Help us keep the list up to date and submit new video software here.
Complete Version history / Release notes / Changelog / What's New for Synfig Studio
Synfig 1.4.4 Release Notes
Synfig Studio version 1.4.4 delivers some important bugfixes for all platforms. Please read the details below.
Critical fixes
Fixed missing last frame when exporting video (#2912).
Fixed crash when using Draw Tool in Fedora/Flatpak version (#2445).
Fixed issue with opening file via CLI when its path contain non-Latin characters (Windows) (#2819).
Fixed issue when right-clicking a layer shows empty menu on just opened file (#2781).
Fixed loading of palette (#2722).
Fixed application freeze when importing palette (#2730).
Fixed messed up translations for Russian language.
Fixes for build system (Autotools)
Allow to compile release build with debug info (#2838).
Add support for MLT++-7 (#2306).
Synfig 1.4.3 Release Notes
Synfig Studio 1.4.3 introduces major performance optimizations for Windows users and important bugfixes for all platforms. Please read the details below.
Optimizations for Windows version
We have removed many bottlenecks in Synfig’s code, related with redundant calls of “getenv” function. This resulted in great performance improvement of Windows version (#2826). This fix also gives slight speed boost for MacOS, while Linux users will not see any significant difference.
Windows version now shipped with embedded Python version 3.8.10, which results in smaller size of distributive and faster installation (#67).
Critical fixes
Connecting bone parameter to exported value does not results in corrupted file anymore (#2433).
Fixed issue with autosave not working when interval is set to 15 seconds (#2647).
Fixed “Link To Spline” action not shown in menu when trying to connect vertex to spline (#2344).
Fixed Appimage compatibility with recent Linux distributions (#33).
Fixed issue with Text Tool not working on MacOS because of missing “fonts.conf” file (#2380).
Improvements
Ask if user wants to link transformation instead of origin (#2468).
The “Link width and height” option is enabled by default in Render Settings (#2351).
Export
Fixed issue with wrong image aspect when rendering to non-standard dimensions (#2463).
Fixed exporting issue which was resulting in exported video trimmed to audio length (#2477).
Fixed “magick++” render module not available in in Linux AppImage (#2320).
Fixed crash when rendering to gif target (#2389).
Fixed compatibility with FFmpeg 3.x (#2628).
Import
Fixed importing Papagayo (.pgo) file not showing the expected layers (#2495).
Fixed issue with file coruption after importing an SVG file (#2482).
Fixed incorrect framerate when importing image sequence (#2224).
Fixed crash when trying to import a file into yourself (#2239).
Fixed wrong size of image which is imported to canvas with non-standard size (#2252).
Other fixes
Apply action to all selected layers from choosing entry from context menu (#2352).
Fixed Clamp Layer not rendering (#2550).
Fixed crash when deleting last waypoint from exported parameter (#2587).
Don’t allow to connect to exported value node if it has wrong type (#2694).
Fixed crash when using Width Tool on Skeleton Layer (#2500).
Fix Keyframes Panel doesn’t capture space input in entry text field (#1820).
Parameters and Timeline panels show the same row selected (#2422).
Synfig 1.4.2 Release Notes
Synfig Studio 1.4.2 delivers some improvements and critical bugfixes. Please read below for details.
Improved export for Web
The Lottie exporter plugin has gained new capabiilities and includes all improvements made during Google Summer of Code 2020.
image0
Here is what’s new:
The plugin now capable to export Advanced Outline layers (#2199) and Blur layers (#1505).
Added support for converters: “Sine”, “Cos”, “Integer”, “Linear gradient”, “aTan2”, “Vector angle”, “Radial composite”, “Radial gradient”, “Vector X”, “Vector Y”, “Power”, “Dot product”, “Logarithm”, “Reciprocal”, “Range”, “Vector length”, “Not” (#1236 #1254 #1286 #1363 #1409 #1447 #1446 #1516 #1515 #1593 #1586 #1619 #1606 #1650 #1587).
Added support for variable gamma correction, fixed issue with wrong colors when exporting files (#1174).
Fix converter methods not working with radius of simple circle layer (#1101).
Improved support for exported values (#2182).
Use non-minified bodymovin.js script to avoid code obfuscation (#2202).
