Software Behind Futurama and Princess Mononoke Is Going Open Source

When it comes to software these days there are always options for you to choose from. The big decision is often based on your budget. If you were interested in making your own anime then you might be in luck as the software some great shows is going open source.

Toonz is a company that develops several pieces of software and even without knowing it you have probably seen it in use. Their main piece of software is an animation tool that helps with cleaning up drawings, composing and animating images and has been used on some big names.

It was thanks to Toonz software that we have Futurama and Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. The problem was often though that software of such high calibre needs maintenance and, therefore, a license cost (rumoured to be upward of $10,000 per each license). The program though has been brought out as part of a deal with Dwango, a term of the sale though is that the tool will become open source.

The new tool, OpenToonz, will feature functions developed by Studio Ghibli and the new tool looks to have “research labs and the animated film industry actively cooperating with each other”. The cost of the product will instead be recovered through training, support and customization services, leaving everyone from a teenager at home to a company to explore the software as they wish.