Synfig Studio :: Documentation - User contributions [en]

Dev:Build Instructions

2013-02-20T06:46:32Z

Bombe: Added autopoint dependency.

{{Title|Build Instructions}}
{{Category|Manual}}




== Notes ==

* If you are using the released versions instead of GIT, none of the libtoolize or autoreconf steps are necessary. For released versions, "./configure && make && sudo make install" should be enough.

* If you are using packages for synfig's dependencies, you want the '''development packages''' not the main packages. Check below for your distribution's packages.

* Please read the {{l|Dev:Source code|source code}} page to check out the latest code. Please also check the {{l|Download|download page}} and the {{l|FAQ}} to find out about any issues that you may run into along the way.

* Some Linux/BSD distros (Like Gentoo Linux) have a pkg-config that doesn't look in /usr/local/lib/pkgconfig by default. So if you are installing in anywhere other than the system pkg-config path, please run "export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig" or similar before building or installing anything.

* Don't use automake 1.4, there are problems with it.

* Using automake 1.9, 'make install' seems to re-link and re-install all the synfig core modules every time whether they have changed or not. If you intend to build code repetitively you can export export CXX="/usr/bin/ccache /usr/bin/g++". This allows to not rebuild the already build modules so they taken from the cache.

* After you obtain the source code using the git repository, you obtain a single 'synfig' folder where the three main modules (etl, synfig-core and synfig-studio) are up to date. '''The trunk folder has been removed in the git tree'''. Please modify the build instructions for other platforms.

* If you want to test a particular branch of the repository do the following:
<pre>
~/synfig$ git branch -r
</pre>
You'll obtain a list of the remote branches that exists in the repo. For example:
<pre>
origin/HEAD
origin/genete_bones
origin/genete_canvasview
origin/genete_master
origin/genete_onionskin
origin/genete_scale_reverse
origin/genete_setup_dialog
origin/genete_svg
origin/gerco_opengl
origin/master
origin/uiomae_opengl
origin/zelgadis_cia
origin/zelgadis_master
</pre>

Then to checkout properly a remote branch you have to create a local branch to track a particular remote branch and checkout it. For example:
<pre>
~/synfig$ git branch --track test_canvas origin/genete_canvasview
~/synfig$ git checkout test_canvas
</pre>

Your code is ready to be built on that branch.

* The CVS requirement is only because the autopoint program run by autoreconf needs CVS. You can avoid the need for CVS by disabling the translation/gettext stuff in configure.ac.

* If you don't want to install to a system-wide directory using sudo, run something like these commands before starting:

<pre>
prefix=$(pwd)/install
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$prefix/lib/pkgconfig"
export PATH=$(pwd)/synfig-core/src/tool/.libs:$PATH
export CXX="/usr/bin/ccache /usr/bin/g++"
</pre>

** export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$prefix/lib/pkgconfig" allows to find the linking libraries.
** export PATH=$(pwd)/synfig-core/src/tool/.libs:$PATH allows synfigstudio find the correct * libraries to render the icons for the toolbox etc.
** export CXX="/usr/bin/ccache /usr/bin/g++" allows to use the cache to avoid rebuilding.

And when you run ./configure, run it with --prefix="$PREFIX" and don't use sudo when you do make install.

* See the automatic building script attached.

== System-specific instructions ==
Please update them including the new GIT repo.

* Gentoo: {{l|Dev:Gentoo Ebuilds|ebuilds}} are available for both release versions and GIT
* MacOS X: {{l|Dev:Building_On_Mac_OS_X|instructions for building}} with the GTK+ Aqua port are available.
* PCLinuxOS: {{l|Dev:PCLinuxOS build instructions|build instructions}}
* Windows: {{l|Dev:Building on Windows|instructions for building}} in {{l|Dev:Mingw_installation|mingw}} are available.

==System wide build Instructions==

=== ETL ===

ETL is a template library, there is nothing to build really, it just needed to be installed.

'''Requires''': autoconf automake<br>
* Debian: build-essential autoconf automake libtool
* OS X: already included with Mac OS X

''Type the following commands at the directory where you cloned the git repo''
<pre>
$ cd synfig/ETL
$ autoreconf --install --force
$ ./configure
$ sudo make install
</pre>

=== synfig-core ===

'''Requires''': ETL (etl-dev, already installed if you successfully built etl), libxml++, libsigc++, libltdl, libtool, gettext, autopoint (part of gettext-dev), cvs<br>
* Debian: etl-dev libxml++2.6-dev libsigc++-2.0-dev libltdl3-dev libtool gettext cvs autopoint
* Fedora: ETL-devel libxml++-devel libsigc++20-devel libtool-ltdl-devel libtool gettext-devel cvs
* Gentoo: dev-cpp/ETL dev-cpp/libxmlpp dev-libs/libsigc++ dev-util/cvs
** If you are using ./configure --prefix="$PREFIX" to configure synfig, do not install dev-cpp/ETL.
*OS X use glibtoolize instead of libtoolize, as Apple renamed it.

'''Note''': libpng isn't required to build synfig, but if you build synfig without PNG support and go on to build synfigstudio, that step will fail (because the build process for synfigstudio uses synfig to create .png icon files). The package is libpng12-dev on Debian or media-libs/libpng on Gentoo.

'''Note''': the 'configure.ac' file in the synfig-core directory doesn't work with libtool version 2, as shipped with ubuntu 8.10. To work around the problem until a proper fix is found, comment out line 622 or thereabouts (it says "AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS(libltdl)") by putting a "#" at the front of the line. The line is required for older versions of libtool, as shipped with other distributions. DO it straight with this command:
<pre> sed -i 's/^AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS/# AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS/' synfig-core/configure.ac </pre>

'''Optional''': libpng, libmng, libjpeg, libfreetype, libfontconfig, libopenexr, libavcodec, libmagick++, vimage (MacOS only, proprietary)<br>
* Debian: libpng12-dev libmng-dev libjpeg62-dev libfreetype6-dev libfontconfig1-dev libopenexr-dev libavcodec-dev libavformat-dev libswscale-dev libmagick++9-dev
* Gentoo: sys-devel/libtool media-libs/libpng media-libs/libmng media-libs/jpeg media-libs/freetype media-libs/fontconfig media-libs/openexr media-libs/tiff
*Ubuntu (since Jaunty): Same libraries as Debian but do not use libmagick++9-dev, use graphicsmagick-libmagick-dev-compat instead.

'''Runtime''': encodedv (from libdv), ffmpeg, convert (from imagemagick)
* Debian: libdv-bin ffmpeg imagemagick
* Gentoo: media-libs/libdv media-video/ffmpeg media-gfx/imagemagick

''Type the following commands at the directory where you cloned the git repo''
<pre>
$ cd synfig/synfig-core
$ libtoolize --copy --force
$ autoreconf --install --force
$ ./configure
$ make
$ sudo make install
</pre>

''Note'':

* Don't use --enable-half, it is slow.
* If ETL was installed in a non-standard directory using --prefix=<location>, it suffices to run the configure script with an updated PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable. E.g.:<br>PKG_CONFIG_PATH=${PKG_CONFIG_PATH}:/my/install/prefix/lib/pkgconfig ./configure --prefix=/my/install/prefix

=== synfig-studio ===

''Requires'': ETL (etl-dev, already installed if you successfully built etl), synfig (libsynfig-dev, already installed if you successfully built synfig-core), gtkmm >= 2.4, gtk >= 2.0, glibmm, libsigc++, libltdl, libtool, gettext, cvs<br>
* Debian: etl-dev libsynfig-dev libgtkmm-2.4-dev libgtk2.0-dev libglibmm-2.4-dev libsigc++-2.0-dev libltdl3-dev libtool gettext cvs
* Gentoo: virtual/ETL virtual/synfig dev-cpp/gtkmm-2.4 dev-libs/libsigc++ sys-devel/libtool
** If you are using ./configure --prefix="$PREFIX" to configure synfigstudio, do not install virtual/ETL or virtual/synfig.
''Optional'': fonts (for the images), [http://www.fmod.org FMOD] (version 3.x, proprietary)
* Debian: ttf-freefont ttf-dejavu ttf-dustin
* Gentoo: freefonts dejavu

''Type the following commands at the directory where you cloned the git repo''
<pre>
$ cd synfig/synfig-studio
$ autoreconf --install --force
$ ./configure
$ make
$ sudo make install
</pre>



== finalizing ==

Depending on where you installed synfig to, you might have to tell your system where the libraries can be found. That can be done via the following command:

<pre>
$ sudo ldconfig
</pre>

== Automatic build script ==

If you want to build a binary for testing or debugging proposes you can run this script:

<pre>
#!/bin/sh
CPUS=4
prefix=$(pwd)/install
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$prefix/lib/pkgconfig"
export PATH=$(pwd)/synfig-core/src/tool/.libs:$PATH
export CXX="/usr/bin/ccache /usr/bin/g++"
# export CXX="/usr/bin/ccache g++-snapshot"
# This command comments out the line in configure.ac if it isn't already
# commented. Needed for Ubuntu 8.10 or higher
# Uncomment it if needed.
# sed -i 's/^AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS/# AC_CONFIG_SUBDIRS/' synfig-core/configure.ac

cd ETL &&
autoreconf --install --force &&
./configure --prefix $prefix &&
make --debug=b install &&
\
cd ../synfig-core &&
libtoolize --copy --force &&
autoreconf --install --force &&
./configure --prefix $prefix --enable-optimization=0 --enable-debug &&
make --debug=b -j $CPUS install &&
\
cd ../synfig-studio &&
autoreconf --install --force &&
./configure --prefix $prefix --enable-optimization=0 --enable-debug &&
make --debug=b -j $CPUS install
</pre>

The binaries are installed at $(pwd)/install/bin. Alter the script according to your preferences.

Your system must satisfy synfig's build requirements, the script won't do it for you. Also be sure what git branch are you building each time. In some cases you'll need to make clean on each folder first.

Be sure that '''you have ccache installed''' on your system because you will get errors otherwise.

Dev:Translation

2009-09-14T10:43:14Z

Bombe: /* Editing tools */ KBabel is outdated, mention Lokalize.

= Translating synfig & synfigstudio =

Synfig and Synfigstudio are now translatable. We are using the standard gettext system and .po files. The [http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/gettext.html gettext manual] has lots of good advice for translators and programmers alike.

When you are building the source, the build system will create a PO Template for both synfig (po/synfig.pot) and synfigstudio (po/synfigstudio.pot). If those files are missing, run "''make update-po''" in the po/ directories.

== New Translations ==
To start a new translation, you can get into the po directory and run msginit, which will determine the correct language code from your environment, ask for your email address and create <languagecode>.po, which you should edit with one of the tools mentioned below.

== Updating Translations ==
If you update to a new revision of the code, please run "''make update-po''" in the po/ directories before updating the translation.

We are currently auditing the code for translatable strings, so more strings will appear for translation over time.

== Editing tools ==

Any text editor (notepad/textedit/gedit/vi/emacs) will do (especially those with specific modes for PO files), but there are a few GUI tools that make the process easier for translators by integrating spell checking, dictionaries and so on:

* [http://kbabel.kde.org/ KBabel]: A KDE/Qt translation tool (now discontinued)
* [http://userbase.kde.org/Lokalize Lokalize] The successor of ''KBabel'', for KDE 4.x
* [http://www.khmeros.info/drupal/?q=en/download/Translation_Editor Pootling]: A cross-platform tool with some nice features
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/gtranslator/ gtranslator]: a somewhat older tool for GNOME
* [http://www.poedit.net/index.php Poedit]: Poedit is cross-platform gettext catalogs (.po files) editor.

== Testing ==

To test your translation, save your po file as po/<languagecode>.po, edit configure.ac and add your language code to the ALL_LINGUAS variable (be sure that you are editing the one that is '''before''' AC_OUTPUT rather than adding a new one. Once you have done that, do autoreconf and make install again. Then run synfigstudio or synfig to see how the translations look. If you edit the translation again, you just need to run make install again, no need to autoreconf.

If you are on a 64-bit platform, then please either update to SVN r1273 or run this command before running autoreconf:

sed -i -e 's/AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION.*/AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION([0.14.4])/' configure.ac

== Contributing ==

When your translation is satisfactory or you have an update to it, open a patch in the sf.net bug/patch tracker and we will add it to SVN.

== Updating to a new translation ==

If you're a regular user you simply follow the build instructions and you'll have a updated version of Synfig.

Otherwise if you are a translator and have tested previously your own translation and have crated a patch that has been added to SVN, you should not update your synfig using your current configure.ac and <languagecode>.po files previously mentioned. If you update with those files currently modified by you you'll obtain a mix of both files (the current one that you have modified/created and the one coming from the last commit). It would produce configuring/building errors. To avoid that simply delete the configure.ac file (it would be restored correctly when svn up) and move, rename or delete the <languagecode>.po file. You'll obtain your own translated file from the current subversion by svn.

WikiTranslation

2009-08-27T12:27:42Z

Bombe: /* The Translation Bar */ Always list English first!

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT={{Tr/en}} · {{Tr/de}} · {{Tr/es}} · {{Tr/fr}}}}

== For Translators ==

Page with a translation must bear the name of original English page, plus languages abbreviation (two-letter language code) preceded by a '.', e.g. for About, page in Russian will be About.ru.

Advantages:
* Titles are in one language, which is good for referencing and keeping wiki documentation in order.
* It also provides a clear mapping between original and translated pages.
* It is easy to implement.

When translating pages do '''''NOT''''' move them. Simply copy the content and add it to a new page.

=== The Translation Bar ===

The bar containing all available languages that is shown on top of the page is a [[Template:TranslationBar|template]] that you should use on all of your translated pages. The translation bar template is language-dependant so if there is no translation bar template for your language you should translate the template first. :)

Please sort the languages in the translation bar by the 2-character language code (but always list English first!), and don’t forget to update all other translations of the page you’re currently working on!

==== Language Templates ====

To ease the input of languages that your keyboard is unable to reproduce, a couple of templates have been created. The name of those templates is constructed by appending the language code (e.g., “en” or “zh”) to the string “Tr/”. The template for the French language is “<tt>Tr/fr</tt>” and will output “<tt><nowiki>[[</nowiki>''current page name''.fr|Français]]</tt>” to create a link to the French version of this page.

As templates can be nested this makes creating a large translation bar pretty simple:

<tt><nowiki>{{</nowiki>TranslationBar|CONTENT=<nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/en}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/de}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/fr}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/pl}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/pt}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/ru}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/tr}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/zh}}}}</tt>

Unfortunately this does currently not work with templates for other languages than English.

=== To translate the text in images ===

In [[Releases/Artwork]]this page you will find all the artwork (including editables files) of all the artwork me make for every new release of the project.

[[Styleguidelines|Here]] you can read our graphic style guidelines, where you will find help on how to create and edit the images of this site.

== What functionality I expect from Multilanguage Extension ==
* All pages named as described above.
* There must be a list of available translations for current page on top of each page. Let's call it "Page languages list". (Extension detects if page with each language code exists).
* There is a field in the [[Special:Preferences|user preferences]], called "Language" (Already exists in MediaWiki)
* Navigation improvements:
** Let's say user have Language field in preferences set to 'tr'. Then:
*** if user requests page [[Main Page]], and page [[Main Page.tr]] exists, he automatically redirected to [[Main Page.tr]].
*** if user clicks some other language in "Page languages list", then his "Language" field in preferences sets to that language, and he continues browsing, according to previous rules.
* It would be nice to have Language field set up according the browser settings automatically for new users and guests.

== Useful Links ==
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes

== Possible Solutions ==

* http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:MultiLanguageManager
* http://www.art122-5.net/index.php/MediaWiki_Multi-language
* http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Category:Internationalization_extensions

WikiTranslation

2009-08-27T12:27:03Z

Bombe: Be more specific in that it only works with English so far.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT={{Tr/en}} · {{Tr/de}} · {{Tr/es}} · {{Tr/fr}}}}

== For Translators ==

Page with a translation must bear the name of original English page, plus languages abbreviation (two-letter language code) preceded by a '.', e.g. for About, page in Russian will be About.ru.

Advantages:
* Titles are in one language, which is good for referencing and keeping wiki documentation in order.
* It also provides a clear mapping between original and translated pages.
* It is easy to implement.

When translating pages do '''''NOT''''' move them. Simply copy the content and add it to a new page.

=== The Translation Bar ===

The bar containing all available languages that is shown on top of the page is a [[Template:TranslationBar|template]] that you should use on all of your translated pages. The translation bar template is language-dependant so if there is no translation bar template for your language you should translate the template first. :)

Please sort the languages in the translation bar by the 2-character language code, and don’t forget to update all other translations of the page you’re currently working on!

==== Language Templates ====

To ease the input of languages that your keyboard is unable to reproduce, a couple of templates have been created. The name of those templates is constructed by appending the language code (e.g., “en” or “zh”) to the string “Tr/”. The template for the French language is “<tt>Tr/fr</tt>” and will output “<tt><nowiki>[[</nowiki>''current page name''.fr|Français]]</tt>” to create a link to the French version of this page.

As templates can be nested this makes creating a large translation bar pretty simple:

<tt><nowiki>{{</nowiki>TranslationBar|CONTENT=<nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/en}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/de}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/fr}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/pl}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/pt}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/ru}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/tr}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/zh}}}}</tt>

Unfortunately this does currently not work with templates for other languages than English.

=== To translate the text in images ===

In [[Releases/Artwork]]this page you will find all the artwork (including editables files) of all the artwork me make for every new release of the project.

[[Styleguidelines|Here]] you can read our graphic style guidelines, where you will find help on how to create and edit the images of this site.

== What functionality I expect from Multilanguage Extension ==
* All pages named as described above.
* There must be a list of available translations for current page on top of each page. Let's call it "Page languages list". (Extension detects if page with each language code exists).
* There is a field in the [[Special:Preferences|user preferences]], called "Language" (Already exists in MediaWiki)
* Navigation improvements:
** Let's say user have Language field in preferences set to 'tr'. Then:
*** if user requests page [[Main Page]], and page [[Main Page.tr]] exists, he automatically redirected to [[Main Page.tr]].
*** if user clicks some other language in "Page languages list", then his "Language" field in preferences sets to that language, and he continues browsing, according to previous rules.
* It would be nice to have Language field set up according the browser settings automatically for new users and guests.

== Useful Links ==
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes

== Possible Solutions ==

* http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:MultiLanguageManager
* http://www.art122-5.net/index.php/MediaWiki_Multi-language
* http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Category:Internationalization_extensions

WikiTranslation

2009-08-27T12:25:53Z

Bombe: /* The Translation Bar */ Add paragraph about language link templates.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT={{Tr/en}} · {{Tr/de}} · {{Tr/es}} · {{Tr/fr}}}}

== For Translators ==

Page with a translation must bear the name of original English page, plus languages abbreviation (two-letter language code) preceded by a '.', e.g. for About, page in Russian will be About.ru.

Advantages:
* Titles are in one language, which is good for referencing and keeping wiki documentation in order.
* It also provides a clear mapping between original and translated pages.
* It is easy to implement.

When translating pages do '''''NOT''''' move them. Simply copy the content and add it to a new page.

=== The Translation Bar ===

The bar containing all available languages that is shown on top of the page is a [[Template:TranslationBar|template]] that you should use on all of your translated pages. The translation bar template is language-dependant so if there is no translation bar template for your language you should translate the template first. :)

Please sort the languages in the translation bar by the 2-character language code, and don’t forget to update all other translations of the page you’re currently working on!

==== Language Templates ====

To ease the input of languages that your keyboard is unable to reproduce, a couple of templates have been created. The name of those templates is constructed by appending the language code (e.g., “en” or “zh”) to the string “Tr/”. The template for the French language is “<tt>Tr/fr</tt>” and will output “<tt><nowiki>[[</nowiki>''current page name''.fr|Français]]</tt>” to create a link to the French version of this page.

As templates can be nested this makes creating a large translation bar pretty simple:

<tt><nowiki>{{</nowiki>TranslationBar|CONTENT=<nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/en}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/de}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/fr}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/pl}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/pt}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/ru}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/tr}} · <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tr/zh}}}}</tt>

Unfortunately this does currently not work with templates for other languages.

=== To translate the text in images ===

In [[Releases/Artwork]]this page you will find all the artwork (including editables files) of all the artwork me make for every new release of the project.

[[Styleguidelines|Here]] you can read our graphic style guidelines, where you will find help on how to create and edit the images of this site.

== What functionality I expect from Multilanguage Extension ==
* All pages named as described above.
* There must be a list of available translations for current page on top of each page. Let's call it "Page languages list". (Extension detects if page with each language code exists).
* There is a field in the [[Special:Preferences|user preferences]], called "Language" (Already exists in MediaWiki)
* Navigation improvements:
** Let's say user have Language field in preferences set to 'tr'. Then:
*** if user requests page [[Main Page]], and page [[Main Page.tr]] exists, he automatically redirected to [[Main Page.tr]].
*** if user clicks some other language in "Page languages list", then his "Language" field in preferences sets to that language, and he continues browsing, according to previous rules.
* It would be nice to have Language field set up according the browser settings automatically for new users and guests.

== Useful Links ==
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes

== Possible Solutions ==

* http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:MultiLanguageManager
* http://www.art122-5.net/index.php/MediaWiki_Multi-language
* http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Category:Internationalization_extensions

Dev:Wish list

2009-08-27T12:16:44Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT={{Tr/en}} · {{Tr/fr}}}}

'''''Warning''''': We need more people working on the code if we are going to be able to achieve all the feature requests.

Got a great idea for a new feature? Just add it here, or on the [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=144022&atid=757419 feature requests tracker]. Before you do, please check the [https://synfig.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/synfig/ETL/trunk/TODO etl], [https://synfig.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/synfig/synfig-core/trunk/TODO synfig] and [https://synfig.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/synfig/synfig-studio/trunk/TODO synfigstudio] TODO files for similar ideas. Please add a rating of how essential this feature is to your workflow according to the following scale:

#"Well, it might be nifty. To someone."
#"I probably would make use this"
#"It's not essential, but I'd really like to have this at my disposal."
#"Synfig would be soooo much better with this change"
#"I can't/won't use Synfig without it!"

== Misc ==

Please clean this section up as desired.

* A different color dialog for picking/changing colors easier.
** A color wheel like inkscape has (or the same) [done]
** Swatch menu from gimp with .gpl files.
* Workflow improvements, like content help and ui-refinement.
** set the fine line between design and animation work.
** Greet the user at startup, give hints and help in the ui to better the usability and user-experience.
* test synfig cross-platform (Linux, Windows, Mac)
* Installer for windows [done]
* Pluggable App (run from memory stick)
* make a short film about synfigs capabilitys in a starwars kind of spaceship setting as promo video about 3 minutes long.
* Sound layer
* full tablet support
* small set of vector contend for fast animation results
* Help is available as pdf-file and distributed with the program

'''Input:'''
* Import rastergraphics png, jpg, tif [done]
* Import vectorgraphics (svg,fig)

'''Output:'''
* Render output to animated gif [done]
* Render output to png, bmp, OpenEXR [done]
* Render output to [http://animatedpng.com/ animated PNG]
* Export vectorgraphics (svg,fig)

== Interchangeable/customizing Splash screen ==
[3] GIMP has this feature of letting users [http://docs.gimp.org/2.2/en/using-customize-splashscreen.html|customize GIMP's splash screen]. GIMP looks for <code>'''samples'''</code> directory under <code>'''.gimp-2.x'''</code> then randomly picks a picture from it to become the spash image.

This will also help GNU/Linux distro, like Ubuntu, to adopt Synfig and put their logo on the splash screen.

Also, official Synfig distribution can pack sample arts created by other artists to be randomly displayed -- like the synfig.org's title's background image.

== Verbosity levels for error output ==

Synfigstudio needs verbosity levels for the error output. Levels are info, warning and error. Make sure, to spew out only errors when something nasty happens. If someone wants to know all what happens in synfigstudio, the user should activate a higher level of verbosity with the command line switch --verbose=all,info,warning

== Usage screen for new users ==

Synfig and Synfigstudio need a usage screen, which helps a new user to type in the right syntax on the command line. Any switch not known to the program should point to the usage screen. On the bottom of the usage screen could be a hint: " For more help use synfig --help"

== Keyboard shortcuts for panning ==

The navigation and canvas windows need shortcut keys that pan the canvas view horizontally and vertically. Probably just the arrow keys would work for this, as well as the home/end/pageup/pagedown keys. Ctrl and shift variants could make the panning more or less.
: You can pan with a middle mouse button. --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]] 00:59, 24 October 2008 (EDT)

== Linking Zoom layer to Paste Canvas ==

[3] It is impossible to link Center of Zoom layer to Origin of Paste Canvas without exporting a value. It often needed for pans & zooms. Suggestion: rename "Center" parameter of Zoom Layer to the "Origin". Will improve the workflow. --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]]

== Convert Strings ==
[4] It could be very good to have feature to represent Convert sequences as strings and vice versa - make convert sequences from strings. Example: To produce this convert sequence:

[[Image:WishList-ConvertStrings.png]]

I just right-click on "Origin" parameter and choosing "String Convert" menu item. In the appeared dialog I just entering: "=Composite(Scale(x, Switch(scalar, 1.0, 0)), y)".

Also if I clicking on the parameter already containing convert sequence and choosing "String Convert", it shows string representation of current convert sequence with an ability to edit.

This feature will make possible to easy copy convert sequences from one parameter to another. --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]] 03:46, 2 November 2008 (EST)

== Non scalable timeline ==
[3] It should be useful for me to have non scalable timeline. It's hard to set timing when the distance between frames is always different in different documents and in different situations. Suggestion: make a non-scalable mode for timeline, where 1 second interval is always the same. Will improve the workflow. --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]]

==Smart linking of tangents==
[4] As described in [[Sewing BLines]], when linking red tangent to yellow they are placed opposite against each other. This is normal from the program's point of view, but not normal for new users. Even more, to avoid this effect user needs to made some complex steps (see [[Sewing BLines#Solution]]). It takes a lot of time if we vahe lot of verticles to sew their tangents.

Suggestion:
* When linking tangents with the same color, program should act as usual.
* When linking tangents with different color program should automaticaly add Convert->Scale (-1) to avoid their opposite placement.
To allow linking two tangents in opposite position, I suggest to add a new menu option for tangents "Link Opposite". When linking two tangents with this option:
* When linking tangents with the different color, program should act as it acts now - no additional converts added.
* When linking tangents with the same color program should automaticaly add Convert->Scale (-1) to plcae them opposite against each other.

--[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]]

==Movement blur effect==
To make the motion most realistic for movies, it should be possible to activate in the render dialog the option to smear the border of all objects, which move faster than a given value. For example, if a ball gets shot over the canvas/rendering-screen with speed over 50 px/frame it should have a blurry streak attached. This effect could be applied only at rendering time as an after-effect. --[[User:SvH|SvH]] 09:50, 28 May 2008 (EDT)

:There is a [[Motion Blur Layer]] that you can apply to the entire document or to the layers you want. It allows to turn the blur effect on and off during animation. I think it is more flexible that your proposal. [[User:Genete|Genete]] 10:13, 28 May 2008 (EDT)

==Morph sets==
This feature is similar to some other suggestions below, just with another way to approach. In animations are many movements, which can be put in some kind of library, to make use of at a later time. For example, movements to animate the key moments of a mouth, sampling syllables. For vector graphics, it should be possible to define some key points, which move just a small amount of space, to form another syllable. These syllables in this example, should be stored in a drop down list, to be able to select them for the key time on the timeline.
A morph-set for walking-left-to-right is different from a morph-set for a mounth, which has as options a,e,i,o,u,bah-disgust,happy-smile. The morph-set has to be stored as vector coordinates in a relative way(offset), e.g. X1=+212,+34;X2=-56,-23;X3=+3,-88;

To make use of the morph-set for the mouth, you have to define first, which vector points in your drawn mouth, correspond to the key-points of your morph-set. X1, X2, X3, Xn

--[[User:SvH|SvH]] 06:53, 27 May 2008 (EDT)

==Render time approximation==
Synfigstudio should get a button in the render dialog, which calculates the total render time for the actual settings (frames per second, length of the film, resolution, output format) It should testrender 1 picture, when the amount of total frames is below 1000. Over 1000 frames, it should testrender 10 pictures for more precise calculation.

--[[User:SvH|SvH]] 12:49, 22 May 2008 (EDT)

==Smartrendering==
I have made 25,000 small png-pictures with my 800Mhz computer in about 45 minutes. Synfigstudio did calculate each single frame of it. Nothing changed in this picture, so it does only need to get written to disk for the amount of pictures, until the next change (animation) has an effect on the output picture. This should save time for bigger projects with thousands of pictures. With smartrendering it is also possible to predict the total amound of space in Megabytes (Mibibytes) of the final render of the movie. It should calculate how much it needs and see, if enough space is free on the harddisk before the rendering get started.

--[[User:SvH|SvH]] 12:49, 22 May 2008 (EDT)

== get_color method in text and radial blur ==

[5] Without get_color method distorion produces artifacts
[http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1831355&group_id=144022&atid=757416 bug 1831355]. So I would like to get this problem fixed before doing something else. --[[User:AkhIL|AkhIL]] 22:41, 1 May 2008 (EDT)

== Full functional of group dialog ==

[5] Group dialog is broken now [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1796833&group_id=144022&atid=757416 bug 1796833]. So we should get old features work right before making new one. --[[User:AkhIL|AkhIL]] 22:41, 1 May 2008 (EDT)

== import/export .swf files ==

very important productivity feature

== import/export .svg frames sequence, and/or .svg animations ==

very important productivity feature

== a realtime .sif synchronized text window ==

just like the xml editor of Inkscape, or the html editor in Dreamweaver (this is hugelly useful for productivity)

I thinks scripting API can be implement in this way. For example you make XML DOM like implementation for python which alows to change DOM tree from python code and see chenges in canvas. By this way you can implement import/export scripts. Automation scripts. And a lot of different things. Even synchronization of animation between blender and synfig. --[[User:AkhIL|AkhIL]] 23:10, 26 April 2008 (EDT)

== choosing colour from gimp/inkscape palettes ==

very useful when you need some colour comformity of what you're doing

== Good high-level documentation of the source code ==

(2) It'd be nice if a newbie could quickly navigate around the source code. The best thing to do would be to add top-level comments in each file, explaining what that file does, a README.TXT in each directory, explaining what's in that directory. This would be pretty fast and easy to do, and make it much easier for new programmers to join.

