the actual tools for creating various curve shapes (Line, Spline Curve, Centre circle…) and for editing them (trimming, adding new points or generating a bridge curve between two reference points). You can also create “solid” bodies (sphere, cube, cylinder). Context-sensitive input windows and icons for additional functions are provided for all tools. Help for shortcuts to various options is also displayed. The “f” key can be used to call up a list of all program commands, assign shortcuts or define favourites for the search menu. At the top right are navigation elements and a switch to change the render mode. At the top left, similar to Blender, there are icons for changing the editing modes: points, edges, surfaces, objects – already assigned the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 by default.

On the right, outside the work window, snap functions and construction planes can be switched, on which, for example, new objects are aligned in space when they are created (XY, YZ, XZ, Plane from Camera, Plane from Selection – with the Space button, the current selection also becomes a “Temporary construction plane”, which can be called up again until a new selection is made. The alignment of the construction planes represents Plasticity’s grid. In addition, some information about the current performance in FPS and about selected scene objects is displayed.

Even if at first glance you might have the feeling that you are looking at a slimmed-down version of Blender’s Polygon Modeller, nothing is polygonal – everything is NURBS with the corresponding special features. In some cases, the software seems to be able to deal better with operations in which polygon objects for smooth surfaces must consist of very dense meshes with many polygons, while the shapes in Plasticity are first “calculated” independently of resolution with the help of NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines). Polygon meshes are only created during export, e.g. for 3D printing (.STL or .OBJ) or for further processing in other 3D applications. Plasticity offers various options for exporting with preview views of the respective mesh.

First steps – cubes

For the first steps in Plasticity, we accepted the obligatory cube and simply “played” with the functions offered. What was striking was the sometimes really quick and easy access to various functions, which hardly differ from Blender’s polygon workflow. The selection of points, edges, surfaces and objects is reminiscent of Blender. Even Blender’s shortcuts and navigation commands can be found again (navigation presets for a whole range of 3D tools can be selected in the preferences (Blender, Maya, MoI3D, 3ds Max, Fusion 360, Rhino). The object manipulation tools, such as transformations, array functions (linear, radial) or Booleans are fairly self-explanatory and quick to use, as they can be called up with a single click. In contrast to Blender, where a huge range of functions is also achieved through add-ons and non-destructive modifiers, Plasticity tries to score points with simplicity and quick function calls. We found it a bit of a pity that although the dimensions of objects, for example, can be entered easily and accurately when creating them (Plasticity can even do the maths here!), the other ease of use seems to be missing when editing later.

For example, to subsequently edit length, width, angle or position, Plasticity only offers to change the existing shape relatively (e.g. scaling factors). Plasticity does offer several options for subsequently defining dimensions in absolute terms, but probably no longer with just one click. Commands such as moving, scaling or rotating “matching” objects, which offer definable snap points, use the “Freestyle” option, for example. In this mode, objects can be precisely positioned and aligned with each other, among other things. The absolute size can also be defined in this way. When scaling, a starting point must first be defined (e.g. the centre of an object surface) in order to then define absolute values for the transformation of an opposite surface from there. Snapping to reference objects also works. Object lengths can also be determined by displaying the length of edges or faces. Users who are spoilt for choice would be pleased to be able to enter or edit such parameters later – especially as Plasticity displays various data for selected objects anyway: in addition to the position, the length of curves, the curve length (the circumference) and radius for circles and the surface area and volume for solid bodies – even in different units of measurement.

In addition to the transformations of solids (still our cube), all edges and faces can be edited as required. If one or more edges, even of different objects, are selected, the Fillet tool is automatically available. Depending on the direction of movement of the mouse pointer, either a bevel or a soft chamfer is created. Bevels can be subsequently deleted or further edited in the same way as faces – the values from bevels on other objects can also be adopted with a click of the mouse. When faces are selected, the extrusion tool is automatically activated.

Sharp curves – 6 tools for everything

With a total of 6 drawing tools, all necessary curved shapes can be created: Line, Spline, Circle, Regular Polygon, Spiral and Rectangle. There are options for some tools, e.g. Spline Curve or Control Point Curve – can be changed during drawing using the Tab key. Other options relate to whether shapes, e.g. circles, are defined from the centre or via control points. The sharp corners of lines can be smoothed with the Fillet function (b) (or with the Convert vertex command). Curves can be joined together (if the end points are in the same position). Spline curves can also be deformed, as in other programmes. It is not necessary to activate the Move mode for this, as is usual with Blender. It is sufficient to click and drag vertices or control points directly with the cursor in point mode. By additionally holding down the Alt key, a curve can be proportionally deformed up to the next control vertice. Extend Curve achieves interesting results. This allows you to “continue drawing” open curves that have been started according to various rules – or to shorten them. This creates further harmonious curves.

