Okay, in case you never know, I tried using a useful 3D program called 3ds Max. Sure, it's quite good. I built some 3D puppets out of Arry the Armadillo (from Tara and John) and Nate on 3ds Max and tried to test them out using biped.
Also, since you fear CGI, I'm not moving entirely to 3D animation; I just needed to get my animating hobby much better: First, I'll animate the puppets using biped in 3ds Max, and then I'll just render them into multiple frame-by-frame images, in either JPG or BMP formats. After the rendering is done, I'll import the rendered frames in Toon Boom and rotoscope/trace the puppets' movements using my tablet. Amazing, huh?
Here are my 3D tests:
Arry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCmHs-67Fps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJURiDc_LAY
Nate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j99fm1vSs5Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zK_rOclS8Q
Also, since you fear CGI, I'm not moving entirely to 3D animation; I just needed to get my animating hobby much better: First, I'll animate the puppets using biped in 3ds Max, and then I'll just render them into multiple frame-by-frame images, in either JPG or BMP formats. After the rendering is done, I'll import the rendered frames in Toon Boom and rotoscope/trace the puppets' movements using my tablet. Amazing, huh?
Here are my 3D tests:
Arry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCmHs-67Fps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJURiDc_LAY
Nate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j99fm1vSs5Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zK_rOclS8Q