Time permitting, it would also be good to document on a high level what the data structures are, but that's harder, since those tend to evolve, and it is often difficult to keep in sync. It would also be useful to document what individual functions do (just a one-liner high-level description), but that also takes more time.
: There is a page link in the wiki that connect to the [http://www.synfig.com/doc Synfig API Documentation]. I think this link should be highlighted to be more accessible for newbies contributors and mature developers (the link was found [[Releases/DeveloperPreview#Support | here]]). --[[User:Genete|Genete]] 10:02, 11 December 2007 (EST)

== Mathematical functions to animate ==
(2/4) If you want to make a waving flag, it would be handful a sine function, tuned with random correctors, for example.
: -This should generate waypoints each 1, 2, 4 frames or any other step at artist's wish.
: -When applying a function you can add it to current values, add it to 1st frame values or simply override old values. Perhaps other options (such multiplication) would be fine, too. Something like texture editor in [http://www.artofillusion.org Art of Illusion], perhaps.
Perhaps it would be useful reusing the [http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/ Octave] source code to parse mathematical expressions.
I have rated this wish with a '2' because undoubtly many users will not be familiar to mathematical concepts, but for those who will be, I'd rate it with a 4. It would be possible to make a ball describing a parabolic moving in no time.
[[User:ajotatxe|ajotatxe]] 20 November 2007
: dooglus can probably chime in better than I here (see his example of balls on mathematical paths at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YTpSfUthuVE ), but I believe that this is already possible. Synfig does support a variety of mathematical transforms for parameters, although the way you do this is by no means intuitive. (You might also want to check out the preambletaffy.sifz example for an easier approach to a waving flag. I know you were just using that as an example, but for the record...) [[User:Pxegeek|Pxegeek]] 00:58, 21 November 2007 (EST)

: I'd also rate it with a (4) (and updated the rating accordingly), not for this special case, but to make many workarounds much easier. Simulating [Parabolic Shot|free fall], for example, would be a lot easier with real formulas. I don't know, though how easy it will be to implement, maybe waiting for a scripting interface to be implemented is better than hacking this feature in an ad-hoc manner. --[[User:Rubikcube|Rubikcube]] 16:38, 29 February 2008 (EST)

== Warning about editing bizarre things in animate editing mode ==
(3.5) It seems to have little sense animate certain things like Blend Method or Type of Feather. It would be very nice that the program asked comfirmation if you change these attributes in animate editing mode. If you do want to, you would have three options: "Yes, never ask", "Yes, never ask for this attribute", "No". I guess that internally, this attributes has integer type (or something like that) and the attributes that you normally want to animate, float type, so I think that this feature is relatively easy to implement. My English is not very good, so please feel free to fix this post.
[[User:ajotatxe|ajotatxe]] 20 November 2007

== Bones with FK & IK + grouping of objects into folders ==

(5) Bones cane move specific vector assigned to them or the bones can have envelopes that move the vectors within their field of influence, much Like Anime Studio/Moho does. It's quite a time saving process of animating. Objects created can be saved into separate groups or folders using the same system as Anime Studio/Moho -Shadowphoenix 27/8/2007

== Animated sketch ==

(5) it would be great, if the tool Sketch was animatable (for example, in a form of a special sketch-layer). --Zelgadis 2007-06-14

: For now as a workaround we could use animation program called Pencil. See [[Related Projects]] page. --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]]

: So, currently it could be achieved by using other software, but integration with synfig is poor, cause it requires importing a movie through a sequence of images. This is not intuitive and not obvious for new users. It will be good if synfig will have it implemented like [url=http://www.blender.org/development/release-logs/blender-248/grease-pencil/]blender's Grease Pencil[/url]. This feature will improve workflow, make synfig usable for frame-by frame animation (it is intuitive way of learning animation and powerful tool for producing preproduction work like animatic). --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]]

: It would be nice to also implement the onion peel feature, where you can see the frame before or after, and/or selectable keyframes if this is included. An example can be seen in the program Pencil--[[User:richardwad1|richardwad1]]

== Duck for Amount value in Zoom layer ==

(2) It would be nice if Amount value in Zoom layer was controlled by additional duck. --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]] 02:49, 29 December 2007 (EST)
: I found that I can better use Warp layer instead of Zoom to change size. But it'd be nice to have Amount duck for Zoom layer anyway...
:: The Amount parameter works exponentially; each time you add 1 to the Amount, the image is zoomed by a further factor of e (= 2.71828 or so). Would a duck be any use if it just controlled the value of Amount in a linear way?
:: Workarounds include: export Amount, select it in the children dialog. Whatever's selected in the children dialog shows a duck. You can adjust it using that duck.
:: Also, if you use a Stretch layer, convert the Amount to Composite, export the X-Axis and connect it to the Y-Axis, then you have a duck-controllable fixed-aspect zoom. -- [[User:Dooglus|dooglus]] 15:32, 15 January 2008 (EST)
::: Yeah I found this workaround, but it's to much actions - i prefer better use Warp or Stretch layers. Why not the link Amount duck and Amount value with logarithmic function? ;) --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]] 10:33, 17 January 2008 (EST)
::::[[Convert#Logarithm|Logarithm]] convert type for real parameters exists since svn 2034. [[User:Genete|Genete]] 10:17, 30 August 2008 (EDT)

== Automatic colour palette optimisation ==

(0) it would be nice to use libcontrast [http://david.navi.cx/blog/?p=132] [http://david.navi.cx/blog/?p=94] [http://david.navi.cx/blog/?p=99] [http://svn.gnome.org/svn/xchat-gnome/trunk/src/libcontrast/] to automatically adjust selected or all the palette items for best visual contrast. It would also be interesting to have a layer that uses this code to filter the image.

== Arbitrary Color Channels ==

— The ability for the user to create any number of custom channels for various purposes.

== Autorecover History ==

— It would be great if autorecover could also recover the associated history of a file in the event of a crash.

== Layer Convert ==

<strike>(4)</strike> (2) — The original intent of this feature request has been solved and documented - [[How_do_I#Fill_an_outline.3F|How do I....Fill an Outline?]] - but it would still be nice to have a way to convert one sort of path layer to another. ''(Downgraded to level 2) [[User:SnapSilverlight|Snap]] 12:32, 17 Jan 2006 (PST)''

== Vector fill bucket ==

(3) — Like the traditional bitmap fill, but this fills the area clicked out to the nearest boundary paths with a region of that area, set to the foreground color (it actually would create a new [[Region Layer|region layer]]). <p>Alternatively, a single-duck layer object, that performs a simple bitmap fill from its (animatable) location, with its stored color value. (This second approach is similar to the behavior of one of Softimage's TOONZ[http://www.google.com/search?q=softimage+TOONZ]'s tools)</p><p>If this is implemented, it will probably be necessary to change the existing "fill" tool's name and icon to a "color injector" (hypodermic needle / turkey injector icon) tool, as that's closer to describing what it does.

*Inkscape has a very innvative version of this tool. Maybe you can just grab the code from there and integrate it in synfig? --[[User:SvH|SvH]] 01:37, 14 May 2008 (EDT)

== [[redraw tool]] ==

(4-5) — Intutive reshaping of path-based layers. See link.

== [http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/ Gnome HIG Compliance] ==

— This should solve all complaints about the layout, without requiring Synfig to be "just like program (x)". See [[UI Reloaded]] for progress on this.

== Feedback for [[Smooth Move Tool]] ==

(3) — This tool does what a lot of folks are looking for, warping selected ducks in a "soft" fashion. But it's not very obvious what sort of effect it will have, from the tool's interface. It needs some sort of momentary center-of-action and radius indicator at the very least. Perhaps an "influence gradient" overlaid on the canvas once Synfig's core is sped up?

== Networkability ==

(2) — Like Inkscape's "inkboard" feature (using Jabber), or Blender's Verse server [http://www.blender.org/modules/verse/index.php], or OpenCanvas's Networking option. This should probably farm off all the networking stuff to the telepathy framework so that synfig doesn't have to deal with all the account/etc issues.

== Intuitive tangent modification ==

(3) — (BBQ Pulled Duck) Inkscape has this for still handles - basically, grab a section of the spline between handles, and pull it around, the program automatically alters the tangent handles to match. What would be really neat is if you could do the same for temporal handles - be able to grab the spline between keyframes, and yank it around, and have Synfig automatically adjust the key interpolation to match. Not sure exactly what the workflow in the UI would be for this, however.

-Agreed; blender does this with its IPO curves, and it's a really efficient way to work.

== Plugin API ==

(1) — Would be nice to enable additional functionality to be added to the program without it necessarily needing to be in the Synfig source tree. ''According to the Synfig 0.61.01 roadmap on [http://deepdarc.com/ deepdarc.com], there is a plugin API already implemented. So instead, this may be a [[Wiki Wish List|Wiki Wish]] for documentation, depending on how much has already been completed. [[User:SnapSilverlight|Snap]] 19:57, 13 Jan 2006 (PST)

== Python support ==

(1) of some sort will no doubt be demanded by the userbase eventually, for studio-specific automation of tasks, noncompiled plugins, etc. I ([[User:Snap|SnapSilverlight]]) don't have any particular use for it at the moment, tho'.

I suppose to join this request with [[Wish_list#a_realtime_.sif_synchronized_text_window]]. We can implement python access to XML DOM and write XML Editor in python. --[[User:AkhIL|AkhIL]] 06:54, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

== mod_synfig ==

(1) — For Apache. Render .sif to some format like png/mng on access.

== synfig nsplugin ==

(1) — Let Mozilla and Mozilla-based view synfig files in-browser.

== Align function ==

(3) — Align objects at a common border (as in Inkscape)

== Improved SVG import ==

(4) — Currently, all importing an SVG does is render it in ImageMagick. What I want is the ability to import the SVG document so that all the shapes, etc. of the SVG document show up as their equivilant synfig layers - i.e. if I had put them there myself. I'm trying to write a patch for this but the codebase is mostly undocumented. [[User:KMeist|KMeist]] 16:38, 25 Feb 2006 (PST)

[[svg2synfig]] could be incorporated using an open source XSLT processor. --[[User:Dmd|Dmd]] 13:34, 26 January 2008 (EST)

Useful would be the possibility of importing SVG sequences, just like Macromedia/Adobe Flash does with .ai sequences

== Gradient Paint Tool ==

How about a tool that can 'paint' a gradient object. For example the options would be width and gradient type, one would make a stroke with the tool and the gradient would be automatically applied inside of the outline (set by width). This would save the trouble of having to the all the encapsulation stuff. (Actually any tool that makes creating gradient one step would be good).--[[User:Triclops|Triclops]] 09:52, 9 Aug 2006 (PDT)

== Bone Animation Tools ==

Bone system with inverse kinematics, very important for quick animation. You put bones on a drawed man and you can animate him like a puppet. I'm using that in Moho (lost marble product).--[[User:Ziolive|ziolive]] 23 Aug 2006
*I would find this very useful too. I think it is called '''rigging'''(4/5) --[[User:SvH|SvH]] 01:33, 14 May 2008 (EDT)

== AVI Backgrounds ==
Is there any way I can add an avi as a background so I could add facial expressions to a stop-motion animated figure. [zotz here, I was thinking DV background or extra timeline. I would like to mix animations with live footage. rating (3/4)]
: Already implemented for ffmpeg pipeline of ppm in svn r2161 [[User:Genete|Genete]] 05:36, 9 November 2008 (EST)

== Character tool on Tool Options Dialog ==

I want to use the as a character generator for a TV show. By using chroma key hide the background. Even better interface to a video overlay card with Alpha blending.

== Collect for Publication ==

(3/4) - (zotz) Menu item, functionality that would collect alll files referenced in a sif and place them all in a tgz for sending elsewhere or publishing animations in source form.

== Object Library ==

(3/4) - (zotz) Haven't thought this all through yet, but synfig could come with a library of categotrised "objects" with a copyleft license (GPL? CC BY-SA?) An animation clip art type deal.
:I'd suggest this should be public domain and distributed by openclipart.org -- --[[User:PaulWise|pabs]]

== Flash Export ==

(3/4) Well, might just be me but if there was a posiblity to export in .swf or .fla, I think the project might become a lot more popular.[[User:Conceit|Conceit]]

(4/5) I wholeheartedly agree. I would definitely use synfig more if this feature were added and it would most definitely increase popularity. [[User:cdj05a|cdj05a]]

(4[me]/5[others]) Definitely would love flash export. There is no well maintained Flash animation studio that is Open Source. To have Synfig become that along with all that it already is would be absolutely wonderful. You'd also possibly add to your user base all the flash animators out there that don't want to pay Adobe. Some people would only want it for the flash animation hence the 5 for others. [[User:jblandrum|jblandrum]]

This can be simply done from a python plugin could use SwfTools for converting temporary exported data into .swf file - not very hard thing to do - the information used from SwfTools is very simple to be created, such as simple .swf files are.

== Single window ==

Depending on individual desktop setups, single window is sometimes preferable to many windows. Can we have a single-window option?

Also, even with many windows, Windows-users especially might find it better if all the windows only appeared as a single one on the taskbar.

== Export Wizard ==

(2/4) Conversion and export to other file formats (mpg, avi, flash formats, others, and the synfig format) with a step by step wizard for choosing format and place of saving. Similar to Gimp's saving of .png files but for movie/video type files. --
[[User:Hiddenghost|hiddenghost]]

== Using Synfig as a portable app ==

(3) This isn't really a feature request (though it could be) but I was wondering if synfig could be used as a portable application (as in www.portableapps.com). Does the windows install require registry access? i really want to use Synfig at work, but I'm reluctant to install it just in case it leave footprints in the regisitry or something, and it would be sweet to use it on my travels as well. Only thing is, I can't test it out at home because I am using Linux.
See also: http://portableapps.com/node/5761
[[User:Zenoscope|zenoscope]]

This isn't currently possible without modifying the source code. That has been on my TODO list for ages [[User:PaulWise|pabs]] 01:17, 26 October 2007 (EDT)

== Allow organize child valuenodes in an hierarchy ==
(3-2) And allow maintain the organization once the file is saved. At the moment they are reordered in alphabetical order which is useless and annoying.

== Triangle sliders to be always visible ==
(3) I would like that the triangle sliders from [[Colors Dialog]] and [[Gradient Editor Dialog]] were visible whatever color or channel you're editing. Some times when the color or channel is to bright or light the slider is difficult to distinguish. --[[User:Genete|Genete]] 14:30, 29 October 2007 (EDT)

== XICC support ==

It would be cool if synfigstudio had support for [http://burtonini.com/blog/computers/xicc XICC].

== Area to Edit ==

An option like blender - select area to update would be nice, so the only part of the image that updates when you add or change something is in the selected area

ie. when working on a complex composition, studio doesn't know, when I tweak a tiny part of the composition, that only that part needs redrawing, so it redraws the whole thing. It would be good if there was some way of telling it which part to focus on. -- [[User:Dooglus|dooglus]] 04:02, 3 February 2008 (EST)

== Histograms ==

01:23 * AkhIL wish to have histograms and luma/color scope like [http://mac.softpedia.com/progScreenshots/Avid-Xpress-DV-Screenshot-14207.html] in synfig

I've looked at those pictures but don't know what they're showing. Can you describe what those scopes are doing, and what the histograms display? ie. what are the X and Y axes of the histograms? -- [[User:Dooglus|dooglus]] 04:07, 3 February 2008 (EST)

First look this description in blender wiki [http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Manual/VSE_Modes]

Ok There is four things.
* Upper left is Lumascope (Luma Waveform in blender). X-Axis represents image's X-Axys. Y-Axis is average luminescence of column of pixels.
* Upper right is Chromascope (Chroma Vectorscope in blender). Just look description on blender wiki.
* Lower left is like Lumascope but for each channel
* Lower right is histograms. X is luminescence and Y is count of pixels with such luminiscence.

== Sound Layer ==

(4) It would be a very good improvement if the sound system were implemented into synfig in [[Sound Layer | this]] way. --[[User:Genete|Genete]] 07:46, 8 February 2008 (EST)

== Rearrange the view of waypoints for Canvas param ==
As reported in [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1888858&group_id=144022&atid=757416 Bug #1888858] waypoints are not displayed for canvas switch events.
I suggest to rearrange waypoints display according to [[Media:Canvas_prop.png|this scheme]].

== Width weigths ==
Is it possible to add "weigths" for widths? ^_^ I.e. width changes not all the way along the segment. Maybe something like a duck on bline which indicates the region where the width of current vertex isn't changed.
[[Media:width-proposal.png|Illustration here.]]

More ideas around this concept in [http://dooglus.rincevent.net/synfig/logs/2008/%23synfig-2008-04-16.log this conversation]. Although the log of that day is very interesting the lines related to this idea are from 22:38 to 23:43. [[User:Genete|Genete]] 17:51, 16 April 2008 (EDT)

== Improved Colour Dialog ==
How easy is it to stick in a colour square/wheel? Messing with sliders is somewhat obstructive.

== Insert Waypoints ==
A button to create a waypoint for every selected duck, in its current position. Moving each duck up a bit and down again quickly gets tedious.
:If the duck in question has already a waypoint then you don't need to move it to create a new waypoint. Just select the corresponding parameter in your child list panel and select 'Add Waypoint' from the right click context menu over the parameter. No need to have the duck selected. If you want to freeze the entire bline just do that over the Bline Point List. [[User:Genete|Genete]] 07:48, 29 April 2008 (EDT)
::Yes, but it would be nice to have opportunity to add waypoint to parameer which not have any ducks yet (i.e. non-animated parameter). --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]] 08:33, 29 April 2008 (EDT)

== Automatically split tangeants ==

Holding shift while moving tangeant ducks should automatically split them. They can be rejoined if necessary through the context menu as they are now.

== A way to link params without exporting ==
I need a way to link params with different names without exporting. It is possible to achive by manualy editing of sif file. But inposible by gui. I will be nice to have linking by drag-n-drop. Or just by selecting reference param, pushing copy button, selecting another param and bushing link button. ---[[User:AkhIL|AkhIL]] 21:47, 30 May 2008 (EDT)

== Allow select the origin of rotation when using the Rotate Tool ==

It can be initially set to the geometrical center of the selected ducks or the gravity center depending of the selected checkboxes in the tool options panel. Later the user could move it before perform the rotation operation. It is a waste of time to rotate and translate the ducks every time a rotation manipulation is done. ---[[User:Genete|Genete]] 12:16, 4 June 2008 (EDT)

:I was adding this request at the same time than you Genete :-). Here is an example of how this issue is solved in Inkscape:

:[[Image:rotate-tool-inkscape.png|center]]

:---[[User:Yaco|Yaco]]

== Labels for rows in the Timetrack window [1]==
The rows in the timetrack palette and the parameters palette are obviously related, doing a scroll in the Timetrack window with the mouse makes the parameters window scroll.

It's be nice to have the rows labeled with the corresponding label from the parameters palette, and to have the "list" parameter at the top of the time track window, with the possibility of dragging them around to move them up or down, personally I would prefer the "list" to be up the top so I can see the keyframes I'm making.

[[Image:Stencil 3.jpg|center]]

:---[[User:zenoscope|zenoscope]]

:Is this what you want? Just arrange the dock able dialogs as you need. [[User:Genete|Genete]] 10:03, 30 July 2008 (EDT)

:[[Image:Params-TimeTrack.png]]

yeah, that works. Cheers :) :---[[User:zenoscope|zenoscope]]

== Non-symetrical but "smooth" tangents on ducks ==
Add another mode for duck tangent, where the tangent can have different radius, but keep the same angle. (a "split tangents (radius only)" mode).

== Dockable windows ==
The current GUI is a pain in the rear by not complete covering the desktop and it's showing 5 tabs instead of usual one tab so it's frustrating to switch windows if you running more than one software. (windows version)

:--[[User:super animator|super animator]]

== Combining the installations files ==
This is the most common problem that the user will face when trying to running program for the first time since the user needs to install 4 files instead of one. This common problem needs to be fixed.

:--[[User:super animator|super animator]]

== A Particle Tool/Particle Object Editor ==
I thought it might be interesting to add a Particle tool that is intuitive. Genete's script is amazing and I am sure I will do a lot of things with it once I have a chance to sit down and figure it out, but if there were a way to make it into tool with all the settings on sliders, it would be much easier. His script adds endless possibilities of nice effects to make animations look better. I personally rate this rather high. 3.5/5

:--[[User:richardwad1|richardwad1]]

== A programation language as code behind like python, ruby or any ==
Code behind should be important to program the animation or events associated, programers and designers could work in a colaborative workspace and make applications with richfull content on desktop applicactions or web applications like expression blend or macromedia flash CS.

:--[[User:nickholai|nickholai]]

== Embedding animation on web applications ==
Like Macromedia Flash, it seems to require a plug in for internet explorer or firefox diferent as silverlight or flash, open source and "software libre" projects are working on animation but using the flash plug in, this wish needs a free plug in.

:--[[User:nickholai|nickholai]]

This seems a bit confusing; why do you want a plug in for synfig? When we add the import and export swf. file feature, it will use the flash plug in. Besides the flash player program is free, so you don't have to pay anything. I find that this feature is useless until you explain to us better why you think this software needs a plug-in.

Create a thread in the synfig forum if you want to continue to talk about this. We're listening.
:--[[User:super animator|super animator]]

== Split Tangent indicator ==

Its hard to tell if a tangent is split or not without clicking on it (either to use the context menu, or move a duck). All of the ducks should change to another shape (eg a square) for a quick visual indication of a ducks state.

:---[[User:zenoscope|zenoscope]]

== Guide lines ==

Guide lines that can be dragged from the side (like in the Gimp) would be very
useful.
:---[[User:zenoscope|zenoscope]]

== Progress indicators ==

Eg % complete in opening file, pop-up window which indicates how many frames are rendered of a render, eg "rendering 10 of 999" that can be closed/ignored if needed.
:---[[User:zenoscope|zenoscope]]

== Improve the Timeline ==

I know, this is one hell of a wish, but, as in all, i think that is best if you think in the ideals conditions and then you downgrade into what is possible to achieve in a reasonable period of time.

:D greetings!!

[4] Normal mode // [4] Layer mode // [4] Secuence mode

.I think that this modes are three diferent windows layout, therefore the hability to create new and save different windows layout, should be the first to do in order to achieve this three modes.

[[Image:Timeline-normal-mode-explained.jpg|200px]] [[Image:Timeline-layer-mode-explained.jpg|200px]] [[Image:Timeline-secuence-mode-explained.jpg|200px]]

(click to enlarge)

02/01/2009 [[User:Belifilmaker|Belifilmaker]]

== Lockable Layers ==
I would use them all of the time.
[[User:Zenoscope|Zenoscope]]

== Vector Objects ==
Represent objects (ie. circles, rectangles, regions, outlines, etc) as a new type of element. These objects exist as childs of some layer. The layer then takes care of rendering these objects to a raster. Currently layers do both things, represent objects and render them.

Having objects as a seperate entity would allow defining operations between them. For example:
* Take two region objects and find the union of their regions. This would produce a vector representation of the resulting region (ie. Bline) which in turn can be used for other operations (ie. link vertex to Bline).
* Apply transformation to a vector object producing a vector object as a result which can be further processed.
* Trace a [[Media:Smooth_silhoutte.png|smooth silhoutte]] around a set of vector objects.
* Slice an animated vector object into pieces and be able to move the pieces around (while preserving the original animation). Would be useful for reflection on a broken glass effect.

:---[[User:Yoyobuae|Yoyobuae]]

== Free drawing ==

I wish the synfig have ability to do paintings like with brush and eraser. Imagine: you painting over Paste canvas, and synfig automatically creates shapes inside this Paste canvas layer, doing necessary boolean operations and linking between them. So they don't overlap. This would allow flash-like workflow, which is very suitable for newbies. [[Free Drawing|Discussion.]] --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]] 15:27, 9 April 2009 (EDT)

Wiki Improvements

2009-08-27T12:15:36Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT={{Tr/en}} · {{Tr/fr}}}}

This site is a wiki. If you see a spelling mistake, you can fix it all by yourself.

If you are interested in helping improve this wiki, you may want to look at these:

* [[WikiTranslation|Wiki translation]]
* [[Wiki_Wish_List|Wiki wishlist]]
* [[Special:Allpages|All pages]]
* [[Special:Shortpages|Short pages]]
* [[:Category:Blank_Pages|Blank pages]]
* [[Special:Wantedpages|Wanted pages]]
* [[Special:Lonelypages|Orphaned pages]]
* [[Special:Wantedcategories|Wanted categories]]
* [[Special:Uncategorizedpages|Uncategorised pages]]

It might be a good idea to get in [[Contact | contact]] before making major changes.

WikiTranslation

2009-08-27T12:14:48Z

Bombe: Use template for all languages links.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT={{Tr/en}} · {{Tr/de}} · {{Tr/es}} · {{Tr/fr}}}}

== For Translators ==

Page with a translation must bear the name of original English page, plus languages abbreviation (two-letter language code) preceded by a '.', e.g. for About, page in Russian will be About.ru.

Advantages:
* Titles are in one language, which is good for referencing and keeping wiki documentation in order.
* It also provides a clear mapping between original and translated pages.
* It is easy to implement.

When translating pages do '''''NOT''''' move them. Simply copy the content and add it to a new page.

=== The Translation Bar ===

The bar containing all available languages that is shown on top of the page is a [[Template:TranslationBar|template]] that you should use on all of your translated pages. The translation bar template is language-dependant so if there is no translation bar template for your language you should translate the template first. :)

Please sort the languages in the translation bar by the 2-character language code, and don’t forget to update all other translations of the page you’re currently working on!

=== To translate the text in images ===

In [[Releases/Artwork]]this page you will find all the artwork (including editables files) of all the artwork me make for every new release of the project.

[[Styleguidelines|Here]] you can read our graphic style guidelines, where you will find help on how to create and edit the images of this site.

== What functionality I expect from Multilanguage Extension ==
* All pages named as described above.
* There must be a list of available translations for current page on top of each page. Let's call it "Page languages list". (Extension detects if page with each language code exists).
* There is a field in the [[Special:Preferences|user preferences]], called "Language" (Already exists in MediaWiki)
* Navigation improvements:
** Let's say user have Language field in preferences set to 'tr'. Then:
*** if user requests page [[Main Page]], and page [[Main Page.tr]] exists, he automatically redirected to [[Main Page.tr]].
*** if user clicks some other language in "Page languages list", then his "Language" field in preferences sets to that language, and he continues browsing, according to previous rules.
* It would be nice to have Language field set up according the browser settings automatically for new users and guests.

== Useful Links ==
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes

== Possible Solutions ==

* http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:MultiLanguageManager
* http://www.art122-5.net/index.php/MediaWiki_Multi-language
* http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Category:Internationalization_extensions

Doc:Walk Cycle

2009-08-27T12:14:04Z

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[[Category:Tutorials]]

== The List File ==
One of the less obvious features of Synfig is buried in the Import Image layer. In addition to being able to import some basic still image file types, it will also accept a 'lst' file. This list file is simply a text file consisting of a framerate followed by a list of images to display. (If no framerate is supplied a default rate of 15 Frames per Second (FPS) is used.)

An example, provided by Voria Studios, takes 4 still images of a character in various stages of a walk cycle. These images are shown at 4 FPS to give a sequence that when repeated, show a man walking.

Here are the images<br>
<gallery widths="104px" heights="216px">
Image:frame_01.jpg|Frame 1
Image:frame_02.jpg|Frame 2
Image:frame_03.jpg|Frame 3
Image:frame_04.jpg|Frame 4
</gallery>

And here is the beginning of the 'lst' file. <br>
<code>
FPS 4<br>
frame_01.jpg<br>
frame_02.jpg<br>
frame_03.jpg<br>
frame_04.jpg<br>
frame_01.jpg<br>
frame_02.jpg<br>
frame_03.jpg<br>
frame_04.jpg<br>
frame_01.jpg<br>
frame_02.jpg<br>
frame_03.jpg<br>
frame_04.jpg<br>
...</code><br>

== Constructing a Walk cycle ==
Let's take a look at how we can use these images to create a complete walk cycle for a character in Synfig.

Start with a new canvas and add a timeline of several seconds with the default framerate of 24 FPS. On the canvas, select the Caret > Layer, New layer, Other, Import Image.

This creates a new Import Image layer, but nothing will show up until the filename is selected. Go to the Params dialog and scroll down to Filename. There you can navigate to the '.lst' file and select open.
Now you should see the first image in the list. Moving forward along the timeline will show successive images from the list every 6 frames. You can preview or render these as is and get a low frame rate animation.

But the result doesn't look very smooth, and the images are not very flexible. (The images can be translated, rotated and stretched, but no elements within the images can be changed.) To make a fully editable character we need to trace over it with Synfig elements such as Blines or Draw layers.

I work with a drawing tablet, so the easiest solution for me is to use the [[draw tool]]. Move back to frame 0, select the draw tool and trace over the character. I find it easiest to break the character down into several regions (Head, Left Arm, Right Arm, Torso, Left Leg, Right Leg). As a helpful tip, if the shape didn't come out quite right, go to the layer menu and uncheck the region checkbox - this will allow you to see the image below as you drag the ducks around to correct your line.

[[Image:Synfig_walk.png|488x192px]]

Once you've finished Frame 0, move along the timeframe to Frame 6. Instead of tracing, this time we're going to take the existing elements and reposition them to match the image. Again, turning off the region layers will allow you to see the image below as you edit them. Use the rotate and translate tools to reposition the body parts, adjusting the line ducks for fine tuning.

Repeat for Frames 12 & 18, then you can turn off the Import Image layer (uncheck the checkbox in the layer menu). Now, even though we've only drawn 4 keyframes, by the power of Synfig, we can render a smooth 24 frames of man walking. Add a 1 second timeloop layer on top, and the man will pace on the spot for the length of your animation.

[[Image:walk.gif]]

Adding Translation layer will enable your character to walk from one side of the canvas to the other (or moonwalk backwards if you're so inclined.)

[[media:walk.zip|Here is a zipfile]] with the list file, 4 still images, and the finished Synfig file. Unzip them in the same directory and open the newwalk.sif file with synfig.

Doc:Video Tutorials

2009-08-27T12:12:47Z

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[[Category:Tutorials| ]]

In this section you'll find some basic video tutorials of the most common tasks in Synfig. Feel free to ask here for any new video tutorial.

== Animation Basics ==

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUxn9jqFJrg Synfig basic animation tutorial]: This video tutorial shows how to do a (very) basic animation. The tutorial roughly follows the [[Animation Basics|animation basics]] tutorial.

<videoflash>WUxn9jqFJrg|425|344</videoflash>

== Creating a Bline ==

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ-ku0bA23A Creating a BLine]: This small video tutorial shows the basic steps to build a BLine. Video editing was done using Synfig itself.

<videoflash>bQ-ku0bA23A|425|350</videoflash>

== Creating Circles, Rectangles and a Bline ==

[http://youtube.com/?v=SM1qUqGyIpA Creating Circles, Rectangles, and a Bline]: Short tutorial about creating Circles, Rectangles, and a Bline.

<videoflash>SM1qUqGyIpA|425|350</videoflash>

== Flower Animation ==

This video tutorial shows how to do an animation of a growing flower. The tutorial roughly follows the written [[Flower Animation|flower animation]] tutorial.

=== [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1EjObyN1pc Part 1 of 4] ===

<videoflash>U1EjObyN1pc|425|344</videoflash>

=== [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSAilqEKEJs Part 2 of 4] ===

<videoflash>oSAilqEKEJs|425|344</videoflash>

=== [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STP01dOxvMU Part 3 of 4] ===

<videoflash>STP01dOxvMU|425|344</videoflash>

=== [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dcAqZxwOWM Part 4 of 4] ===

<videoflash>8dcAqZxwOWM|425|344</videoflash>

== Following a Bline ==

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w87KRL3kD74 Following a Bline:] This video tutorial show how to link a shape to a Bline. It doesn't follow strictly the [[Following a BLine|tutorial]] but would help you to follow it.

<videoflash>w87KRL3kD74|425|350</videoflash>

== Pseudo IPO-drivers in Synfig ==

Zelgadis gave us [http://zelgadis.profusehost.net/files/synfig/ipo-drivers-synfig.ogg this] method to control playback using a variable.

== Animating a caped character ==

A 3-part tutorial on making an animated caped character in synfig.