Better handling of shortcuts
This version got brand new Keyboard Shortcut Editor dialog (#2160 #2173). You can access it through “Edit” -> “Preferences” -> “Shortcuts”.
image1
Also, some default shortcuts/hotkeys were changed for improving usability and compability with other apps like Inkscape (#1769 #1776 #1811 #1823 #1848 #1855 #1953 #2033 #2172).
For example, all tools shortcuts are remapped to single keys, no need to hold Alt key anymore!
image2
Also:
On MacOS “Undo” and “Redo” shortcuts now use ⌘ (Command key) instead of Control.
Added shortcut for toggling Animate mode (Ctrl Spacebar).
UI/UX improvements
Editing parameters does not requires one extra mouse click anymore (#1337 #1351 #1325).
TimeLoop valuenode now editable via workspace (#2066).
LinkableValueNode now provides methods for inverse manipulation (#2057).
Now it is possible to close tabs by clicking with middle mouse button (#2107 #2120 #2210).
Add “Undock panel” context menu item for panel tabs (#1929 #2109).
Bugfixes
Fixed incorrect background restoration on animated GIFs with transparent background (#2134).
Fixed crash when user drags a Group layer to a child group (#2110 #2116).
Fixed crash in Spline Width and return of improper type in Spline converters (#1890).
Exported canvas can be reopened again after closing (#2092).
Fixed action “Duplicate Layer” for Skeleton Layer and their bone links (#2059).
Fixed action “Duplicate Layer” for Skeleton Deformation Layer and their bone links (#2071).
Fixed error that prevented convert to dot-product valuenode (#1260).
Fixed issue with saving loop flag in some dynamic lists (#2165).
Fixed SVG importer ignoring some style properties set as attributes and fixed a lot of memory leaks (#2137).
Fixed crash in rare cases caused by race condition when rebuilding LayerTreeStore (#2209).
Fixed issue when Widget_Vector do not uses locale for decimal separator (#2102 #2157).
Don’t show extra vertical scrollbar for Dock Sound (#1173).
Fix missing is_distance hint for vertex coordinates (#2000).
Fixed problem with missing *.glsl files in distribution (#1982).
Synfig 1.4.1 Release Notes
Synfig Studio 1.4.1 delivers some improvements and critical bugfixes. Please read below for details.
Features
Synfig now can export videos with sound (#1623, #1830). In previous versions Synfig was ignoring all Sound Layers in animation file when doing export to video format. Now all sounds are mixed and added into video file.
image0
Windows-specific fixes
Fixed Synfig window not showing after closing it in minimized state (#1973).
Fixed issue of rendering to file when using non-Latin filenames (#2011, #1940).
Fixed incorrect import of lst files when path contains non-Latin characters (#1924).
Fixed non-working command “Edit image editing in external tool…” (#1912).
Fixed problem with non-working plugins when loading them from path containing non-Latin characters (#1882).
Fixed saving/loading palette to file with non-Latin name (#1889).
MacOS-specific fixes
Fixed issue with Synfig not starting if SynfigStudio.app was renamed (#1834).
Bugfixes
Fix Duplicate Layer ignoring all layers but the first one (#1829).
Fixed crash when frame fails to render (#1861).
Fix loading of Average Converter type (#1955).
Fixed interpolation for parameters of Boolean type (#1826).
Fixed crash when user attempts to drag-and-drop layer while renaming (issue #540).
Do not show “Link to Spline” menu item when a vertex of spline itself is selected (#1988).
Fixed crash when right-clicking on group in the Sets panel (#1920).
Fixed crash in Spline Tangent converter (#1836).
Fixed crash in Spline Vertex converter (#1802).
Fixed crash on unsuccessful action with a clean undo history (#1643).
Fixed issue with duplicating Duplicate Layer (#1971).
Avoid possible random crashes related with non-unique node identifiers (#2029).
UI/UX improvements
Allow to use Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V/Ctrl+A shortcuts in Color and Gradient Dialogs (#1821).
Fix layer duplication action for cases when group selected together with its children items (#2050).
Waypoint Editor dialog now shows TCB options only if current point has TCB type (#1182).
Change order of Waypoint Editor buttons to match other dialogs (#1880).