Essentially, Plasticity offers 4 methods to generate bodies from curves:

• Pipe (P) – a simple way to extrude profiles on a curve. The default setting is a circle. In earlier versions, it was probably still possible to use profile curves. This was not available in the current version. Pipe can be a cool way to add details to objects, e.g. if the edges of bodies (or painted curves) are used as pipe curves to cut profiles into the surfaces (Boolean Difference) or to apply ornaments (Boolean Union).
• Sweep (Shift P) – like the Pipe tool, to extrude profiles along curves. There still seems to be potential here – some other graphic tools offer taper options or scaling of cross-sections at junctions or twists..
  Revolve – contours are rotated along an arbitrary axis – without flourishes.
• Extrude (E) – corresponds to what is known as the extrusion of curves or surfaces. It is possible to specify a thickness during extrusion
  during extrusion. Angles can be specified for the extrusion of surfaces. For example, a pyramid can be extruded from a square instead of a cube.
• Loft (L) – perhaps the most interesting option in Plasticity, because curves can be combined quite easily to create beautiful smooth surfaces and Plasticity is quite convenient when designing 3D curves. As mentioned, curves can be drawn in various ways, but can also be obtained from the surfaces of 3D objects. The easiest way is to duplicate existing edges, e.g. on fillets or the intersections of Boolean functions. However, it is also possible to draw directly on the surfaces of objects or to project curves onto them.

In this way, for example, you can obtain three-dimensionally curved curves that are adapted to the surface of the bodies. This makes it relatively easy to provide more complex three-dimensionally aligned curves for the loft objects.
The shape of loft objects can also be controlled using special guides (control curves). Plasticity offers different continuity settings for loft and patch objects (“plugged” holes in surfaces) in order to achieve smoother transitions on surfaces. It was not always possible to achieve optimum results immediately in the test if the geometric specifications were probably too “critical” for a satisfactory calculation by Plasticity.

Conclusion

We don’t want to get involved in the discussion as to whether Plasticity 3D represents a revolution in 3D modelling or is not a CAD program to be taken seriously. Plasticity does not come close to the functional scope of large – and in some cases expensive – CAD applications. It also lacks typical, quasi “standard features” of CAD programs, such as chronology-based parametric modelling or customisable dimensions and special editing functions. Plasticity 3D is unlikely to compete with established CAD applications for industrial design.

However, users can start using direct modelling almost immediately and quickly achieve results, even without extensive prior knowledge of complex CAD programs and without preparatory measures (including time-consuming sketching with correct restrictions…). Although or because the UI is reminiscent of Blender’s modelling workflow – Blender users will quickly find their way around – we found the introduction to NURBS-based modelling in Plasticity quite accessible. Many modelling tasks go surprisingly quickly after some practice.

We particularly liked the easy-to-use curve tools and the ability to create harmoniously curved surfaces from 3D curves. Easy-to-use curve tools, extrusion and rotation solids, sweep and Boolean functions, cutting solids with curves or “hollow a solid” with just a few clicks – and of course the cool fillet functions make you want to model with this software. There is already another beta version, which will include a bridge to Blender to make it easier to combine the advantages of both programmes. Given the pace of development of the software to date, this could be expected soon. Then even more users could possibly follow the advice from a forum and try using both programmes in a complementary way. After all, it costs nothing to test the free demo version. We look forward to further developments.

Indie: 99 dollars (plus VAT) Use on 2 machines simultaneously, version 1.x updates included
Studio: 299 dollars Use on 4 machines simultaneously, all updates included for 12 months, including major versions (2.x) Access to the beta programme for 12 months

Mandatory for companies with more than 10 employees
30-day trial version: free Windows, MacOS (M1), MacOS (Intel), Linux (deb)

Flame Painter is a painting programme with a difference. The main feature of the software is vivid brushstrokes that are controlled by various particle systems. This makes it possible to create fascinating effects that can hardly be realised with normal software – at least not without effort. Anyone trying out the software for the first time will easily understand how the programme got its name.

The tool invites you to experiment with a wide variety of brushes and different particle systems – with almost limitless possibilities.

A short but fiery introduction

The operation of the programme is similar to that of conventional painting programmes. You can get started without having to study the software too much: In principle, after creating a new file and selecting a brush, you can start painting straight away. In most cases, the results are astonishing – at least in most cases hardly predictable.