=== [http://youtube.com/?v=S0snIErKuFg Part 1 of 3] ===

<videoflash>S0snIErKuFg|425|344</videoflash>

=== [http://youtube.com/?v=nv_KR9rG55Y Part 2 of 3] ===

<videoflash>nv_KR9rG55Y|425|344</videoflash>

=== [http://youtube.com/?v=s3B9L6amPn8 Part 3 of 3] ===

<videoflash>s3B9L6amPn8|425|344</videoflash>

Tutorials

2009-08-27T12:11:57Z

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[[Category:Tutorials]]
[[Category:Permalink]]

This is an index of all of the tutorials for Synfig Studio.

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="80%"
|'''Tutorial Name'''||'''Description''' || '''Level'''
|-
| [[Getting Started]] [[http://synfig.org/files/voria/synfig_tutorial.pdf PDF]] || New to Synfig Studio? This tutorial will help you get the gist of things || Basic
|-
| [[Animation Basics]] || Introduction to making things move, the timeline, and the [[Keyframes Panel|Keyframes Panel]]. || Basic
|-
| [[Adding Layers]] || Introduction to the Layers palette, and basics of compositing. || Basic
|-
| [[Creating Shapes]] || Introduction to making shapes using the bline and normal tools. || Basic
|-
| [[How do I|How do I...?]] || Quick tutorials, and commonly-needed tasks. || Basic
|-
| [[Slideshow Tutorial]] || Make a slideshow out of a series of images or other Synfig layers. || Intermediate
|-
| [[Flower Animation]] || A beginner tutorial, showing animation with blines. It could be a good tutorial to follow, after the Animations Basics one. || Intermediate
|-
| [[Snowflake with the Duplicate Layer]] || A tutorial explaining how to use the Duplicate Layer to easily duplicate objects. || Intermediate
|-
| [[Shiny Effects]] #1 || A tutorial of making some shiny effects. || Intermediate
|-
| [[Building a magnifying glass]] [[http://www.musikboden.se/synfigfiles/tutorial_magnifying_glass.pdf PDF]] || A tutorial showing how to build a magnifying glass. || Intermediate
|-
| [[Rescale Animations]] || A tutorial that shows how to rescale a portion of animation in start - end and speed up/down (WIP). || Intermediate.
|-
| [[Cut-out_Animation]] || A tutorial that shows how to create cut-out style animations. || Intermediate.
|-
| [[Following a BLine]] || A tutorial showing how to make a layer follow a BLine rotating to face the direction it's moving in. || Advanced
|-
| [[Walk Cycle]] || Tutorial showing import of multiple still frames, and rotoscoping to generate a walk cycle animation || Advanced
|-
| [[Reuse Animations]] || Tutorial that explains how to reuse "poses" of portions of the scene without interfere on the rest of it. || Advanced
|-
| [[Switching Scenes]] || Tutorial that explains how to edit a collection of .sif files together and switch back and forth between them. || Advanced
|-
| [[Reuse Exported ValueNodes]] || Small tutorial to show how to reuse cool conversion collections on several animations || Advanced
|-
| [[Sewing BLines]] || A tutorial to show how to sew the edges of the BLines (Outlines, Regions and any BLine based) to each others || Advanced
|-
| [[Parabolic Shot]] || A tutorial to show how to make layers follow a mathematical equation || Advanced
|-
| [[Particles]] || A tutorial to show how to use the particles template released by [[User:Genete|Genete]] || Advanced
|-
| [[Brushes]] || A tutorial to show how to create brushes using the Duplicate Layer and the Link to Bline features|| Advanced
|-
| [http://morevnaproject.org/2008/11/27/camera-widget/ Camera view] || How to arrange camera pan/zoom of canvas and manage ValueBase Nodes of imported canvases || Advanced
|-
| [[Requested Tutorials]] || Need a tutorial? Request it here. || N/A
|}

== See Also ==
* [[Keyboard Shortcuts]]
* [[Mouse Shortcuts]]
* [[Video Tutorials]]
* [[Quick Overview]]

General animation tutorial links:

* [http://www.keithlango.com/tutorials/old/popThru/popThru.html Keith Largo Tutes]
* [http://www.animationarchive.org/2006/05/meta-100000-animation-drawing-course.html The Animation Drawing Course at The Animation Archive]
*[http://www.garycmartin.com/mouth_shapes.html Lip Sync]
*[http://www.channel4.com/4talent/moveit/index.html MOVE IT! Animation Tutorial]
* [http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/04/16/40-cartoon-character-illustration-tutorials/ 40+ Cartoon Character Illustration Tutorials]

Toolbox.de

2009-08-27T12:11:07Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar.de|CONTENT=[[Toolbox|English]] · [[Toolbox.de|Deutsch]]}}

Das Werkzeugfenster ist das Hauptfenster von Synfig - auch wenn mehrere Dokumente geöffnet sind, bleibt es bei einem Werkzeugfenster. Wer [http://www.gimp.org GIMP] kennt, wird diesen Ansatz wiedererkennen.ly-docked canvas window).

==Elemente des Werkzeugfensters==
<div style="float:left; margin-right:20px;">[[Image:Toolbox.png]]</div>

* Menüs
[[ToolBox_File_Menu.de|Datei Menü]] | [[Help_Menu.de|Hilfe Menü]]
* Datei-Palette
{| border="1" cellspacing="0"
| [[Toolbox_File_Palette.de|Neu]]
| [[Toolbox_File_Palette.de|Öffnen]]
| [[Toolbox_File_Palette.de|Speichern]]
| [[Toolbox_File_Palette.de|Speichern als...]]
| [[Toolbox_File_Palette.de|Alles speichern]]
|-
| [[Toolbox_File_Palette.de|Rückgängig machen]]
| [[Toolbox_File_Palette.de|Wiederherstellen]]
| [[Toolbox_File_Palette.de|Einstellungen]]
| [[Toolbox_File_Palette.de|Info über Synfig]]
| [[Toolbox_File_Palette.de|Hilfe]]
|}
* Werkzeug-Palette
{| border="1" cellspacing="0"
| [[Normal_Tool.de|Auswahlwerkzeug]]
| [[Smooth_Move_Tool.de|Verzerren]]
| [[Scale_Tool.de|Skalieren]]
| [[Rotate_Tool.de|Rotieren]]
| [[Mirror_Tool.de|Spiegeln]]
|-
| [[Circle_Tool.de|Kreise]]
| [[Rectangle_Tool.de|Rechtecke]]
| [[Star_Tool.de|Sterne]]
| [[Gradient_Tool.de|Farbverläufe]]
| [[Polygon_Tool.de|Polygone]]
|-
| [[Bline_Tool.de|Bline (freie Formen)]]
| [[Text_Tool.de|Text]]
| [[Fill_Tool.de|Füllen]]
| [[Eyedrop_Tool.de|Pipette (Farbauswahl)|]]
| [[Zoom_Tool.de|Vergrößern]]
|-
| [[Draw_Tool.de|Zeichnen]]
| [[Sketch_Tool.de|Skizzieren]]
| [[Width_Tool.de|Breite - z.Z. nicht unterstützt]]
|
|}

* [[New_Layer_Defaults.de|Standardeinstellungen für neue Ebenen]]

Switching Scenes

2009-08-27T12:07:09Z

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[[Category:Tutorials]]

Suppose you've made a few different scenes in separate .sif files and want to edit them together.

Of course, you could render each .sif file to a separate video file and use some kind of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-linear_editing_system video editing] software to edit it together. But what if we want to use Synfig itself to do the editing?

In this example I'm going to take 3 sifz files made by [[User:Zelig|Zelig]] and mix them together:
* [[Media:Sy-n-fig-s1-hi.sifz|Sy-n-fig-s1-hi.sifz]] - a 3 second introduction scene (scene 1)
* [[Media:Sy-n-fig-s2-ball.sifz|Sy-n-fig-s2-ball.sifz]] - 28 seconds of animation (scene 2)
* [[Media:Sy-n-fig-s3-boid.sifz|Sy-n-fig-s3-boid.sifz]] - 6 seconds of a different scene that needs cutting into the middle of scene 2

Make a new document in Synfig and set its time to 47 seconds (3 seconds for scene 1 + 28 seconds for scene 2 + 6 seconds for scene 3 + 5 seconds each for opening and closing titles).

Using Caret>File>Import, import each of the three scenes one at a time.

Select each of the three scenes in turn in the layer dialog, and export its canvas in the params dialog by right-clicking the [[Canvas]] Parameter and selecting [[Export]] from the context menu. Call the exported canvases "scene1", "scene2", and "scene3". Now we can delete the three encapsulated layers from our document. We don't need them yet.

We don't have any opening or closing titles, so we're going to have to make those ourselves. Make a new text layer: Caret > Layer > New Layer > Text and edit the Text Parameter to say something appropriate for the opening titles.

Encapsulate the Text layer, and export the encapsulated layer's canvas parameter. Call it 'titles'.

Turn on [[Animate Editing Mode]], and make a keyframe at frame 0, and set the default interpolation type to "Constant". This can be found in the main 'toolbox' window, right at the bottom. It defaults to TCB, but we want our edits to happen exactly when we specify them rather than taking the risk that TCB waypoints will somehow try to 'smooth' them.

Looking at the dialog now, we notice that we forgot to put a background behind the title text. Go to the [[Canvas Browser Panel]] Dialog, open up the tree and double-click 'titles' to open the titles sub-canvas in a new window. There we can modify it. Add a new Solid Color Layer, make it white, and put it below the Text layer. Then close the sub-canvas window.

We want the first scene to start displaying at 5s. Move the time slider to 5s, make sure the main workarea is selected, select its only layer, [titles], and edit its Canvas parameter to be the 1st scene. The menu displays the titles of the scenes. Scene 1's title is "Sy'n'Fig say hi".

If we play the animation now, we'll see the title frame for 5 seconds, and then it will jump to the 1st scene. But the first scene has already ended - they've already done their wave. We need to delay the first scene by 5 seconds, so it only starts to play when it's displayed. With the time slider at 5s, edit our only layer's "Time Offset' parameter to be -5s. Now when we preview the animation, we see the static title frame for 5 seconds, and then the scene 1 plays until 8s.

Move the time slider to 8s and edit the Canvas Parameter to select the 2nd scene. Again we'll need to delay the start of this scene, so set the "Time Offset" to -8s.

Now we want to cut scene 3 into the middle of scene 2. Playing with the time slider in the main workarea, we see that we want scene 3 to be cut in at around the 23s mark (15 seconds into scene 2, which started at 8s). Adjust the time slider to 23s and switch the canvas to scene 3. Adjust the Time Offset parameter to -23, so that scene 3 starts when we switch to it.

Scene 3 lasts for 6 seconds, so fast-forward to 29s and switch back to scene 2. We'll need to edit the Time Offset parameter there to make up for the 6 seconds that scene 3 played for. Previously, scene 2 was delayed by 8 seconds, so now it will be delayed a further 6 seconds, making a total of 14s. Change the Time Offset parameter to -14.

Scene 3 will end at 5+3+28+6 = 42s, so move the time pointer there, and switch back to the titles canvas. Change the Time Offset to 0.

Open the [[Canvas Browser Panel]], double-click the titles canvas, move the time slider to 42s and edit the titles text to show the closing credits. Note that the titles are in a separate canvas from everything else, and so have their own set of keyframes. Currently they have no keyframes, so if we edit the title text, it will change for all time. To prevent this, make a keyframe at frame 0. Note also that [[Animate Editing Mode]] is a per-canvas setting. It's on in the main workarea, but off in the sub-canvases, so you'll need to enable it here before editing the titles.

Close the titles sub-canvas and we're done.

I ended up with this file: [[Media:Sy-n-fig-mixed.sifz]]

Note that using the 'Canvas' parameter to switch scenes will always cause an instant switch. If you want to fade from scene to scene, you can use 2 different layers, fading one out while the other fades in. Animate the Paste Canvas's "Amount" parameter from 1 down to 0 to fade the scene out.

Note also that we end up with a single huge file which includes copies of the three imported canvases. If we wanted to end up with a small file which referenced the imported files rather than copying them, then we could encapsulate the imported layers and export the new encapsulated layers. I think that would leave the imported layers as file references. Please try it and update this tutorial with your findings... Also, if we went that route, we could give each scene its own Time Offset value, and not have to keep messing with the Time Offset in the master canvas.

Smooth Move Tool

2009-08-27T12:04:53Z

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[[Category:Tools]]
[[Image:Smooth_move_icon.png|64px]] <span style="font-size:150%">'''ALT-V'''</span>

The smooth move tool works much like to [[Normal Tool]] except for when multiple ducks are selected. To see this, select multiple ducks, by either:
* pressing Control-A to select all ducks
* dragging a rectangle around a group of ducks
* holding the Control key while clicking ducks to toggle their selected status

Then drag one of the selected ducks and all the nearby ducks will move with it. What counts as a 'nearby duck'? That depends on the value of the 'radius' in the tool's options.

If all selected ducks are moving when you drag one duck, try reducing the 'radius' setting. I find that a value between 1 and 3 works well.

When dragging a duck, the nearby ducks move differing amounts, depending on how close they are to the duck you're dragging. This gives a localised 'scale' effect.

Short Introduction.de

2009-08-27T12:03:49Z

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{{TranslationBar.de|CONTENT=[[Short Introduction|English]] · [[Short Introduction.de|Deutsch]]}}

Synfig öffnet nach dem Start eine Reihe von einzelnen Fenstern auf dem Desktop, die Anordnung mag den einen oder anderen an [http://www.gimp.org Gimp] erinnern. Diese Seite möchte einen kurzen Überblick über die einzelnen Fenster und ihre Funktionen geben.

<div style="float:left; margin-right:20px; margin-bottom:10px;">[[image:Toolbox.png|left|Das Werkzeugfenster]]</div>
Das [[Toolbox.de|Werkzeugfenster]] ist das eigentliche Hauptfenster von Synfig: auch wenn man mehrere Projekte geöffnet hat, bleibt immer nur ein Werkzeugfenster geöffnet.

* Es enthält im oberen Bereich Knöpfe, mit denen sich '''grundlegende Dateifunktionen''' erreichen lassen: eine neue Datei anlegen, eine Datei öffnen, die geöffnete(n) Datei(en) (unter einem neuen Namen) speichern, die letzten Arbeitsschritte rückgängig machen und wiederherstellen sowie ein Zugriff auf die Einstellungen und die Hilfe.

* Darunter sind die eigentlichen '''Werkzeuge''' angeordnet, mit denen sich Objekte (oder besser: [[Layer|Ebenen]], den jedes Objekt liegt in seiner eigenen Ebene) verändern und neu erstellen lassen. Sie sind im einzelnen in der [[Categorical_Help.de|Hilfe]] beschrieben.

* Im unteren Bereich werden die '''Standardeigenschaften''' für neue Ebenen angezeigt wie Vorder- und Hintergrundfarbe, Linienstärke, Transparenz und Ebenenmodus.
----

<div style="float:right;">[[image:canvas.png|right|600px|Die Leinwand]]</div>

Hat man eine Datei geöffnet oder ein neues Projekt gestartet (z.B. über die entsprechenden Knöpfe im Werkzeugfenster), erscheint zentral die '''Leinwand'''. Diese hat links oben in der Ecke ein kleines Dreieck, hinter dem sich ein ausführlicheres [[Canvas_Menu_Caret.de|Menü]] verbirgt, wie es bei anderen Programmen oberhalb des Arbeitsfensters erscheint. Der Bereich mit dem grauen Schachbrettmuster ist der Arbeitsbereich, hier können Objekte gezeichnet und animiert werden.

Darunter befindet sich eine '''Zeitleiste''' (wenn in den Dateieigenschaften eine Zeitdauer definiert wurde), die Nummer des momentanen Frames sowie rechts zwei Knöpfe, mit denen sich der Animations-Modus anschalten und Keyframes schützen lassen können. Das [[Animation Basics]] Tutorial gibt einen guten Einblick in die Arbeit mit diesen Elementen.

Im obigen Bild sind drei Ebenen auf der Leinwand zu sehen: die schwarze Kurve - oder besser [[Bline_Tool.de|Bline]] genannt - ist ausgewählt. Die kleinen Griffe oder Kreise, mit denen sie gesteuert wird, werden in Synfig ''[[duck.de|ducks]]'' genannt.

Wie man solche Formen erstellen kann und mit den ''ducks'' arbeitet, wird zum Beispiel im Tutorial [[Creating Shapes]] erklärt.
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<div style="float:right; margin-left:20px">[[image:layers_window.png|250px|Navigations- und Ebenenfenster]]</div>

Das dritte Fenster beinhaltet drei Bereiche, in denen jeweils verschiede Reiter angezeigt werden können: hier ist der [[Navigator_Panel.de|Navigator]], der Reiter mit den [[Tool_Options_Panel.de|Werkzeugeigenschaften]] und der [[Layers_Panel.de|Ebenendialog]] geöffnet.

Beschreibungen der anderen anzeigbaren Reiter sind ebenfalls über die [[Categorical_Help.de|Hilfe]] zu erreichen.

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[[image:params_etc.png|600px]]

Im vierten Fenster werden die [[Params_Panel.de|Eigenschaften]] des aktiven Objektes detailliert angezeigt und lassen sich verändern, in der [[Timetrack_Panel.de|Zeitleiste]] rechts daneben es lassen sich die ''[[waypoints.de|waypoints]]'' erstellen, modifizieren und zeitlich anordnen.

Doc:Interface

2009-08-27T12:02:47Z

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Synfig doesn't start in one window, but opens a number of individual windows on your desktop. If you are familiar with [http://www.gimp.org The GIMP], you will recognize this layout.
This page tries to give you a short introduction to the different elements you will find after opening synfig.

<div style="float:left; margin-right:20px; margin-bottom:10px;">[[image:Toolbox.png|left|The Toolbox]]</div>
The [[Toolbox]] is the main window of Synfig: even if you have several open projects, there will only be one Toolbox. The window is separated into three areas or palettes:

* The upper palette contains buttons with access to standard '''file operations''': create a new file, open a file, save (all) file(s) (under a new name), undo and redo as well as access to the settings dialog and the help system.

* Located in the palette underneath are the '''tools''' which allow you to create and manipulate objects (or better: [[layer|layers]], as each object lies in its own layer). You can find a detailed description of each tool in the [[Categorical Help]].

* The lowest palette contains the '''standard settings''' for new layers: fore- and background colours, line width, opacity and layer mode.
----

<div style="float:right;">[[image:canvas.png|right|600px|The Canvas]]</div>
Once you have opened a file or created a new project (e.g. via the buttons in the toolbox) you'll see the '''canvas''' window. This is where you'll create your animation!

Whereas most graphics apps have a set of menus at the top of the screen, the top of the MDI window, or the top of the drawing window, Synfig has a '''[[Canvas Menu Caret|caret]]''': the little black triangle in the upper left corner of the canvas. Beneath are all the menus you would expect and that allow you to access most of Synfig's features.

The area with the grey check-board pattern is your '''working area''' in which you can create elements/layers and manipulate them.

The [[Timebar|timeline]] that you can see in the picture here only appears when you have defined a duration in the settings dialog of your project. To the left you can see the number of the current frame and on the right side two buttons to switch the animation status and to lock/unlock the keyframes. The [[Animation Basics]] Tutorial gives a good introduction on how to work with this buttons.

In the picture above there are three elements on the canvas, the black curve - called [[Bline_Tool|Bline]] - is selected. The little coloured dots control the curve and are called [[duck|ducks]].
----

<div style="float:right; margin-left:20px">[[image:layers_window.png|250px|Navigator and Layers Panel]]</div>
The third window contains again three areas, each of which can show different panels: in this picture the [[Navigator Panel]], the [[Tool Options Panel]] and the [[Layers Panel]] are open.

You can access detailed descriptions of the other panels via the [[Categorical Help]].
----
[[image:params_etc.png|600px]]
The fourth and last window shows the [[Params Panel]], where you can find detailed parameters and settings for the active element like colour, width, opacity, location and so on. To the right is the [[Timetrack Panel]] that allows you to create and modify [[waypoints]].

Doc:Shiny Effects

2009-08-27T12:01:51Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

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[[Category:Tutorials]]

Shiny Effects #1 by Ceox

'''Skill Level:''' Intermediate

'''Length:''' About 30 minutes

'''Version of Synfig Studio:''' 0.61.07

In this tutorial we will make some shiny/glowy effects on your text.

It might seem long to you because there is a lot of text, but when I
first tried this out I did it in 5-10 minutes, so if you learn all the
stuff you'll be able to do it that fast as well.

== Part 1 - Designing ==

=== Step 1: Create New Document ===

We start by opening Synfig Studio and creating a new document with all
the default settings except these:

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic1.gif

=== Step 2: Create Text Layer ===

Now we create a new text layer. In this tutorial I'm going to use
the text "Ceox". That's not my real name, but it will have to
do. Start by adding the text layer:

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic2.gif

=== Step 3: Select Text Layer ===

Now you should see a "Text Layer" text in the middle of your
project. Select the text layer in the layers list, so that it is
highlighted, and you should see its parameters in the "Params" window,
which is on the bottom of your workspace if you haven't placed it
somewhere else. (Click on the image to enlarge it; it will open in a
new window).

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic3.gif

=== Step 4: Edit Text Layer ===

Now we are going to modify the text in the "Params" window. First
double-click on the color in the "Value" cell and choose the color you
want, with 100 "Alpha". I chose a darkish blue. Then double-click on
the "Text Layer" text, also in the "Value" cell and enter your name
into the pop-up window. After this, change the size to 50pt and the
font to Arial, both by double-clicking the field in the "Value"
cell. Here's a screenshot of all things need to be modified: (I have
darkened all the values that should be good to go by default, but if
you like you can check the others as well).

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic4.gif

=== Step 5: (OPTIONAL) ===

If you want some more "fancyness" on your text, create a stroke for
the text, like this step tells you. Right click on the text layer in
the layers list and choose "Duplicate Layer":

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic5.gif

Now you should have two "Text" layers on top of each other. Choose
the lower "Text" layer and change the color to something else what
you have on the top "Text" layer. Im am going to choose a simple
green. Now change the size of this layer to about 2-3 pt bigger than
the layer on the top, in this case to 52pt. (50pt 2pt, if you didn't
get it). Now we have a stroke for our text, though it might not be
perfectly around the text. You can fix this, my moving the lower layer
a bit. This is how my text looks like now:
http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic6.gif

=== Step 6: ===

Now we create the firstÂ shiny thing. Add a new layer just like we
added the text layer, by clicking on the little black arrow in the
corner of our canvas and choosing "LayerÂ > New Layer >
Gradients > Linear Gradient. Now your canvas should be filled with
a some colored gradient. Don't worry, we will get your text back in
the next step. Which actually comes now. Choose the "Linear Gradient"
layer in the layers list and then double-click on the "Gradient"
value in the "Params" window, like we double-clicked in Step 4. Now
you should see a window which calls itself the "Gradient Editor". At
the bottom of this window you should see two black 'half-arrows', one
on the left side and one on the right side. Click on the one, which is
on the left side. (When the color of it changes to white, it is
selected.) Change the color to white and the "Alpha" value to 0. Now
select the arrow on the right side and do the same thing. Now insert a
new arrow (or CPoint, what ever you want to call them) by clicking in
the center of the area, which is over the half-arrows with your right
mouse button and select "Insert CPoint". Notice that the menu will
only appear when you keep the right mouse button pressed down. Now
select this arrow and change its color to white and its "Alpha" value
to 50. As you may have noticed by now, the alpha amount controls the
transparency of an object. Now your Gradient Editor should look like
this:

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic7.gif

and your canvas something like this:

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic8.gif

=== Step 7: ===

Rotate and scale the "Linear Gradient" layer with the "Normal Tool"
using the control points like the video shows.
[http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/vid1.swf.html Click
here to view video. Opens up in new window.]

=== Step 8: ===

Select the "Linear Gradient" layer in the layers list and set its
"Blend Method" to "Onto" in the "Params" window. Now the Gradient
layer is visible only on the layers below it. Your gradient should
disappear if you placed like the video showed in the previous
step. (Not on top of the text)

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic9.gif

=== Step 9: ===

It's easier to do all the animations afterwards, so now we could make
the other shiny effect, which I prefer to call a 'shimmer'. We start
by taking the BLine tool ([[Image:draw-path_128sif.png]]) and zooming
in 400% into our canvas. You can zoom in and out in the "Navigator":
http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic19.gif

Â Now we have to draw a new object with the BLine tool
([[Image:draw-path_128sif.png]]) in to some sharp corner of our
text. I chose the corner of the X, because this effect looks good on
the last character(s). So now draw a shape like this one:

(Insert a controller by pressing your left mouse button and close the
line by clicking on the first point with your right mouse button and
selecting "Loop BLine")
http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic20.gif

=== Step 10: ===

Now zoom out to 100% again. You should now have a new layer in your
layers list:

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic10.gif

Select it by clicking on it. Now we have its parameters in the
"Params" window. Change its color to white, if it isn't it aleady. You
also have to set its "Feather" to 1pt and the "Type of Feather" to
"Box Blur". We don't want it to be visible yet so we also have to set
the "Alpha" value to 0 in the color editor. Now everything is ready
for the animation.
http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic11.gif

== Part 2 - Animating ==

=== Step 1: ===

First we animate the "Linear Gradient" layer. Select it in the layers
list. Now you should have to have two green control points visible in
your canvas. Choose the "Normal Tool" ([[Image:normal_icon-full.jpg]])
and select both of those points by drawing an rectangle over
them. Open the keyframe- window by clicking on its icon (a golden key)
in the same window where the "Params" are. Make sure your timeline
indicator is at "0f" (the small orange line on a gray background) and
add a new keyframe by pressing on the blue icon. Move the timeline
indicator to "2s" and add a new keyframe. Now your window should look
like this:

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic12.gif

=== Step 2: ===

Move the time indicator to "0f" and press on the green ball in the
lower right corner of your canvas. After pressing on it, its color
changes to red, like it is in the screenshot. Now move the control
points up a bit (this doesn't affect the animation), just to create a
waypoint. Go back to "2s", where we inserted the second keyframe and
move the two green control points to the right side of your text. The
first animation has been created. You can move your timline indicator
around to see it. This should be your timeline and canvas now:

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic13.gif

=== Step 3: ===

Now let's encapsulate our "Linear Gradient" layer and the two "Text"
layers by selecting them all. (Select multiple layers by holding CTRL
down and selecting the layers). Then press on one of the selected
layers and choose "Encapsulate". The layers should now be groupped in
one layer with a box symbol and labelled "Inline Canvas". You can open
all the layers by clicking on the small arrow on the left side of the
box- icon.

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic14.gif

=== Step 4: ===

I just noticed, that I screwed up and we have to make the whole
animation a bit longer. Click on the black arrow in the upper left
corner of your canvas, select "Edit" and then "Properties". A new
window should pop up. Go to the "Time" tab and then set the "End Time"
to 4s 2f.

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic15.gif

=== Step 5: ===

Select the "NewBLine(some number) Region" layer, place the timeline
indicator to "2s" and a add a keyframe, like in Step 2. Now repeat
this by adding keyframes also to "3s" and "4s". Move your timeline
indicator back to "2s" and press the green ball icon to get into the
animate editing mode. Now open the "Colors" window from the "Params"
window and set the "Alpha" value to 1. Close the window. Move the time
indicator to "3s" and set the "Alpha" value to 100 trough the
"Colors" window like before. Now move the time indicator to "4s" and
set "Alpha" to 0. Now we have the shimmer in the corner of our text
fading in and out in 2 seconds. Your timeline should now look like
this (without those texts, of course):

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic16.gif

=== Step 6: ===

Your animation is basicly ready, but that shimmer needs some
enchancement. First add a new layer onto the "NewBLine(some number)
Region" layer, by left clicking on it and selecting "New Layer >
Transform > Rotate". A new layer named "Rotate" should appear. Now
lets encapsulate the "Rotate" and "NewBLine..." layer like in Step 3,
but just selecting the "Rotate" and "NewBline..." layers this
time. If we wouldn't do this the rotatation effect would affect our
text too, but that's not what we want. Now you should have 2 "Inline
Canvas" layer groups. Open the first one by pressing on the small
white arrow next to the [box]- icon. This is what your layers list
should look like now:

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic17.gif

=== Step 7: ===

Select both of the layers in the opened "Inline canvas" and you should
see the outline of your shimmer and a new line, which has a green dot
and a blue dot in both ends. Move the green dot to the center of your
shimmer like this:

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/pic18.gif

=== Step 8: ===

Make sure, you're still in the "Animate Editing Mode" (the ball in the
bottom left corner of your canvas is red, if you are), place your
timeline indicator to "2s" and select only the "Rotate" layer. Now
you have to set the "Amount" value to 0.01 in the "Params" window,
just to set the waypoint. Move the timeline indicator to "3s" and set
the "Amount" value to 180 (for 180 degrees) and then move the
timeline indicator to "4s" and the "Amount" value to 359.

Congratulations, you are done!

[http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/Shiny_Effects_Tutorial_1_by_Ceox.sif Here's the Synfig Studio file.]

And here's the final result:

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/animation.gif

Hope this tutorial helped you with something :)

For further questions, contact me at ceoxmusic (at) gmail (dot) com

[http://ceox.urli.net Ceox] |
[http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/ceox/synfigtuto1/ HTML version]

Sewing Splines

2009-08-27T12:00:34Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

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[[Category:Tutorials]]

This is a small tutorial that describes how to join any layers based on the BLine object by their edges. Such layers include the [[Region Layer|Region Layers]], [[Outline Layer|Outline Layers]], [[Plant Layer]] and [[Curve Gradient Layer]].

==Problem Definition==
It is not always possible to link the edges of the [[BLine|BLines]], because they may have been constructed in opposite directions (clockwise and counter clockwise), causing the tangents not to be appropriate for linking to each other.

If you're lucky you can link the tangents and the Regions will display properly. In the following example the direction of region construction is shown by the red arrow. You can see that the yellow tangent ducks are on the same side of the vertex (the orange ducks). Similarly with the red ducks. It is not so obvious when the tangents are not parallel.

[[Image:SewBlines1.png]]

Select the vertex ducks and right click and select the context menu "Link"

[[Image:Link1.png]]

[[Image:Link2.png]]

Then repeat the same procedure with the tangents (only one of the pairs of tangents needs linking unless the tangents are split)

[[Image:Link3.png]]

Now watch this situation. The Regions are constructed with the same clockwise direction. The result is that the shared edge become incompatible for linking properly. The tangents are opposite each other (its yellow or red ducks are not at the same side of the vertex duck).

[[Image:SewBlines2.png]]

Repeat the same steps as before. First link the vertex ducks and then link the tangent ducks. No matter what tangent ducks you link together (same color or different color), it always gives the same result:

[[Image:Link4.png]]

[[Image:Link5.png]]

== Solution ==

To solve this problem there is a smart solution. Since the tangents of each Bline are placed opposite each other, the solution comes from converting one of the tangents to a scaled one. The scale should be exactly -1. This allows us to link opposite tangents together since we are going to link one of the tangents to the other tangent, but this last one would be displayed as its inverse by the scale conversion (so the Bline has not the loop when rendered).
(Recently has been commited a new convert type [[Convert#Reverse Tangent|Reverse Tangent]] which might allow simplification of this task, but it's not yet clear whether that's the case.)
In the example, let's chose to make the right Region the one that we are going to modify with the scale conversion. Here are the steps you should perform before you link the tangents. You can do it later but should repeat the linking operations.

