Moho (software)
 | |
| Original author(s) | Mike Clifton |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Lost Marble LLC |
| Stable release | Windows: 14, Mac: 14
/ 12 September 2023 |
| Written in | C++, Lua |
| Operating system | Windows, macOS |
| Type | Animation software |
| License | Proprietary, trialware |
| Website | mohoanimation |
Moho' (formerly marketed as Anime Studio) is a proprietary vector-based 2D animation application distributed by Lost Marble LLC. It has two distinct packages: Moho Pro and Moho Debut. Moho Debut is similar to the pro version, but with restricted features.[1]
History
The software was originally developed under the name "Moho" in 1999 by Mike Clifton at Lost Marble. The software was distributed by E Frontier until 2007, when it was acquired by Smith Micro Software[1] and renamed to Anime Studio.
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 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. It also included enhancements to the timeline, keyframes, and onion skin.
In 2014, Anime Studio 10 contained upgraded features and new mechanics to its predecessor. Some of these include new drawing tools, improved inverse kinematics, squash & stretch, and rendering improvements. Version 10.1 added the ability to copy keyframes between similar characters.
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 rebranded as its original name Moho by Smith Micro Software to reflect the software's ability to create more animated content than anime.[2]
In 2016, Moho 12 was released with pin bones, optimized bézier handles, improved free hand tools, smart warp, real motion blur, and more.[3] Moho Pro 12 was released in August 2016. In October 2016, Moho became available for the Microsoft Surface 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 object support.[4]
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 and former Moho Product Manager.[5]
On 26 April 2021, Lost Marble LLC released Moho 13.5, with new features including Vitruvian Bones, Wind Dynamics, Quad meshes, and a slightly refreshed user interface.
On 12 September 2023, Lost Marble LLC released Moho 14, with new features including a new graphics engine, improved drawing and frame-by-frame tools, liquid shapes, curvers, new freehand styles, smart line boil, easier follow through and overlapping with dynamics, delayed constraints, an updated scripting interface, a better timeline, and improved SVG support and user interface.
| Version | Release date | Publisher | Improvements, features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 1999 | LostMarble | Initial release |
| 5.6 | 2006 | LostMarble | Introduction of lip-synching, Flash output, improved text, Illustrator import, vector drawing tools |
| 6.0 | June 9, 2009 | Smith Micro | Built-in lip-syncing and sequencer, improved interface |
| 6.1 | September 22, 2009 | Smith Micro | Upload to Facebook, French and German versions, the ability to enter non-English characters in text fields. |
| 7.0 | June 9, 2010 | Smith Micro | Improvements to physics, 3D creation, interface |
| 7.1 | October 13, 2010 | Smith Micro | Contains several fixes including switch layer fix |
| 8.0 | June 8, 2011 | Smith Micro | Character wizard, layered Photoshop import, real-time media connection, support for Poser 9 SDK, integrated Wacom multi-touch API |
| 8.1 | July 7, 2011 | Smith Micro | Fixes to the library window, mouse focus, window-location memory, stroke construction when welding curves closed, some layer masking issues, auto-save issues that cause bone rigs to occasionally reset themselves |
| 9.0 | September 10, 2012 | Smith Micro | Features like smart bones, editable motion graphs, bézier handles, enhancements to the timeline, key frames, onion skin |
| 9.1 | October 22, 2012 | Smith Micro | Fixed a problem where deleting a style could sometimes lead to a crash; fixed issue related to specifying a user-content location on first launch; rendered RLE AVI now imports properly into AS; revamped script management |
| 9.2 | January 9, 2013 | Smith Micro | Updated English manuals for Debut and Pro; changes can be applied to multiple layers; added buttons to reveal source images and audio; fixed Lua DLL module loading |
| 9.5 | August 12, 2013 | Smith Micro | Smart Bones enhancements; nested Layer controls with more hierarchical control over rigs; flexi-binding isolate tshe influence of bones; depth shifting helps preserve the size of objects; viewing of real-time changes on the canvas; switch layer enhancements |
| 10.0 | March 6, 2014 | Smith Micro | Updated content library with free characters, props, scenes, enhanced drawing tools, multiple document support, combined bone tools, combined point tools, point hiding, edit multiple Layers simultaneously, automatic updates |
