Final project: Software choice

 Even though, I have already done some experimenting with the software I am going to be using for my final project, I have decided to build up on that, try some more features of the program and concentrate on why I chose OpenToonz over different animation softwares. 

Firstly, I decided to choose OpenToonz over Blender, which is a software I am already quite familiar with, and this may be surprising. There are different reasons why I chose OpenToonz, firstly and most importantly, I wanted to learn how to operate in a software I did not know. I think if there is an opportunity to learn, it is great to use it. 

OpenToonz is a great software for animators, that has a lot of different functions and so is Blender. My issue with Blender is, that it is a very heavy program, it is indeed a program for 3D modeling, 3D animation and 2D animation. My computer is not designed to do this kind of work on it, therefore it works extremely slow in Blender and the rendering process takes ages. I do have a rendering problem in OpenToonz as well, which I talked about in my last post about my software. Maybe in Blender I would not have an issue with saving files as MOV or AVI or MP4 files, however I have had situation where I would lose all my progress in Blender because my computer would randomly shut down, because of how heavy the program is. I did not want to risk it and I would rather save all the files as image pictures and throw them into IMovie to render them together. 

There is a lot of online resources I can use to help myself to figure out how to work in OpenToonz. There is this youtube account called NobleFrugal Studio and they have created a lot of tutorials on OpenToonz. 

When I open the 2D tab in blender it looks like this:

It is somewhat similar to what I see when I open OpenToonz, however just by looking at different tabs and options, I feel like OpenToonz is a lot more intuitive. Blender indeed has a lot of options and different possibilities. I personally, have just used blender for 3D modeling and I was surprised with the amount of modifiers and other tools accessible to use. Definitely Blender is one of the best free softwares for animation and 3D modeling and I am definitely going to use it in the future, when I get a computer more designated for doing this kind of work. 

For now, I think OpenToonz is easier to navigate, there are less options that can make things confusing and it does not slow my computer down as much. The only problem is the exporting process but I have overcame it with a solution. 

When I open OpenToonz it looks like this: 

As I mentioned before, the layout looks a little bit similar, but not exactly. Not only the timeline is in a different place, but also OpenToonz has a palette open right there and I do not have to look through the materials to find the color I want. OpenToonz does not have the whole box designated for modifiers, materials and other features that can definitely be useful for advanced animators, but I would not use in this particular project. 

After comparing these two programs, I have chosen OpenToonz, because it seems to me that it is more suitable for the project I am doing right now and that it will be easier for me to navigate. I am definitely planning on exploring Blender more in the future, since I know this is a great software, but not for this particular project.