# Select the vertex from the vertices list in the Parameter Dialog. It will be marked with a red square around it in the workarea.
# Open the Vertex definition and search for the tangent you want to modify. If they are merged you can do it with either of them.
# Right click and select Convert->Scale
# Open the converted tangent and see that there are two new parameters: Link and Scale.
# Right click over the Link parameter and Export it giving a proper name (for example 't4' if it is the vertex number 4)
# Go to the Child list and Select the Value node you just have exported.
# Now go to the other layer and search the tangent you want to link to.
# Select it, right click, and select the Connect option.
# Now you have obtained the same result as before!! :(. The Regions are looped at that point!!. Here comes the trick. :)
# Go to the converted and exported tangent, find the Scale parameter you have obtained from the Scale conversion, and set it to -1. Voila! the tangents match each other!

Alternatively, instead of converting to Scale and exporting the Link you could convert to Reverse Tangent and link it directly. I have not tested yet.

Notice that the other vertex ducks (of the other vertices) show how they have opposite colors.

[[Image:Link6.png]]

== Drawbacks ==

The converted tangents lose the ability to being manipulated by tangents ducks since the tangent is no longer a Radial Composite value node which is the type of conversion that Synfig knows how manage internally with ducks interface.

You should modify the tangent of the vertex of that Region using the ducks of the other Region layer or by the numerical input of the x,y values.

== Sewing more than two Blines ==

Sewing more than two Blines is much the same as the case described because locally you are only going to stitch two tangents each time. If you need to sew more than one vertex at the same place just repeat the steps making the proper change of tangent sign as appropriate.

== Sewing corners ==

One not obvious situation happen when you have to sew two corners. In that case the tangents (almost one of them) must be split. It can happen two clearly different situations:

# The outside tangents are linked. Usually you link them to obtain an smooth surface. It is like a 180 DEG corner.
# The outside tangents aren't linked. Then you want to create a real corner with control of each tangent. This case is a particular case of the above.

So lets study the case where the outside tangents are going to be linked having opposite values (they are always 180 DEG separated).

That case can be reached by two regions with same clockwise construction or opposite. Let start with the simple one.

===Creating a smooth corner for compatible Blines===

When you want to link two vertices that are going to create a smooth corner (a 180 DEG one) you have to do the following (I assume that the vertices are already linked, if not you can do it now or later):

# As well as the regions are tangent compatible (see the first previous example) the tangent ducks have same color on same side of the vertex. First is to split the tangents of both vertices. Right click on vertex and "Split Tangents".
# Then you should directly link the two tangents ducks for the inner par of the corner. It is the tangent that points down in the following figure (the red ones)
# If you link the other two tangents (the yellow ones) you would obtain two identical tangents. That's not what we ant to achieve we want that both tangents have the opposite direction so they match smoothly.
# Repeat the steps of Convert->Scale, export Link parameter, link the exported to the other tangent and set Scale parameter to be -1. It would allow obtain this figure.

[[Image:Link7.png]]

There you can see that the one of the two ducks of the upper tangent is greyed. It means that it cannot be manipulated due it is the one what was converted to Scale. To manipulate that tangent you must use the left side duck.

The red ones ducks of the other tangent are overlapping and you can manage one of them at a time.

If you don't want to create an smooth corner just don't make the link of the yellow tangent ducks in this case. Set them free and make the corner you want.

===Creating a smooth corner for not compatible Blines===

If the BLines are not compatible (second example of above) you should make now only one conversion too. The inner tangent still not being compatible, so it need a conversion to Scale, an export, a link to the other tangent and a Sсale set to -1, like in the previous example. But the outer one is compatible now because they are already two inverted tangents and can be linked to create a 180 DEG corner.

So after you have split the tangents you should obtain something like this:

[[Image:Link10.png]]

Now, you should link the left red duck with the right yellow one but they are opposite tangents (opposite colors). Then convert one of them (the yellow one in the example) to scale, export the Link parameter, link it to the other (red) tangent duck and make the Scale parameter to be -1. It will make both regions have same rendered tangent on the sharing edge.

Once done, you simply need to join the two upper ducks (yellow left and red right). As well they are opposite they are compatible for a 180 DEG corner. The result should be this:

[[Image:Link11.png]]

== Dead End Corner ==

(If anyone has a better name for this kind of meeting of vertices please change it freely)

I gave this name to a a vertex that is completely surrounded by BLines so that it doesn't have any outside tangent. The inner vertex of a shared edge is the extreme example of the most general case of a Dead End Corner vertex. It has only two tangents.

Here is an example of a preparation of a Dead End Corner. The three Regions are going to be joined at the central vertex.

[[Image:Link12.png]]

If you have a look at the tangent ducks you can see that they match in pairs except the two upper ones. If you have followed the tutorial you can easily imagine that the tangent ducks that have matching colors can be linked directly and the ones that mismatch should be converted to scale, have their Link parameter exported, linked to the other tangent, and set the Scale parameter to -1. Like this:

[[Image:Link13.png]]

So making the direct linking of the lower tangent ducks and making a reversed link to the upper pair of tangent ducks the Dead End Corner is properly created. Please try it for yourself. If you have problems, please ask here in this article's Talk page.

Here is the result:

[[Image:Link15.png]]

== Removing thin line bug ==

There is a not solved yet [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1844409&group_id=144022&atid=757416 bug] that makes thin lines when you sew regions with same color. It is only a pixel thick.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k74/Genete/synfig/aliasing-q1-aa31.png

To workaround this bug meanwhile it is solved you can do one of the following:

*For each layer is affected, create a outline layer using same color than the region. Then select both layers and make right click over the Vertices paramter (greyed) then select "Link". Set the outline width to 1.0. It will be enough to remove the think line.
*Add a [[Super Sample Layer|super sample layer]] and set its value to 3x3 or 4x4 to eliminate the thin line.
*If the regions are outlined but not in the area of the thin line, you can uncheck the [[Antialiasing Parameter|antialiasing parameter]] and the thin line would disappear.

Screenshots.de

2009-08-27T11:59:39Z

Bombe: Improved wording.

{{TranslationBar.de|CONTENT=[[Screenshots|English]] · [[Screenshots.de|Deutsch]] · [[Screenshots.fr|Français]]}}

== Voria ==

Screenshots aus der Zeit, als Synfig noch ein kommerzielles Produkt der [[History|Voria Studios]] war.

{|
|-
| align="center"|
[[image:linuxscreenshot.png|320 px|Linux screenshot]]

Linux

| align="center"|
[[image:Synfig-MacOSX.png|320 px|Mac OSX]]

Mac OS X
|}

== Community ==
;Zeige deinen beliebtesten Synfig Screenshot hier!

[[Image:Screenshot-Linux-06108-2030-1.jpg|320px]]

Synfig 0.61.08 (2030) läuft in einer ArchLinux GNU/Linux Distribution, in einem KDE Desktop.

[[Image:Vista_screenshot.png|320 px|Vista]]

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Screenshot
(Mit dem Task Manager in der 'Zugehörigkeit festlegen...' Option. Setzen Sie es nur auf Prozessorkern um die besten Ergebnisse zu erhalten)

[[Image:Vista-Synfigstudio-0.61.09.png|320 px|Vista]]

Hier ist ein Screenshot in Windows Vista Home Premium auf einem Dual Core HP Laptop.

[[Image:XPScreenshot.jpg|320 px|XP]]

Hier ist ein Synfig Screenshot in Windows XP beim Ausführen des Voria logo.

Screenshots.de

2009-08-27T11:59:12Z

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{{TranslationBar.de|CONTENT=[[Screenshots|English]] · [[Screenshots.de|Deutsch]] · [[Screenshots.fr|Français]]}}

== Voria ==

Screenshots von der Zeit als Synfig noch ein kommerzielles Produkt von [[History|Voria Studios]].

{|
|-
| align="center"|
[[image:linuxscreenshot.png|320 px|Linux screenshot]]

Linux

| align="center"|
[[image:Synfig-MacOSX.png|320 px|Mac OSX]]

Mac OS X
|}

== Community ==
;Zeige deinen beliebtesten Synfig Screenshot hier!

[[Image:Screenshot-Linux-06108-2030-1.jpg|320px]]

Synfig 0.61.08 (2030) läuft in einer ArchLinux GNU/Linux Distribution, in einem KDE Desktop.

[[Image:Vista_screenshot.png|320 px|Vista]]

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Screenshot
(Mit dem Task Manager in der 'Zugehörigkeit festlegen...' Option. Setzen Sie es nur auf Prozessorkern um die besten Ergebnisse zu erhalten)

[[Image:Vista-Synfigstudio-0.61.09.png|320 px|Vista]]

Hier ist ein Screenshot in Windows Vista Home Premium auf einem Dual Core HP Laptop.

[[Image:XPScreenshot.jpg|320 px|XP]]

Hier ist ein Synfig Screenshot in Windows XP beim Ausführen des Voria logo.

Screenshots

2009-08-27T11:58:25Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT={{Tr/en}} · {{Tr/de}} · {{Tr/fr}}}}

== Voria ==
Screenshots from when synfig was a proprietary product developed by [[History|Voria Studios]].

{|
|-
| align="center"|
[[image:linuxscreenshot.png|320 px|Linux screenshot]]

Linux

| align="center"|
[[image:Synfig-MacOSX.png|320 px|Mac OSX]]

Mac OS X
|}

== Community ==
;Add your favourite synfig screenshot here!!

[[Image:Screenshot-Linux-06108-2030-1.jpg|320px]]

Synfig 0.61.08 (2030) running in ArchLinux GNU/Linux distribution, in a KDE desktop.

[[Image:Vista_screenshot.png|320 px|Vista]]

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Screenshot (With Task Manager showing 'Set Affinity' option. Set it to single CPU for best results)

[[Image:Vista-Synfigstudio-0.61.09.png|320 px|Vista]]

This is a screenshot in Windows Vista Home Premium in a Dual core HP laptop.

[[Image:XPScreenshot.jpg|320 px|XP]]

Here is a synfig screenshot in Windows XP exporting the Voria logo.

Scale Tool

2009-08-27T11:44:36Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT={{Tr/en}} · {{Tr/de}}}}


[[Category:Tools]]
[[Image:Scale_icon.png|64px]] <span style="font-size:150%">'''ALT-S'''</span>

The scale tool works much like to [[Normal Tool]] except for when multiple ducks are selected. To see this, select multiple ducks, by either:
* pressing Control-A to select all ducks
* dragging a rectangle around a group of ducks
* holding the Control key while clicking ducks to toggle their selected status

Then drag one of the selected ducks. All the selected ducks will be scaled relative to the centre of the selected group.

The scale tool has a tool option, 'Lock Aspect Ratio', which when selected will prevent you from changing the x:y ratio of the bounding box of the selected ducks.

When scaling a selection don't drag a duck that its position is close to the X or Y center of the bounding box. Select a duck that is close to one of the corners of the bounding box. If you drag from a duck that have a X or Y coordinate that is the same than the center of the bounding box it would produce an infinite scale factor and a very difficult to contorl scaled shape. (The ducks that aren't over the bounding box X or Y center are sacaled by a huge factor). This is a behavior that should be corrected (for example giving to the user corner pulling anchors to allow make a correct scaling).

Rotate Tool/de

2009-08-27T11:43:55Z

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{{TranslationBar.de|CONTENT=[[Rotate Tool|English]] · [[Rotate Tool.de|Deutsch]]}}


[[Category:Tools]]
[[Image:Rotate_icon.png|64px]] <span style="font-size:150%">'''ALT-T'''</span>

Das Rotieren-Werkzeug arbeitet wie das [[Normal_Tool.de|Auswahlwerkzeug]], es sei denn, es sind mehrere ''[[duck.de|ducks]]'' ausgewählt. Um sich dies näher anschauen zu können, wählt man am besten mal mehrere ''ducks'' aus:
* STRG-A wählt alle ''ducks'' aus
* mit gedrückter STRG-Taste kann man mehrere ''ducks'' auswählen
* mit der Maus kann man ein Rechteck um mehrere ''ducks'' ziehen.

Wenn man nun einen der ausgewählten ''ducks'' bewegt, rotieren die ''ducks'' um das Zentrum der Auswahl.

Im [[Tool_Options_Panel.de|Eigenschaftsreiter]] des Werkzeugs lässt sich die Option ''allow scale'' aktivieren, so dass die ''ducks'' gleichzeitig auch skaliert werden können.
----

zurück zur [[Categorical_Help.de|Hilfe]]

Rotate Tool

2009-08-27T11:43:05Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT={{Tr/en}} · {{Tr/de}}}}


[[Category:Tools]]
[[Image:Rotate_icon.png|64px]] <span style="font-size:150%">'''ALT-T'''</span>

The rotate tool works much like to [[Normal Tool]] except for when multiple ducks are selected. To see this, select multiple ducks, by either:
* pressing Control-A to select all ducks
* dragging a rectangle around a group of ducks
* holding the Control key while clicking ducks to toggle their selected status

Then drag one of the selected ducks. All the selected ducks will move, rotating about the centre of the selected group.

The rotate tool has a tool option, 'Allow scale', to allow the selected ducks to be scaled and rotated at the same time.

Reuse Exported ValueNodes

2009-08-27T11:42:25Z

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[[Category:Exporting]]
[[Category:Tutorials]]

==Introduction==

[[Export]] a [[ValueNode]] is one of the most interesting features of synfig. Also [[convert|Convert]] a valuenode is also one of the main features of synfig. A combination of them allows the user organize complex animations just modifying a few parameters. See the tutorial [[Following a BLine]] for an example of that.

Sometimes you would like to do the same combination of exported values and convert types. And it is so tedious to repeat each time.

There is a way to avoid this and reuse the exported and converted values.

Imagine that you have a situation where you have a cool conversion combination and want to use it into another already done animation. You should do the following:

# At the animation file that have the cool conversion do:
## Export all the values that want to control. For example if parameter 'a' is a=b+c then you should export three parameters: 'a', 'b' and 'c'. The exported parameter 'a' will be an ''Add'' parameter and will be calculated based on 'b' and 'c' exported parameters.
## Delete all the layers (you don't need them at all, because you only need the cool conversion combination). Save the file with other name ("master.sifz"). This will be the main file.
# When saved the file then go to File->Import and select the file that have the current done animation where on you want to use the cool exported valuenodes combination.
# Then select the imported paste canvas layer and go to its canvas parameter and export it. Set a meaning name. Save the "master" file and close it.
#Open the "master" file again and you'll see that the imported animation file (already an exported canvas) have an expand triangle that allow select the layers that are inside of it.
# Select the parameter of the layer of the imported canvas that you want and link the parameter to any of the "master" canvas exported values that are accessible to the children layers parameters, using the right click operation.

That's all folks! ;-)

Doc:Reuse Animations

2009-08-27T11:41:46Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT={{Tr/en}} · {{Tr/es}}}}


[[Category:Tutorials]]
== Introduction ==

One of the goals of all animators (especially the lazy ones like me) is to have the opportunity to reuse pieces of animation. It allows you to save a lot of time if you can insert some portions of animations already recorded into any other position in time.

This is especially useful for making characters speak because you have to move your character's mouth to repeated positions depending on the phonemes it describes while speaking.

This can be done easily just using a combination of [[Keyframe|keyframes]] and exported canvases.

== Keyframes ==

Our goal is to record some sort of animation and reuse it later. This can be done using keyframes. If you create some keyframes at the beginning of your animation you can reuse these "poses" at a later point in time just by duplicating the keyframes at another time position. To do that just do following:

# Create a Keyframe at a frame (all of our keyframes should be created close to each other to use a small portion of time. We only want to record a "pose" not a transition)
# Modify your objects in the way you want (for example make an eye close just by moving the points of the eyelid).
# Give a name to the keyframe just by clicking on its corresponding Description cell.
# Repeat the above steps as many times you need to make a new "pose". Let's say you have created a keyframe at frames number 2 (eye open) and 4 (eye closed)
# Once done then go to another frame with the [[Time Cursor|time cursor]], select the keyframe you want to introduce and press the "Duplicate keyframe" button. You'll obtain a copy of the selected keyframe at the current [[Time Cursor|time cursor]] position.

[[Image:Reuse_Animations_1.png]]

There is a problem with this technique. You are making copies of the entire animation poses that you have stored in the first keyframes of the time (frames 2 and 4 of the sample) and therefore you have made copies of all the other objects existing in the scene (following the example, the eyeball).

If you already have an eyeball animation recorded and you overlap an eyeblink (open and closed) set of keyframes in the middle, then the eyeball animation would be broken by the insertion of the copies of the eyelid movement keyframes.

== Exporting the Canvas Parameter ==

Every time you encapsulate a group of layers you obtain a [[Paste Canvas]] layer called "Inline Canvas" that is a special layer that holds other layers inside and prevents the composition of the inner layers over the other layers outside of it, that are outside of its scope.

One of the parameters of the encapsulate layer is the [[Canvas|Canvas]]. The canvas is like a workspace that represents all the layers that are held by the encapsulation layer.

[[Image:Reuse_Animations_2.png]]

To avoid the problem described in the previous section (the keyframes affecting all the objects in the scene) you can do following:

# Before creating the keyframe poses of the eyelids, encapsulate all the layers that form the eyelids inside a Paste Canvas layer.
# Then select the encapsulated layer and select the Canvas parameter in the Parameter Dialog.
# Right click the Canvas parameter, export it, and give it a name (in the sample this will be "eyelids").

[[Image:Reuse_Animations_3.png]]

Once exported you can go to the [[Canvas Browser Panel]] and select the just exported canvas.

Double click it and a new workarea window will open with just the layers that were encapsulated on the step 1 - the "eyelids" canvas in the sample.

[[Image:Reuse_Animations_3.png]]

Now you can create all the keyframes you need to store your "poses". Once done you can go to the proper frame and insert a copy of the pose keyframe. It will produce a keyframe in the "eyelids" canvas, but will not produce any keyframe on the other layers (for example the eyeball). This allows you independently animate of a portion of your model, separate from the rest of it.

Now once you have stored the eye blinks (open and closed) at the desired position you can go to the main window (just close the "eyelids" canvas workarea). You'll see that all the modifications have been transmitted to the main animation but they haven't created any keyframes in the main workarea. Even the layers that are inside the "eyelids" encapsulated layer don't have any keyframes (you can see an indication that there are keyframes in the exported canvas - dashed vertical lines - but no keyframe is displayed in the keyframe dialog). Anyway, you can see the waypoints created by the keyframes and tweak them, but not the keyframes themselves. To modify the keyframes you should edit the exported canvas again in its own workarea. If you modify the encapsulated layers from the main workarea, waypoints will be created according to the main workarea's keyframes, not the exported canvas' workarea, so you will get different effects depending upon which workarea you use to modify the encapsulated layers.

Now, once you have created your animation of the eyelids you can go to the eyeball and modify it to your taste, inserting keyframes or waypoints with no worries about interfering with the eyelid animation. Also you can animate the eyeball before and make the animation of the eyelids later. They won't interfere with each other.

It would be a great improvement if you could connect the time cursors of the main workarea and the exported paste canvas' workarea to show both windows at the same current time. This would give feedback on where to insert the 'pose' keyframes in your local animation.

== A sample ==

Here you can find a sample animation of a blinking eye (the closed and open positions are copies of the keyframes "Open" and "Closed", while the eyeball moves independently in its own animation.

I have stored the poses "Open" and "Closed" at frames 0 and 2. The animation is defined to start at frame 6.

http://www.darthfurby.com/genete/synfig/eyeblink.gif

[http://www.darthfurby.com/genete/synfig/eyeblink.sifz file sample]

All comments are welcome.

Doc:Rescale Animations

2009-08-27T11:39:44Z

Bombe: Use template for all languages links.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT={{Tr/en}} · {{Tr/es}}}}


[[Category:Tutorials]]

== Introduction ==

To rescale an animation means to modify the initial and final times when a portion of animation is shown. Imagine that you have created a complex animation for certain objects, but when you watch it with the rest of the backgrounds or other animated objects, it seems to be "out of time" (too late, too soon, too slow or too quick). You would like to modify the animation smoothly from one time segment [A-B] to other [C-D]. But how?...

You could think about moving the waypoints one by one and rescale the animation manually. Although it is possible, for the majority of the times it would be tedious and fruitless.

With Synfig it is easy to do.

== Encapsulate the layers ==

First of all you need to encapsulate the layers that are going to be rescaled in time. We'll need to make use of the [[Time Offset Parameter]] of the [[Paste Canvas]] layer.

== Understanding what are we rescaling ==

For example, say we want to rescale from [A-B] to [C-D]. So what we want is that when the original animation reaches the A time then the new animation would reach it at time C instead. Similarly for B and D. But if you move the animation in that way, what happens to the frames before frame A that are now before C? And what happens to frames after B that are now after D? Unless precautions are taken, they're rescaled too. Is that what we want? In the most general case we would like the frames 0f to A' (A'<A) and B' to the end of the animation (B'>B) to be untouched.

There are some conditions that the rescaled time segment [A-B], the desired time segment [C-D] and the untouched segments [0f-A'] and [B'- end] must fulfil:

# Frame A must be smaller than frame B. (Obviously)
# Frame C must be smaller than D.
# Frame A' must be smaller than A
# Frame B' must be greater than B
# Frames C and D must be smaller than B' and bigger than A'

[[Image:RescaleDiagram.png]]
(this diagram was done in Synfig :D)

== Using the Paste canvas ==

Now we know what are rescaling, then let's modify the animation to make those changes on it.

Go to the Paste canvas you have obtained in the first step and go to its [[Time Offset Parameter]]. Insert the following waypoints in the animation of that parameter:

# At frame A', insert a value of 0f. This will maintain this frame untouched (and the ones that are before also, if there are no more waypoints there).
# At frame C, insert the result of subtracting from the time value at frame A, the time value at frame C (that is C-A in time units). It could be positive or negative. In the sample diagram it is negative and corresponds to -2s6f (if the animation is at 24fps and we assume that each division in the diagram is a second.)
# At frame D, insert the result of subtracting from the time value at frame B, the time value at frame D (that is D-B in time units). It could be positive or negative. In the sample diagram is negative and corresponds to -18f (if the animation is at 24 fps and we assume that each division in the diagram is a second.)
# At frame B', insert a value of 0f. This will maintain this frame untouched (and the ones that are after also, if there are no more waypoints there).

'''IMPORTANT''': all the inserted waypoints must have linear interpolation. If not, you will change the original timing of the animation. To make it easy, just select Linear on the default interpolation parameter on the tool box window.

==Examples==

=== Enlarge a portion of animation at the end ===

In this case, the animation segment [A-B] is rescaled to [C-D] but A=C and D>B. You can see that in the original animation, the black circle has a constant velocity and the red rescaled one has the following motion:
# From A' to A, the animation is not touched (in fact A' can be the same as A because C is not smaller than A)
# From A=C to B, the rescaled animation is slowed down to reach B position at the same time the original animation reaches D. So the time segment [A-B] is rescaled to [C-D]. We've enlarged the time segment so the rescaled animation is slower.
# From B to B' the rescaled animation accelerates to reach the B' mark at the same time than the original. We've shortened the time from B to B' so the rescaled animation is quicker. It was done by setting the waypoint in the frame D to 0f, which forces the rescaled animation run to reach the original animation.
#From B' to the end, the animation is the same.

[[Image:RescaleSample1.gif]]

Both the original animation and the scaled animation use linear movement, but the scaled animation is done in three linear steps. In the original animation (black circle) the time and the position are the same. Hopefully this clarifies the example.

==TO DO ==
Fix links to other wiki pages.
Include an animation sample (in progress).
Insert a table with the waypoints (time and value) of the offset parameter.

Main Page

2009-08-27T10:36:21Z

Bombe: Use template for all languages links.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT={{Tr/en}} · {{Tr/ca}} · {{Tr/de}} · {{Tr/es}} · {{Tr/fr}} · {{Tr/pl}} · {{Tr/pt}} · {{Tr/ru}} · {{Tr/tr}} · {{Tr/zh}}}}

<table style="text-align: left;" border="0"
cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

<tr>
<td colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;">
[http://synfig.org/Releases/0.61.09-intro http://synfig.org/images/a/ac/MainBanner-06109-en.jpg]

<center><b><div style="font-size:160%; margin-bottom:10px; margin-top:20px; border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc;">Animation in the free world</div></b></center>

<div style="font-size:120%;">Two-dimensional animation has long been the domain of proprietary software. That changes with the introduction of Synfig, a free software/open source tool for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources.</div>

<div style="margin-bottom:20px;padding: 4px; font-size:130%; border-bottom: 2px solid #ccc;"><b><center>[[About|Learn more about Synfig...]]</center></b></div>

</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center;">
[http://synfig.org/Challenges http://synfig.org/images/2/22/Challenge-button-1.png]</td>
<td style="text-align:center;">
[http://synfig.org/forums http://synfig.org/images/8/84/Forums.png]</td>
<td style="text-align:center;">
[http://synfig.org/Gallery#Videos http://synfig.org/images/b/b1/Movies.png]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

</td>
</tr>
<tr style="vertical-align:top;">
<td style="text-align:justify;width;33%; border-left:5px solid #070773; vertical-align:top;">
<div style="font-size:115%; font-align:center; padding:4px; margin-bottom:10px; border-bottom:1px solid #030336"><b><center>Beautiful art inspires<br>the community</center></b></div>
<div style="float: left;"><span>http://synfig.org/images/9/9a/Community_icon.png</span></div> The community is inspired by the art you produce. Thank you to all who produce the art in the [[gallery]], at [http://youtube.com/results?search_query=synfig&search_sort=video_date_uploaded YouTube], [http://search.deviantart.com/?section=browse&q=synfig&qh=sort:time deviantART], [http://www.videoplayer.es/tag/synfig/ VideoPlayer.es], [http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=synfig&so=1 Google Video], [http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/synfig/ Flickr] and around the web. You might like to read some [[Animation Ideas|animation ideas]], contribute to the [[DemoReel|demo reel]] or [[Contact|share your work with us]].


<div style="padding: 4px; font-size:120%;"><b><center>[[Contact|Read more...]]</center></b></div>
</td>
<td style="text-align:justify;width;33%; border-left:5px solid #101094; vertical-align:top;">
<div style="font-size:115%; font-align:center; padding:4px; margin-bottom:10px; border-bottom:1px solid #030336"><b><center>Beautiful art needs<br>beautiful support</center></b></div>
<div style="float: left;"><span>http://synfig.org/images/c/c4/Icon_support.png</span></div>
Artists need information about how Synfig works in order to be able to inspire us with their animations. Help document the Synfig interface, write tutorials, help people on IRC and in the forums and more.

<div style="padding: 4px; font-size:120%;"><b><center>[[Documentation|Read more...]]</center></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left:5px solid #5454B9;width;33%; text-align:justify; vertical-align:top;">

<div style="font-size:115%; font-align:center; padding:4px; margin-bottom:10px; border-bottom:1px solid #030336"><b><center>Beautiful art needs<br>beautiful code</center></b></div>
<div style="float: left;"><span>http://synfig.org/images/2/2b/Icon_code.png</span></div>

Free software and open source development is nothing without an active community, so come join Synfig. We need bug fixers, general developers, bug reporters, beta testers, artists to inspire us and more. Your contributions are welcome, needed and appreciated.

<div style="padding: 4px; font-size:120%;"><b><center>[[Development|Read more...]]</center></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="margin-top:20px;">
<td colspan="3" rowspan="1">
<br />
----
</td>
</tr>

<tr style="vertical-align: top; text-align:center; font-size:120%;">
<td>
[[How do I|Tips]]<br/>
[[Tutorials]] ([[Video Tutorials|video]])<br/>
[[Categorical Help]]<br/>
[[FAQ]]<br/>

</td>
<td>
[[Meetings]]<br>
'''[[Releases]]'''<br>
[[Release]]<br>
[[Build instructions]]<br/>
[http://synfig.org/api/ Source docs]<br>
[http://sf.net/projects/synfig Project in SF]<br>

</td>
<td>
[[Roadmap]]<br>
'''[[Wish list]]'''<br>
[[Software_roadmap|Long-term aims]]<br>
<br>
[[GoogleSoC|Google Summer of Code]]<br/>
[[Related Projects]]<br/>

</td>
</tr>

</table>

Main Page

2009-08-27T10:28:58Z

Bombe: Use template for English link.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT={{Tr/en}} · [[Main Page.ca|Català]] · [[Main Page.de|Deutsch]] · [[Main Page.es|Español]] · [[Main Page.fr|Français]] · [[Main Page.pl|Polski]] · [[Main Page.pt|Português]] · [[Main Page.ru|Русский]] · [[Main Page.tr|Türkçe]] · [[Main Page.zh|简体中文]]}}

<table style="text-align: left;" border="0"
cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

<tr>
<td colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;">
[http://synfig.org/Releases/0.61.09-intro http://synfig.org/images/a/ac/MainBanner-06109-en.jpg]

<center><b><div style="font-size:160%; margin-bottom:10px; margin-top:20px; border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc;">Animation in the free world</div></b></center>

<div style="font-size:120%;">Two-dimensional animation has long been the domain of proprietary software. That changes with the introduction of Synfig, a free software/open source tool for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources.</div>

<div style="margin-bottom:20px;padding: 4px; font-size:130%; border-bottom: 2px solid #ccc;"><b><center>[[About|Learn more about Synfig...]]</center></b></div>

</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center;">
[http://synfig.org/Challenges http://synfig.org/images/2/22/Challenge-button-1.png]</td>
<td style="text-align:center;">
[http://synfig.org/forums http://synfig.org/images/8/84/Forums.png]</td>
<td style="text-align:center;">
[http://synfig.org/Gallery#Videos http://synfig.org/images/b/b1/Movies.png]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

</td>
</tr>
<tr style="vertical-align:top;">
<td style="text-align:justify;width;33%; border-left:5px solid #070773; vertical-align:top;">
<div style="font-size:115%; font-align:center; padding:4px; margin-bottom:10px; border-bottom:1px solid #030336"><b><center>Beautiful art inspires<br>the community</center></b></div>
<div style="float: left;"><span>http://synfig.org/images/9/9a/Community_icon.png</span></div> The community is inspired by the art you produce. Thank you to all who produce the art in the [[gallery]], at [http://youtube.com/results?search_query=synfig&search_sort=video_date_uploaded YouTube], [http://search.deviantart.com/?section=browse&q=synfig&qh=sort:time deviantART], [http://www.videoplayer.es/tag/synfig/ VideoPlayer.es], [http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=synfig&so=1 Google Video], [http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/synfig/ Flickr] and around the web. You might like to read some [[Animation Ideas|animation ideas]], contribute to the [[DemoReel|demo reel]] or [[Contact|share your work with us]].


<div style="padding: 4px; font-size:120%;"><b><center>[[Contact|Read more...]]</center></b></div>
</td>
<td style="text-align:justify;width;33%; border-left:5px solid #101094; vertical-align:top;">
<div style="font-size:115%; font-align:center; padding:4px; margin-bottom:10px; border-bottom:1px solid #030336"><b><center>Beautiful art needs<br>beautiful support</center></b></div>
<div style="float: left;"><span>http://synfig.org/images/c/c4/Icon_support.png</span></div>
Artists need information about how Synfig works in order to be able to inspire us with their animations. Help document the Synfig interface, write tutorials, help people on IRC and in the forums and more.

<div style="padding: 4px; font-size:120%;"><b><center>[[Documentation|Read more...]]</center></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left:5px solid #5454B9;width;33%; text-align:justify; vertical-align:top;">

<div style="font-size:115%; font-align:center; padding:4px; margin-bottom:10px; border-bottom:1px solid #030336"><b><center>Beautiful art needs<br>beautiful code</center></b></div>
<div style="float: left;"><span>http://synfig.org/images/2/2b/Icon_code.png</span></div>

Free software and open source development is nothing without an active community, so come join Synfig. We need bug fixers, general developers, bug reporters, beta testers, artists to inspire us and more. Your contributions are welcome, needed and appreciated.

