A Deep Dive Into TVPaint's Solution for 2D Animators

The TVPaint team has shared the company's story, provided an overview of their 2D animation solution, and explained how they utilize user feedback to improve the tool.

Introduction

We are the TVPaint team. We all come from different backgrounds, including sales, marketing, law, event management, communications, IT, etc., and are now joining efforts to keep TVPaint Animation at the top of its performance. We all work together toward one goal – to give 2D animators the right tools for 2D animation.

The Story of TVPaint

The very first TVPaint version was created by Hervé Adam in 1991. He was a former student at the Beaux Arts. He had a soft spot for software development and a genius vision for 2D Animation.

1997: The creation of the company "TVPaint Développement".
1998 to 2008: Commercialization of our software called "Aura", and later "Mirage".
2008: Self-commercialization of "VPaint Animation 8".
2009 to 2019: Growth of the company. We launched TVPaint Animation 8, then TVPaint Animation 9, 10, and 11, and every launch was a great success. The latest one introduced very popular tools like the CTG layer.
In 2018, the company won an Annie Award for version 11.
TVPaint Animation is used by major studios worldwide, such as Cartoon Saloon (Wolfwalkers), Studio la Cachette (Primal), Folivari (Ernest & Célestine), WIT Studio, and major American and Japanese studios. It is taught in the greatest schools in the world, such as CalArts, Animation Workshop, or Les Gobelins Paris. Our software is also used for the creation of advertising animations.

Today, TVPaint has become a reference for animation studios around the world. Our solution gives productions all the tools they would need to make an animated movie, but can also totally be integrated into a complex production pipeline.

Between 2009 and 2018, both the company's turnover and the number of employees increased greatly. We are resolutely turned towards the international market, the company realized since 2016 nearly 85% of its sales in export (mainly in the USA and Japan at first). Today, we are one of the leaders in the 2D raster-based animation softwares market.

We are based in Metz, East of France (Lorraine, where the quiche Lorraine and Mirabelle can be tasted!). Our team is composed of animation film enthusiasts. Each one is experienced in his or her field and has a particular value to bring to the company, which operates with collaborative management. Renan Lefebvre is the Managing Director, reporting to madame Adam (the owner of the company and widow of founder Hervé Adam, who passed away in 2013).

The Tool's Features

The Professional Edition of TVPaint offers a complete set of tools covering every step of the animation process (storyboarding, animatic, animation, coloring, compositing). Some users will just do their whole animation movie within TVPaint. That said, its foremost strength certainly lies in its brush engine (which is very powerful and has a natural feel, appealing to artists who like to draw on paper), its CTG layers (allowing for very quick colorization), and its powerful and intuitive animation and compositing tools (Warp Tool, Keyframer, Line Colorizer, etc.).

By specializing in raster graphics, our software keeps the details of one’s personal drawing style and allows for more nuance in brush strokes. It is also very intuitive, light on the CPU, and customizable through macros and scripts. We aim to offer an all-in-one package, allowing artists to make a whole movie without having to necessarily rely on other software.

Collecting Feedback

We collect feedback by visiting animation and video game studios and schools and meeting animators all over the world. We also take part in many international animation/arts/video game events (Annecy International Animation Film Festival, LightBox Expo, Viborg Animation Festival, Cartoon Movie, etc.). Our support team is very much in contact with artists and studios, so we collect their feedback regularly as well. Also, we have a good team of professional artists who are beta testing for us and offering precious advice on how to improve the software.

Future Plans

TVPaint is continually improving its toolset. Since we are very much in touch with artists, we listen to their needs and try to satisfy those the best we can. We intend for the current year to improve the current version of TVPaint, while working on the next major version of the software in parallel.

Each year we attend several events and expos to give news about the company and the soft. This year TVPaint wants to focus on its community, so we figured we would present the news of the studios and artists who are working with TVPaint. We have many projects to showcase, and we will do so directly from our booth during the:

MIFA (Annecy Festival) booth A.53 from the 13th to the 16th of June;
Lightbox Expo (Pasadena, USA) from the 27th to the 29th of October.

We will also be present at other events. Every year, we sponsor festivals and projects around the world, and we try to attend as much as we can. This year we’ll be attending physically:

Paris City Pop (Digital Village, Paris) from the 20th to the 21st of May;
Viborg Animation Festival (Viborg, Denmark) from the 27th to the 29th of September.

It is essential for us to remain close to our community. Attending events and conventions is one of the best ways to do so.

Conclusion

We have many communication canals. You can always find information on our website. There you’ll find information about us, about TVPaint Animation (features and documentation), and our online shop. We are also present on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. And you can also find a lot of artists’ interviews and tutorials about TVPaint Animation on our YouTube channel.

Thanks for reading us, we hope you enjoy TVPaint Animation!