Moho (previously marketed as Anime Studio) is a proprietary

vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

-based 2D

animation Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

application distributed by Lost Marble LLC. It is sold in two different packages: Moho Pro, described as 'The all-in-one animation tool for professionals and digital artists,' is a fully fledged professional & prosumer 2D/3D animation platform; and Moho Debut – described as 'The fun, quick and affordable way to create your own cartoons and animations in minutes,' is similar to the pro version but with features restricted. Moho is available for Windows and macOS in English, Spanish, French, Russian, German, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional) and Japanese. (A much earlier Linux version is no longer available).

History

The software was originally developed under the name "Moho" in 1999 by Mike Clifton at LostMarble. The software was distributed by E Frontier until 2007, when it was accquired by

Smith Micro Smith Micro Software, Inc., founded in 1982 by William W. Smith, Jr., is a developer and marketer of both enterprise and consumer-level software and services. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Smith Micro maintains multiple domestic and ...

and renamed Anime Studio, as a marketing companion for the former

Manga Studio Clip Studio Paint (previously marketed as Manga Studio in North America), informally known in Japan as ,A clipping of the Japanese pronunciation of its name, ''Kurippu Sutajio Peinto''. is a family of software applications developed by Japanese ...

. In 2010, Smith Micro released Anime Studio 7, which added features such as Physics, 3D creation and an improved interface. In 2011, Anime Studio 8 added features such as the Character Wizard, layered Photoshop import, and real-time media connection. Version 8.1 also supported the new Poser 9 SDK and integrated the Wacom

Multi-touch In computing, multi-touch is technology that enables a surface (a touchpad or touchscreen) to recognize the presence of more than one point of contact with the surface at the same time. The origins of multitouch began at CERN, MIT, University ...

API, allowing it to work natively with Wacom's Bamboo and Intuos tablets. In 2012, Smith Micro released Anime Studio 9, with new features including Smart Bones, Editable Motion Graphs, and Bézier handles, as well as enhancements to the timeline, key frames, and onionskins. In 2014, Anime Studio 10 contained upgraded features and new mechanics to its predecessor. In 2015, Anime Studio 11 added frame-by-frame animation, layer referencing, animated shape ordering, enhanced tools and brushes, JSON file format support, and other features. In 2016, Anime Studio was renamed Moho by Smith Micro Software to reflect the software's ability to do more than just anime. In 2016, Moho 12 was released with Pin Bones, optimized Bézier handles, improved free hand tools, Smart Warp, real motion blur, and more. Moho Pro 12 was released in August 2016. In October 2016, Moho became available for the

Microsoft Surface Microsoft Surface is a series of touchscreen-based personal computers, tablets and interactive whiteboards designed and developed by Microsoft, running the Microsoft Windows operating system, apart from the Surface Duo, which runs on A ...

Studio. Smith Micro worked with Microsoft to develop Moho functionality for the Surface Dial peripheral. This feature set enabled users to create animations more quickly and easily through functions such as a new overlay timeline, rigged characters, rotating canvases and frame-by-frame animation. In June 2019, Moho 13 introduced new bitmap tools, including bitmap frame to frame capabilities, and re-engineered 3D objects support. On 22 December 2020, it was announced that the Moho 2D animation software had been acquired by Lost Marble LLC, a company founded by Mike Clifton, the original creator of Moho, and Victor Paredes, Supervisor of Moho animation at

Cartoon Saloon Cartoon Saloon is an Irish animation film, short film and television studio based in Kilkenny which provides film TV and short film services. The studio is best known for its animated feature films '' The Secret of Kells'', ''Song of the Sea'', ...

and former Moho Product Manager. On 26 April 2021, Lost Marble LLC released Moho 13.5, with new features including Vitruvian Bones, Wind Dynamics and Quad meshes, as well as a slightly refreshed User Interface.