<div style="padding: 4px; font-size:120%;"><b><center>[[Development|Read more...]]</center></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="margin-top:20px;">
<td colspan="3" rowspan="1">
<br />
----
</td>
</tr>

<tr style="vertical-align: top; text-align:center; font-size:120%;">
<td>
[[How do I|Tips]]<br/>
[[Tutorials]] ([[Video Tutorials|video]])<br/>
[[Categorical Help]]<br/>
[[FAQ]]<br/>

</td>
<td>
[[Meetings]]<br>
'''[[Releases]]'''<br>
[[Release]]<br>
[[Build instructions]]<br/>
[http://synfig.org/api/ Source docs]<br>
[http://sf.net/projects/synfig Project in SF]<br>

</td>
<td>
[[Roadmap]]<br>
'''[[Wish list]]'''<br>
[[Software_roadmap|Long-term aims]]<br>
<br>
[[GoogleSoC|Google Summer of Code]]<br/>
[[Related Projects]]<br/>

</td>
</tr>

</table>

Doc:Rescale Animations

2009-08-27T09:30:17Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[{{PAGENAME}}|English]] · [[{{PAGENAME}}.es|Español]]}}


[[Category:Tutorials]]

== Introduction ==

To rescale an animation means to modify the initial and final times when a portion of animation is shown. Imagine that you have created a complex animation for certain objects, but when you watch it with the rest of the backgrounds or other animated objects, it seems to be "out of time" (too late, too soon, too slow or too quick). You would like to modify the animation smoothly from one time segment [A-B] to other [C-D]. But how?...

You could think about moving the waypoints one by one and rescale the animation manually. Although it is possible, for the majority of the times it would be tedious and fruitless.

With Synfig it is easy to do.

== Encapsulate the layers ==

First of all you need to encapsulate the layers that are going to be rescaled in time. We'll need to make use of the [[Time Offset Parameter]] of the [[Paste Canvas]] layer.

== Understanding what are we rescaling ==

For example, say we want to rescale from [A-B] to [C-D]. So what we want is that when the original animation reaches the A time then the new animation would reach it at time C instead. Similarly for B and D. But if you move the animation in that way, what happens to the frames before frame A that are now before C? And what happens to frames after B that are now after D? Unless precautions are taken, they're rescaled too. Is that what we want? In the most general case we would like the frames 0f to A' (A'<A) and B' to the end of the animation (B'>B) to be untouched.

There are some conditions that the rescaled time segment [A-B], the desired time segment [C-D] and the untouched segments [0f-A'] and [B'- end] must fulfil:

# Frame A must be smaller than frame B. (Obviously)
# Frame C must be smaller than D.
# Frame A' must be smaller than A
# Frame B' must be greater than B
# Frames C and D must be smaller than B' and bigger than A'

[[Image:RescaleDiagram.png]]
(this diagram was done in Synfig :D)

== Using the Paste canvas ==

Now we know what are rescaling, then let's modify the animation to make those changes on it.

Go to the Paste canvas you have obtained in the first step and go to its [[Time Offset Parameter]]. Insert the following waypoints in the animation of that parameter:

# At frame A', insert a value of 0f. This will maintain this frame untouched (and the ones that are before also, if there are no more waypoints there).
# At frame C, insert the result of subtracting from the time value at frame A, the time value at frame C (that is C-A in time units). It could be positive or negative. In the sample diagram it is negative and corresponds to -2s6f (if the animation is at 24fps and we assume that each division in the diagram is a second.)
# At frame D, insert the result of subtracting from the time value at frame B, the time value at frame D (that is D-B in time units). It could be positive or negative. In the sample diagram is negative and corresponds to -18f (if the animation is at 24 fps and we assume that each division in the diagram is a second.)
# At frame B', insert a value of 0f. This will maintain this frame untouched (and the ones that are after also, if there are no more waypoints there).

'''IMPORTANT''': all the inserted waypoints must have linear interpolation. If not, you will change the original timing of the animation. To make it easy, just select Linear on the default interpolation parameter on the tool box window.

==Examples==

=== Enlarge a portion of animation at the end ===

In this case, the animation segment [A-B] is rescaled to [C-D] but A=C and D>B. You can see that in the original animation, the black circle has a constant velocity and the red rescaled one has the following motion:
# From A' to A, the animation is not touched (in fact A' can be the same as A because C is not smaller than A)
# From A=C to B, the rescaled animation is slowed down to reach B position at the same time the original animation reaches D. So the time segment [A-B] is rescaled to [C-D]. We've enlarged the time segment so the rescaled animation is slower.
# From B to B' the rescaled animation accelerates to reach the B' mark at the same time than the original. We've shortened the time from B to B' so the rescaled animation is quicker. It was done by setting the waypoint in the frame D to 0f, which forces the rescaled animation run to reach the original animation.
#From B' to the end, the animation is the same.

[[Image:RescaleSample1.gif]]

Both the original animation and the scaled animation use linear movement, but the scaled animation is done in three linear steps. In the original animation (black circle) the time and the position are the same. Hopefully this clarifies the example.

==TO DO ==
Fix links to other wiki pages.
Include an animation sample (in progress).
Insert a table with the waypoints (time and value) of the offset parameter.

Requested Tutorials

2009-08-27T09:19:46Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[{{PAGENAME}}|English]] · [[{{PAGENAME}}.es|Español]]}}


[[Category:Tutorials]]

== Requested Tutorials ==

*Full Animation tutorials e.g cartoons about 5 min inculding turning there faces explaning every thing about it, walking, talking, adding sound,adding voice etc please i know it will take very much time but pleasesssssss we all wana learn synfig. Synfig is the Best!!!!!

* Explanation of the difference between waypoints and keyframes. (Meanwhile someone writes this requested tutorial you can have a look to [[Keyframe | keyframes]] and [[Waypoints|waypoints]] pages).
* Making a ball bounce- tutorial
* How to rotate objects.(done in Categorical Help> Synfig Studio Interface> The ToolBox> Rotate Tool)
* Make an object to follow a path given by a mathematical function [[Parabolic Shot|Parabolic Shot]]. This is applicable to [[Ball_Bounce|ball-bounce-tutorial (unfinished)]].
* How to change the location of a shape's pivot point. Or a cut-out animation tutorial. (I think I worked it out, making the rotation by rotation layers. Kinda weird, but actually it is there.)

Reference

2009-08-27T09:16:42Z

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{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Reference|English]] · [[Reference.fr|Français]]}}

* [[Keyboard Shortcuts]]
* [[Mouse Shortcuts]]
* [[Synfig Core options|Command-line options]]
* [[Environment Variables]]
* [[Synfig File format]]
* [[Window Manager Hints]]
* [[Quick Overview]]

Group Layer

2009-08-27T09:15:52Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Paste Canvas Layer|English]] · [[Paste Canvas Layer.es|Español]]}}


[[Category:Parameters]]
[[Image:Pastecanvas_icon.png|64px]]

The Paste Canvas layer is a special layer that can hold other layers. It is generated via the [[Encapsulate]] command accessed via the context menu in the [[Layers Panel]] or through the [[Layer Menu]] in the [[Canvas Menu Caret]]. As well as grouping a set of layers it can also translate them, scale them, and even modify the time for the layers it contains.

Paste Canvas layers can also be created through the [[New Layer Menu]], using New Layer > Other > Paste Canvas.

A Paste Canvas layer has the following parameters:
* [[Z Depth]]
* [[Amount Parameter|Amount]]
* [[Blend Method]]
* [[Origin Parameter|Origin]]
* [[Canvas]]: This is "Inline Canvas" by default if the Paste Canvas layer was created by encapsulating other layers, or "Pasted Canvas" if it was created from the [[New Layer Menu]]. This parameter lets you select another canvas.
* [[Zoom Parameter|Zoom]]
* [[Time Offset Parameter|Time Offset]]
* [[Children Lock]]
* [[Focus Point]] (since SVN r2290)

== Canvas Parameter ==
[[Image:canvas_pointer_icon.png|64px]]

The canvas parameter presents a drop-down menu of the exported canvases, plus an extra entry called "Other...". Selecting "Other..." presents the user with a text entry box asking for the name of the canvas to use. The name typed should have the following format (where <nowiki>[ ]</nowiki> indicates an optional part, ( ) is for grouping, and * means "0 or more times"):

<nowiki> [[</nowiki>''filename''<nowiki>]#][:]</nowiki>''id''(:''id'')*

In its simplest form, this is just an ''id'', ie. the exported name of one of the child canvases of the current canvas.

Other possibilities are:
* if a '#' is present, the part before the '#' is interpreted as the filename of an external .sif file to use.
* if the '#' is the first character of the string (ie. the filename is blank) then the '#' is ignored, and the current canvas is used instead
* if a ':' appears before the first ''id'', it means to start at the root canvas of the current canvas
* each subsequent :id steps down into the specified child

Examples:
* '''/usr/share/doc/synfig/examples/business_card.sifz#:IndividualCard''' -- gives the absolute path to a .sifz file, and says to use the canvas that was exported from its root canvas as "IndividualCard"
* '''../../examples/business_card.sifz#:IndividualCard''' -- the same, but with a relative path to the .sifz file
* '''#:sy:head:eyes:left''' -- look in the current composition, and starting from the root, navigate down through the canvas tree. Find a child canvas of the root canvas called 'sy', look in 'sy' for a child canvas called 'head', and so on.
* ''':sy:head:eyes:left''' -- exactly as above. an empty filename is the same as not using the '#' at all
* '''eyes:left''' -- without a ':' before the first ''id'', this starts at the current canvas (presumably the PasteCanvas in question is in the "head" subcanvas of the "sy" subcanvas of the root)

Particles

2009-08-27T09:14:07Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Particles|English]] · [[Particles.es|Español]]}}


[[Category:Tutorials]]

[[Particles V1.0]]: Initial Particles template. It is based on manual duplication of a particle template. Lacks on some functionality but allow Z Depth interaction with rest of objects.

[[Particles V2.0]]: Particle template release that uses Duplicate Layer. It simplify so much the edition of the file and its size. The Z Depth interaction is lost but some new functionality have been added like true turning On/Off particles and enable disable free floating.

Transform tool

2009-08-27T09:12:51Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Normal Tool|English]] · [[Normal Tool.de|Deutsch]]}}


[[Category:Tools]]

[[Image:Normal_icon.png|64px]] <span style="font-size:150%">'''ALT-A'''</span>

The normal tool allows you to select layers by clicking on them in the canvas window. Multiple layers can be selected by holding the Control key while clicking. When click over a layer you must consider to click over the visible part of the layer if it is a primitive like layer (circle, rectangle, region, outline, etc). If the layer is a "no edge layer" (gradient for example) you cannot click on the layers below although you have clicked in the trapsparent area of the layer. This allow to select only current visible layers. Consider also that some layers have not defined yet a way to click over them to be selected (Text Layer for example). Also if the layer is completely covered by other layer you cannot select it by a direct click in the canvas and you have to select it by the Layer List. (It could be a cool feature request though).

Once a layer is selected, its [[duck|ducks]] are displayed. The normal tool can select a duck by clicking on it. This will cause the duck to appear brighter. Again, multiple ducks can be selected by means of the Control key. Also, dragging a rectangle around a bunch of ducks will select them all, and Control-A can be used to select all the ducks in all selected layers. If you press CTRL meanwhile drag the selection rectangle then you toggle the selection of the ducks that are inside the rectangle.

Once some ducks are selected, the normal tool can be used to drag them around, this will change the values of the underlying parameters asociated to those ducks. You need to drag the selected ducks by clicking and dragging over one of them, otherwise if you click apart you would discard the current ducks selection.

If you press SHIFT key meanwhile you're dragging you can restrict the displacement to the X or Y coordinates of your displacement.

If you drag a tangent duck (or use a tangent duck to drag some selected ducks you have to press SHIFT ''after'' you have started to drag. If you press SHIFT ''before'' you start to drag, then it is interpreted that you want to split the tangents into individual left and right tangents and you (maybe) obtain something not desired.

Mouse Shortcuts

2009-08-27T09:12:02Z

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{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Mouse Shortcuts|English]] · [[Mouse Shortcuts.es|Español]]}}


[[Category:Permalink]]

Here is a list of mouse short cuts you have available. Some work combined with keystrokes and also only works in some situations. Please if you find out more, you know what to do!

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="80%"
|'''Keystroke'''||'''Mouse action'''||'''Where'''||'''Description'''
|-
| <none> ||Wheel up/down||Over canvas window|| Pan up/down the view.
|-
| <CTRL> ||Wheel up/down||Over canvas window|| Zoom in/out the view over the mouse position.
|-
| <SHIFT> ||Wheel up/down||Over canvas window|| Pan left/right the view.
|-
| <none> ||Left click + Right click & drag||Over canvas window|| Pan the view in the direction of the drag.
|-
| <none> ||Wheel up/down||Over curves dialog|| Zoom in/out the vertical scale of the graph.
|-
| <none> ||Wheel up/down||Over time line bar|| Zoom in/out the time scale
|-
| <CTRL> ||Wheel up/down||Over time line bar|| Zoom in/out the time scale with the time cursor centered
|-
| <CTRL> ||Left click||Over [[Waypoints|waypoint]]|| Adds the clicked waypoint to selected waypoints group (only valid for a parameter each time)
|-
| <ALT> or <CTRL>+<ALT> ||Left click||Over [[Waypoints|waypoint]]|| Delete the clicked waypoint and the selected waypoints group too
|-
| <SHIFT> ||Left click + drag||Over [[Waypoints|waypoint]]|| Copy the clicked waypoint and the selected waypoints group to the dragged place
|-
| <none> ||Left click + drag||Over [[Waypoints|waypoint]]|| Move the clicked waypoint and the selected waypoints group to the dragged place
|-
| <none> ||Left click||Over right-top part of the brush size minicanvas|| Increases the brush size by 0.25
|-
| <none> ||Left click||Over left-bottom part of the brush size minicanvas|| Decreases the brush size by 0.25
|-
| <none> ||Right click||Over brush size minicanvas|| Set the brush size to 3.0pt (default value?)
|-
| <none> ||Right click||Over up arrow of the brush size|| Set the brush size to the maximum value (10000000.00pt) (not so useful?)
|-
| <none> ||Right click||Over down arrow of the brush size|| Set the brush size to the minimum value (0.00pt)
|}

Mirror Tool

2009-08-27T09:10:29Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Mirror Tool|English]] · [[Mirror Tool.de|Deutsch]]}}


[[Category:Tools]]
[[Image:Mirror_icon.png|64px]] <span style="font-size:150%">'''ALT-M'''</span>

The mirror tool will mirror all the selected ducks about a horizontal or vertical axis passing through the mouse cursor.

For example, to mirror a bline horizontally:
* select the mirror tool, either by clicking in the toolbox or hitting alt-m
* check 'Horizontal' in the Tool Options dialog
* select the bline layer
* select all ducks in the bline by hitting control-a
* drag one of the selected ducks a little

As soon as you start dragging, the ducks will all flip about a vertical axis passing through the duck you're dragging. You will be able to drag the ducks around, but the motion will be constrained to only move left and right.

Main Page

2009-08-27T09:09:31Z

Bombe: Add Catalan and Portuguese translations.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Main Page|English]] · [[Main Page.ca|Català]] · [[Main Page.de|Deutsch]] · [[Main Page.es|Español]] · [[Main Page.fr|Français]] · [[Main Page.pl|Polski]] · [[Main Page.pt|Português]] · [[Main Page.ru|Русский]] · [[Main Page.tr|Türkçe]] · [[Main Page.zh|简体中文]]}}

<table style="text-align: left;" border="0"
cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

<tr>
<td colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;">
[http://synfig.org/Releases/0.61.09-intro http://synfig.org/images/a/ac/MainBanner-06109-en.jpg]

<center><b><div style="font-size:160%; margin-bottom:10px; margin-top:20px; border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc;">Animation in the free world</div></b></center>

<div style="font-size:120%;">Two-dimensional animation has long been the domain of proprietary software. That changes with the introduction of Synfig, a free software/open source tool for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources.</div>

<div style="margin-bottom:20px;padding: 4px; font-size:130%; border-bottom: 2px solid #ccc;"><b><center>[[About|Learn more about Synfig...]]</center></b></div>

</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center;">
[http://synfig.org/Challenges http://synfig.org/images/2/22/Challenge-button-1.png]</td>
<td style="text-align:center;">
[http://synfig.org/forums http://synfig.org/images/8/84/Forums.png]</td>
<td style="text-align:center;">
[http://synfig.org/Gallery#Videos http://synfig.org/images/b/b1/Movies.png]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>

</td>
</tr>
<tr style="vertical-align:top;">
<td style="text-align:justify;width;33%; border-left:5px solid #070773; vertical-align:top;">
<div style="font-size:115%; font-align:center; padding:4px; margin-bottom:10px; border-bottom:1px solid #030336"><b><center>Beautiful art inspires<br>the community</center></b></div>
<div style="float: left;"><span>http://synfig.org/images/9/9a/Community_icon.png</span></div> The community is inspired by the art you produce. Thank you to all who produce the art in the [[gallery]], at [http://youtube.com/results?search_query=synfig&search_sort=video_date_uploaded YouTube], [http://search.deviantart.com/?section=browse&q=synfig&qh=sort:time deviantART], [http://www.videoplayer.es/tag/synfig/ VideoPlayer.es], [http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=synfig&so=1 Google Video], [http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/synfig/ Flickr] and around the web. You might like to read some [[Animation Ideas|animation ideas]], contribute to the [[DemoReel|demo reel]] or [[Contact|share your work with us]].


<div style="padding: 4px; font-size:120%;"><b><center>[[Contact|Read more...]]</center></b></div>
</td>
<td style="text-align:justify;width;33%; border-left:5px solid #101094; vertical-align:top;">
<div style="font-size:115%; font-align:center; padding:4px; margin-bottom:10px; border-bottom:1px solid #030336"><b><center>Beautiful art needs<br>beautiful support</center></b></div>
<div style="float: left;"><span>http://synfig.org/images/c/c4/Icon_support.png</span></div>
Artists need information about how Synfig works in order to be able to inspire us with their animations. Help document the Synfig interface, write tutorials, help people on IRC and in the forums and more.

<div style="padding: 4px; font-size:120%;"><b><center>[[Documentation|Read more...]]</center></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left:5px solid #5454B9;width;33%; text-align:justify; vertical-align:top;">

<div style="font-size:115%; font-align:center; padding:4px; margin-bottom:10px; border-bottom:1px solid #030336"><b><center>Beautiful art needs<br>beautiful code</center></b></div>
<div style="float: left;"><span>http://synfig.org/images/2/2b/Icon_code.png</span></div>

Free software and open source development is nothing without an active community, so come join Synfig. We need bug fixers, general developers, bug reporters, beta testers, artists to inspire us and more. Your contributions are welcome, needed and appreciated.

<div style="padding: 4px; font-size:120%;"><b><center>[[Development|Read more...]]</center></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="margin-top:20px;">
<td colspan="3" rowspan="1">
<br />
----
</td>
</tr>

<tr style="vertical-align: top; text-align:center; font-size:120%;">
<td>
[[How do I|Tips]]<br/>
[[Tutorials]] ([[Video Tutorials|video]])<br/>
[[Categorical Help]]<br/>
[[FAQ]]<br/>

</td>
<td>
[[Meetings]]<br>
'''[[Releases]]'''<br>
[[Release]]<br>
[[Build instructions]]<br/>
[http://synfig.org/api/ Source docs]<br>
[http://sf.net/projects/synfig Project in SF]<br>

</td>
<td>
[[Roadmap]]<br>
'''[[Wish list]]'''<br>
[[Software_roadmap|Long-term aims]]<br>
<br>
[[GoogleSoC|Google Summer of Code]]<br/>
[[Related Projects]]<br/>

</td>
</tr>

</table>

Layers

2009-08-27T08:44:29Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Layer|English]] · [[Layer.es|Español]]}}

== Introduction ==

Synfig, like most every other competent graphics program, breaks down individual elements of a Canvas into Layers. However, it differs from other programs in two major ways:

# An individual layer in Synfig usually represents a single "Primitive". ie. a single region, an outline of a region, an imported JPEG, etc... This allows you to have a great deal of flexibility and control. It is not uncommon for a composition to have hundreds of layers (organized into a hierarchy for artist sanity of course).
# A layer can not only composite information on top of the image below it, but also distort and/or modify it in some other way. In this sense, Synfig Layers act much like filters do in Adobe Photoshop or The GIMP. For example, we have a Blur Layer, Radial Blur Layer, Spherical Distortion Layer, color-correct layer, bevel layer, etc...

Each layer has a set of [[parameter|parameters]] which determine how it behaves. When you click on a layer (either in the canvas window, or in the [[Layers Panel]]), you will see its parameters in the [[Params Panel]].

The following layer types are available in synfig:

== Blurs ==

=== [[Blur Layer|Blur]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Size
| Size of Blur
|-
| Type
| Type of blur to use
|}

Example: ( [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmCpV2Q5lfI youtube] [http://www.musikboden.se/synfigfiles/blur.sif corresponding sif file] )

=== [[Motion Blur Layer|Motion Blur]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Aperture
| Shutter Time
|}

=== [[Radial Blur Layer|Radial Blur]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Origin
| Point where you want the origin to be
|-
| Size
| Size of blur
|-
| Fade Out
|
|}

Example: ( [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7V5e4A2xwk youtube] [http://www.musikboden.se/synfigfiles/radial_blur.sif corresponding sif file] )

== Distortions ==

=== [[Inside Out Layer|Inside Out]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Origin
| Defines the where the center will be
|}

=== [[Noise Distort Layer|Noise Distort]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Displacement
| How much the distortion is displaced form its original position.
|-
| Size
| How much separated are two consecutive distortions .
|-
| Random Seed
| Defines the random generator number seed.
|-
| Interpolation
| What type of interpolation to use
|-
| Detail
| Lower/higher values produces less/more detailed distortions.
|-
| Animation Speed
| In times per second, defines the frequency of change of the distortion.
|-
| Turbulent
| When checked it produces turbulent distortions.
|}

Example: ( [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc39nnd7R_4 youtube] [http://www.musikboden.se/synfigfiles/noise_distort_area.sif corresponding sif file] )

=== [[Spherize Layer|Spherize]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Position
| The center (or axis) of the distortion.
|-
| Radius
| Defines the radious of the distortion (spherize) or a half of the bar (vertical or horizontal bar)
|-
| Amount
| Defines how much convex (positive) or concave (negative) the distortion is
|-
| Clip
| When checked it only distorts inside the Radious area.
|-
| Distort Type
| The direction of the distortion (spherize, horizontal bar, vertical bar).
|}

Example: ( [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ3vjLqUTW0 youtube] [http://www.musikboden.se/synfigfiles/spherize_area.sif corresponding sif file] )

=== [[Stretch Layer|Stretch]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Amount
| Its distance to Center defines how much the image is stretched or is shrunk
|-
| Center
| The position from where the distortion is made.
|}

Example: ( [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCkZgOloKZc youtube] [http://www.musikboden.se/synfigfiles/stretch_area.sif corresponding sif file] )

=== [[Twirl Layer|Twirl]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Center
| The position of the twirl distortion.
|-
| Radius
| This is the radius of the circle of the twirl distortion
|-
| Rotations
| Defines how many rotations (in DEG) the twirl produces.
|-
| Distort Inside
| Defines if the distortion is produced inside the radious area.
|-
| Distort Outside
| Defines if the distortion is produced outside the radious area.
|}

Example: ( [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqqVuMa0WdQ youtube] [http://www.musikboden.se/synfigfiles/twirl_area.sif corresponding sif file] )

=== [[Warp Layer|Warp]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Source TL
| Top Left point of the source to warp.
|-
| Source BR
| Bottom Right point of the source to warp.
|-
| Dest TL
| Top Left point of the destination where to warp.
|-
| Dest TR
| Top Right point of the destination where to warp.
|-
| Dest BR
| Bottom Right point of the destination where to warp.
|-
| Dest BL
| Bottom Left point of the destination where to warp.
|-
| Clip
| When checked it only renders what is inside the source rectangle.
|-
| Horizon
| A number to define when to stop rendering when do a perspective warp. High values produces far horizons.
|}

Example: ( [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3MY8VGtVGc youtube] [http://www.musikboden.se/synfigfiles/warp_area.sif corresponding sif file] )

== Filters ==

=== [[Clamp Layer|Clamp]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Invert Negative
|
|-
| Clamp Ceiling
|
|-
| Ceiling
|
|-
| Floor
|
|}

=== [[Color Correct Layer|Color Correct]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Hue Adjust
|
|-
| Brightness
|
|-
| Contrast
|
|-
| Exposure Adjust
|
|-
| Gamma Adjustment
|
|}

=== [[Halftone 2 Layer|Halftone 2]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Mask Offset
|
|-
| Mask Angle
|
|-
| Mask Size
|
|-
| Light Color
|
|-
| Dark Color
|
|-
| Type
|
|}

=== [[Halftone 3 Layer|Halftone 3]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Mask Size
|
|-
| Type
|
|-
| Subtractive Flag
|
|-
| <Channel Name>Color
|
|-
| <Channel Name>Mask Offset
|
|-
| <Channel Name>Mask Angle
|
|}

=== [[Luma Key Layer|Luma Key]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Color
| Color of checkers
|-
| Offset
|
|-
| Size
| Size of checkers
|}

== Fractals ==

=== [[Julia Set Layer|Julia Set]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Inside Color
| Color of the Set
|-
| Outside Color
| Color outside the Set
|-
| Color Shift
|
|-
| Iterations
|
|-
| Seed Point
|
|-
| Bailout ValueBase
|
|-
| Distort Inside
|
|-
| Shade Inside
|
|-
| Solid Inside
|
|-
| Invert Inside
|
|-
| Color Inside
|
|-
| Distort Outside
|
|-
| Shade Outside
|
|-
| Solid Outside
|
|-
| Invert Outside
|
|-
| Color Outside
|
|-
| Color Cycle
|
|-
| Smooth Outside
| Smooth the coloration outside the set
|-
| Break Set
| Modify equation to achieve interesting results
|}

=== [[Mandelbrot Set Layer|Mandelbrot Set]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Iterations
|
|-
| Bailout ValueBase
|
|-
| Break Set
| Modify equation to achieve interesting results
|-
| Distort Inside
|
|-
| Shade Inside
|
|-
| Solid Inside
|
|-
| Invert Inside
|
|-
| Gradient Inside
|
|-
| Offset Inside
|
|-
| Loop Inside
|
|-
| Distort Outside
|
|-
| Shade Outside
|
|-
| Solid Outside
|
|-
| Invert Outside
|
|-
| Gradient outside
|
|-
| Smooth Outside
| Smooth the coloration outside the set
|-
| Offset Outside
|
|-
| Scale Outside
|
|}

== Geometry ==

=== Common Parameters ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Z Depth
| Relative displacement of the depth of the layer inside the canvas
|-
| Amount
| Overall alpha amount of the layer.
|-
| Blend Method
| Type of blend method.
|}

=== [[Checkerboard Layer|Checkerboard]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Color
| Color of checkers.
|-
| Offset
| Displacement of the checkboard origin.
|-
| Size
| Size of checkers.
|}

=== [[Circle Layer|Circle]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Color
| Circle's color.
|-
| Radius
| Circle's radious.
|-
| Feather
| Circle feather amount.
|-
| Center
| Circle's center.
|-
| Invert
| Invert the circle
|-
| Falloff
| Determines the falloff function for the feather
|}

=== [[Outline Layer|Outline]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Color
| Outline's color.
|-
| Offset
| Displacement of the Outline from the (0,0).
|-
| Invert
| When checked it inverts alpha results of the layer.
|-
| Antialiasing
| When checked it produces antialiased renders for the layer.
|-
| Feather
| Outline feather amount.
|-
| Type of Feather
| Defines the type of feather.
|-
| Winding Style.
| Defines overlapping behavior.
|-
| Vertices
| A list of BLine Points
|-
| Outline Width
| Default widths of the points.
|-
| Expand
| Defines a value to add to the Outline width.
|-
| Sharp Cusps
| When chekced it produces sharp corners.
|-
| Rounded Begin
| Round off the begin tip
|-
| Rounded End
| Round off the end tip
|-
| Loopyness
|
|-
| Homogeneous
|
|}

=== [[Polygon Layer|Polygon]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Vector List
| A list of Vector points.
|}

=== [[Rectangle Layer|Rectangle]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Color
| Rectangle's color.
|-
| Point 1
| Position of the first point of the diagonal
|-
| Point 2
| Position of the second point of the diagonal.
|-
| Expand amount
| Amount of expansion around the rectangle's edge.
|-
| Invert the rectangle
| If checked on inverts the alpha value of the layer.
|}

=== [[Region Layer|Region]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Color
| Region's color.
|-
| Offset
| Displacement of the Region from the (0,0).
|-
| Invert
| When checked it inverts alpha results of the layer.
|-
| Antialiasing
| When checked it produces antialiased renders for the layer.
|-
| Feather
| Outline feather amount.
|-
| Type of Feather
| Defines the type of feather.
|-
| Winding Style.
| Defines overlapping behavior.
|-
| Vertices
| A list of BLine Points
|}

=== [[Solid Color Layer|Solid Color]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Color
|
|}

=== [[Star Layer|Star]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Outer Radius
| The radius of the outer points in the star
|-
| Inner Radius
| The radius of the inner points in the star
|-
| Angle
| The orientation of the star
|-
| Points
| The number of points in the star
|}

== Gradients ==

=== [[Conical Gradient Layer|Conical Gradient]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Gradient
| The gradient that's going to be mapped to the cone.
|-
| Center
| The center of the cone.
|-
| Angle
| The angle where the beginning and the end of the gradient join.
|-
| Symmetric
| Cheked on produces a symmetrical gradient.
|}

=== [[Curve Gradient Layer|Curve Gradient]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Offset
| Relative displacement of the gradient respect to the BLine.
|-
| Width
| Default width of the gradient.
|-
| Vertices
| A list of BLine Points
|-
| Gradient
| The gradient parameter
|-
| Loop
| If chekced on produces a looped gradient.
|-
| ZigZag
| When checked on it produces a double gradient.
|-
| Perpendicular
| If chekced on it produces a perpendicular gradient to BLine instead of parallel.
|-
| Fast
| When cheked on it produces a faster render but less accurate gradient.
|}

=== [[Linear Gradient Layer|Linear Gradient]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Point 1
| First point of he gradient.
|-
| Point 2
| Second point of the gradient.
|-
| Gradient
| The gradient parameter
|-
| Loop
| If chekced on produces a looped gradient.
|-
| ZigZag
| When checked on it produces a double gradient.
|}

=== [[Noise Gradient Layer|Noise Gradient]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Gradient
| The gradient parameter.
|-
| Random Seed
| Defines the random generator number seed.
|-
| Size
| How much separated are two consecutive distortions
|-
| Interpolation
| What type of interpolation to use
|-
| Detail
| Lower/higher values produces less/more detailed distortions.
|-
| Animation Speed
| In times per second, defines the frequency of change of the distortion.
|-
| Turbulent
| When checked on it produces turbulent distortions.
|-
| Do Alpha
|
|-
| Super Sampling
| When chekced on produces more accurate results but slower renders.
|}

=== [[Radial Gradient Layer|Radial Gradient]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Gradient
| The gradient parameter
|-
| Center
| The center of the radial gradient.
|-
| Radius
| This is the radius of the circle.
|-
| Loop
| When cheked on it produces a looped gradient.
|-
| Zig-Zag
| When checked on it produces a double gradient.
|}

=== [[Spiral Gradient Layer|Spiral Gradient]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Gradient
| The gradient parameter
|-
| Center
| The center of the spiral gradient.
|-
| Radius
| This is the radius of the circle
|-
| Angle
| The amount of rotations of the spiral.
|-
| Clockwise
| When cheked on/off produces clockwise/counter-clockwise spiral gradient.
|}

== Other ==

=== [[Duplicate Layer|Duplicate]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Index
| Copy Index
|}

=== [[Import Image Layer|Import Image]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Filename
| File to import
|-
| Time Offset
| Time offset used for image sequence import.
|}

=== [[Paste Canvas Layer|Paste Canvas]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Origin
| Point where you want the origin to be.
|-
| Canvas
| Canvas to paste
|-
| Zoom
| Amplification of the canvas (around the origin?)
|-
| Time Offset
| Time to rewind (negative) or fast forward (positive) the animation of the canvas
|-
| Children Lock
| When checked on you cannot select a child layer by clicking on it.
|}

=== [[Plant Layer|Plant]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Vertices
| A list of BLine Points
|-
| Gradient
| Gradient to be used for coloring the plant
|-
| Split Angle
| Angle by which each split deviates from its parent
|-
| Gravity
| Direction in which the shoots tend to face
|-
| Tangential Velocity
| Amount to which shoots tend to grow along the tangent to the BLine
|-
| Perpendicular Velocity
| Amount to which shoots tend to grow perpendicular to the tangent to the BLine
|-
| Stem Size
| Size of the stem
|-
| SizeAsAlpha
| If enabled, the alpha channel from the gradient is multiplied by the stem size, and an alpha of 1.0 is used when rendering
|-
| Step
| Measure of the distance between points when rendering
|-
| Seed
| Used to seed the pseudo-random number generator
|-
| Splits
| Maximum number of times that each sprout can sprout recursively
|-
| Sprouts
| Number of places that growth occurs on each bline section
|-
| Random Factor
| Used to scale down all random effects. Set to zero to disable randomness
|-
| Drag
| Drag slows the growth
|}

=== [[Super Sample Layer|Super Sample]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Width
| Width of sample area (In pixels)
|-
| Height
| Height of sample area (In pixels)
|-
| Use Parametric
| Use the Parametric Renderer
|-
| Be Alpha Safe
|
|}

=== [[Text Layer|Text]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Text
| Text to Render
|-
| Color
| Color of the text
|-
| Font Family
| You could use values "Sans", "Times" or "Courier" for system fonts here. If you have ttf font file in the same dir as your sif/sifz file, then you may specify it's name (without extension). If ttf font file is located in another directory, then you may specify absolute or relative path to it.
|-
| Style
|
|-
| Weight
|
|-
| Horizontal Spacing
| Describes how close glyphs are horizontally
|-
| Vertical Spacing
| Describes how close lines of text are vertically
|-
| Size
| Size of the text
|-
| Orientation
| Text Orientation. Set to 0.0 for left aligned, 0.5 for centered and/or 1.0 for right aligned.
|-
| Position
| Text Position
|-
| Kerning
| Enables/Disables font kerning (If the font supports it)
|-
| Sharpen Edges
| Turn this off if you are going to be animating the text
|-
| Invert
|
|}
Fonts that appear to work under Linux - Courier, Times, Serif, Verdana, Sans Serif.<br>
Fonts that appear to work under Windows - Arial, Times New Roman/Serif, Verdana/Sans Serif. Courier produces an interesting, but non-legible effect.<br>
Sans Serif appears to be the default if Synfig doesn't recognize the font.

