Building a Web-Based Motion Graphics Editor
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I think you can almost jump past the MVP stage for validation, this is a pure execution problem and you need to get money, make this your full-time job, and execute asap given your excitement on this problem!
Honestly as I've mentioned in the post I've been quite excited about the product (specially when I managed to make the MVP useful enough to replace AE for simple GIFs, I even use the tool for that purpose) and my initial plan was definitely to make this happen, but I haven't really seen a solid way to go about it full-time without taking a huge risk, specially at my age.
To me it makes complex motion graphics much easier to understand, and from a UI point of view I think there is much to innovate.
nuke, combustion, natron and blender(although the node based bit is hidden somwehere) are all good examples of the rough idea. However they were all copying a previous bit of software.
As you're seeking to fill a different segment, you'll have the luxury of not having to make it handle like shake, Flame or others.
You're right, there is a gap in the market for a web-based, Figma style animation editor. I myself went with Tumult Hype (MacOS), as it was the closest equivalent to Adobe Flash-style rapid prototyping that I'm used to. But there isn't much online chatter about web animation in general. I guess everyone has simply moved to Adobe AE+Lottie, SVG+GSAP or the like.
If you decide to build a public-facing version of this, I hope you'll include a flat fee option instead of the monthly subscription BS all the startups are going with (Haiku Animator being one of many). Tumult Hype has a $100 flat fee price, which I love.
As per the pricing, my plan was to make it free, or at least have a free plan. It was one of my main reasons why I started the project, and one of its biggest selling points.
But I also have a ton of respect for the desire to offer it free!
I suppose so. When I was learning Mograph in school, After Effects was the most intuitive tool among many others. Combustion, Motion etc never quite managed to pull it off in balancing simplicity, ease of use and versatility.
AE aged very well IMHO and to this day is the weapon of choice of Mograph.
BTW, as a creative person, I personally can't stand it when people's only comment is "have you seen X Y and Z which are similar to what you've built?" I get it, reinventing the wheel isn't always the best use of time, but I wish people realized how much of a wet blanket that sort of comment can be, especially if it is unaccompanied by any other insights about your work. It seems to imply that you haven't done anything worthwhile or unique, and your efforts are a waste of time.
I hope you continue to build this out into a product. Good luck with it and congrats on all your successes at a very young age.
For the kind of product being described, 6-12 months seems way too long for an initial MVP. I also think statements like "build the entire tool" conflict with the concept of delivering something actionable / people-will-pay-for within a short amount of time.