Waypoint Editor now properly handles parameters of Enumerated type (issue #1965).
Fix issue with closing some configuration dialogs: changes were applied anyway, as if “OK” button was pressed (#1573).
The “View” -> “Toolbar” menu item now active and usable (#1386).
Synfig 1.4.0 Release Notes
Synfig Studio 1.4.0 is a major stable release, which is introducing many new features and improvements. Please read below for details.
Animation Tools
Editable curves in Graphs Panel
Now curves in Graphs Panel have control points, and you can drag to change curve shape. Multiple selection for waypoints is also available. You can also use arrow keys on keyboard to move points. Double-click on a curve creates a new waypoint, Ctrl+A/Ctrl+D shortcuts are selecting/deselecting all points. Much thanks to Rodolfo Ribeiro Gomes for implementing this!
Sound synchronization features
We did a major cleanup of code responsible for sound playback, fixed non-working volume parameter and eliminated synchronization issues.
In addition to that, Rodolfo Ribeiro Gomes implemented a special panel to display waveform. Now it’s so easy to sync your animation with soundtrack!
image0
Control point to change Transformation Origin
Now transformation widget has a special control point to easily change origin of transformation.
image1
Animation Baking
Now you can “bake” animation of any parameter! This operation “burns” any interpolated curve as a sequence of waypoints.
image2
Result:
image3
Improved TimeTrack
TimeTrack Panel got several improvements. Now you can define playback range and make playback looped. Hovering mouse cursor over TimeTrack now shows frame preview.
http://www.synfig.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/screenshot_002.png
Frame thumbnail shown when cursor hovers timeline
Open images in external tool
Ankit Kumar Dwivedi implemented a possibility to open images in external editor. Right now it is possible to configure preferred image editor via relevant option in Preferences. After that you can right-click any Image Layer and choose “Edit image in external tool…”.
image5
image6
Fixes and changes for onion-skin functionality
Onion-skin functionality was mainly broken since version 1.2.0 - it wasn’t able to display more than one onion-skin layer. Now this ability is restored. At the same time, we have changed functionality of onion-skin: in all previous versions it was linked to keyframes only, now it is set relatively to ordinary frames. We plan to continue improving onion-skin features as part of issue #600.
image7
Importing
Simple import of image sequences
Now it is easy to import image sequences - just choose “File” -> “Import sequence…” from menu.
image8
Vectorization of bitmap images
Synfig Studio now allows to convert raster (bitmap) image into vector image constructed from outlines. The vectorization algorithm is ported from OpenToonz animation software by Ankit Kumar Dwivedi, as part of Google Summer of Code 2019 program.
Read more about this feature…
Basic video import functionality
This version introduces basic functionality for importing video files. At the current state the system is still too slow to work with large AVI and MP4 videos, but it is already possible to play with small animated GIFs (yes, it can import GIF as well).
Rendering and Export
Export animation for web (Lottie)
Synfig Studio can export animations to Lottie JSON format, which allows to embed them into web pages, play them natively in web browser and on mobile platforms. This format is also used for creating Telegram’s animated stickers! This feature is implemented by Anish Gulati as part of Google Summer of Code 2019 program.
Read more about this feature…
Default render settings
Default rendering settings now configured to use AVI format with popular mpeg4 codec by default, which resolves issues with playback on most systems (issue #464).
image9
Still, if you wish to achieve best quality, consider to choose “H.264 (Lossless)” codec option.
image10
Other notable changes regarding rendering process:
Changing rendering target now automatically changes extension of output file.
Rendering status is now indicated with a progress bar at Info Panel (issues #383, #626).
A sound notification is played when rendering is done (issue #648).
Render engine improvements
Render engine got some major optimizations, which greatly reduces time of handling scenes with many layers, comparing to version 1.2.2 (see issue #314).
In this version following layers got special optimizations: Outline Layer (completely rewritten), Region Layer, Checkerboard Layer, SuperSample Layer.
Also, render engine now has downsampling algorithm for bitmaps, which greatly improves quality resulting image.
http://www.synfig.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/morevna-shot003-1.2.2.gif
Rendering result in Synfig 1.2.2
http://www.synfig.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/morevna-shot003-1.3.11.gif
Rendering result in Synfig 1.4.0
“Preview” rendering mode for workarea
Downsampling algorithm for images (mentioned above) greatly improves quality if your scene uses big images scaled to smaller size. Unfortunately, this operation demands additional CPU resources and you will notice general application slowdown when working with such scenes.