=== [[TimeLoop Layer|Time Loop]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Link Time
| Time where the loop starts.
|-
| Local Time
| Used to line up the Offset time of the time loop.
|-
| Duration
| Amount of time of the time loop.
|-
| Only For Positive Duration
| Disable the Time Loop layer if Duration is <= 0.
|-
| Symmetrical
| Provides compatibility for the previous Time Loop layer version.
|}

=== [[XOR Pattern Layer|XOR Pattern]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Offset
|
|-
| Size
|
|}

== Stylize ==

=== [[Bevel Layer|Bevel]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Type
| Type of blur to use
|-
| Hi-Color
| High color (where the light comes from)
|-
| Lo-Color
| Low color (where the light goes to)
|-
| Light Angle
| Angle of the light of the Bevel.
|-
| Depth of Bevel
| Bigger values produce bigger Bevel detph.
|-
| Softness
| Blur amount of the Bevel.
|-
| Use Luma
|
|-
| Solid
|
|}

=== [[Shade Layer|Shade]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Color
| Color of the shade
|-
| Offset
| Relative displacement of the shade respecto the shaded layer(s)
|-
| Size
| Size of blur of the shade
|-
| Type
| Type of blur to use
|-
| Invert
| When checked on inverts the alpha result of the shade.
|}

== Transform ==

=== [[Rotate Layer|Rotate]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Origin
| Point where you want the origin to be
|-
| Amount
| Amount of rotation in degrees.
|}

=== [[Translate Layer|Translate]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Origin
| Point where you want the origin to be
|}

=== [[Zoom Layer|Zoom]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Amount
| Amount to zoom in
|-
| Center
| Point to zoom in to
|}

== Not Available ==

These layers are examples to aid developers in creating more layer types, but aren't included in binary releases of Synfig.

=== [[Shape Layer|Shape]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Color
| Layer_Shape Color
|-
| Offset
|
|-
| Invert
|
|-
| Antialiasing
|
|-
| Feather
|
|-
| Type of Feather
| Type of feathering to use
|-
| Winding Style
| Winding style to use
|}

=== [[Metaballs Layer|Metaballs]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Color
|
|-
| Points
|
|-
| Radii
|
|-
| Weights
|
|-
| Threshold
|
|}

=== [[Simple Circle Layer|Simple Circle]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Color
|
|-
| Center
|
|-
| Radius
| This is the radius of the circle
|}

=== [[Filled Rectangle Layer|Filled Rectangle]] ===

Parameters:
{| border="1"
|-
! Parameter
! Description
|-
| Color
|
|-
| Point 1
|
|-
| Point 2
|
|-
| Feather X
|
|-
| Feather Y
|
|-
| Bevel
|
|-
| Keep Bevel Circular
|
|}

Keyframes Panel

2009-08-27T08:43:31Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Keyframes Panel|English]] · [[Keyframes Panel.es|Español]]}}


[[Category:Panels]]
[[Image:keyframe_icon.png|64px]]

The '''Keyframes''' dialog is where you make new [[Keyframe|keyframes]] for the animation.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u243/zenoscope/keyframes.png

These will show up in the [[Timetrack]] dialog.
To jump to a specific keyframe, double click on the (JMP) column.

The 'add keyframe' button adds a new keyframe to the current frame - a frame
where there is no keyframe set already.

'Delete keyframe' removes a keyframe.

The 'duplicate keyframe' button copies the keyframe to the current frame.

Doc:How Do I

2009-08-27T08:42:19Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Tips|English]] · [[Tips.fr|Français]]}}


[[Category:Tutorials]]

Feel free to add your own questions here or [[Contact|contact]] us with them. Or put them on the [[Wiki Wish List]].

__TOC__

== Insert some text? ==

With recent development versions, there is a text tool. If you are using 0.61.08 or earlier, use right click on your canvas and choose Layer > New > Other > Text.

== How to change shortcut keys? ==
'''1.''' Find your Synfig config file under:
'''Ubuntu (and other GNU/Linux):''' /home/{username}/.synfig/
'''Mac OS:''' /Users/{username}/Library/Synfig/
'''Windows XP:''' C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Synfig\
'''Windows Vista:''' C:\Users\{username}\Synfig\
'''2.''' Open the file, named '''accelrc''', using any text editing software (GEdit, Kate, Notepad).

'''3.''' Change the shorcuts you want, save and close.

== How to have a Flash-like shortcut keys? ==
'''1.''' Follow the step on [[Tips#How_to_change_shortcut_keys.3F|how to change shortcut keys]], except for step 3.

'''2.''' Copy the code below and paste it on the very last part of '''accelrc''' then save and close it.
<code>
; misc
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//redo" "<Control>y")
; tools
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//state-text" "t")
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//state-rectangle" "r")
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//state-rotate" "<Shift>q")
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//state-zoom" "z")
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//state-polygon" "n")
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//state-bline" "p")
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//state-normal" "v")
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//state-eyedrop" "i")
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//state-fill" "k")
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//state-circle" "o")
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//state-scale" "q")
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//state-gradient" "g")
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//state-draw" "y")
; navigation
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//seek-next-frame" "period")
(gtk_accel_path "<Actions>//seek-prev-frame" "comma")
</code>

== Apply a gradient to an object instead of the entire canvas? ==

# Create the region you want to fill with a gradient, and the gradient layer, if you haven't already.
# Make sure that the gradient layer is above the region layer in the [[Layers Panel]].
# Select both layers, right click, and select [[Encapsulate]].
# Expand the new [[Paste Canvas|Inline Canvas]] layer if it's not already, and select your gradient layer.
# In the [[Params Panel]] select the [[Blend Method]] parameter, and choose [[Blend Method#Onto|Onto]] from the drop-down menu.

The gradient will clip to the visible area of the region below it inside the [[Paste Canvas|Inline Canvas]]. (and any other layers in that section).

== Show or hide a layer, or fade the effect of a blur? ==
In the [[Params Panel]], look for an option labeled [[Amount Parameter|Amount]] - this controls how much of the blended result of the layer is composited with the blend of the layers beneath it.

In other words, for a typical layer, this will 'fade it out'. For a [[Blur Layer]] set to "[[Blend Method#Straight|Straight]]", this will fade ''between'' the blurred version and the unblurred version of the canvas. If you want it to become less blurry, adjust the [[Blur Layer#Size|Blur Layer's 'size' parameter]].

== Fill an outline? ==
(Requested by [[User:Karlb|Karlb]])

There are several options:
* The easiest way is to link a new region layer to the outline's shape.
*# Select the outline you want to fill.
*# In the Params Panel, right-click the Vertices parameter, select "Export", enter a name for the shape, and hit return. This will export the shape of the outline, making it visible in the [[Children Panel]].
*# In the Children panel, open the ValueBase Nodes tree and select the name you just saved the shape as.
*# From the [[Layer Menu]] (either context-click on the [[Layers Panel]] or use the [[Canvas Menu Caret]]) create a new [[Region Layer]] by selecting "New Layer -> Geometry -> Region". Ensure that the created layer is selected.
*# In the parameter dialog, right-click the Vertices parameter and click "Connect".
*# Now, if you don't need exported shape, you can unexport it: right click name of the shape in the Children panel and click "Unexport".
* Similar to the above, but using a different method:
*# Create a new region layer as above, and leave it selected.
*# Don't make any changes to the outline layer, which you want to fill! (see the Tier 5 on the [[Linking]] page for details).
*# Select both layers in the [[Layers Panel]] This will display only the parameters shared by both layers in the [[Params Panel]].
*# Context-click on the [[Vertices Parameter]], and select [[Linking|Link]].
*# The [[Region Layer]] will snap to the shape of the [[Outline Layer]].
* When you create an [[Outline Layer|outline]] with the [[Bline Tool]] that you intend to be a filled area as well, make sure you select the Fill checkbox in the [[Bline Tool#Options|tool options dialog]]. Obviously, this doesn't help much if you realise later that you needed a fill here.
* If you are using the [[draw tool]], there is a button at the bottom of the [[draw tool#Options|tool options dialog]] labeled "Fill Last Stroke", which creates a new [[Region Layer]] and links its shape to the previously drawn outline. Unfortunately, it doesn't work as of Synfig Studio v0.61.04. It has been fixed in the current SVN version of the code.
* Create a [[Region Layer|region]] with the same number of ducks, and manually link each duck. If you want a region that depends on multiple outline layers, this is really your only choice for now.
* Use the draw tool, select only the outline to fill, draw a stroke roughly following the outline and make sure you're holding the Control key when you left go of the mouse button at the end of the stroke. This doesn't work 100% right at the moment.

== Dock windows together? ==

*To dock (join) separate windows into one you must drag the tab ''icons'' for each of the tools into another window.
*You can create subdivisions inside the windows by dragging the icons into the side tabs (located around the edges, the look like rectangles).
*Tool tabs inside the window can be arranged by dragging them on top of one another, therefore changing the order.
*''How Do I min/maximize all Synfig windows on a Windows pc''? There must be an easy way/tool to do this?

== Use an external bitmap? ==

* In the image menu (>) choose file-->import. PNG with alpha channel works fine.
* To animate it without accidental stretching, right-click on the layer and choose encapsulate. You can then animate the position of the new "Inline Canvas" layer instead of the bbox.

== Use an image as a fill colour? ==

Make a new object (bline, region, squares, circles, polygons all work)
Import the image you want as the fill colour, and put it on the layer underneith your object. Set the blend method of the image (using the [[Params Panel]]) to "onto" or "straightonto".
Encapsulate the object and the fill colour image, otherwise everthing below the image will have the same fill colour.
Be sure to have a look at what the other composite options do as well.

== Use an external Vector? ==

Synfig doesn't yet support vector import because no-one has written an import process yet. You can use the Svg2synfig [[Converters|converter]], or import it as a bitmap and trace over it in synfig. If you want to implement vector import we would gladly accept your patch.

== Close a bline? ==

* Right click on the starting point and then click on loop bline.

Note: It doesn't work unless the initial point has a tangent - ie the first segment is curved. But you can hide tangent ducks (Alt+3, or "Caret Menu > View > Show/Hide Ducks > Show tangent ducks") and process as described. Don't forget to press (Alt+3) after that to show tangent ducks again.

== How do I transform encapsulated objects? ==

* Right click on the Encapsulated object in the Layer dialog and choose "select all child layers". Then you select the ducks you want to transform (usually just all of them, like for rotating the object), and the rotate or scale tool and do the work.

== Make objects go behind each other, without moving layers? ==

You'll notice each layer you make has a number in the z depth column in the Layers Panel. Say you have 3 layers, they will be numbered 2 (lowest, e.g. a square) 1 (eg a circle) 0 (highest, the default, e.g. a line). In order to make layer 1, the circle, pass behind layer 2, the square, change its z depth to be 3 or more. The z depth of the circle needs to be greater than 2 in order to be behind the square. To make the square on top of everything, you'd change its z depth to -1 or less.

Positive numbers on the z axis go into the screen, and negative numbers go out of the screen, towards the viewer.

It is possible to animate this effect, but each layer is discrete. They seem to go from 0 to 0.9999.

In addition, objects in encapsulated layers can only go behind other objects in the same encapsulated layer. However an encapsulated layer can go behind another encapsulated layer.

== Copy a complex convert combination between parameters of different layers? ==

For example: you want to copy a complicated [[Convert|conversion]] type that you have in one parameter from a layer, to other parameter (maybe not a root parameter, but a sub-parameter) of other layer. If you [[Export|export]] the complicated conversion type from the original layer and then go to the other layer and select [[Connect]] (right click and the exported and the parameter both selected) then you have the parameter form the second layer to be exactly the same than the original one. But there is a drawback: if you modify one of the sub-parameters in the complicated conversion type (e.g. you change the value of one of them) then automatically the same sub-parameter of the other layer is changed.

How can you copy the conversion but allow modify the sub-parameters independently on each layer?

Once you have achieved the complex conversion type in the original layer, <u>don't export the root parameter!</u> If you have done yet [[Export|unexport]] it. (Why?. You will understand it later.) Now duplicate the original layer. Then you should obtain the same layer with the same conversion type placed at the same parameter (but not exported). NOW export the parameter from the duplicated layer. Then go to the (sub) parameter of the layer where you want to copy the complex conversion type and Connect it to the just exported parameter form the duplicated layer. Now delete the duplicated layer (!). Then the exported [[ValueNode]] still undeleted and the layer where you wanted to copy the complex convert type have a (sub) parameter connected to it. You can [[Export|unexport]] the ValueNode or not. It is up to you. But notice that the conversion type is already copied into other (sub) parameter of other layer and they are independent as well as you can change one of them (by modifying the sub-parameters) and the other remains untouched.

== Make an existing animation run at half speed? ==

If you have an animation that runs from 0s to 10s and you want it to run at half speed from 0s to 20s, how can you do that?

* Either: encapsulate it, and use the 'time offset' parameter in the encapsulation layer to slow it down:
** Right-click 'time offset' in the encapsulation layer, convert>linear, rate -0.5 offset 0. That means offset the time by -0.5 seconds per second - or in other words, run at half speed
** Or, putting waypoints on the 'time offset' param would work too: 0 at 0s and -10 at 20s. (The choice between using a linear convert and valuenodes is entirely up to you. They both achieve the same result in this simple case).

* Or: use a [[Time Loop Layer]]. The first method seems better and more intuitive in this case, but there are ways of getting the same effect from the Time Loop layer. Perhaps the Time Loop layer is better if the animation doesn't run from 0s, but from some other time. Anyway: put a Time Loop layer over the layers you wish to slow down, and:
** Either: set duration to 0, local time to 0, convert->linear the link time and set rate to 0.5 - this slows the animation down *to* 50% of its original speed; use bigger rates to slow it down less
** Or: set duration to 1h (*), link time to 0, convert->linear the local time and set rate to 0.5 - this slows the animation down *by* 50%; use bigger rates to slow it down more
(*) if your animation is longer than 1h then set this parameter to EOT (End Of Time) what is the same as Infinite (INF) for a real number but for a time parameter.

== Draw a rectangle with a given width and height? ==

I was asked on IRC how to specify the width and height of a rectangle, rather than having to specify the position of two opposite corners. Here's how:

* draw a rectangle
* go to the [[Params Panel]]
* right-click the 'point 1' parameter and [[Export]]
* give it a name, "p1" say
* right-click the 'point 2' parameter and [[Convert]] to [[Convert#Add|Add]]
* (that's saying that rather than specifying the absolute position of the other point, you want synfig to calculate it for you)
* (it will make 2 new sub-parameters for 'point 2', and the value used for point 2 will be their sum so we want to tell it to use 'point 1' and your (width,height))
* open up the sub-parameters of 'point 2' by clicking the triangle to its left
* go to the [[Children Panel]], open up the values and select the one you exported earlier (p1)
* right-click the "LHS" parameter in the parameters dialog and [[Connect]] it
* then enter the width and height you want in the 'RHS' parameter

== Make linked BLine vertices not affected by Rotate layer? ==
Look at the http://dooglus.rincevent.net/synfig/logs/2008/%23synfig-2008-02-07.log
See also: [[Convert]].

== Create dashed outlines? ==

If you want to make simple dashed outlines the faster way is proceed like this:

* Create a Curve Gradient and an Outline over the same [[BLine|Bline]] using the [[Bline Tool]] options. Check both Outline and Gradient at the [[Tool Options Panel]].
* Raise up the gradient layer (it is created below the [[Outline Layer]]).
* Modify the gradient [[Blend Method]] parameter to be Straight Onto. That would render the gradient onto the outline width. Also it wouldn't render the outline, so transparent portions of the gradient are transparent.
* Check the 'Perpendicular' parameter of the Curve Gradient Layer.
* [[Convert]] the Gradient Parameter of the Curve Gradient Layer to be one of those types: Stripes or Repeat Gradient.
* Modify the properties of the sub parameters to achieve the desired effect.

== Render to AVI with higher quality? ==

=== Using raw video ===
The module used by Synfig to render AVI files is ffmpeg. For the moment there is not interface to control ffmpeg options so you render with a fixed bitrate and quality. If you want the maximum quality in your AVI file, follow these steps:

* Render your animation to yuv420p format. To do that select that target at the drop down list of the render dialog and add the ".yuv" extension to your animation name (without quotes).
* Once rendered (it would produce a huge size yuv file) you can quickly convert it to AVI using this command:

ffmpeg -i animation.yuv -sameq animation.avi

Change the animation file name to your one.

=== Rendering through a .png sequence. ===
Render your sif to png sequence
mkdir render
synfig my_animation.sifz -o render/frame.png
Then convert it to movie with ffmpeg
ffmpeg -r <frame rate> -i render/frame.%04d.png <more settings from ffmpeg's manual> my_animation.mov
If you need nice open source format without any tweaks you may try ffmpeg2theora:
ffmpeg2theora render/frame.%04d.png --inputfps <frame rate> -o my_animation.ogg
png takes less disk space then yuv.
--[[User:AkhIL|AkhIL]] 21:38, 9 April 2008 (EDT)

If you want you can also use [http://www.mplayerhq.hu/ mplayer].

mencoder mf://render/frame.*.png -mf fps=25 -o my_animation.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4

==Increase performance by optimizing during compilation time? ==

I would like to know what parameters do I need to apply to configure to improve performance. [[User:Genete|Genete]] 11:04, 9 April 2008 (EDT)

To optimize program you should set two environment variables
export CFLAGS=""
export CXXFLAGS=$CFLAGS

First flag will be "-O3" (ow three). "-02" is normal optimization. "-03" is hard optimisation.

Now you should get info about your CPU
cat /proc/cpuinfo

find your cpu model name

now go to man gcc and searc "-mtune"

find your cpu and add "-mtune=your-cpu -march=your-cpu" to CFLAGS.

Then look at flags from /proc/cpuinfo and search it in gcc manual
For example I have 3dnow. So I can find "-m3dnow". For sse I can find "-msse" and "-mfpmath=sse" (can make program unstable).

Finaly you may add "-ffast-math" to disable math checks. But it can make program unstable.

For my AthlonXP I'm using this flags:
export CFLAGS="-O3 -pipe -mtune=athlon-xp -march=athlon-xp -mmmx -msse -m3dnow -mfpmath=sse -ffast-math -funsigned-char -fno-strict-aliasing"
export CXXFLAGS=$CFLAGS
--[[User:AkhIL|AkhIL]] 12:05, 9 April 2008 (EDT)

For my Pentium3 i use the line:
export CFLAGS="-O3 -pipe -mtune=pentium3 -march=pentium3 -msse -mfpmath=sse -funsigned-char -fno-strict-aliasing"
export CXXFLAGS=$CFLAGS

The additional switches -mmmx and -ffast-math does seem to '''not''' yield any gain in computing performance! So you could leave them out.
--[[User:SvH|SvH]] 03:46, 20 May 2008 (EDT)

== Import a movie into Synfig? ==

To import a movie (image only, not sound) into synfig there is only one option for the moment: Extract an image sequence from the movie and import them using [[ListImporter]]. Before you can load the image sequence you have to extract it from the movie. There are several software to do that but a straight and easy way is to use mplayer:

mplayer mymovie.avi -vo png:z=1 -ss seconds-start -endpos duration

where ''seconds-start'' are the seconds where you want to extract form and ''duration'' is the number of seconds you want to extract from ''mymovie.avi''. Also the image format specified in this case is png but jpeg or tga can be used also. See [http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/man/en/mplayer.1.html mplayer manual page] for more info.

It would extract a set of files of the selected section of the movie. Each file takes the frame number padded with leading zeros as name.

To put all the filenames into a ''.lst'' file just type this in the folder wehre the files are:

ls *.png >> mymovie.lst

and add a line specifying the frame rate at the beginning of the text file:

FPS 25

if the movie was 25 fps.

== Granted Wishes ==

=== MNG target filetype ===

The ability to save as/in the Free/Open MNG (.mng) format [http://libpng.org/pub/mng/]

A partial implementation was committed in SVN r470.

It was implemented in svn 986. See [[Render options]]. --[[User:Genete|Genete]] 13:12, 29 October 2007 (EDT)

=== Optionally display RGB in Hex in Color dialog ===

(3) When colors are quoted as 3 bytes of hexadecimal, you have to convert them to decimal, divide by 255, multiply by 100 to get a number to type into the dialog box. It's painful to match color schemes for example, with the [http://tango.freedesktop.org/Tango_Icon_Theme_Guidelines Tango Icon Theme style guidelines]. [[User:pxegeek|PXEGeek]] 3/16/07

: Added in [http://kibi.dyndns.org:8083/~dooglus/gitweb.pl?p=synfig;a=commitdiff;h=40dda9d27b5249ee32f62d84c819ff569f078929 svn r354]. You can type 3 or 6 digit hex codes and hit return to use. 3 digit code 36a gives colour 3366aa (each digit is duplicated) -- [[User:Dooglus|dooglus]] 3/18/07

:: Many thanks - already used many times! PXEGeek.

::: Did you notice that you can use single digit codes too? '5' gives 555555 for instance, giving you 16 equally spaces shades of black through white. -- [[User:Dooglus|dooglus]] 17:51, 25 September 2007 (EDT)

=== Restore Default Layout ===

(3) — It's very difficult to put all the dialogs back where they were when you started the program, if you've closed them. In addition, with many programs, if you've done something with your window manager to take a window's position off screen, this command is sometimes the only way to bring them back.
-> I'd like to second this one - especially with the bug where dialog boxes sometime shrink to nothing or offscreen, and no amount of maximizing or minimizing restores them. The only solution is to kill the windows, and none of the combo options in the dialog menu match the default configuration. 4/4/07 PXEGeek

: Implemented in [http://kibi.dyndns.org:8083/~dooglus/gitweb.pl?p=synfig;a=commitdiff;h=036306f3c2c265a604971728d50fcce258766552 svn r757] -- [[User:Dooglus|dooglus]] 17:48, 25 September 2007 (EDT)

=== General outline / Polygon-based Outline / "Set Tangents to Zero" button ===
(3.5) I'm no artist, thus my primary form of art is stick figures, not to mention, many interesting animations are done in stick-figure style. Stick figures must be perfectly straight to get the effect across, so when I'm making an outline using B-Curves, it is too time consuming to set the tangents to 0 each time. Similarly, outlines of other shapes like squares, circles and so forth would be very useful. Whichever of the above is easiest, please implement right away. --[[User:Dragontamer|Dragontamer]] 02:35, 19 November 2007 (EST)
: For perfectly straight lines, click without moving the mouse. You will get a single point with no tangents. Outline shapes would require some development, particularly with some thought given to backward compatibility. A workaround you might consider is to create a duplicate shape with a different color and make the top one slightly smaller, so the outline of the one below shows. [[User:Pxegeek|Pxegeek]] 21:58, 19 November 2007 (EST)
:: Well, in general, whenever I click on a point to edit it (say, to make it move somewhere in animation mode), there is a decent chance that I click on a tangent instead. Then, if I want to right click the point itself, I usually right click the tangent marker instead. It isn't that big a deal, but simplicity at the cost of power generally is a good thing, especially when it will save a few mouse clicks.
:: As for the outlines, yeah, I've tried that and it is a decent solution for now, although it is no replacement for a real outline. I am going to also experiment with a clamp to see if I can make the center of the shape have 100% alpha... but I don't have synfig on the computer I'm on right now. Thanks for the tips Pxegeek. --[[User:Dragontamer|Dragontamer]] 01:58, 27 November 2007 (EST)
::: You can press Alt+3 to hide tangent ducks. --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]] 09:27, 27 November 2007 (EST)

=== Copy & Paste/Image Importing ===

(4) I sometimes make graphics in other programs, or use clipart and other images. Would it be possible for Synfig to be able to import images and/or copy and paste them?--Khlieeq 2007-07-19
Well, it doesn't support Copy & paste from the clipboard, but you can import images using "New Layer -> Other -> Import". This will create an Import layer, for which you can then edit the properties to point to the file containing your image. PXEGeek. 2007-07-19

=== Recursive Waypoint Manipulation ===

(4) it is really tiresome to revert changes to waypoints created by manipulating tangent/position ducks or change their interpolation functions. making it possible to right-click-modify the waypoint shown for objects that have some waypoint in a referenced sub-object would be great! -- timonator 2007-06-01
:You can do it in two ways: changing the interpolation method of the waypoint of paste canvas or editing the keyframe properties. The first allow to modify the waypoints interpolation method for all the waypoints of all the parameters of all the layers that are inside the paste canvas layer. You can right click on the left or right part of the waypoint to edit by a context menu the left or the right interpolation method of the waipoints. The second method would add and modify all the parameters that have any waypoint in the animation. See [[Keyframe]] for more detail. --[[User:Genete|Genete]] 13:10, 29 October 2007 (EDT)

=== Tweening for images developed in other imaging programs ===

It's obvious I am a beginner at image movement, but morphing is not enough: movement across the page is needed. Thanks for listening. [[User:Comwell@bellsouth.net|Comwell]]<br>
Imported images can be moved across the page. They can also be scaled, rotated and deformed. Was there a specific example you had in mind? [[User:Pxegeek|pxegeek]]<br>
:I also would like a way to tween images that have been drawn in other programs. I've had trouble drawing with Bline tool and the drawing tool in Synfig, and I'd rather just draw with a paint brush (like the one in Photoshop). Another problem I have is that Synfig tends to shut down on me every 20 minutes or so, and it's really frustrating even with the auto recover feature, because my sketches disappear. It'd be nice if I'm able to draw all of the keyframes in Photoshop or another image program and import it to Synfig so that Synfig can tween and animate them. Thank you. [[User:xychefoo@gmail.com|Huina]]
::You CAN use images, drawn in other programs. Just select "File->Import" from [[Canvas Menu Caret|canvas menu]] --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]] 01:39, 24 November 2007 (EST)
:::But how do you animate using images from other sources? I tried to make 2 keyframes with 2 different images, and it doesn't animate. It just stays as 1 picture for the entire render. The closest thing I saw to importing images from another source into Synfig and having it animate is the Walking Cycle Tutorial, but I would still have to trace the images to make it animate. As I said earlier, I'm not entirely fond of using the draw/Bline tool. [[User:xychefoo@gmail.com|Huina]]
:::: Huina, there's no way to do what you want right now. Interpolating between two images that are not created in Synfig is well beyond its scope right now. However, what you could do is take an image and separate elements of the picture onto different layers (e.g. have a picture of an arm and another of the rest of the body) and you can move those around, stretch and rotate them. (If you're familiar with the work of Terry Gilliam on Monty Python you'll know what I mean) I don't know how feasible it is to implement your request (I suspect some heavy lifting). We'll keep it on the list, but don't hold your breath. [[User:Pxegeek|Pxegeek]] 19:57, 24 November 2007 (EST)

:::: I think, you hardly find any other animation package which allow you to do such things. You could use a special tools for this task, like xmorph (http://xmorph.sourceforge.net/). But to do the tween between two bitmap images you STILL need to set points. It's not tracing, but very similar. Anyway, result may be poor and I'd better suggest to use technique, described in Walking Cycle Tutorial or which the [[User:Pxegeek|Pxegeek]] meant. --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]] 02:08, 25 November 2007 (EST)

:::: There is a technique called "optical flow". It takes two input frames and calculates the movement of each individual pixel between the frames, allowing interpolation to be done. Here's an example: http://www.fxguide.com/article333.html. It doesn't require setting of control points, but it has problems it's own set of problems: http://www.fxguide.com/article333.html. --[[User:Yoyobuae|Yoyobuae]] 13:32, 3 February 2008 (EST)

=== Auto-link option in [[Draw tool]] ===

(4) so that you can draw a line, and have its endpoint automatically link to a duck - or if Auto-connect is off, you can get a line object linked to the end of another line object. / I missed this too, it even should be like that by default I think. [[User:Maxy|Maxy]] 13:22, 25 Apr 2006 (PDT)

: Isn't this done already? We don't have line objects, but blines are automatically linked to if auto-connect is on. Am I missing something? -- [[User:Dooglus|dooglus]] 17:29, 27 September 2007 (EDT)

::To clarify dooglus' comments - If you have an outline created by the draw tool highlighted in the layer dialog and the <b>auto-extend</b> checkbox is checked, then you can continue drawing with the draw tool in that same layer. Blines created with the Bline tool cannot be extended once a different tool or layer is selected. [[User:Pxegeek|Pxegeek]] 23:46, 12 October 2007 (EDT)

::: A line is a line - Synfig doesn't remember whether it was created with the Bline tool or the Draw tool - so you can extend blines created with the bline tool using the draw tool. Just make sure the line is selected (so that its ducks are visible), not looped (so that it has end points to extend from), enable the draw tool, check 'auto extend' and start drawing at one of its end ducks. [[User:Dooglus|dooglus]] 05:47, 13 October 2007 (EDT)

So this sounds like it is already done. But on a related note, being able to open an existing bline in the bline tool to extend it would be useful. -- [[User:Dooglus|dooglus]] 04:51, 29 January 2008 (EST)

=== Layer hide boolean parameter ===

(3) — An animatable way to remove a layer from visibility and consideration in tools. And as an option, to hide the layer in the layer list while it is invisible. This crosses over functionality from the [[Amount Parameter]], the Show/Hide checkbox in the [[Layers Panel]], and builds upon it as well, allowing the [[Layers Panel]] to dynamically unclutter. ''(This feature request is a refactoring of the [[Amount Parameter]])''
: With the addition of the [[Convert#Switch|Switch]] type conversion it is not needed this feature request. You can convert the Amount parameter to a Switch value and give 0 and 1 to the Linked OFF/ON values. --[[User:Genete|Genete]] 13:20, 29 October 2007 (EDT)

=== Riding ducks ===

(2) — Not chocobos. The ability to link a duck from one shape to an arbitrary position on another path, without creating an extra shape duck on that path.
:Already done in SVN.[[User:Genete|Genete]] 18:59, 5 April 2008 (EDT)

=== Image filmstrip import ===

(2) — Allow import of a series of images (TGA, etc) as frames of an animation, on a layer. <br>
Response - 'lst' files of a list of images can be imported. I've used this to develop a walk cycle. See [[Walk_Cycle|Walk cycle]] for an example. [[user:pxegeek|pxegeek]]

=== Character Animation Tools ===

I have seen some interesting methods for helping character design/animation in different 2d/3d software. Hash's animation master has 'poses' which are extremes of a model, for example smiling and frowning, once you add these extremes ot a set you can use slider to create a pose that somewhere inbetween. The real power of this is when you have serveral different poses on the same object, a face say, you can easily come up with new facial expressions. Maybe something similar could be done with synfig using layers and groups, the implementation could something similar to Moho's switch layers. --[[User:Triclops|Triclops]] 09:52, 9 Aug 2006 (PDT)
: Have you read this tutorial? [[Reuse Animations]]. It is very close to the Switch layer of Moho/Anime Studio. Also You can change the Canvas parameter to any other canvas dynamically in the time line by clicking on it and selecting other exported canvas. Other option is convert the canvas to a Switch type and alternate between two different canvas. --[[User:Genete|Genete]] 13:26, 29 October 2007 (EDT)

=== More Animation Tools ===

[[New Animation Tools|Added here]]

=== Improved User Experience for First Contact ===
* Single file download and installer (at least for Windows)
* Ability to draw the first object directly after starting the application (start with an empty document)
* Ability to animate the object directly after drawing the first object (new documents have a say 3 seconds timeline)
In my opinion this is crucial to attract potential users. Because if I see how easy it is to create my first animation I'm going to accept all the bugs and clumsyness. A good example is the Pencil animation software. --[[User:Dmd|Dmd]] 13:50, 26 January 2008 (EST)

: I've implemented #2 and #3 above in svn r1519 & 1520. If no files are specified to be opened when running studio, it'll make a new one. It won't pop up the canvas properties dialog when making new canvases by default. And the default end time is 5s (3s is small enough to cause the time slider to show "1s 12f", whereas 5s looks cleaner). -- [[User:Dooglus|dooglus]] 04:00, 29 January 2008 (EST)

=== Automatic attach and manipulate a Vertex to a Bline ===

Please see [[Inverse Duck Manipulation|this]] page to understand what we want. --[[User:Genete|Genete]] 12:43, 3 March 2008 (EST).
:Already done in SVN. [[User:Genete|Genete]] 19:00, 5 April 2008 (EDT)

=== Toggle visible ducks ===
(3) So pressing, say, tab while editing a Bline toggles which vertices/ducks are visible - so we can easily move the actual vertices around without having the view cluttered by tangeants (and also make it easier to select 'Loop' rather than 'Split Tangeants' when creating the thing.)

