Toon Boom Animation has announced the release of
Toon Boom Studio 5, completely rebranded and now
positioned as the multi-technique animation
software for learning and creating animation.
With its new stop-motion animation capability,
Studio 5 is the best tool for becoming familiar
with the main styles of animation, including
stop-motion, traditional, digital, cut-out and
rotoscoping or combining them for greater
creativity. In addition, its simplified user
interface makes it ideal for hobbyists, educators
and students, to discover the various methods of
animation creation and unleash their creative
potential.

In addition to traditional and paperless
animation capabilities, Studio 5 enables you to:

° Create stop-motion animation using your favorite characters;

°Speed things up with Time-lapse Imagery

° Live View/Image Capture lets you see images
exactly as they will appear in your movie;

° Change your backgrounds using Chroma Key Screens (Green and Blue Screens);

° Position and align elements perfectly using Onion Skinning;

° Use Rotoscoping to take advantage of actual
imagery to better position your characters;

° Improved Image Playback Optimization increases speed'

° Annotation Layers for feedback;

° Export your animation directly to YouTube or Facebook;

° Import Flip Boom Classic and Animation-ish
projects to bring them to the next level;

° Enhanced colorful User Interface

To accompany this release, a new Workout title
has been published to give users step-by-step
instructions on how to create a stop-animation
short from start to finish. The Stop-Motion
Animation Workout is available electronically
only and retails at $26.99.

"We are proud of this latest release as it
testifies to Toon Boom's commitment to deliver
easy-to-use applications that inspire, develop
and stimulate creativity. Knowing how educators
and hobbyists have used Toon Boom Studio over the
years, we are confident version 5 will fire up
their love for animation even more," shared Joan
Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer
at Toon Boom.

Revamped Education and Community sections In
order to facilitate the access to information on
its web site, Toon Boom has revamped its
Education and Community sections. On one hand,
the Education section makes it easier for
students, faculty members and schools to find and
purchase the products they are looking for. On
the other, the Community section conveniently
points out the various free services Toon Boom
provides, including Job Connections, Forums, the
Professional Blog, Expert Corner, Festival Watch
and Showcase.

The new curriculum is divided in two, each part
designed to meet the needs of different
educators:

°Art Curriculum - Created for the arts program to
support educators teaching basic animation
courses. It covers the complete set of animation
techniques available in Studio.

° Cross-discipline Curriculum -- Designed for
teachers of traditional subjects such as Science,
Languages or Geography. It allows students to
use selected animation applications to learn
traditional topics in an exciting and
motivational new way.

Each curriculum is designed to be easy to follow
and includes a variety of sample material. The
curriculum is included free with lab-packs or
site license orders.

Toon Boom Studio for MAC OS X on G5 and Intel
based systems, and for Microsoft Windows XP,
Windows Vista and Tablet PC (32 bits) platforms
is ready to ship now from the Toon Boom Store at
www.toonboom.com/buy/onlinestore/customer. Buy
Toon Boom Studio 5 now at the special launch
price of $349.99 US, instead of $399.99, valid
until July 8, 2009. Customers who purchased Toon
Boom Studio as of May 1, 2009, will receive a
version 5 key by email. Their Studio 5 license
key will be automatically registered enabling
them to download the software at their
convenience. Information about Toon Boom Studio 5
is now available online at
www.toonboom.com/products/toonBoomStudio/