If the experiments don’t always work, at least the developers are trying. Even small touches like graying out tools that are unavailable at the moment show that the program is being designed with users in mind. So are the ducks for different functions, and the ability to link objects so that editing one automatically edits the other. Having a simplified time track across the bottom of the editing window is convenient, especially if the time track is not currently open. Some of these arbitrary changes may make for greater efficiency, but you may be of two minds whether the efficiency is worth the longer learning curve.Īt other times, the non-standard window design pays off. At times, too, Synfig displays a fondness for jargon that makes the program harder to learn than it needs to be - for example, using “ducks” for control handles on an object. Nor does there seem any reason why the settings for the tool currently selected should be in the dock rather than in the tool palette somewhere.
At their worst, these experiments seem arbitrary, such as a drop-down menu that opens from a button in the top left corner of the editing menu instead of a standard menu or buttons to switch from editing a single frame to working with multiple frames and to unlock keyframes in the lower right instead of on a toolbar.
#Synfig studio add bones windows#
You can drag the panes into the dock into their own separate windows, but none of the program’s windows are synced, so each one must be minimized or unminimized separately.Īs you look more closely, you’ll realize that parts of the interface design are decidedly experimental. In this case, in addition to an editing window, you get a tool palette, a time track, and a dock for navigation, tool settings, and layers. Synfig opens in the multiple windows that are the time-honored tradition for graphics programs in Unix-like systems. Innovation and differences for difference’s sake
#Synfig studio add bones code#
The download page also lists unofficial packages for several other distributions, including Gentoo and Mandriva, and source code for a number of others, such as SUSE and Fedora Core 6.
#Synfig studio add bones mac os x#
Mac OS X packages are listed, but are currently unavailable due to serious bugs.
The project Web site includes both source code and packages for Debian, Ubuntu, and Windows. Since then, the program has been in slow but steady development. When Voria closed in 2004, Quattlebaum released the code under the GNU General Public License. Robert Quattlebaum first wrote Synfig for Voria Studios, his now-defunct animation company. The only real question about its future is the minor one of whether the developers can learn the difference between practical and merely arbitrary changes in standard interfaces and tools. Although it has only just released version 0.61.06-1, it is already approaching early maturity, with enough tools and innovations that professionals might seriously consider using it. Synfig Studio is a 2-D animation program that uses vector graphics.
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