Given that extra ducks such as the width ones listed above may be added, this might become more and more necessary. If too many different sets are added for toggling to be feasible, each visibility for each set can be hotkeyed.

: Synfig already have hotkeys to toggle visibility of the ducks. See [[Keyboard_Shortcuts#Hotkeys_Visual_Guide]]. --[[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]] 00:39, 22 April 2008 (EDT)

===Remove the thin line from stitched regions===
When you stitch or [[Sewing_BLines|sew two regions together]] with the same color (or different even?) it can appear a thin line in the common edge that reveals the background color (see the problem [[Sewing_BLines#Removing_thin_line_bug|here]]). This is due to that the antialiasing effect is keeping the background pixels information and displays it on the region. To solve this issue it is needed to:
:1) Uncheck all the antialias parameter of all the regions involved
:2) Add a Supersample Layer over the layers that has the antialiasing parameter disabled. A value of 4 for the height and width values is usually enough. Maybe you need to check "Alpha Safe" for better results.
:3) Render normally.
This tip is particularly useful when you want to have a region over and under other composition at the same time.
{|
|'''SAMPLE SHOWING THE THIN LINE'''
|''' REMOVED THIN LINE AFTER SUPER SAMPLE'''
|-
|[[Image: planet-saturn2.png]]
|[[Image: planet-saturn2ss.png]]
|}

It has the draw back that intermediate layers has to be super sampled too (line the planet in the example) because the super sample has to be done at the same time to the involved regions (the back and top half rings).

History

2009-08-27T08:34:33Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[History|English]] · [[History.fr|Français]]}}

The following is a bit of a professional bio of Synfig's lead engineer, but it is a good overview of how Synfig came to be.

[http://www.deepdarc.com/resume.pdf Robert Quattlebaum] (darco) was Synfig's lead software engineer. He has invested three years of his life and a substantial portion of his net worth into the software and the company he founded, [http://synfig.org/files/voria/voria_info.pdf Voria Studios].

Robert has always had a passion for computers and a talent for engineering. While in middle school, Robert taught himself not only how to use them effectively but also how to program them. In high school, Robert purchased the Sony® [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Yaroze Net Yaroze] hobbyist PlayStation® development kit, and began developing a handful of PlayStation® games, including a multi-player 3D mech battle game called [http://www.deepdarc.com/blaze Blaze of Glory].

After he graduated high school he attended the [http://www.digipen.edu/ DigiPen Institute of Technology], a video game programming and design school located in Redmond, Washington. During his attendance, he was widely considered to be one of the best engineers of his class by his peers and was widely respected for his ability to engineer strong, clean code.

DigiPen exposed Robert to a multitude of new ideas and experiences, not all of which were directly related to software engineering or video games. Watching and enjoying [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime anime] became an enjoyable pastime.

Toward the end of his sophomore year, Robert began to ponder what kind of animation software would be used for the production of anime, and 2D animation in general. When he asked some of his animator friends how such software actually worked, he was surprised to find out how clumsy it was. This got him to thinking about how he would do it differently.

Robert came up with an idea for how he thought such software should work—the ideal solution. After [http://synfig.org/files/voria/original_voria_email.pdf explaining the concepts] to his animator friends and a handful of teachers, he concluded that the development of the software might be a worthwhile venture. Having already completed his requirements for his Associates degree, Robert left DigiPen to begin full-time development on what would later become Synfig.

After a year and a half of full-time software development, Robert founded [http://voria.com/ Voria Studios, LLC], an animation studio that would utilize the tools he had created to give it a competitive edge in animation production. The company's first production, [http://prologue.voria.com/ Prologue], was demonstrated at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AnimeExpo AnimeExpo 2004] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_Comic_Con ComicCon 2004]. Even though Prologue was a fairly primitive animation, the response received was quite positive.

However, burdened with the tasks of software development, business management, marketing, and business networking, Robert was stretched thin. Despite some valiant attempts to get clients, [http://web.archive.org/web/20060511213950/http://voria.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=11 Voria Studios, LLC shut down it's full time operations] on December 10th, 2004. Nevertheless, this was not the end of Voria nor Synfig.

Unlike many other companies in similar positions, Robert realized that Voria was unique in that it had a product—the animation software which he had been developing over the past two and a half years. It has really been the company's strongest asset all along.

Robert has few regrets over the past 3 years, and considers it to have been an extensive real-world education which far exceeds what he would have received if he had continued working on his bachelors degree.

Robert ended up licensing Synfig under the GNU GPL and turning it over to the free software community to develop and use.

For information about how the Synfig logo (previously the Voria logo) was created, please read darco's blog entry entitled "[http://www.deepdarc.com/2005/12/22/making-the-voria-logo/ Making the Voria Logo]".

Doc:Getting Started

2009-08-27T08:31:35Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Getting Started|English]] · [[Getting Started.es|Español]] · [[Getting Started.lv|Latviski]] · [[Getting Started.pt|Português]] · [[Getting Started.pt_BR|Português do Brasil]] · [[Getting Started.ru|Русский]]}}


[[Category:Tutorials]]

== Introduction ==

Synfig, like most every other competent graphics program, breaks down individual elements of a [[canvas]] into [[layer|layers]]. However, it differs from other programs in two major ways:

{| border="0" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="100%"
|
# An individual layer in Synfig usually represents a single "Primitive". ie: A single region, an outline of a region, an imported JPEG, etc... This allows you to have a great deal of flexibility and control. It is not uncommon for a composition to have hundreds of layers(organized into a hierarchy for artist's sanity of course).
# A layer can not only composite information on top of the image below it, but also distort and/or modify it in some other way. In this sense, Synfig Layers act much like filters do in Adobe Photoshop or the GIMP. For example, we have a [[Blur Layer]], [[Radial Blur Layer]], [[Spherize Layer]], [[Color Correct Layer]], [[Bevel Layer]], etc...

Each layer has a set of parameters which determine how it behaves. When you click on a layer (either in the canvas window, or in the [[Layers Panel]]), you will see its parameters in the [[Params Panel]].

|| ||
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u243/zenoscope/layer.png
|}

Synfig Studio has an autorecover feature. If it crashes, even if the current file has not been saved, it will not lose more than 5 minutes of work. At restart it will automatically prompt the user to recover the unsaved changes. Unfortunately history isn't recovered yet. That feature comes later.

One thing you may notice is that Synfig Studio is SLOW, making it practically unusable on hardware that is over 3 years old. The biggest reason for this is that all of the color calculations are done in floating point--because Synfig Studio was built from the ground up with High-Dynamic-Range Imaging in mind. HOWEVER, this will not be the case forever.

darco has some fairly major re-implementations and optimizations that he plans to implement that should quite dramatically improve the performance of Synfig on all platforms. The goal is not a 200% speed increase, it is at least a 2000% speed increase. With the optimizations that are planned to be implemented, we will be able to pipeline operations in such a way that this performance improvement can be realized. It should also pave the way to hardware acceleration using todays powerful graphics processors, which should yield further performance improvements measurable in orders of magnitude.

== The user interface ==

{| border="0" cellspacing="5" align="center" width="100%"
| |
|http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u243/zenoscope/toolbar.png
|| ||

When you start Synfig Studio, it will display a splash graphic and boot itself up. After it finishes loading, you should see three windows. The window in the upper left is the [[toolbox]]. This is where you can open files, change [[tools]], etc. You'll notice that most of the buttons are grayed out--because there is no file open yet.

The other two windows (one on the bottom, and one to the right) are customizable [[dock dialogs]]. You can rearrange the contents of these however you wish by simply dragging the tab to where you want it. You can even create a new dock dialog by dragging a [[dock tab|tab]] out of the dock dialog it was inside of.

If you ever accidentally close a [[dock tab]] (by dragging it out of the dock dialog, and closing the new dock dialog that gets created), no worries. Simply goto the toolbox and goto "File->Dialogs", and then click on the name of the dialog you need.

There are a lot of [[dock tab]]s. If you have no idea what a dock tab does, simply hold your mouse over its icon and a tooltip will pop up describing the name of the tab.
|}

Here are some of the more important ones:

* [[Layers Panel]] - This tab shows you the layer hierarchy for the currently selected canvas. It also allows you to manipulate these layers.
* [[Params Panel]] - This tab will show you the parameters of the currently selected layer, (OR, if multiple layers are selected, it shows you only the parameters that the selected layers have in common)
* [[Categorical Help#Synfig Dialogs|Tool Options Panel]] - Shows you any options specific to the currently selected tool
* [[Navigator|Navigator]] - Shows you a thumbnail of what the currently selected Canvas looks like. You can also zoom in and move the focus around with this tab.
* [[History Panel]] - Shows you the history stack for the current composition. You can also edit the actions in history.

If you click the "new composition" button in the toolbox, a new [[Work Area Window]] will be opened. Click the caret menu (between the horizontal and vertical rulers in the top left corner of the work area), then "View" then "Properties", and the [[Canvas Properties Dialog|canvas properties dialog]] will appear.

The canvas properties dialog is a mess, I know. I'll have it re-designed into something much more comprehensible some time in the future. For now, ignore the "Image Area" and "Locks and Links" sections.

If you click OK, the canvas properties dialog will disappear and you will see the [[Canvas window]]. This window represents the [[Root Canvas]], not that that means much to you at the moment, but that's OK--I'm just trying to show you around.

In the upper left corner of the Canvas Window, you'll see a button with a [[Canvas Menu Caret|caret]]. If you click on this button, the [[Canvas Menu Caret|canvas window menu]] will pop up. (As an aside, if you right click in the canvas area and there is not a [[layer]] under the mouse position, this menu will also appear) So now you know where the menu is in the Canvas Window. Good. Everything else should be pretty self-explanatory in the Canvas Window. (Explanations on the menu stuff is to come in a sec)

== First steps ==

Let's create something so that we can tweak with it. Now that you have a new composition open and the properties dialog is out of the way, go over to the toolbox and click on the [[Circle Tool|circle tool]]. (If you don't know which one it is, just mouse over them until you find the one with the tooltip that says "circle").

The second you click on the circle tool, you should notice that the [[Tool Options Panel]] changed. But we'll get to that later.

: '''Note''': Some laptop users might experience trouble where click-drag on the canvas when using the [[Circle Tool|circle tool]] doesn't seem to do anything or produce insanely huge circles. The problem is that Synfig has detected the touchpad and enabled that device (incorrectly!) To fix this: click File->Input devices... In the resulting dialog window, select 'Disabled' for your touchpad device. After this change, your external mouse and the touchpad will work as expected.

With the circle tool selected, you can now create circles in the [[Work Area]]. This pretty much works exactly as you might expect it to. Go ahead and create two (or more, if you fancy) circles. If by accident you just clicked on the canvas instead of clicking and dragging (with mouse button pressed) to draw the circle, you end up creating a circle with 0 radius and it is effectively invisible! No need to worry, you can easily fix this. In the Params Panel, you can change the parameters of the selected object. If you just made a 0 radius circle, it should be the current selected object. you can change its radius to some value other than 0, say 10, and manipulate it to your liking with the canvas ducks later.

Now go back to the toolbox and click on the [[Normal Tool|normal tool]] (the blue circle with the arrow on it). After you do this, click on one of your circles. You will then see a [[bounding box]](which is kinda useless at this point in time, but I digress), a green dot at the center, and a cyan dot on the radius. Those dots are called ''[[duck]]s''. If you want to modify the circle, grab a duck and drag it around. Easy!

So you can select a [[layer]] by clicking on it. If you want to select more than one layer, hold down CONTROL while you are clicking -- this works in both the [[Work Area]] and the [[Layers Panel]]. Try it!

You can also select multiple ducks. You can do this in several ways. First, you can hold down CONTROL and individually click the ducks that you want selected, but this can be tedious. However, there is a much faster method -- just create a [[Selection|selection box]] by clicking the mouse and dragging it over the area of ducks that you want selected.

Go ahead and select two circles, and select all of their ducks. With several ducks selected, moving one duck will move all of the ducks. This behavior is dependent on the [[Normal Tool|normal tool]]. Thus, a more descriptive name for this tool might have been the "move" or "translate" tool.

The [[Rotate Tool|rotate]] and [[Scale Tool|scale]] tools work much like the [[Normal Tool|normal tool]], except in the case where you have multiple ducks selected. It is much easier to just try it than read about it. Select a few circles, select all of their ducks, and try using the rotate and scale tools.

Note that, unlike the normal tool, the other duck manipulation tools DO have options associated with them. If a particular tool isn't doing what you want, take a look in the [[Tool Options Panel]] to see if it is set up like you want it.

== Linking ==

Now let's try [[linking]]. Let's say we always want these two circles to be the same size. Select two circles, and then select both of their Radius ducks (the cyan dots).
To select multiple ducks, either drag a rectangle around them, or select the first one, then hold the Control key while selecting the rest. Once you have the two radius ducks selected, right click on either duck and a menu will pop up. Click on "Link". Boom. The parameters are linked together. You can prove it to yourself by selecting just one of the circles and changing its radius -- the other one will change as well. Neat stuff, eh?

Linking is a fundamental concept in Synfig. You can create links not only between ducks, but also between parameters as well by selecting multiple layers, right clicking on the parameter in the param tab, and selecting "Link".

<small>DIGRESSION: This is how [[Outline Layer|outlines]] are attached to their [[Region Layer|regions]]—but I'm getting ahead of myself. At the moment, the fundamental power and flexibility of linking in Synfig Core is beyond what Synfig Studio currently allows for. This will change in the future. Anyway, back on track...</small>

Let's say you want one of the circles to be a different color. If you look in the toolbox below the tools, you'll see the foreground/background color selector, the outline width selector, and some other stuff like the default blend method and gradient. The foreground/background color widget works exactly as you might expect -- you can click on the foreground color, and a modest color chooser will appear. Now to can change the color pretty easily.

But sometimes you just want to click on a color and go. This is where the palette editor tab comes in. Its functionality isn't quite 100% yet (ie: saving and loading custom palettes hasn't been implemented yet), but the default palette is pretty decent. Click on the Palette editor tab and have a look -- it's the one with the palette-ish looking icon. Clicking on colors in here will immediately change the default foreground color.

That's all great, but we still haven't changed the color of the circle. There are two ways to do this. The first way is that you select the circle layer you want to modify, goto the params tab and double click on the color parameter--a color selector dialog shows up and you just tweak away. But let's say you already got the color you wanted selected as the default foreground color. Easy. Just click on the "Fill tool" from the toolbox, and then click on the circle in the canvas window. Boom. Circle changes color. This works with more than just circles, but we'll get to that in a sec.

Try playing around with the circles for a bit. Muck around with the parameters, and see what happens. To get you started, play around with feather a bit.

== Digging deeper ==

Of course, so far you just found out how to use the basic features of Synfig Studio but not how you animate a drawing. This is covered in the [[Animation_Basics|next tutorial]].

Gallery

2009-08-27T08:27:13Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Gallery|English]] · [[Gallery.fr|Français]]}}

Here you can find examples of works created with Synfig by the [[#Community|community]] and by the artists at [[#Voria|Voria Studios]].

== Community ==

You are welcome to [[Contact|share your work with us]] so we can see how synfig is being used.
You are encouraged to distribute your source files (.sif and so on) so others can learn from your work. Obviously this is only if you have permission to distribute all of it.

=== Finished works ===

Lots of works are being created with synfig, but here are a few examples of what can be done with it. You can find more videos and images in the [[Challenges/All|challenges]], in the [http://synfig.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=19 artwork forums] and on [http://youtube.com/results?search_query=synfig&search_sort=video_date_uploaded youtube], [http://search.deviantart.com/?section=browse&q=synfig&qh=sort:time deviantART], [http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/synfig/ flickr], [http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=synfig&so=1 google video], maybe [http://images.google.com/images?q=synfig google images] and maybe on some [[Press|blogs or articles about synfig]]. In particular, all of [http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=ullebulle ullebulle]'s youtube videos have links to the [http://www.musikboden.se/synfigfiles/ corresponding .sif files].

{|
|-valign="top"
|width="33%" align="center"|
'''Eyes'''<br>
[[Image:Eyes.png|200px]]<br>
Some eyes<br>
By Madsen | [[Media:Eyes.mp4|Video]] | [[Media:Eyes.sif|Source]]
|width="33%" align="center"|
'''Plant Layer Example'''<br>
[[Image:plant12.png|200px]]<br>
An example of what the plant layer can do.<br>
By [[User:Pxegeek|Pixelgeek]]
|width="33%" align="center"|
'''Windows XP Sanddunes'''<br>
[[Image:Sanddunes.png|200px]]<br>
Synfig version of the "Wind" WinXP wallpaper.<br>
By [[User:Pxegeek|Pixelgeek]] | [http://www.mediafire.com/?8ve7ytzfuxs Video]
|-valign="top"
|width="33%" align="center"|
'''Synfig cat'''<br>
[[Image:15357482_p.png|200px]]<br>
Synfig cat<br>
By [[User:rore|Rore]] | [http://youtube.com/watch?v=HW0plbXbPxk Video]
|width="33%" align="center"|
'''Synfig Tux'''<br>
[[Image:SynfigTux.png|200px]]<br>
Tux, with a Synfig logo.
(With acknowledgment to Larry Ewing and the Gimp.)<br>
By [[User:Pxegeek|Pixelgeek]] | [http://home.comcast.net/~pxegeek/synfig/synfigtux.sif Source]
|width="33%" align="center"|
'''A Jedi's Pencil'''<br>
[[Image:Jedis pencil.tn.jpg|200px]]<br>
Example of visual effects and rotoscoping done in the synfig.<br>
By [[User:AkhIL|AhkIl]] | [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-734521652669099419&hl=en Video] | [http://akhilman.googlepages.com/jedi_pencil.tar.bz2 Source]
|-valign="top"
|width="33%" align="center"|
'''Cut The Circle'''<br>
[[Image:Logo-1.png|Cut the Circle Logo|200px]]


'''The first short open movie created with Synfig Studio'''.
First Prize in the [http://selfproject.eu SELF Project] Video Contest. An animation about education, sharing and copyright.<br>
By [[User:Yaco|Yaco]] | [http://www.icaro.org.ar/proyectos/ctc/doku.php Source | Video | Info]
|width="33%" align="center"|
'''Mr. Tip Toe Adventures'''
[[Image:portada.jpg|200px]]<br>
Animation based on a child drawings of an invented character of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Men Mr. Men] series.<br>
By [[User:Genete|Genete]] | [http://www.darthfurby.com/genete/synfig/donempinado.zip Source] | [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHCpbMmT5GE Video]
|width="33%" align="center"|
'''Animated Synfig logo'''<br>
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k74/Genete/synfig/splash-animated-o.gif<br>
An animated version of [[User:Rore|rore]]'s splash screen.<br>
By [[User:Genete|Genete]] | [http://synfig.org/forums/download/file.php?id=129 Source]
|-valign="top"
|width="33%" align="center"|
'''Victory Day 2008'''<br>
[[Image:9may2008.tn.jpg|200px]]<br>
Social advertisement about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_Day_(Eastern_Europe) 9 may 1945].
Combining video, photo, 3d and 2d. Final compositing done in synfig.<br>
By [[User:AkhIL|AhkIl]] | [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4713832401365858047 Video]
|width="33%" align="center"|
'''Traffic Police'''<br>
[[Image:gibdd.tn.jpg|200px]]<br>
Social advertisement done for Russian State Inspection for Road Traffic Safety.
Backgrounds painted in "mypaint".
<br>
By [[User:AkhIL|AhkIl]] | [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7347010646661629007 Video]
|width="33%" align="center"|
'''Synfig Demo Reel'''<br>
[[Image:Sdr final.gif]]<br>
A showcase of the capabilities of Synfig to generate interest in Synfig amongst artists and coders.<br>
By [[User:Pxegeek|Pixelgeek]] and others|[http://synfig.org/DemoReel More Info]|[http://www.archive.org/details/SynfigDemoReel Video]
|-valign="top"
|width="33%" align="center"|
'''Insect'''<br>
[[Image:Insectrip.png|200px]]<br>
A bug<br>
By [[User:Satrip|Satrip]] | [http://synfig.org/forums/download/file.php?id=452 Source]
|}



=== Work in progress ===

This section lists notable community projects in progress using Synfig. For more Synfig works in progress, please visit the [http://synfig.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=6 WIP forum].

{|
|-valign="top"
|width="33%"|
'''Morevna Project'''<br>
A full-length animated movie based on the Russian fairy-tale "Marya Morevna".<br>
By [[User:Zelgadis|Zelgadis]] and others | [http://morevnaproject.org/ More info] | [http://synfig.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=89 Preview]
|}

== Voria ==

'''ALL''' of the videos and images in this section were created using Synfig, and are all 2D. No 3D software was used in the production of these videos and images. They were all produced by artists from [[History|Voria Studios]] when synfig was a proprietary product. More can be found in darco's [http://www.deepdarc.com/module/album/?prnt=1 art album].

For videos and stills produced since synfig became free software, see the [[#Community|community]] section.

=== Videos ===

{|
|-valign="top"
| width="50%"|
'''Werewolf'''

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW-_WqdbqYY http://synfig.org/files/voria/wolf-t.jpg]

[http://www.bridgetone.com/voria/movies/wolf.mov Download] (around 45 seconds, 1.6 megabytes) November 2004

A werewolf transforms into his beastly state as the red moon rises.

Created by Will Short, Robert Quattlebaum and Darrin Michelson

[http://synfig.org/files/voria/werewolf.zip Source code] is available, for educational use only, do not distribute or distribute modified renders.

| width="50%"|
''' Big Eye '''

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAYdf-CJwPo http://synfig.org/files/voria/bigeye-t.jpg]

[http://www.bridgetone.com/voria/movies/eye.mov Download] (around 15 seconds, 2.5 megabytes) October 2004

A close-up of a large, lazy eye. Notice how the reflection actually distorts as the lense moves under it.

Created by Rabecha Lenhart and Robert Quattlebaum

[https://synfig.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/synfig/synfig-core/trunk/examples/eye.sifz Source code] is available under the same [[License|license]] as synfig (GNU GPL 2).
|-valign="top"
|<div id="Prologue">
''' Prologue '''

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwSZZivjQMo http://img.youtube.com/vi/wwSZZivjQMo/default.jpg]

[http://www.bridgetone.com/voria/movies/prologue.mov Download] (around 3 minutes, 20 megabytes) July 2004

This short follows two children fleeing from soldiers through an old sewer. In an attempt to protect his friend, one of the children tries to draw one of the soldiers away. However, plans don't always work out as one would hope. This was the first animated production created using Synfig, and as such has become our “proof of concept” animation for it.

Created by: Voria Studios

[http://synfig.org/files/voria/prologue.zip Source code] is available, for educational use only, do not distribute or distribute modified renders.

</div>
|
''' Happy Fun-Joy Time Start! '''

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKQI7-mMvyg http://synfig.org/files/voria/kam2-t.jpg]

[http://www.bridgetone.com/voria/movies/kam.mov Download] (around 22 seconds, 2.9 megabytes) December 2004

A very bizzare, super-happy, and oddly captivating animation featuring large purple bears, dancing children, smiling celestial bodies, rainbows, leaping sheep, and dancing flowers.

Created by Rabecha Lenhart
|}

=== Stills ===

Several of these have source code in the synfig [[Source code|source code repository]], all [[License|licensed]] under the GNU GPL 2.

<gallery>
Image:Pirates of Voria.png|Pirates of Voria
Image:MacWolfen.png|Dr. MacWolfen PI 
Image:Eroded Metal.png|Eroded Metal
Image:Big Eye.png|Big Eye
Image:Big Eye Composite.png|Big Eye (Composite)
Image:Museum Backdrop 1.png|Museum Backdrop 1
Image:Museum Backdrop 2.png|Museum Backdrop 2
Image:Museum Backdrop 3.png|Museum Backdrop 3
Image:Fun-Joy Night.png|Fun-Joy Night
Image:Fun-Joy Day.png|Fun-Joy Day
Image:Werewolf.png|Werewolf
Image:Young Child.png|Young Child
</gallery>

Doc:Following a Spline

2009-08-27T08:12:20Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Following a BLine|English]] · [[Following a BLine.es|Español]]}}


[[Category:Tutorials]]

== Introduction ==

If you are using version 0.61.08 or lower, please see the [[Following a BLine (the old way)|old version]] of this tutorial, since this version is about the [[Source code|in-development version]], which you can [[Build instructions|build from source]].

This is only a rough draft. The content should be OK, but it needs tidying up and could really benefit from some screen shots. If you follow the tutorial, please consider taking some shots as you do so and uploading them here...

This tutorial will demonstrate how to make an object follow the path of an arbitrary curve, rotating to face the direction of travel.

== Summary ==

We're going to:

* [[Following a BLine#Create the Layers|Draw a curve and an arrow]]
* [[Following a BLine#Make the Arrow Move and Rotate|Link the arrow's Origin and Rotation]] to the bline so the arrow follows the curve

== Tutorial ==

This is a brief tutorial giving an example of how to use it:

=== Create the Animation ===

File > New

=== Create the Layers ===

select the BLine Tool

enable just the Outline checkbox

draw a bline that you want the arrow to move along

click the "Make BLine" icon in the bottom left of the "Tool Options" panel to create the bline.

still in the bline tool, enable Fill and Outline checkboxes in tool options

draw an arrow or whatever, pointing to the right

switch to the "Normal" tool

select the outline, hit control-a to select all its ducks except the green position duck

drag the ducks so that the arrow is centred around the green position duck

add a rotate layer above the outline and region

encapsulate the rotate, outline, and region layers

so now you've got 2 top-level layers: a curved path, and an encapsulation containing an arrow and a rotate layer

=== Make the Arrow Move and Rotate ===

select the encapsulation layer by clicking it in the Layers panel

select its green position duck by clicking on it in the canvas window

additionally select the Rotate layer by holding Control and clicking it in the Layers panel

additionally select the blue "rotation amount" duck by holding Control and clicking on it in the canvas window

so now we should have 2 layers selected, and one duck from each of those 2 layers selected

now additionally select the curved bline layer (it should be the last layer in the Layer panel's list) by holding Control and clicking on it

right-click on the dotted line that indicates the position of the curved bline - not on any duck, but on the dotted link between ducks

from the context menu that pops up, select "Link to BLine"

the encapsulated arrow should move so that its green position duck is on the bline, and it should rotate so that the arrow points along the bline at that point

select just the encapsulation layer, and drag its green duck around. you'll see that the duck is constrained now to lie on the bline, and that dragging it also affects the rotation of the arrow as expected

we can now animate the arrow. turn on "animate edit mode" by clicking the icon in the bottom right of the canvas window.

at time 0f, drag the encapsulation layer's green position duck to one end of the bline

at time 5s, drag the same position duck to the other end of the bline

Try File > Preview or View > Play to watch the animation.

