Layers

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:

1. 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).
2. 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 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

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Size	Size of Blur
Type	Type of blur to use

Example: ( youtube corresponding sif file )

Motion Blur

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Aperture	Shutter Time

Radial Blur

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Origin	Point where you want the origin to be
Size	Size of blur
Fade Out

Example: ( youtube corresponding sif file )

Distortions

Inside Out

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Origin	Defines the where the center will be

Noise Distort

Parameters:

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: ( youtube corresponding sif file )

Spherize

Parameters:

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: ( youtube corresponding sif file )

Stretch

Parameters:

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: ( youtube corresponding sif file )

Twirl

Parameters:

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: ( youtube corresponding sif file )

Warp

Parameters:

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: ( youtube corresponding sif file )

Filters

Clamp

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Invert Negative
Clamp Ceiling
Ceiling
Floor

Color Correct

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Hue Adjust
Brightness
Contrast
Exposure Adjust
Gamma Adjustment

Halftone 2

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Mask Offset
Mask Angle
Mask Size
Light Color
Dark Color
Type

Halftone 3

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Mask Size
Type
Subtractive Flag
<Channel Name>Color
<Channel Name>Mask Offset
<Channel Name>Mask Angle

Luma Key

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Color	Color of checkers
Offset
Size	Size of checkers

Fractals

Julia Set

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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:

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

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Color	Color of checkers.
Offset	Displacement of the checkboard origin.
Size	Size of checkers.

Circle

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Vector List	A list of Vector points.

Rectangle

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Color

Star

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Index	Copy Index

Import Image

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Filename	File to import
Time Offset	Time offset used for image sequence import.

Paste Canvas

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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.
Fonts that appear to work under Windows - Arial, Times New Roman/Serif, Verdana/Sans Serif. Courier produces an interesting, but non-legible effect.
Sans Serif appears to be the default if Synfig doesn't recognize the font.

Time Loop

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Offset
Size

Stylize

Bevel

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Origin	Point where you want the origin to be
Amount	Amount of rotation in degrees.

Translate

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Origin	Point where you want the origin to be

Zoom

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

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

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Color
Points
Radii
Weights
Threshold

Simple Circle

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Color
Center
Radius	This is the radius of the circle

Filled Rectangle

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Color
Point 1
Point 2
Feather X
Feather Y
Bevel
Keep Bevel Circular