There is an option to enable Draft rendering mode (it disables downsampling), but this solution doesn’t fits for all cases, as it is hides many layers, which could be important for you.
So, we added one more display mode for workarea - “Preview” - which displays all possible layers, but with some simplifications - i.e. no downsampling, approximations for blur algorithms and some other simplifications. “Preview” mode is giving a fair compromise between speed and display quality and is used by default in GUI. For more details please check this discussion.
image13
Workarea Cache and Background Rendering
Synfig now remembers already rendered frames, which is greatly improves experience of playback and timeline scrubbing.
Also, now it is possible to have background rendering of all frames in current animation. This allows to achieve very smooth playback and timeline scrub. You can enable background rendering using a relevant button on toolbar (see second video below).
Gamma handling
Since the very beginning of its development, Synfig was handling all color calculations with Gamma value set to 2.2. As result, there were a lot of issues with color interpolation and blending, like this one.
We decided, that it is good moment to get rid of this behavior and changed how Gamma handled in Synfig. The tricky part here was to keep compatibility with old files. Here’s what we did:
Gamma is now defined on per-document basis (in previous versions it was an application-wide setting). So, now every document has its own gamma value defined. You can see/change Gamma value by selecting “Canvas” -> “Properties” from menu and switching to “Gamma correction” tab.
For all newly created documents Gamma is set to 1.0.
Old documents (from previous versions) are opened with Gamma set to 2.2, so you won’t notice changes (although you will still notice same artifacts from old version, like the one noted here). You can manually set Gamma to 1.0, to get rid of those issues, but this will change the look colors would look in your animation.
So, with this change users should not notice any change when working with their old documents. Still you can encounter an issue, when copying layers from old files to new (and vice versa) - the colors of copied layers appear different in destination document. This can be easily fixed manually as described here.
image14
Layers
Advanced Outline Layer
Advanced Outline Layer was completely rewritten and optimized in this version. Also, it is now capable to display two new types of tips - “Off-Peak Stop” and “Inner Rounded Stop”, that can be used to define outline start/end for dashes.
image15
With this addition you can easily do effects like shown here (source file):
image16
Switch Layer
Now it is possible to select visible layer by index in Switch Layer. This is done using a new parameter - “Active Layer Depth”. The parameter takes effect when “Active Layer name” parameter is empty.
image17
Rectangle Layer
Rectangle Layer now capable to have two types of rounded corners and horizontal/vertical feather. Users with a deep knowledge of Synfig know, that those features were available in Filled Rectangle Layer (not the same as Rectangle Layer), which was a part of Example layers. Now all those features are merged into standard Rectangle Layer, and the Filled Rectangle Layer is removed. See GitHub’s issue #745 for details.
image18
image19
Settings & Customization
Saving workspace layouts
Now it is possible to save your workspace layout - just choose “Workspace” - “Save workspace” from menu. Also you can edit list of custom workspaces by calling “Workspace” - “Edit workspace list…”.
image20
Default background for new files
Now it is possible to set default background for newly created documents (issue #636). The background can be a solid color or image. You can configure this via “Edit” -> “Preferences” -> “Document”.
image21
Other notable improvements
Improved process of creating Splines and Polygons: now it is possible to finish shape creation with double-click or by hitting Enter. Also you can click first vertex of Spline to loop and finish shape creation.
Now it is possible to remove Layers by hitting Delete key.
Tab placement crosses now hidden by default and revealed only when user starts dragging some panel. See issue #238 for details.
Now it is possible to change animation length directly from workarea (see issue #684).
Double-clicking waypoint in Timetrack panel shows Waypoint Properties dialog.
Now it is possible to configure color of transparent areas in Preview Window (issue #636).
Workarea now has a widget to change length of timeline.
Brush Tool is now disabled by default. User can get it back by enabling “Experimental features” option in Preference.
Home/End keys now set time cursor to start/end of timeline.
Minor improvements
DashItem Offset and Length parameters of Advanced Outline now use consistent units when editing them (issue #1265).