Below the standard menu bar (File, Edit, Layer …) there is a drawing area (canvas), arranged on the left, a tools palette, an options window and the brushes library. On the right-hand side there is a navigator window, a colour palette and a layers panel. The user interface can be customised to suit individual requirements by scaling and positioning the work windows. In the current version, the “Reset Layout to Default” option is available under the “Window” menu item. This allows you to restore order to the screen after a restart. A brush and a pen tool are available for drawing. There is also an eraser, a fill tool and an eyedropper. A symmetry and mirror option can be switched on for the brush tool. Flame Painter has various selection tools (rectangle, circle, polygon, freehand, magic wall) with Boolean functions to combine selections. With a crop tool, the creations can be brought into shape by cropping the canvas (absolutely similar to the crop tool in Photoshop) or the image size can be changed by dragging handles. At the top right is a navigator for quicker orientation in large documents, below this is the window with the colour palette.

At the bottom right, the Layers window is reminiscent of the layer window in Photoshop. A special feature are the vector layers, which allow strokes to be edited afterwards (both curve points and parameters of the particle system). Only one stroke at a time is possible on a vector layer. If the painting stroke is interrupted and restarted, the previous stroke is deleted. A separate vector layer must therefore be created for each stroke.

It is precisely these vector layers that elevate Flame Painter from a hobby tool to a real tool, because this is the only way to achieve a certain degree of control over the living brushes. It is also possible to import SVG graphics, for example. Any brushes can subsequently be assigned to paths.

Flame Painter imports Photoshop files as well as PNG, JPG, BMP and TIF formats. Images can also be dragged directly from an Internet browser into Flame Painter.
The complex features of Flame Painter are the particle systems, the painting modes of Flame Painter. These are standard:

• Flame – the classic painting mode, in which the brushstroke follows the cursor with different oscillations depending on the speed, creating the most bizarre colour patterns of varying brightness.
• Follow – here the brushstroke follows the cursor more precisely.
• Ribbon – the manual calls this painting mode “Loop”.

Various parameters can be set for each of these particle systems, all of which influence each other. Hundreds of brush effects (settings) are available to create seemingly infinite variations of strokes.

Newly burnt in Flame Painter 4

• The particle systems have been expanded to include the additional “Liner”, “Elastic” and “Fuzzy”. Around 250 prepared brushes (brush presets) are waiting to be downloaded from the Escape Motions page (this online collection can also be accessed via a button in the Flame Painter library, where there is also a button for uploading your own creations).
• The Brush Creator expands the setting options of the brushes enormously with new variables. You can easily create your own brushes by varying existing brushes. The Symmetry tool with Mirror option creates symmetrical graphics, which is particularly helpful for maps.
• Palette Panel – The palette window has been revised and expanded. It is now possible to choose between different colour models (HSV, HSL, HSLuv and RGB). In addition to the colour selection, the colour gradient and image library can also be called up here. Gradients are still only available as linear gradients. Angle settings are also not yet possible. The matching colour selection tool allows you to pick up colours from the active or all layers, whereby the tool shows the current colour of the palette and the respective colour under the cursor for comparison.
• In addition to the Blur, Glow – the name says it all – and Tile Layer filters for creating endless tileable patterns, there are 9 new filters for adjusting brightness, colour and contrast, among other things. White or black can be made transparent using filters or coloured layers can be converted to shades of grey using various options (Desaturate).
• With the Photoshop plug-in “Flame Painter Connect”, layers can be exchanged directly between Flame Painter and Photoshop
  can be exchanged. However, Flame Painter Connect for Flame Painter 4 is only compatible with Photoshop CC 2015 and higher.

Conclusion

What started out as a small, experimental tool has now become an application that is not only fun to use, but also fulfils professional requirements.

Flame Painter is still a fun programme that invites you to experiment (almost) endlessly. But this tool should also offer professional users interesting possibilities for quickly creating a wide variety of unusual effects, e.g. for backgrounds, textures, as additional image effects, etc. New particle systems, lots of new, customisable brushes, an editor for creating your own brushes, editable vector layers to which hundreds of brushes can now be assigned with a single click, import of SVG graphics and improved exchange with Photoshop CC are all reasons to update to the latest version.

It’s a bit of a shame that the personal edition is no longer available. On the other hand, the large version that is now available has really grown up. With the latest innovations, the creative boundaries have been pushed further and Peter BlaškoviČ’s vision that anyone can be an artist if they only have the inspiring tools to hand has become more tangible.