Features

* Moho features layers of different types for artwork as well as for grouping and switching assets. Layers can be animated in perspective. * Layer ordering can be animated. * Camera movements. * Pressure-sensitive tablets in combination with brush shapes can be used to create natural-looking strokes. Artwork created in Moho is resolution-independent. * The animator can create a skeleton of bones to which pieces of artwork are attached. The skeleton works with

inverse Inverse or invert may refer to: Science and mathematics * Inverse (logic), a type of conditional sentence which is an immediate inference made from another conditional sentence * Additive inverse (negation), the inverse of a number that, when a ...

and

forward kinematics In robot kinematics, forward kinematics refers to the use of the kinematic equations of a robot to compute the position of the end-effector from specified values for the joint parameters. The kinematics equations of the robot are used in robo ...

and makes it easier to animate characters. *

Tweening Inbetweening, also known as tweening, is a process in animation that involves creating intermediate frames, called inbetweens, between two keyframes. The intended result is to create the illusion of movement by smoothly transitioning one image i ...

of all layer, vector shapes, and bone animation. *

Physics engine A physics engine is computer software that provides an approximate simulation of certain physical systems, such as rigid body dynamics (including collision detection), soft body dynamics, and fluid dynamics, of use in the domains of computer gr ...

, Particles and Wind Dynamics to simulate reality. * Styles for outlines and fills. * Masks are possible. * Some 3D abilities, useful for

multiplane camera The multiplane camera is a motion-picture camera that was used in the traditional animation process that moves a number of pieces of artwork past the camera at various speeds and at various distances from one another. This creates a sense of par ...

effects and virtual set building. * In combination with Papagayo, Moho supports automated lip-synching, where an imported sound can be automatically added to a mouth to make the mouth move as if it is talking in sync with the audio. * Moho supports several file formats to import pictures and video. Alpha channels of PNG and video files are recognised. * Multiple soundtracks can be added. * Most tools are completely scriptable (in Lua) * Smart Bones and Vitruvian Bones technology. * Actions for premade re-useable animation sequences. * Smart Warp, Quad meshes and Live meshes. * Editable motion graphs with Bézier handles. * Onionskins for frame-by-frame control. * Supports layered Photoshop files. * Includes a timeline with keyframes.

Notable uses

Feature films

* Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss (Phil Nibbelink Productions) - 2006 * To the Top of the World (Cine-Clube de Avanca) *

The Secret of Kells ''The Secret of Kells'' is a 2009 animated fantasy film about the making of the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript from the 9th Century. The film is an Irish-French-Belgian co-production animated by Cartoon Saloon, which premiered on 8 F ...

(Cartoon Saloon) - 2009 * Technotise: Edit & I (Yodi Movie Craftsman; Black, White & Green studio) - 2009 *

Song of the Sea The Song of the Sea ( he, שירת הים, ''Shirat HaYam'', also known as ''Az Yashir Moshe'' and Song of Moses, or ''Mi Chamocha'') is a poem that appears in the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible, at . It is followed in verses 20 and 21 b ...

(Cartoon Saloon) - 2014 * The Breadwinner (Cartoon Saloon) - 2017 *

Wolfwalkers ''Wolfwalkers'' is a 2020 animated fantasy adventure film directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. The film is the third and final installment in Moore's "Irish Folklore Trilogy", following his previous films '' The Secret of Kells'' (2009) and ...

(Cartoon Saloon) - 2020 * My Father's Dragon (Cartoon Saloon) - 2022

Short films, TV and Web series

* Club Baboo (Frame Order) *

Puffin Rock ''Puffin Rock'' is an Irish children's television series. Based on Puffin Island, situated off the Irish coast, the series follows a young puffin named Oona and her little brother Baba as they explore their world. The program is narrated by Ch ...

(Cartoon Saloon) - 2015 * Pete the Cat (Amazon Studios) - 2018 * Jay’s Life on YouTube (Kartoon Management) * Lil’ Ron Ron on YouTube (Cartoon Connect) * Phungus & Mowld on Amazon Prime Video (Pixelblast Animation) - 2020

References

External links

Moho (Anime Studio) - Official PageLost Marble LLC - Official PageMoho (Anime Studio) Forum - Official Page
*Smith Micro Software, Inc. page

*e frontier America, Inc. page
Anime StudioMoho (Anime Studio) TutorialsMoho Scripting - Scripting Documentation
{{Animation editors Animation software 2D animation software Lua (programming language)-scriptable software