Need some software recommendations...

[SonyGuy]

Hey guys. I need some more help. I got the video editing part and hooking the camera up to my computer part figured out thanks to Aglio, but now I'm also looking at animation. You know, the long and grueling task of moving a figure and taking a shot, moving it again, and taking another shot. The camera takes snap shots and I can load them into the computer, but I want to connect them to make one semi-smooth animation and I would also like to lace some audio with it. Like some songs or some sound effects. So sort of like an AVI or MPEG(Which is suitable?). I can use either wav clips or mp3 clips to put in the video, doesn't matter, but I want a program to do it all. JASC's Animation Shop 2 just doesn't really cut it... Thanks.

[ChrisMG187]

I hate to say it, but this sounds like a job for a Macintosh G4 and Final Cut Pro.

[SonyGuy]

lol, maybe that's why I hardly got a reply. It looked like a job for a Mac... hmm. I think I'll try looking around for a little while longer if that's the case. Thanks Chris.

[penguintrix]

like an animated gif? is that what you're trying to do? sorry, i'm a bit confused,...

[SonyGuy]

Yeah, I just want to take a bunch of jpegs and put them together to make one animation and also add some sound to it.

[aglio412]

might be able to use macromedia director

[hoey222]

doesn't powerpoint do that?? on a basic level?

[attgig]

you can do that with premiere

[penguintrix]

if it's just an animated picture/gif, then use imageready.

[Hiro]

If your looking at also starting 3D Rendering, Ray Dream Studio 3D is a good place to start as well.

[Jihforce]

Director is not an animation too even though you can use it. Not good because you export as a .dir file not mpg or mov.

Premiere is an editing tool. Not animation. It allows you to cut the film footage and do cut scenes. That's about it. All the other effects pale in comparison to AE. (READ BELOW)

Suggestion:

After Effects, easy to use. You can import multiple elements, do masking and animations. You can even use the filters to create motion blur and such. Great tool. Exports to mov OR MPG if you have the codec for it.

For 3D:

Learn A|W Maya. All other 3D animation tools are weak. Maya rules them all.

Have fun.