At the Silicon Valley launch event for Microsoft’s Surface Studio, Smith Micro Software showcased updates to its award-winning 2D animation tool Moho 12 (formerly Anime Studio). Topping the new features list is optimization for use with Microsoft’s new Surface Dial, making it faster and easier than ever to create complex animations.
“Moho 12 is already the most complete drawing and animation solution on the market. Now with the power of the new Microsoft Surface Studio, and the ease and creativity afforded by the new Surface Dial, Moho turns the tedious work of traditional animation into a faster, more streamlined digital experience,” said Fahim Niaz, Director of Product Management at Smith Micro Software.
“We are excited to see how the Moho animation software comes alive on the Surface Studio and takes advantage of Surface Dial to allow people to more quickly and easily create complex animations,” added John Richards, General Manager of Surface at Microsoft. “The Smith Micro experience on Surface Studio is a fantastic example of how Surface Dial can deliver real value and open new possibilities and efficiencies to creative professionals.”
The enabled Moho features for Surface Studio and Surface Dial include:
New Overlay Timeline: When the Surface Dial is on the screen, a new overlay timeline appears following its position, hiding other windows and allowing the artist to intuitively navigate in time, and animate using the entire screen.
Rigged Characters: The Surface Dial allows artists to easily select frames within the timeline where new animation can be added to rigged characters using Moho’s SmartBones feature. As movements are added via pen or cursor, the animator can use the Surface Dial to scroll back and forth through the new animation sequence to easily see if the movement is correct.
Rotating Canvas: After selecting Rotation Mode in the Surface Dial, artists can easily rotate the canvas by turning the dial left or right, making free-hand drawing easier by changing the canvas orientation up to 360 degrees.
Frame-by-Frame Animation: Using the Surface Dial to quickly add new frames with a double-click, artists can draw on a sequence of still frames, and then rotate the dial left or right to simulate flip-book animation.
Moho 12 is available for purchase ahead of the release of Surface Studio through Smith Micro and the Windows store.
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