More power for creating traditional, digital, cut-out and Flash-style animation

Montreal (March 8, 2010) – Emmy Award-winning Toon Boom Animation Inc. today announced the upcoming release of Toon Boom Animate 2, a new version that provides professional animators with more power and flexibility for creating traditional, digital, cut-out and Flash-style animation. 
Toon Boom has listened to the animation community and is now delivering a new Animate version that reflects its requests. Animate is totally dedicated to animators and takes care of their needs from start to finish of their animation projects.

What’s new in Animate 2?
New feature highlights include:
* Fast distribution of character parts to layers
* Easy adjustment of velocity on multiple character parts
* Efficient creation of richer-looking ambiance
* Full-fledged SWF export with effects
* Direct import of scanned drawings (TWAIN)
* Convenient text capability

Key benefits
Whether preferring traditional or digital methods, animators will greatly benefit from Animate 2‘s superior feature set throughout their entire production process.

All-in-one Animation Software
From start to finish, Toon Boom Animate enables you to draw or import scanned drawings, colour, animate, synchronize sound, set camera moves, apply effects and render your projects in the leading output formats. No need to jump between multiple applications to make revisions as with Animate, changes can be implemented in real-time at any time during the production process.

Smart Puppet
Toon Boom Animate brings together the most advanced Flash animation feature set available on the market, all embedded in a flexible environment; symbols, pegs, morphing, hierarchy-based rigging, forward and inverse kinematics as well as advanced lip-sync to name just a few. In addition to its Flash shortcut set, Animate fits so nicely into your friendly circle of Adobe® products and animation techniques that you will feel at home in minutes.

Colour Tune
Toon Boom Animate shines when it comes to colouring and creating animation with a unique look and feel. Animate’s smart Colour ID system, palette management, painting tools using vector, gradient and texture translate into significant time-savings. At any point, changing character colours and fine-tuning colour ambiance is faster than filling up your coffee cup!

True Space
Toon Boom Animate comes with a powerful camera tool that enables you to animate it over time and attach it to an object, creating an impressive depth effect. Flying through your scene adjusting speed in real-time makes you want to dive in your own animated world and enjoy the ride.

Pricing and Availability
Buy Toon Boom Animate 2 now at the special pre-launch price of $549.99 US, valid until March 21, 2010. As of March 8, 2010, all new clients will receive a Toon Boom Animate 1 product code. Their Animate 2 product code will be automatically registered and emailed to them upon product release enabling them to download the software. All new clients will see their Animate 2 purchase listed on the "my products" page once the transaction is completed. All orders requiring shipping will be processed upon product release.

Information about Toon Boom Animate 2 is now available online at www.toonboom.com/animate/

About Toon Boom Animation Inc.
Toon Boom Animation Inc. (toonboom.com) is the worldwide leader in animation software solutions. Toon Boom carries user-friendly animation applications for all and develops new geographies to make the animation community as global as can be. In that market segment, Toon Boom caters to the needs of children, home users, creative professionals as well as students, educators and schools.

As importantly, Toon Boom is fully dedicated to the needs of independent animators and studios, offering a wide product range from powerful pre-production tools to leading-edge animation production solutions. Relying on its extensive expertise in animation production, Toon Boom provides consulting services in the fields of optimization, pipeline integration, production assistance and custom development.

In 2005, Toon Boom was granted the Primetime Emmy® Engineering Award by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for its significant contribution made to the animation industry targeted for television. In 2006, the IT Federation of Quebec (FIQ) awarded an OCTAS 2006 in the Multimedia – educational and cultural sector category, for Toon Boom Studio. In 2007, FIQ awarded an OCTAS 2007 in the Technological Innovation category, for Toon Boom Storyboard Pro. In 2008, Flip Boom was granted a Parents’ Choice Gold Award and a New Canadian Media Award in the Excellence in Children’s category. In 2009, Flip Boom was selected as Editor’s Choice by the prestigious Children’s Technology Review for excellence in design.

Toon Boom’s client base ranges from major studios creating Hollywood blockbuster animated films to individual animators creating their first masterpieces. Market-leading studios using Toon Boom’s products include Nelvana, Warner Bros., Mercury Filmworks, China Central Television, Toonz Animation India, eMation, Rough Draft Korea, Alphanim, BKN, Cromosoma and Enarmonia, to name a few. Some of the prestigious productions done with Toon Boom’s technology include Les Triplettes de Belleville, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, The Rugrats, SpongeBob The Movie, Hanuman, Curious George, Go West: A New Lucky Luke Adventure, Simpsons The Movie and The Princess and the Frog.