Do not waste space for dropdowns in combo boxes (issue #650).
Show interpolation type directly in waypoint’s context menu (see details).
Disabled scientific notation when displaying numbers (issue #635).
When new Text Layer is created, its name is set the same as text content (issue #407).
Vertex handles now placed above tangent handles (issue #645).
Color dialog now opens with HSV tab active (issue #672).
Portable version of Synfig (zip) now writes settings to its own configuration directory (issue #716).
“Amount” parameter renamed to “Opacity”.
Playback is stopped when user clicks on timeline (issue #415).
Removed unused Change Preview Quality menu item.
Activate widget_filename right after user chooses file via button/file dialog (issue #1425).
Homogenous parameter of Advanced Outline is enabled and static by default.
Set Animation Speed parameter of Noise Distort Layer as static by default.
Bugfixes
Fixed issue when copying skeletons from one file to another. Previously this was resulting in corrupted file, but now it isn’t.
Fixed a very old and annoying issue with Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V shortcuts behavior, which was making impossible to use them for text entries in UI (layers were copy-pasted instead).
Fixed behavior “Local Time” parameter of Time Loop layer (issue #479).
Fixed issues opening and exporting of files with multibyte (i.e. Arabic) symbols in filename.
Fixed hang when opening a second .sif file from Explorer on Windows (issue #291).
Fixed “No disc in drive” error (issues #489, #724).
Autosave now enabled by default (issue #657).
Removed “Cancelled by user” dialog that happens when the user tries to move an animated object (issue #693).
Fixed incorrect behavior of Draft rendering mode in some circumstances (issue 582).
Timebar is not hidden anymore for cases when scene is only 1 frame short.
Fixed issue with incorrect GUI font on some Windows systems (issue #667).
Fixed issues with incorrect window placement on Windows (issue #523).
Fixed issue which was preventing to change parameters at some circumstances (issues #659, #526, #520).
Fixed crash when exported value is set from parameters panel in animation mode (issue #588).
Fixed crash when user cancels parameter changing (issue #671).
Fixed wrong behavior of “Lock Ratio” button in Canvas properties and Rendering window (issue #771).
Fixed issues with Canvas not preserving Length and Resolution after exporting (issues #715 and #874).
Fixed issue with Linear interpolation for Integer parameters (issue #828).
Fixed bug with empty floating windows appearing after workspace switching (issue #1143).
Fixed crash when removing a Spline vertex using “Remove item (Smart)” (issue #1102).
Fixed popup menu disappearing right after button release for Widget Gradient/Spline (issue #1274).
Fixed crash when exporting with “pngspritesheet” target (issue #356).
Fixed crash when unexporting value node (issue #231).
Fixed renaming layer set affecting other names (issue #1146).
Synfig 1.3.16 Release Notes
Fixed crash when right-clicking on any Waypoint in TimeTrack Panel.
Fixed incorrect height of Keyframes wdget in Sound Panel (issue #1601).
Fixed incorrect visualisation of dashes on Advanced Outline (issue #1589).
Synfig 1.3.15 Release Notes
Critical fixes
Fixed issue when copying skeletons from one file to another. Previously this was resulting in corrupted file, but now it isn’t.
Advanced Outline fixes
Fixed glitches when moving Widthpoints on unlooped Advanced Outline (issue #1401).
Fix Incorrect position of Widthpoints on Homogenous Advanced Outline (issue #1431).
Fixed Widthpoints that were wrongly computed on non-homogenous Advanced Outline (issue #1523).
Fixed “Link to Spline”: now places vertex into correct position when Spline is looped (issue #1467).
Fixed rendering of Advanced Outline width point tips (issue #1480).
DashItem Offset and Length parameters now use consistent units when editing them (issue #1265).
Windows version fixes
Fixed issues opening and exporting of files with multibyte (i.e. Arabic) symbols in filename.
Fixed random crashes when editing splines (issue #1442).
UI/UX improvements
Removed unused Change Preview Quality menu item.
Activate widget_filename right after user chooses file via button/file dialog (issue #1425).
Homogenous parameter of Advanced Outline is enabled and static by default.
Set Animation Speed parameter of Noise Distort Layer as static by default.
