• What Is Synfig Studio
• Synfig Studio Examples For Beginners

Basic settings

In the previous tutorial, you have learned to create shapes with the Spline Tool, in this tutorial we will learn how to create a simple animation of a growing flower using Splines.

Creating an animation in Synfig Studio is really easy. It basically means to change a drawing — you just need to create the first stage and last stage of a change, and Synfig takes care of the steps in between. Let’s look at a simple example. Consider a moving light like the one at the front of the Knight Rider car. This article is a general list of applications sorted by category, as a reference for those looking for packages. Many sections are split between console and graphical applications. Synfig is a FREE software and you are not obligated to pay for this download – just enter “0” (zero) in the “Price” field above to download for free. Alternatively, you can use this private link.

1. Dec 08, 2016 Synfig is a professional-grade animation application with all the must-have features, and plenty of additional ones as a bonus. If you're after fast and efficient animation, Synfig Studio is the one to use. It's got a learning curve when compared to cell animation, but the elimination of tweening pays off in the end.
2. Debian Main amd64 Official synfig-examples1.0.2-1all.deb: synfig animation examples: Debian Main arm64 Official synfig-examples1.0.2-1all.deb: synfig animation examples.

First, we need to create a gradient for a background. Click on the outline and fill colors in the Toolbox to select the colors our gradient will have. You can also directly edit the gradient by clicking the gradient line in the toolbox.

Select the Gradient Tool and drag your cursor vertically across the canvas to fill it with the gradient.

Next, select the Spline Tool and in the Tool Options Panel, make sure that only 'Create Region Spline' is checked. In the toolbox, set the fill color to green. Draw a kind of triangle with the Spline tool. To close the shape after drawing the 3 vertices, right click on the first vertex and choose 'Loop Spline'.

Now that the trace of the form is closed, you can generate the proper form by selecting another tool or by pressing the button with the gear icon at the bottom of the Tool Options Panel.

This will be the base of the stem. You can tweak the tangent handles (red dots) a bit to make a rounder triangle. With the Transform Tool, right-click on each vertex and select 'Split Tangents', so the tangent handles of each vertex can be moved separately.

We're done with the basic settings.

Animate the stem

In the Canvas Menu, select the caret menu icon in the upper left hand corner, where the rulers intersect, and then select 'Edit → Properties'. Go to the 'Time' tab, set the 'End time' to '6s' and click OK button.

Click at the beginning of the timetrack ('0f'), then, in the Keyframes Panel (the one with a key icon) click the button with a '+' icon (add a new keyframe).Keyframes allow us to settle down the scene; i.e. on a keyframe, every element of the scene will have all its properties remembered.Click again on the timetrack, at '4s 12f' (ie 4.5s at 24 fps).Press the green man at the bottom right of the canvas (or whatever icon you have there, depending on your icon theme) to switch to the Animate Editing Mode (the man is now red).

With the Transform Tool, select the green sprout, and move the upper vertex up to make a stem. You can play with the vertex handles to bend the shape a bit if you want.

While you are still at '4s 12f', right-click on the stem border, close to the top, and choose 'Insert Item (smart)'. Do the same on the other side of the stem. Right click on those new points and choose 'Split Tangents'. Then try to make a shape that looks like the one on the image, to create the flower bud.

Now if you click on '2s' (for example), you'll see that the shape of the bud is slightly visible, even if the sprout is rather small, and even if the bud handles are invisible.

Let's say we want the bud to appear only at 3s 12f, and be full size at 4s 12f.

Click on '3s 12f' on the timetrack. Now take a look at the 'Parameters' and 'Timetrack' panels at the bottom. You'll see that each parameter in the Parameters Panel matches a row in the Time Track Panel. The last parameter is the vertices list. Click on the small arrow on the left to unfold the list. You should see something like this:

Each brown diamond (or waypoint) stands for a recorded value (here the vertices positions were recorded at 0f with the keyframe, and at 4s when we moved some vertices or vertices handles). The two vertices we added to make the bud are marked with green and red vertical line on their 0s and 4s waypoints. Right-click on them in the parameters list, and select 'Mark Activepoint as Off'.

The panel should now look like this, the grayed part being the part where the bud vertices have no effect on the stem.

For example if you click on '2s' or even '3s' now, the bud shape is not visible. It starts to appear only a little after 3s 12f.