== Results ==

This is the animation I ended up with: [[Media:Arrow-follows-bline.sifz‎|Arrow-follows-bline.sifz‎]]

== Commentary on the Feature ==

Also, the arrow takes the same time to move along each segment of the bline. So if there's a long straight part then a bendy complex part, the arrow will move much faster along the straight parts (since there will be less vertices in that part).

It would be good to have the option of having the arrow move at constant speed along the length of the curve.

Features.de

2009-08-27T08:08:38Z

Bombe: Add translation bar.

{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Features|English]] · [[Features.de|Deutsch]] · [[Features.fr|Français]] · [[Features.tr|Türkçe]] · [[Features.zh|简体中文]]}}

; '''Unabhängigkeit der Auflösung'''
: Die meisten Elemente in Synfig basieren auf Vektoren. Das heißt die Qualität der Animation bleibt auch nach dem Ändern der Ausgabe-Auflösung gut - nur importierte Bilder werden eventuell pixelig.

; '''Flüssige Bewegungen'''
: Die Keyframes der Animation werden automatisch von Synfig miteinander verbunden, so dass sich eine flüssige Bewegung ergibt.

; '''High Dynamic-Range Imaging (HDRI)'''
: Durch die Verwendung von Gleitkomma-Zahlen bei der Bildberechnung kann das Programm intern ein riesiges Spektrum an Farben und Helligkeitsstufen berücksichtigen, so dass hervorragende Beleuchtungseffekte und verbesserte Farbkompositionen möglich werden.

; '''Unterstützung von Zeichentabletts'''
: Synfigs Werkzeuge unterstützen bereits die Druckempfindlichkeit vieler Stifte-Tablets, um natärliche Linienverläufe zu ermöglichen.

; '''Artist-oriented design'''
: Synfig wurde von Anfang entwickelt, um das Erstellen von Animationen zu vereinfachen.

; '''Farbverlaufspfade'''
: Synfig unterstützt - im Gegensatz zu anderen Animationsprogrammen im Anwenderbereich - Farbverlaufspfade, mit denen sich Farbverläufe animieren lassen. So lassen sich ganz einfach sanfte Schattierungen anbringen, ohne dass jedes Bild einzeln gezeichnet werden muss.

; '''Ebenen'''
: Synfig unterstützt eine unbegrenzte Anzahl von verschiedensten [[Layers|Ebenen-Arten (en)]]: Formen und Objekte, Filter, Farbverläufe, Verformungen, Fraktale und noch ein paar mehr!

----

Wenn du ein bestimmtes Merkmal in Synfig vermisst, kannst du es auf die [[Wish list|Wunschliste (en)]] setzen!

Features

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{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Features|English]] · [[Features.de|Deutsch]] · [[Features.fr|Français]] · [[Features.tr|Türkçe]] · [[Features.zh|简体中文]]}}

; '''Spatial resolution-independence'''
: Most elements are vector-based, and all layers are parametrically generated, hence even when changing the target resolution of a project, the only pixelation will occur in imported raster images, not the built-in components.

; '''Temporal resolution independence'''
: Animation-keyframes are automatically interpolated by the computer, resulting in smooth motion

; '''High Dynamic-Range Imaging (HDRI)'''
: By using floating-point math in the image calculations, HDRI processing allows canvases to internally understand a far greater range of pixel luminance, resulting in better lighting effects, and improved color composition.

; '''Pentablet-friendly tools'''
: The draw tool already reads the pressure sensitivity channel off your favorite tablets, for natural line weighting, and more to come!

; '''Artist-oriented design'''
: While it may not be obvious in this early state, Synfig (and its proprietary predecessors) has been designed from the ground up with animation workflow in mind.

; '''Built-in CVS support'''
: <small>I haven't tried this yet, but I saw it in the file menu and it looked nifty, so- Hey, feature!</small>

; '''Path-based Gradients'''
: Unlike purely SVG-based vector software, and most consumer-level animation programs, Synfig has full support for gradient paths - gradients that follow along a drawn shape. This allows artists to easily add soft shading to animation without the trouble of painting it onto every frame.

; '''Layers'''
: Synfig supports a multitude of [[Layer|layers]] of various types; geometric, gradients, filters, distortions, transformations, fractal and a few others.

If you would like to see more features in synfig, please contribute to the [[Wish list|wish list]].

FAQ

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{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[FAQ|English]] · [[FAQ.es|Español]] · [[FAQ.fr|Français]]}}


[[Category:Permalink]]

== General FAQs ==

=== Why doesn't slogger talk on the Synfig IRC channel? ===

slogger is a bot that sits in the [[Contact|Synfig IRC channel]] and stores the [[Contact|IRC logs]], not a human. It has no commands, so you won't get any response out of it either.

=== Why are the CIA in the Synfig IRC channel? ===

"CIA-28" and friends are bots that sit in the [[Contact|Synfig IRC channel]] and report whenever they detect a new commit in the subversion repository, giving the committer's name, revision number, and commit log message. The same information for recent commits can be found on [http://cia.vc/stats/project/synfig cia.vc]. [http://www.ohloh.net/projects/4832?p=Synfig ohloh.net] has similar pages of statistics.

== FAQs relating to the current Synfig release ==

Many issues are documented in the [http://sf.net/tracker/?group_id=144022&atid=757416 bug tracker] and on the [[Download|download]] page.

=== What is the status of the MacOS package? ===

Some people have [http://sf.net/support/tracker.php?aid=1686495 volunteered] to work on a pure MacOS X package for synfig, but there have not yet been any results. Currently options for using synfig on MacOS X include [[Building On Mac OS X|building it yourself]], [[Download#fink|installing packages from fink]] or installing Linux or Windows on your machine and using it there.

=== Why do imported SVG images look bad? ===

Synfig doesn't have the ability to import SVG images, it can only auto-render them to PNG with imagemagick and import those. The closest you can get to importing complex formats like SVG or XCF is to use one of the [[Converters|converters]].

=== Is there any Flash/SWF support? ===

Unfortunately not. Patches are welcome though. Please [[Contact|contact]] us to discuss your plans for adding SWF support so we can give any advice needed.

=== Procedure entry point ... could not be located? ===

If you are on Windows and it says "the procedure entry point_ZN6synfig5Color7set_hexERSs could not be located in the dynamic link library libsynfig-0.dll" that means you forgot to upgrade synfig when you upgraded synfigstudio. Due to the dependency systems on Linux you will probably not get this there unless your distro has broken packages. Be sure to install the latest version of synfig and synfigstudio.

If you get the same error but with gtk, glib, iconv.dll or libxml2.dll you should look for old versions of these DLLs in your Windows directory and rename them to iconv.dll.bak and libxm2.dll.bak etc.

=== libsynfig-0.dll was not found ===

If you get the error message "libsynfig-0.dll was not found" please check that you have synfig (as well as synfig studio) correctly installed.

<div id="Can_I_do_anything_to_improve_the_stability_of_the_Windows_version_of_Synfig.3F"></div>
=== Can I do anything to improve the stability of synfigstudio? ===

If you're running on a Hyperthreading or multi-core CPU (e.g Pentium 4 with Hyperthreading or Intel Core2 Duo or Quadcore, etc.) then you may find Synfig is more stable if you restrict it to run on only one processor.

===== How do I do this on Windows? =====

To do this on windows, start Synfig Studio, then press Ctrl-Shift-Esc this will start the 'Windows Task Manager', alternatively you can press Ctrl-Alt-Del and choose 'Task Manager'. Select the processes tab, find synfigstudio.exe in the processes list and right click on it. Choose 'Set Affinity...' and make sure only one CPU is checked. Unfortunately, this setting isn't preserved so you either have to do this manually each time you start Synfig Studio or use a tool such as the [http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/05/28/getting_more_bang_out_of_your_dual_processing_buck/index.html Tom's Hardware Guide Task Assignment Manager].

===== How do I do this on Linux? =====

On linux, you need to install schedutils.

Then run synfigstudio like this:

<pre>taskset -c 0 synfigstudio</pre>

Or if you have synfigstudio open already, run this:

<pre>taskset -p -c 0 `pgrep synfigstudio`</pre>

=== Why can't I get sound to work? ===
Synfig GUI implies that sound files can be loaded and played with the animation previews, to aid with e.g. lip synching. Synfig relies on a helper library called FMOD to handle sound. Unfortunately, it appears that this feature was not fully implemented, and the 'play' code is commented out. Windows support for sound does not even appear to have been attempted. If you need to need to synch to a soundtrack, the easiest way is to use video editing software to add the sound effects afterwards, or use an audio editor to take careful note of the audio cues, and animate the action to coincide with those timestamps.

See this page for [[Sound Layer | sound]] implementation guidelines.

=== How do I render moving pictures from Synfig under Windows ===
Rendering to AVI video from Synfig is not enabled for the Windows builds. If you're looking for a file to include on a web page, rendering to an animated gif file does work. For mpg, there are a couple of options.
* You can install [http://ffdshow.faireal.net/mirror/ffmpeg/ffmpeg.rev12665.7z FFMpeg] to a directory in your PATH and use the ffmpeg target in Synfig to render to an mpg file.
* If you want more control over the final video file, the best solution may be to render to a sequence of png files and use a separate program, such as the command line version of ffmpeg, to assemble them to a video file. This could also allow you to incorporate an audio track in the same step.

=== I have a weird problem building from source. What's up? ===

Your copy of pkg-config probably doesn't look in the right places for .pc files. If you are installing to /usr/local, try running "export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig" before building or installing anything.

=== Why does only the first frame of my animation render? ===

You probably have '''Use current frame''' checked in the render dialog box.

=== Why don't I get the colors I'm expecting? ===

This [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_model#Nonlinearity Wikipedia] article talks about how color output is non-linear, that if 0 is black and 100 is white, then 50 is only about 22 percent of the brightness of white, rather than 50% as you might expect.

In synfig there is an option (on by default) to make sure that if you ask for 50, you get 50% of the brightness of white.

In the [[Toolbox|Toolbox]] see File>Setup which would open the [[Setup Dialog|Setup Dialog]]. Then go to the Misc tab and to the Visually Linear Color Selection checkbox. If you turn that off, everything will go back to its non-linear, yet strangely comfortable and familiar mode.

=== Why doesn't the rotate tool rotate rectangles? ===
The rotate tool works on ducks. The rectangle layer works by drawing horizontal and vertical lines between the two ducks, so when the rotate tool is used with a rectangle it only rotates the ducks around the rotation point, but the lines of the rectangle are still horizontal and vertical. What you are probably looking for is the [[Layer#Rotate|Rotate Layer]]. If you have a build of Synfig SVN 1981 or later, there is a Rectangle -> Bline tool option which would allow the behaviour you might expect.

=== Tablet doesn't track as expected ===
When using some programs you may find that the mouse may not track as you would expect.
Synfig, Inkscape and Gimp are ones that I have used that will give odd tracking.
When drawing with the mouse the actual drawing is some distance from the cursor and when
you use the pen the drawing is drawn where the cursor is.
This can be easily fixed with the software that came with the tablet.

When using the tablet software that came with the graphire 4 tablet you will find
that it uses two different tracking methods for the mouse and pen and these two
tracking methods are called Mouse Mode and Pen Mode.

The Pen Mode uses absolute positioning, that means the active drawing area of the tablet
is in proportion to the whole screen. Wherever you move the pen the cursor will move
to the corresponding point on the screen, wether you drag the pen or you pick up the
pen and move it to a new location that cursor will move or jump to where the pen is.

The Mouse Mode uses a positioning system similar to a traditional mouse where you can pick up
and slide the mouse where you wish and the cursor will follow the mouse as it is moved.
It will not jump to new locations on the screen even if you pick up the mouse and place it
in a new position on the tablet, the cursor will just continue from it's last position.

In the case of the Wacom Graphire 4 tablet that I'm using in Windows XP I needed to open the
program called Pen Tablet and change the settings for the mouse.
To do this open Pen Tablet and you will see four tabs, click the tab marked Mouse and you will
find a box called Tracking with two options. One is Pen Mode and the other is Mouse Mode.
Select the Pen Mode and the mouse will now use absolute positioning.

== FAQs relating to earlier Synfig versions ==

These issues have been addressed in the current version of Synfig.

=== Why Synfig 0.61.08 doesn't work in Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10? ===
Due to the incorporation if the newest GTK/GTKmm version (2.14) since Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10, the old version of synfigstudio included in that linux distribution has turned not usable. Until new Ubuntu version or the adoptation of a backport into 8.04 LTS, the only way to have synfigstudio running in Ubuntu Intrepid is build the binaries from he source code. Follow the [[Build Instructions|build instructions]] or [http://synfig.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=277 this thread] to do that.

=== Where did the polygon, draw and sketch tools go? ===

They are disabled by default due to problems. Instead of the polygon tool, you should use the bline tool. The draw tool was never completed, is very buggy, and frustrating to use. Since the draw tool is being disabled, then we might as well disable the sketch tool too. You can re-enable them without recompiling by setting some environment variables (you can [http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/environment_variables.mspx set environment variables on windows] too). Set SYNFIG_ENABLE_POLYGON, SYNFIG_ENABLE_DRAW and SYNFIG_ENABLE_SKETCH to 1. On Linux/Unix/MacOSX this is as simple as running these commands in a terminal:

<pre>
export SYNFIG_ENABLE_POLYGON=1
export SYNFIG_ENABLE_DRAW=1
export SYNFIG_ENABLE_SKETCH=1
</pre>

Then run synfigstudio from the same terminal. You can probably find some way of getting these variables set automatically when you log in, but it depends on the distro. In Ubuntu you can put them in ~/.xprofile for example.

The polygon, draw, and sketch tools will be on by default in future releases of Synfig, from 0.61.07 onwards. They can be disabled by replacing 'ENABLE' with 'DISABLE' in the above lines.

=== Where did the width tool go? ===

It is disabled by default due to problems. Instead of the width tool, you should just modify the width ducks directly. You can re-enable it without recompiling by setting an environment variable (you can [http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/environment_variables.mspx set environment variables on windows] too). Set SYNFIG_ENABLE_WIDTH to 1. On Linux/Unix/MacOSX this is as simple as running this command in a terminal:

<pre>
export SYNFIG_ENABLE_WIDTH=1
</pre>

Then run synfigstudio from the same terminal. You can probably find some way of getting this variable set automatically when you log in, but it depends on the distro. In Ubuntu you can put it in ~/.xprofile for example.

The width tool is enabled by default since [[Releases/0.61.09|Release 0.61.09]]. It can be disabled by replacing 'ENABLE' with 'DISABLE' in the above line.

=== Why doesn't walk.sif from the SVN work? ===

In the SVN repository, there's a walk cycle example, but the sif file includes features that are incompatible with the current version of Synfig. A re-worked example can be found in the [[Walk Cycle|Walk Cycle Tutorial]].

If you can look at the source code and figure out why the .sif file won't load, we'd love to have a fix.

=== What happened to my synfig toolbox? ===

If you no longer have a synfig toolbox, it means the window positions in your settings file for the toolbox got corrupted during a crash or something and your synfig toolbox is now off the screen. You should remove or edit your settings file to get it back. This bug ([http://sf.net/support/tracker.php?aid=1836848 1836848]) was fixed in SVN r1167.

This is a very common issue on Windows computers. Quick fix: delete C:\Documents and Settings\*your user name*\Synfig. You should not lose any saved work. Synfig will run fine following this fix.

=== The plant layer doesn't work/displays erratically/doesn't render. Why? ===

The plant layer should allow pictures [http://home.comcast.net/~pxegeek/synfig/plant11.JPG like this one] to be drawn, but again it had a bug that prevented if from working correctly in Synfig 0.61.06 and earlier. The bug was fixed in svn r620 and release 0.61.07

Further fixes were later added to stop it crashing when 'stem size' or 'splits' were set too high.

=== Missing icons? synfig/studio doesn't render anything? ===

You probably compiled synfig with g++ 4.1 using optimisation level 2 or higher. g++ has a bug that prevents Synfig Studio from compositing the images properly. Please recompile synfig using ./configure --enable-optimization=0 or disable optimisation and then rebuild the synfig images. The binary packages for some GNU/Linux distributions are affected by this. [http://sf.net/tracker/?group_id=144022&atid=757416 Bug] #[http://sf.net/support/tracker.php?aid=1509627 1509627]

As of svn r774, it is now OK to build with any optimization level. Also, using gcc 4.2.1 or newer it's possible to successfully build old versions of synfig with strong optimization.

=== synfigstudio can't find icons? ===

(I know they rendered fine, but they show up with red crosses everywhere).

This is #[http://sf.net/support/tracker.php?aid=1568925 1568925] that was introduced in SVN 180. Workaround is to set an environment variable at runtime like this: export SYNFIG_ROOT=/usr (or similar) or just install into /usr/local instead. Fixed in SVN r486.

=== I'm using synfigstudio on a laptop but can't draw anything using my mouse. What gives? ===

Try disabling the the touchpad from the input devices dialog. Unfortunately synfigstudio will not remember this setting so you have to do it every time you start synfigstudio.

This was fixed in [http://kibi.dyndns.org:8083/~dooglus/gitweb.pl?p=synfig;a=commitdiff;h=r487 svn r487] and so synfig 0.61.06 and newer won't have this problem.

=== Why is everything yellow? / Why are all the colors wrong? ===

This can happen when you switch between locales, due to a bug in version 0.61.05. It's fixed in the subversion repository (r228). To work around the problem, do the following: from the main window, choose File > Setup what would open the [[Setup Dialog|Setup Dialog]], then select the Gamma tab and set all 3 sliders back to the default value of 2.2.

Export

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{{TranslationBar|CONTENT=[[Export|English]] · [[Export.es|Español]]}}


[[Category:Exporting| ]]

You can right-click any parameter and Export it. This adds it to the [[Children Panel]], and allows it to be used as the value of other parameters. You cannot export two parameters with the same name.

==Unexport==

You can delete an exported parameter. To do this just right click on the exported parameter (or the [[ValueNode|Value Node]]) and select "Unexport". It will delete the current selected exported [[ValueNode|Value Node]] but it will not affect to any parameter that was [[Connect|connected]] to the exported [[ValueNode|Value Node]].

Exported canvases cannot be deleted for the moment.

== Scope ==

Exported [[ValueNode|Value Nodes]] are visible in the [[Children Panel]] only for the current edited canvas. So if you export the canvas parameter and then make double click in the [[Canvas Browser Panel|Canvas Dialog]] you'll open the canvas in edition mode in other window. You can export a parameter meanwhile editing that canvas, and then the exported parameter is only visible in the canvas scope. It will allow have same exported name for several [[ValueNode|Value Nodes]] in different canvases.

==Rename==

You can also rename an exported parameter. Just make right click on the exported parameter (or the exported [[ValueNode|Value Node]]. It will not affect to the connected parameters that will remain connected to that renamed [[ValueNode]].

==Convert==

You can convert any exported [[ValueNode|Value Node]] using the Convert right click menu. But there is a difference: converting a connected parameter will disconnect from its exported [[ValueNode|Value Node]]. But if you convert a [[ValueNode|Value Node]] all the connected parameter will follow the converted [[ValueNode|Value Node]].

Download/de

2009-08-27T08:03:52Z

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{{TranslationBar.de|CONTENT=[[Download|English]] · [[Download.de|Deutsch]] · [[Download.es|Español]] · [[Download.fr|Français]]}}
__NOTOC__
= Aktuelle Version =


{| style="width:100%;"
|-
! colspan = "3" style="padding:10px;" | '''Linux '''
|-
| style="padding:5px; width:30%;" |
| style="padding:5px; width:30%;" |
|-
| '''Synfig 0.61.09 (RPM)'''
| '''Synfig 0.61.09 (DEB)'''
| '''Synfig 0.61.09 (TAR.BZ2)'''
|-
|
|-
| <div style="float:left;">http://synfig.org/images/0/01/PackageIcon.jpg</div> <div style="margin:0 0 0 42px;">[http://download.tuxfamily.org/morevna/morevnapackage/binaries/0.61.09/synfigstudio-0.61.09-2113.binary.1.i386.rpm synfigstudio (i386)] <br> [http://download.tuxfamily.org/morevna/morevnapackage/binaries/0.61.09/synfigstudio-0.61.09-2113.binary.1.x86_64.rpm synfigstudio (x86_64)]</div>
| <div style="float:left;">http://synfig.org/images/0/01/PackageIcon.jpg</div> <div style="margin:0 0 0 42px;">[http://download.tuxfamily.org/morevna/morevnapackage/binaries/0.61.09/synfigstudio_0.61.09-2113.binary.1_i386.deb synfigstudio (i386)] <br> [http://download.tuxfamily.org/morevna/morevnapackage/binaries/0.61.09/synfigstudio_0.61.09-2113.binary.1_amd64.deb synfigstudio (x86_64)]</div>
| <div style="float:left;">http://synfig.org/images/0/01/PackageIcon.jpg</div> <div style="margin:0 0 0 42px;">[http://download.tuxfamily.org/morevna/morevnapackage/binaries/0.61.09/synfigstudio-0.61.09-2113.binary.1.i386.tar.bz2 synfigstudio (i386)] <br> [http://download.tuxfamily.org/morevna/morevnapackage/binaries/0.61.09/synfigstudio-0.61.09-2113.binary.1.x86_64.tar.bz2 synfigstudio (x86_64)]</div>
|-
| style="padding:3px;" |
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | Suits für die neusten auf RPM-basierenden Linux Distributionen (RedHat, Fedora, Mandriva).
| style="vertical-align:top;" | Suits für die neusten auf Debian-basierenden Linux Distributionen (Debian, Ubuntu).
| style="vertical-align:top;" | Suits für die neusten Linux Distributionen , kein Paketverwaltungssystem erforderlich, sehr gut als Portable Version nutzbar, aber kein Desktop-Integration.
|-
| colspan = "3" style="padding-bottom:15px;" | <hr> ACHTUNG: Falls bei Ihrer Linux-Distribution bereits ein neueres Synfig Studio Paket in der Paketverwaltung vorhanden ist, dann sollten sie dieses nutzen, da die Distributions Betreuer sich um alle Abhängigkeiten und Updates kümmern. Die oben angebotenen Pakete können auf diese schnelle und einfache Weise installiert werden und die neusten Synfig Studio-Versionen laufen auf den meisten Linux-Systemen. Aber wegen ihrer einheitlichen Struktur sind viele freie Bibliotheken enthalten und wir sind nicht in der Lage diese aktuell zu halten. So kann die Installation ein Sicherheitsrisiko darstellen. Wenn Sie irgendwelche Probleme mit den Paketen haben sollten, berichten Sie es bitte [http://synfig.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=341 hier].

|}

{| style="width:100%;"
|-
! colspan = "3" style="padding:10px;" | '''Windows'''
|-
| style="padding:5px; width:30%;" |
|-
| '''Synfig 0.61.09 (EXE)'''
|-
|
|-
| <div style="float:left;">http://synfig.org/images/0/01/PackageIcon.jpg</div> <div style="margin:0 0 0 42px;">[http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gladewin32/gtk-2.10.11-win32-1.exe gtk] [http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/binaries/win32/gtkmm/2.10/gtkmm-win32-runtime-2.10.11-1.exe gtkmm] [http://downloads.sourceforge.net/synfig/synfig-0.61.09.exe synfig] [http://downloads.sourceforge.net/synfig/synfigstudio-0.61.09.exe synfigstudio]</div>
|-
| style="padding:3px;" |
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | Geeignet Windows XP/Vista (beide 32bit und 64bit). Alle vier Dateien werden benötigt, schauen Sie sich hierzu das [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mrDqiRI7fwk Instalationsvideo] an.
|-
|
|
|
|-
| colspan = "3" style="padding-bottom:15px;" | <hr> ACHTUNG: Es gibt [[Security|Sicherheitsprobleme]] bei DV, Imagemagick and ffmpeg Zieldateien, Bitte vermeiden Sie diese zu importieren oder nicht vertrauenswürdige Dateien zu redern. Render Probleme können bei Hyperthreading oder Mehrkern CPUs auftreten. Bitte schauen Sie sich um diesen Abhilfe zuschaffen die [[FAQ#Can_I_do_anything_to_improve_the_stability_of_the_Windows_version_of_Synfig.3F|FAQ]] an.
|}

{| style="width:100%;"
|-
! colspan = "3" style="padding:10px;" | '''Mac OS X'''
|-
| style="padding:5px; width:30%;" |
|-
| '''Synfig 0.61.09 (Normal)'''
| '''Synfig 0.61.09 (FINK)'''
|-
|
|-
| <div style="float:left;">http://synfig.org/images/0/01/PackageIcon.jpg</div> <div style="margin:0 0 0 42px;">Taken offline.</div>
| <div style="float:left;">http://synfig.org/images/0/01/PackageIcon.jpg</div> <div style="margin:0 0 0 42px;">[http://pdb.finkproject.org/pdb/package.php/etl etl] [http://pdb.finkproject.org/pdb/package.php/synfig synfig] [http://pdb.finkproject.org/pdb/package.php/synfigstudio synfigstudio]</div>
|-
| style="padding:3px;" |
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | Bitte schauen Sie sich den Fehler [http://sf.net/support/tracker.php?aid=1686495 1686495] an. Patches und Freiwillige, die neue Paket erstellen wollen, sind herzlich willkommen. Bis sich jemand Freiwilliges gemeldet hat, können Sie es [[Building_On_Mac_OS_X|selbst erstellen]] oder via fink installieren.
| style="vertical-align:top;" | Alle vier Dateien werden benötigt.
|-
| colspan = "3" style="padding-bottom:15px;" | <hr>
|}

{| style="width:100%;"
|-
! colspan = "3" style="padding:10px;" | '''Quelltext'''
|-
| style="padding:5px; width:30%;" |
|-
| '''Synfig 0.61.09'''
|-
|
|-
| <div style="float:left;">http://synfig.org/images/0/01/PackageIcon.jpg</div> <div style="margin:0 0 0 42px;">[http://sf.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=144022&package_id=198849 ETL] [http://sf.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=144022&package_id=158279 synfig] [http://sf.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=144022&package_id=198850 synfigstudio]</div>
|-
| style="padding:3px;" |
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | Bitte lesen Sie die [[Build_instructions|Build instructions]].
|-
| colspan = "3" style="padding-bottom:10px;" | <hr>
|}

= Entwicklungsversionen =

{| style="width:100%;"
|-
! colspan = "3" style="padding:10px;" | '''Linux '''
|-
| style="padding:5px; width:30%;" |
| style="padding:5px; width:30%;" |
|-
| '''Synfig 0.61.09 SVN2376 (RPM)'''
| '''Synfig 0.61.09 SVN2376 (DEB)'''
| '''Synfig 0.61.09 SVN2376 (TAR.BZ2)'''
|-
|
|-
| <div style="float:left;">http://synfig.org/images/0/01/PackageIcon.jpg</div> <div style="margin:0 0 0 42px;">[http://download.tuxfamily.org/morevna/morevnapackage/binaries/synfigstudio-0.61.09-2376.morevnapackage.1.i386.rpm synfigstudio (i386)] <br> [http://download.tuxfamily.org/morevna/morevnapackage/binaries/synfigstudio-0.61.09-2376.morevnapackage.1.x86_64.rpm synfigstudio (x86_64)]</div>
| <div style="float:left;">http://synfig.org/images/0/01/PackageIcon.jpg</div> <div style="margin:0 0 0 42px;">[http://download.tuxfamily.org/morevna/morevnapackage/binaries/synfigstudio_0.61.09-2376.morevnapackage.1_i386.deb synfigstudio (i386)] <br> [http://download.tuxfamily.org/morevna/morevnapackage/binaries/synfigstudio_0.61.09-2376.morevnapackage.1_amd64.deb synfigstudio (x86_64)]</div>
| <div style="float:left;">http://synfig.org/images/0/01/PackageIcon.jpg</div> <div style="margin:0 0 0 42px;">[http://download.tuxfamily.org/morevna/morevnapackage/binaries/synfigstudio-0.61.09-2376.morevnapackage.1.i386.tar.bz2 synfigstudio (i386)] <br> [http://download.tuxfamily.org/morevna/morevnapackage/binaries/synfigstudio-0.61.09-2376.morevnapackage.1.x86_64.tar.bz2 synfigstudio (x86_64)]</div>
|-
| style="padding:3px;" |
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | Suits für die neusten auf RPM-basierenden Linux Distributionen (RedHat, Fedora, Mandriva).
| style="vertical-align:top;" | Suits für die neusten auf Debian-basierenden Linux Distributionen (Debian, Ubuntu).
| style="vertical-align:top;" | Suits für die neusten Linux Distributionen , kein Paketverwaltungssystem erforderlich, sehr gut als Portable Version nutzbar, aber kein Desktop-Integration.
|-
| colspan = "3" style="padding-bottom:15px;" | <hr> ACHTUNG: Falls bei Ihrer Linux-Distribution bereits ein neueres Synfig Studio Paket in der Paketverwaltung vorhanden ist, dann sollten sie dieses nutzen, da die Distributions Betreuer sich um alle Abhängigkeiten und Updates kümmern. Die oben angebotenen Pakete können auf diese schnelle und einfache Weise installiert werden und die neusten Synfig Studio-Versionen laufen auf den meisten Linux-Systemen. Aber wegen ihrer einheitlichen Struktur sind viele freie Bibliotheken enthalten und wir sind nicht in der Lage diese aktuell zu halten. So kann die Installation ein Sicherheitsrisiko darstellen. Wenn Sie irgendwelche Probleme mit den Paketen haben sollten, berichten Sie es bitte [http://synfig.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=341 hier].
|}

{| style="width:100%;"
|-
! colspan = "3" style="padding:10px;" | '''Windows'''
|-
| style="padding:5px; width:30%;" |
|-
| '''Synfig 0.61.09 SVN2375 (EXE)'''
|-
|
|-
| <div style="float:left;">http://synfig.org/images/0/01/PackageIcon.jpg</div> <div style="margin:0 0 0 42px;">[http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gladewin32/gtk-2.10.11-win32-1.exe gtk] [http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/binaries/win32/gtkmm/2.10/gtkmm-win32-runtime-2.10.11-1.exe gtkmm] [http://synfig.org/files/synfig-0.61.09-2375.exe synfig] [http://synfig.org/files/synfigstudio-0.61.09-2375.exe synfigstudio]</div>
|-
| style="padding:3px;" |
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | Geeignet Windows XP/Vista (beide 32bit und 64bit). Alle vier Dateien werden benötigt, schauen Sie sich hierzu das [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mrDqiRI7fwk Instalationsvideo] an.
|-
|
|
|
|-
| colspan = "3" style="padding-bottom:15px;" | <hr> ACHTUNG: Es gibt [[Security|Sicherheitsprobleme]] bei DV, Imagemagick and ffmpeg Zieldateien, Bitte vermeiden Sie diese zu importieren oder nicht vertrauenswürdige Dateien zu redern. Render Probleme können bei Hyperthreading oder Mehrkern CPUs auftreten. Bitte schauen Sie sich um diesen Abhilfe zuschaffen die [[FAQ#Can_I_do_anything_to_improve_the_stability_of_the_Windows_version_of_Synfig.3F|FAQ]] an.
|}

{| style="width:100%;"
|-
! colspan = "3" style="padding:10px;" | '''Quelltext'''
|-
| style="padding:5px; width:30%;" |
|-
| '''Synfig SVN'''
|-
|
|-
| <div style="float:left;">http://synfig.org/images/0/01/PackageIcon.jpg</div> <div style="margin:0 0 0 42px;">[[Source_code|SVN]]</div>
|-
| style="padding:3px;" |
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" |
|-
| colspan = "3" style="padding-bottom:20px;" | <hr>
|}

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