| 10.1 | July 25, 2014 | Smith Micro | The application now runs in English, German, or Spanish; fixed over 200 bugs; layers can be copied and pasted between documents; added an image layer cropping tool |
| 10.2 | October 13, 2014 | Smith Micro | Several bug fixes (no blog post to specify exact features or fixes) |
| 10.3 | March 25, 2014 | Smith Micro | Several bug fixes (no blog post to specify exact features or fixes) |
| 11.0 | June 3, 2015 | Smith Micro | Vector-based draw, paint and fill tools, bone rigging, animation timeline, audio recording, sound effects, improved lip-syncing |
| 11.1 | July 15, 2015 | Smith Micro | Several bug fixes (no blog post to specify exact features or fixes) |
| 11.2 | January 4, 2016 | Smith Micro | Added a tool to sketch bones; added additive cycles; many bug fixes |
| 12.0 | August 4, 2016 | Smith Micro | Bone-rigging, timeline, enhanced drawing tools, improved audio recording, sound effects, automatic lip-synching, beginner mode, character wizard, automatic image tracing, path tool, motion tracking, multi-touch support, multiple document support |
| 12.1 | October 18, 2016 | Smith Micro | New 4K ultra HD and 4K digital cinema dimension presets; improved smoothing for freehand strokes; many bug fixes |
| 12.2 | November 15, 2016 | Smith Micro | Added support for Microsoft Surface Studio and Surface Dial, new Layer Comps window, fixed bug where sometimes PSD layers were lost, fixed bug where a duplicated vector layer didn’t show Bezier handles |
| 12.3 | September 10, 2017 | Smith Micro | Ability to paste images from the clipboard to create new image layers, new document preferences and bug fixes |
| 12.4 | November 23, 2017 | Smith Micro | Switch layer interpolation now works on nested layers (group and switch); re-sync all channels; triangulated mesh layers now have a distinct layer icon for easy distinction; several bug fixes |
| 12.5 | October 4, 2018 | Smith Micro | Many bug fixes (no blog post to specify exact features or fixes) |
| 12.5.1 | November 14, 2018 | Smith Micro | Bug fix release for Mac only to support changes in macOS 10.10 and above |
| 13.0 | June 25, 2019 | Smith Micro | Introduced improved bitmap tools including bitmap brushes and frame by frame support, improved handling of 3D objects |
| 13.0.1 | August 20, 2019 | Smith Micro | Multiple bug fixes[6] |
| 13.0.2 | September 26, 2019 | Smith Micro | Bug fixes and usability improvements[7] |
| 13.5 | April 26, 2021 | Lost Marble LLC | Introduced Vitruvian Bones, Wind Dynamics, Quad meshes, UI refresh, bug fixes and usability improvements. The 13.5 release was based on an upgrade from Moho 12.5, thus regressed some of the new incomplete features (Bitmap tools, enhanced Actions, new 3D object engine) introduced in the earlier Moho 13 release[8] |
| 13.5.1 | June 25, 2021 | Lost Marble LLC | New options to create masks. New Blending modes Soft Light and Color Dodge to improve the compatibility with Adobe Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, other graphic software; bug fixes |
| 13.5.2 | November 9, 2021 | Lost Marble LLC | Improved Photoshop PSD file handling, faster, more stable, more flexible than ever with support for layer masks, enhanced video and audio media import and export, Live Mesh creation and Auto-triangulation, Deep Frame Copy-Paste, new 13.5 characters added to library, bug fixes, other usability improvements |
| 14.0 | September 12, 2023 | Lost Marble LLC | Introduced new Graphics Engine, improved drawing and frame-by-frame tools, Liquid Shapes, Curvers, New Freehand Styles, Smart Line Boil, easier Follow Through and Overlapping with Dynamics, Delayed Constraints, Updated Scripting Interface, better Timeline and frame-by-frame animation, improved SVG Import and user interface[9] |
Notable uses
Feature films
- Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss (Phil Nibbelink Productions) - 2006
- The Secret of Kells (Cartoon Saloon) - 2009
- Technotise: Edit & I (Yodi Movie Craftsman; Black, White & Green studio) - 2009
- Song of the Sea (Cartoon Saloon) - 2014
- The Breadwinner (Cartoon Saloon) - 2017
- Wolfwalkers (Cartoon Saloon) - 2020
- My Father's Dragon (Cartoon Saloon) - 2022
Short films, TV and Web series
- Puffin Rock (Cartoon Saloon) - 2015
- Scavengers Reign on Max/Netflix (Titmouse) - 2023
See also
References
- ^ a b Staff (19 November 2007). "Smith Micro Software Signs Definitive Agreement Acquiring E Frontier's 3D Graphic and Animation Software Solutions". CreativePro Network. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
- ^ "Smith Micro Releases Moho 12, Formerly Known as Anime Studio". Animation World Network. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
- ^ "Moho Pro vs Debut Feature Comparison List".
- ^ "Moho 13 Released With Bitmap Frame By Frame Animation and More".
- ^ "Smith Micro Announces Sale of Moho 2D Animation Software".
- ^ "Moho 13.0.1 ReadMe".
- ^ "Moho 13.0.2 ReadMe".
- ^ "Moho 13.5 Features".
- ^ "Moho 14 Features".