However, the shape of the stem may not look very nice during its growth between 0 and 4s. Make sure you're still in Animate Edit Mode, and tweak the shape at various moments in time, to get something you like.

The animation of the stem is now finished, but it still lacks the petals. You can watch a preview of your animation: Go to 'File → Preview', validate, wait for the preview to be generated, and watch.

Adding the petals

Now leave the 'Animate Editing Mode' by clicking on the red circle at the right bottom of the canvas.

Change the fill color to pink, and create a petal with the Spline Tool. You'll notice that the green handle that allows easy movement of a shape is at the center (Origin : '0,0') of the canvas. Select all the vertices of the petal with CtrlA and move them close to the green handle (with the Transform Tool), as shown.

Then drag the green handle very close to the top of the bud. Hit CtrlA again to select all vertices of the petal and tweak it a bit with Rotate Tool. Also, in the Layers Panel select the petal layer and put it under the stem layer.Click on the petal to select it, then ctrl-click on the stem. Both objects should be selected.

Now click on the vertex at the top of the stem and ctrl-click on the green handle of the petal (both should appear in a lighter color, as they are selected). Then right-click on the stem top vertex, and select 'Link'. The petal will move a bit as the green handle is snapped on the stem vertex.

Now that there's a link between the petal and the top of the stem, when the top of the stem moves, the petal will follow the move. (And if the green handle of the petal moves, the top of the stem will move, but we don't want to do that here.)

On the Layers Panel, select the newly created Petal layer and duplicate it (with the third button, on the bottom of the Layers Panel). On the canvas, press CtrlA to select all the vertices of the duplicated petal, and move them a little, so the petals are no longer overlaid. (Don't move the green handle, just the orange ones). Repeat the process several time, to get something looking like this image.

Note that the duplicated petals are also linked to the stem.If you go back to the first keyframe, you'll see that the petals are visible.We don't want that. We want the petals to appear and bloom almost at the end of the growth.

Hiding the petals

Let's say we want the petals to appear a little after 4 seconds in the animation, and be full size at 5 seconds, instead of being visible and full size all the time.

Switch to 'Animate Editing Mode' again by clicking on the green circle at the bottom right of the canvas. But if we will go to '4s' and modify them, then they also change at '5s'. Because the shape/position of the petals is not fixated at this moment of time by any waypoints or keyframes. That means that we need a keyframe at '5s'. On the timetrack, click to place the cursor at 5 seconds. On the Keyframes Panel, click on '+' to add a new keyframe.

Now click on '4s', and on the Layers Panel, select all the petals layers (with ctrl+click), then press CtrlA to select all the petals vertices. Scale them down with the Scale Tool, and move them, so they are hidden by the stem, as shown.

From 4s to 5s, the petals will now appear and bloom. But notice that we have a keyframe at 0s which also remembers petals shape. That makes the problem — the petals are still visible from the first keyframe to the 4s keyframe.We could either make the petals tiny and hidden tweaking their size on every frame from 0s to 4s, or we could make them invisible on this interval.

Let's choose the second solution. To make things easier, we are going to group the petal layers into an Group Layer. With all the petal layers selected, right-click on them on the Layers Panel and select 'Group'. You can rename the layers to make things more understandable.

Select the 'Petals' Group Layer and jump to the first keyframe. In the Parameters Panel, set the 'Amount' value to '0'. The petals are now invisible on that keyframe.Note that two waypoints were added in front of the 'Amount' parameter, one at 0s and the other at 5s. Drag the 5s waypoint to 4s, so that the opacity of the petals will be 1 at 4s.

There is still one problem left: from 0s to 4s, the opacity of the petals slowly increases, making the petals visible when they shouldn't. To solve this, we will change the Amount interpolation method. Right click on the Amount waypoint at 0f, and select 'Edit'. A new dialog will appear, in which you can choose the In and Out interpolation. Set the Out Interpolation to 'Constant'.

This means that after that waypoint, the Amount value will remain constant, until another waypoint is encountered. So from 0f to 4s the Amount value will be equal to 0, and at 4s it will suddenly changed to 1, and make the petals visible, as expected. Alternatively, we could have achieved the same effect by setting the In Interpolation of the waypoint at 4s to 'Constant'.

