Topic: Inchworm Animation Impressions

Inchworm animation for those that don't know, is out today on the US DSi Shop for 500 points. When I got my 3DS I vowed I would not buy any more DSiWare content on my DSi and just wait for the eShop and DSiWare transfers to come along. Well, that kind of went out the window because I downloaded Inchworm today It was too tempting to resist and I had the points left over in my DSi account so I decided to just go ahead and get it. If it happens to be one of very few DSiWare games to for whatever reason not make the jump to the eShop then its only 5 bucks...Anyway, I've only been through the tutorials so far (Which are extremely helpful and highly recommended BTW) but from what I can see, this is a VERY advanced animation tool. Its got a full range of color, a copy option, transparencies, layers (more than 2), Many different brush sizes, different brush types, the ability to take stills, and even the ability to shoot video! Yes, you heard that right, the thing shoots smooth video with the DSi camers! You can also save your creations to SD card in various ways (I haven't really explored this so I wouldn't know). And all that stuff is just scratching the surface. I can't wait to really dive in and make my first real creation but I have a throbbing head ache at the moment and don't really feel like animating while in this state. If you loved or even just liked Flipnote Studio, you simply MUST look into Inchworm Animation. It literally takes everything Flipnote did, improves on it substantially, and then adds a bunch of its own stuff. I can already see that this one was worth the price of admission! So did anyone else get this? What do others think of it? Post your impressions here!

I'm mainly interested in this because of the video capabilities. Do you know what format the files are saved as?

I'm loving it too. I haven't drawn anything worth sharing yet, but I did do this with it (my dog): http://megaswf.com/serve/1103023
And it exports to .swf files.

Wow, that looks pretty good, thanks!

np. You can also export an animation as a series of pictures, and using software like GIMP convert those images into a .gif.

Is there no sound capabilities built into this program or am I just missing them?

@Corbs: I don't think there is. I looked and looked for it but found nothing. Quite a shame considering that it expands on Flipnote in almost every other conceivable way. How can they have something as advanced as video capture yet not something as simple as sound capture?? Very strange....

How long can the animations be?

It's hard to say, because it seems to depend on how many layers you use and how much you actually draw. You could probably make a typical animation last about a minute, but using layers and idle frames intelligently you might manage 2 minutes maybe more. I haven't really pushed it to the limit yet, so I can't say for sure.

I really really want this but I don't have wireless internet at home anymore. I will have to wander around until I find a hotspot.

It's too bad about no sound but I understand it. Flipnote had the Hatena site to embed the animations with sound. If you import a Flipnote animation to your SD card, obviously it will not have sound and just be a regular gif.

Nice work, reminds me of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdq7sDvIuLo

Excellent animation greenabobo! Did you creat an account at inchworm studio yet?

Also Inchworm is really good for drawing as well. Its a little bit harder since you cant zoom out, but youll get use to pressing select to see your whole image. I want to draw bigger images but im going to have to practice more.

This I did with 4 layers, and use the shape tool and back drawing to color flat areas quickly, I also use 0.3 and 0.6 brushes to get a thin outline and detail in the armor.

Great work on that barbarian woman! I've never been so good with drawing in colors.
And yes, I joined but haven't uploaded anything yet. I'm looking forward to when they add the "studios" section, as I'm sure there's been some cool stuff uploaded that has yet to be "featured".

Did a high res drawing

Ran out of memory so had to use an extra layer for ink and an extra layer for coloring.
so a full color with high quality shading for 1024x1024 is out of the question.
Will try a letter size page (612x792) and see how that shapes up.

I also did an axe man animation and its featured on the front page on the inchwormanimation.com site. Its going to part of a bigger animation.

I finally managed to download this today. I can't wait to really sink my teeth into the features. Right now I'm a little overwhelmed. The tutorial was useful though. I drew this little doodle to test out the very basics. Next I'm going to try using transparencies and layers. Then comes animation.

There doesn't seem to be a way to link to movies on the Inchworm website yet, but you can see my John Egbert animation on the main page. He's the boy with the glasses doing a little victory dance.

I really want this and I bought a DSi and 2000 points but then I discovered that I live in Europe...

I had forgotten how badly Nintendo treats European gamers. Those memories of frustration being an N64 owner are coming back to me.

Any news on when this might receive a European release? I note the other title I wanted to purchase with my points, Cave Story, has been available in the US for around 5 months already.

You only discovered you lived in Europe after buying a DSi and 2000 point?
I know what you mean, though. I want this title as well. Hope it comes out here soon.