Review by Nancy Famolari

I tried the Debut version of Anima Studio and got hooked on trying to make my own animated clips. I have to admit it’s time consuming and not easy, but the tools in the Anima Studio products are extremely helpful. I particularly like their tutorial for new users. It leads you step by step through creating a short video. The advanced tools are not part of this tutorial, but it’s a great way to get started. Of course, if you really are a pro, you’re probably want to skip it. There are also a number of on line tutorials to help you understand the advanced features like automatic image tracing, bone rigging and physics. While I haven’t mastered them all yet, I’ve had great fun learning how to integrate them.

I also like the drawing tools. They allow you to make charts and graphs and then animate them for use in presentations. I find this very effective. It’s also fairly easy in this version to do free hand drawing. With the possibility of adding bones you can make some interesting characters. The ability to import content form other programs is also very helpful because you can bring in your photographs, or drawings and modify them within the program.

In addition to the tutorials there are free webinars online that will appeal to users wondering how to turn their hobby into a profession by selling their work. I’m not there yet. I am trying to make trailers for my books, but so far I haven’t wanted to upload them. When I feel more comfortable there are lots of options for getting you content out there.

I highly recommend this software. It isn’t easy to use, but the time it takes to learn it is well worth the effort.