Notice how (half of) the waypoint changes from a green circle (meaning smooth animation of the amount parameter) to a red step (meaning that the amount parameter is suddenly stepped).

Now you're done.The stem grows for 4.5 seconds and then stays still the last 1.5 seconds.The petals are hidden until 4 seconds, and then grow quickly between 4 and 5 seconds, and stay still the last 1 second too.

Click on 'File → Render' to render your animation. Select any format you want, and ensure that 'Use current frame' option is unchecked (otherwise, one frame only will be rendered).

What's next

Synfig Studio have a Skeleton animation system, in the next step you will learn how to setup a basic skeleton.

What Is Synfig Studio

Moviestorm is a real-time3D animation app published by Moviestorm Ltd. The software is available to and used by people of all age groups and appeals to those with a diverse range of backgrounds and interests, from amateur and professional film makers, through to businesses and education, as well as people just looking to simply tell stories or create messages to share using video. Moviestorm enables the user to create animated movies, using machinima technology. It takes the user from initial concept to finished, distributed movies. Sets and characters can be created and customised, and scenes can be filmed using multiple cameras.

Moviestorm is being used predominantly in education by students of film and media studies as a means to develop their skills and expand their portfolio, as well as a collaborative cross-curricular creative tool in education sectors from elementary to high school.

The software's website features a Web 2.0 social media service, which includes a video hosting service, and an online community where movie-makers can talk about their movies, find collaborators, and organise online events. Moviestorm also makes use of Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to release the latest news on the software and to interact with both current and potential users.

History[edit]

Founded as a startup in Cambridge by Machinima experts Matt Kelland and Dave Lloyd, Moviestorm got three investment rounds of £400k in 2005, £900k in 2007 and $3M in 2008.Moviestorm has been generally available since August 2008 and over 160,000 people have now registered to use it.

The interface has undergone fairly radical change since its first incarnation. Many User Interface improvements were implemented with the release of version 1.3 in June 2010 and version 1.4, released in August 2010, contained some long-awaited upgrades especially in the Dressing room which allows much more control over facial morphing of avatars. This release also features a completely new lighting system which more closely resembles the 3-light systems used in real live action filming. Version 1.5 was released on 8 December, and featured many upgrades to the program, including an auto save feature, a new video export format, and a 'terrain editor', where users can now edit the default green mountains surrounding the set.

More recently, Moviestorm have released an iPad app that provides users with a simplified video creation solution, an approach to the genre suited to cross-curricular teaching and learning, converting Powerpoints into slideshows that present themselves, and fun video messaging.

Moviestorm Ltd interacts with customers in its active online forums.

Business model[edit]

Users new to the program can try it for 14 days for free by registering at the website. Thereafter users can purchase the application outright with different content bundling options. Moviestorm Points can also be bought to acquire additional content from the online marketplace, or gifted to other users in return for advice or assistance or in payment for a user-created modification. Subscribers have access to the Modders Workshop a tool which allows them to create their own 'props' and a wizard allows the direct import of models from Google SketchUp version 6. As of 2011, users can create their own custom 'gestures' with the release of the Moviestorm skeletons.

Subscribers can also increase their points at any time by buying more points from the online marketplace. A subscription can be discontinued at any time, and resumed later with no penalty.

Examples of use[edit]

Children's animation[edit]

Blockhouse TV, based in Norwich, UK, utilised Moviestorm in their animated series for children, Jack and Holly. The first season, Jack and Holly's Christmas Countdown, was released in 2010.^[1] The second season, Jack and Holly's Cosmic Stories, was released in 2011.

Film and media teaching[edit]

Moviestorm has been used in film schools and media courses in many countries. Wan Smolbag Theatre in Vanuatu was one of the first to adopt it in 2008, under tutor John Herd. Students trained on Moviestorm have gone on to successful careers with the island's TV network.^[2][3] It is in use at many different educational sectors, from elementary schools^[4] to sixth form colleges^[5] and universities.^[6]

Synfig Studio Examples For Beginners

In addition to film teaching, Moviestorm has been used in educational contexts for a variety of other media, including computer games^[7] and music.^[8]

Other education[edit]

