Hello there, I'm following this discussion with a lot of attention because I've been using Animate for many years, and I'm worried to imagine that this great software could stop tomorrow... I'm starting to look into alternatives (Toon Boom, TV Paint ?), but until Animate is officially discontinued, I'm still hoping. I also just saw the small security update, a very slim hope for the still effective development of Animate.
Wish they could have told the community that themselves, but ya knowww. (but for real thanks for keeping us informed since Adobe won't publicly say anything yet)
This is a critical reply. Since Flash CS6, the software has almost no outstanding new features in animation production. Only the advanced layers and resource deformation tools introduced after AN2019 have excited animators, but the instability of the resource deformation tool has caused errors that are worrying, so it cannot be relied on too much. There is a small detail, I forgot where I saw the information, the animate department is no longer independent and merged into the AE department. Perhaps this is the direct reason for the "Convert Layers to Symbols" launched by AN21, which is called "pre-synthesis" in AE. I started using Flash CS3 and followed it all the way to 2024. I know the history of software function changes too well. Adobe's response is very slow, or simply ignores user feedback. If there is no innovation, then at least do a good job of the present. It's a pity that it has stagnated for so long, and only some people who make extensions are patching it up to meet the diverse needs of animators. The reality is also worrying, that is, Animate's territory in animation production is being slowly squeezed out by other similar software. So I sincerely hope that Adobe can be user-oriented and take action quickly!
I've been using Flash since 1999! It has been a very versatile tool and has allowed me to make 2D animation of all kinds. And for the last 14 years I have used it to train university students with incredible results. From the University, Adobe products have less and less presence, due to cost and payment policies. On a personal level, I continue to do projects in Animate, thanks to EDAPT, which is what makes it useful, because many new features implemented in the last 4 years, give many errors. If everything that comes from software, is going to be AI, then we expect boring and very repetitive images, and those who appreciate the creation, we will end up returning to the classics to enjoy what is done by humans 100%.
I'll be honest I have never made a post to the forums ever. But the lack of communication from Adobe on Animate is terrible. I want to love this program but I am fighting with it at every turn and I am tired. At this point the only people that give me hope for the program are the plugin makers at EDAPT. They care about the program they make it better and better with each update. Not only that they listen to feedback unlike Adobe. There can only be so many times Animate crashes because I copy and pasted something or masked something... these are core fundamentals of your program. I want to stick to Animate I really do... but with the temptation of Moho giving quality, easy usage and price... it is hard not to resist. I want to be able to make beautiful works of art with Animate, not fight it all the time in order to get it to work.