Formerly known as CrazyTalk Animator 3, the release of Cartoon Animator 4 (CA4) reveals an application that goes out of its way to make high end 2D puppet rig and motion graphic animations easier to create quickly, and as intuitively as possible.
That's not to say there isn't a learning curve but another great strength of CA4 is that you won't get lost in a sea of icons, tools, menus and more. The initial user interface is less complicated and more logically laid out than one may have used to put together a powerpoint presentation.
Once you get the basics of how to add props and characters to the stage and get them moving you'll naturally dive deeper into the tools and possibilities as your confidence grows.
If you follow Reallusion's own video tutorials you can pretty much learn the very basics, such as where everything is and making your first animation, in under an hour. Note that many of the video tutorials are for CrazyTalk Animator 3 however since the UI is mostly the same, and CA4 is largely backward compatible, the basic concepts are virtually the same.
Rather than me writing about everything new (yet again) watch Reallusion's own promotional video below which will give you a good sense of the possibilities. Note that if live facial motion capture animation catches your eye (and it probably will) this feature is an optional plugin that costs considerably extra depending on the implementation you prefer (webcam or the more costly iPhone True Depth camera profile).
I'll be looking at the Webcam version of facial motion capture in future posts. Just know that it is not an essential part of CA4, particularly if you're not doing a lot of 'talking head' style scenes (or you're just really bad at acting out your character dialogue).
If you're interested in buying CA4 now is the time to buy while all the product launch specials are still available - especially if you want the facial motion capture plugin as the regular pricing is quite a hike once the launch period is done.
If you happen to miss all the launch specials and have time to wait, I'd recommend joining Reallusion's email list. They often run email only specials on their apps with bundle deals at massively reduced prices.
Speaking of email lists, if you haven't already, consider joining the Animation and Video Life Newsletter email list. Cartoon Animator 4 is my new 2D animation app of choice (formerly it was CTA3, and before that CTA2, and then just CTA) so you can expect plenty of tips, tutorials, ideas, and animated shorts featuring CA4 in the months ahead.
Newsletter subscribers also get access to special deals on my content with the occasional freebie content too.
For now I'll finish this post with a brief demonstration video of CA4's webcam facial motion capture system using my original G3, Reddy the Color Monkey character featuring my first attempt at a 360 degree head.