Some teachers have found Moviestorm useful as a cross-curricular tool for collaborative creative expression. Paul Carr at Sakuragaoka Junior and Senior High School, Japan uses it to help teach English to Japanese students. One of his techniques is to create silent videos for which the students then have to compose dialog.^[9] Other teachers have found it useful for helping autistic students to make presentations, since they can prepare their presentation as a video instead of having to stand up in front of a class.^[10][11]

Business[edit]

Commercial companies including Oracle Corporation^[12] and Fujitsu^[13] have used Moviestorm to create low-cost training videos.^[14] Other companies have used it to create cheap advertising content that can be produced in-house. Think Industries in Eastern England is an advertising and marketing company that uses Moviestorm to pitch its ideas to prospective clients. 'Pitching is key, and you have to stand out,' said owner Philip Morley in an interview in 2011. 'Video is just so much more powerful than text. People will watch even if they don’t read documents. It’s now cost-effective to create custom videos for every pitch. I can re-use a lot of the material I already have, and just tweak it as I need. I can more or less change things in real time if necessary.'^[15]

Music video[edit]

Moviestorm has been used as a low-cost alternative for bands wanting to create animated videos. The first commercial band to do so was Vice Romania in November 2008. Their video to This Is It^[16]was created by Lucinda McNary of Two Moon Graphics in Kansas. Moviestorm footage was combined with a character filmed in DAZ3D and composited using greenscreen.

In 2009, Priscilla Angelique started using Moviestorm to create videos for several tracks on her London-based label A Priscilla Thing. 'Music videos are a very expensive and time consuming process but Moviestorm allows me to achieve shots and effects that even with a modest budget would still be very out of reach,' she said in an interview in late 2010.^[17]

In November 2011, Chicagochiptune band I Fight Dragons ran a contest challenging Moviestorm users to make the official video for their single, Working.^[18] (Moviestorm user and then-film student Kera '162' Hildebrandt would win the contest with her entry.)^[19]

Previsualization and film pitching[edit]

Moviestorm's rapid production has led to it being used by live action filmmakers and scriptwriters for pre-production. Since the footage used in previsualization is not intended to be included in the final product, the quality of the graphics is not a critical consideration. Independent filmmaker D.L. Watson in Oregon used it to create a complete animated storyboard on his short film The Letter (2009).^[20] London-based scriptwriter Dean P. Wells uses it to test out movie ideas and then creates trailers based on his scripts.^[21]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Educational children's DVD created by Norfolk couple'. BBC News. Retrieved 15 November 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
2. ^'Machinima & Education'. Fallopian, Vol 2. Retrieved 15 November 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
3. ^'Launching television careers in surprising places'. Moviestorm News. Retrieved 15 November 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
4. ^'Moviestorm Case Study: Spaldwick Primary School'. Moviestorm News. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
5. ^'Moviestorm Case Study: Long Road Sixth Form College'. Moviestorm News. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
6. ^'Moviestorm Case Study: Ed Lie'. Moviestorm News. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
7. ^'Moviestorm Case Study: University Campus Suffolk, Ipswich, UK - BA (hons) in Computer Games Design'. Moviestorm News. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
8. ^'Moviestorm Case Study: Music Technology and Creative Media teaching, Faringdon Community College, Oxfordshire, UK'. Moviestorm News. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
9. ^'Moviestorm Case Study: language teaching in Japan'. Moviestorm News. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
10. ^'Moviestorm Case Study: Animation for Disadvantaged Students'. Moviestorm News. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
11. ^'Animating the Classroom'(PDF). Sec Ed. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
12. ^'Corporate Communications Solutions'. ORACLE Corp internal training video. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
13. ^'Magical network solution'. Fujitsu internal training video. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
14. ^'More fun than PowerPoint - hell yeah!'. Moviestorm News. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
15. ^'Moviestorm Case Study: Think Industries'. Moviestorm News. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
16. ^'This Is It (music video)'. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
17. ^'Moviestorm Case Study: A Priscilla Thing'. Moviestorm News. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
18. ^'Create the next I Fight Dragons Video!'. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
19. ^'Video: I Fight Dragons – 'Working' (CoS Premiere)'. Retrieved 18 June 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
20. ^'Moviestorm Case Study: D.L. Watson'. Moviestorm News. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
21. ^'Moviestorm Case Study: Dean Wells'. Moviestorm News. Retrieved 5 December 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

External links[edit]