Type 2D animation software Founded 1990 | Parent organization Toon Boom Animation | |
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Initial release 1992; 25 years ago (1992) Stable release 6.0 / December 8, 2004; 12 years ago (2004-12-08) Operating system | ||
Cambridge Animation Systems was a British software company that developed a traditional animation software package called Animo, and is now part of Canadian company Toon Boom Animation. It was based in Cambridge, England, hence the name. Established in 1990, it created the Animo software in 1992 after acquiring Compose in Color, which was developed by Oliver Unter-ecker. Animo was used for several animated feature films, shorts, and television series, and it powered the UK animation industry until the 2000s as it was used by studios like King Rollo Films, Telemagination, and Cosgrove Hall Films, but it was also used by studios in other countries, most notably Warner Bros. Feature Animation, DreamWorks, and Nelvana. In total, Animo was used by over 300 studios worldwide.
In 2000, CAS developed Animo Inkworks, a plug-in which allowed Maya and 3ds Max users to export 3D data into Animo and integrate it into 2D animation via the Scene III plug-in. In 2001, they developed another plug-in called Animo Sniffworks, which exports Flash output to Maya.
In 2009, CAS was acquired by Toon Boom Animation and has since folded.