Studio Animation Software Notes

Updated 856 Days AgoPublic

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Flash

Courtesy of Audrey

Stacy's

Likes

• Light gray color scheme/Customizable to what you like
• Asks for size of document on startup
• Timeline on the bottom with a large time span
• Tree hierarchy of layers
• Library concept (A bit of space waste in layout.)
• Large canvas area
• Menu item organization
• Drag out guidelines
• Keyboard shortcuts for everything (Synfig users)
• Multiple playback options (Audrey)
• Filters can be applied to individual items

Dislikes

• Toolbars on the right (All other Adobe products they are on the left.)
• Code in the timeline area (Too small.)
• Onion skinning tools are too small and not as visible. (Audrey)
• Layer/Frame options are too small (Add, delete, etc.) (Audrey)
• Timeline isn't super clear, better than Synfig, but it's a bit difficult to know what a keyframe is and where you are (Audrey and Stacy)
• Tools are too small. (Synfig users)
• Very few filter options
• Difficult to find filters, they're a property

Flash Plugin Keyframe Caddy

A nice example of its use Jazza Youtube Tutorial

Courtesy of CloudKid

Likes

• Very simple to use
• Limits view to just what's applicable (For example, mouth shapes)

Dislikes

• Very difficult (potentially impossible) to install
• Creating the thumbnails is highly dependent on Flash keyframes

Unknowns

• What can be reused? I feel like there should be some export option to reuse the shapes in other documents
• Would naming be useful for animators? (For example, being able to click on the thumbnail collection and type ScamperMouth)
• Would it be beneficial to create the shapes in a panel separate from the document as opposed to being part of the keyframes?

GIMP

For some odd reason, this is what you get on startup

This is a toggleable option, much better!

Likes

• Large selection of tools with tooltip information and keyboard shortcuts
• Doesn't automatically create a document on startup
• Large color picker
• Large number of dockable panels, clearly indicated as dockable
• Hide and show layer options
• In place enlargement of brushes
• Overall fairly easy to use, decent documentation
• Can write and download plugins
• Nice variety of filters
• Easy application of filters

Dislikes

• Interface is split into 3 separate panels (Has a single window option, but doesn't launch automatically)
• Toolbox feels scrunched
• Pull out guides are incredibly hard to see (Blue and black dashed line)
• Tool options are below the tools panel
• Doesn't prompt on layer delete
• Can't lock a single layer
• No selection tool or shape tools
• Long time to apply filters on a simple image
• Filter application can't be undone without damage to the image
• Filters apply to the whole document

Synfig

Likes

• List of actions to undo
• Larger buttons (Tools, Timeline controls)
• All transformations in one place (This needs some work programming wise. Maybe use different colors to differentiate) (Jason)
• Rulers present when program starts up
• Dockable panels (They don't currently work) (Synfig users)

Dislikes

• Command prompt pop-up
• Small timeline and smaller canvas
• Document size preselected on startup
• Can't lock layers
• Can't move shapes with arrow keys
• Too much space dedicated to colors
• Help files are online only, incomplete, and don't contain enough images to support new users.
• Representation of keyframes (Audrey)
• Hard to see where you are, missing slider (Audrey)
• Filters are layers, can't apply to just one shape
• Previous knowledge required to find filters (Under layers, not object properties)
• Small selection of filters, mostly focused on photography
• Little documentation associated with filters (Just info about blurs)

Inkscape

(Synfig users like this GUI.)

Likes

• Help files are highly complete
• Arrow keys can be used for movement
• Pull out guides
• Rulers present on startup
• Wide variety of drawing tools, probably too many for us
• Tool and shortcut info present in tooltip help
• Create your own docked item, highly customizable workspace
• Tool options/details appear on the top and bottom toolbars
• Large selection of filters (Have the artists narrow down from this list?)
• Easily find, apply, edit, and remove the filters

Dislikes

• Doesn't ask what size to make documents on startup
• File type commands (New, Print, Save, etc.) are on the right, normally on top
• No preset profiles, every option is on screen, feels a bit much
• Layer window not present on startup
• Must explicitly lock layer, can't just select a layer and only be able to select things that are on that layer
• Difficult to select fill and stroke for a shape
• Hexadecimal is the default for color picking, we probably want rgb

Pencil

Courtesy of Audrey

Likes

• Onion skinning, add/delete layers, etc. is readily accessible. (Audrey)
• Timeline is very clear (Audrey)
• Large work area
• Highly customizable layout
• Clear tool, needs a yes/no dialog option, but easier than erasing everything

Dislikes

• Playback over simplistic, play/stop (Audrey)
• Color sliders are default, difficult to get the exact shade you want
• Doesn't ask for canvas size on startup
• Can't lock the layers
• Super basic drawing tools, I think we'll need more
• No filters available