Other bugfixes
Fixed crash when exporting with “pngspritesheet” target (issue #356).
Fixed crash when removing spline vertex too fast.
Fixed crashes related with exceptions thrown in GTK event callback handlers.
Fixed crash when undoing creation of a moved/changed vertex of spline.
Fixed crash when unexporting value node (issue #231).
Fixed time and delta values in tooltip while dragging in Graph panel (issue #1405).
Fixed renaming layer set affecting other names (issue #1146).
Fixed initial value for filename entry in Render Settings dialog.
Synfig 1.3.14 Release Notes
Improvements
Show interpolation type directly in waypoint’s context menu (see details).
Bugfixes
Fixed crash when removing a Spline vertex using “Remove item (Smart)” (fix #1188).
Fixed incorrect placement of width points on outline when loading old files (see details here and here).
Fixed crash when Shade Layer has no sublayers (issue #1272).
Fixed popup menu disappearing right after button release for Widget Gradient/Spline (issue #1277).
Fixed hang when opening a second .sif file from Explorer on Windows (issue #291).
Fixed behavior “Local Time” parameter of Time Loop layer (issue #479).
Fixed wrong percentage displayed when exporting a subset of frames (issue #1304).
Fixed crash when undoing deletion of Group Layer (issue #1070).
Fixed TimeTrack not updating when new waypoints added to bone (issue #1342).
Fixed importing of 16-bit PNG files (issues #1160 and #1371).
Fixed some memory leaks (PR #1292, #1293, #1319).
Synfig Studio 1.3.13 released
Konstantin DmitrievMarch 17, 2020Releases / Releases (development)1 Comment
New development version of Synfig Studio is available for download now! This version includes updated UI translations and last-minute stability fixes for upcoming stable release 1.4.0. Much thanks to everyone who found time to test previous development version and report issues to us! List of changes:
Fixed nasty stability issue which was leading to frequent crashes during switching tools.
Background rendering now turned off by default (see relevant discussion here).
Fixed bug with backup files not discarded properly (issue #1140).
Fixed bug with empty floating windows appearing after workspace switching (issue #1143).
Synfig Studio 1.3.12 released
Konstantin DmitrievFebruary 7, 2020Releases / Releases (development)0 Comments
New development release of Synfig Studio is available for download now! For a list of changes, please see following posts:
What’s coming to Synfig 1.4.0 (part 2)
https://www.synfig.org/2019/12/27/whats-coming-to-synfig-1-4-0-part-2/
What’s coming to Synfig 1.4.0 (part 3)
https://www.synfig.org/2020/02/01/whats-coming-to-synfig-1-4-0-part-3/
This version includes all features, which will be shipped in our next stable release, and you can consider it as “1.4.0 beta”. We also expect to have at least one more development release, which will include only translation updates and critical fixes (if any). So, we encourage you to download this version and give it a good testing before the final stable release is out. Any issues found please report to our bugtracker. Thank you!
Synfig Studio 1.3.11
The new development release of Synfig Studio is here! This build provides a preview of our work towards the next stable version (1.4.0), at its current state. Please consider that many features are still work-in-progress and can behave not as expected. We strongly discourage you from using this version in production. Any bugs found please report to our issue tracker.
List of changes:
Render engine improvements
Implemented downsampling for image layers. This greatly improves quality if your scene uses big images scaled to smaller size. Unfortunately, this operation demands additional CPU resources and you will notice general application slowdown when working with such scenes. We are working on solution to provide mechanism to avoid the slowdown.Below you can see a sample scene with large images rendered in old and new versions of Synfig.
Rendering result in Synfig 1.3.11
Major optimization of parsing scenes with many layers (issue #314).
Optimizations for Outline Layer, Region Layer, Checkerboard Layer, SuperSample Layer.
Improvements for workarea playback
Playback cache. Synfig now remembers already rendered frames, which is greatly improves experience of playback and timeline scrubbing.
Background rendering. Synfig now does background rendering of all frames in current animation and the result of rendering is saved into cache. This allows to achieve very smooth playback and timeline scrub. This feature is enabled by default, but you can disable it with a relevant button on toolbar if you wish to keep your CPU free.
Hovering on timetrack now displays frame preview.
Frame thumbnail displayed when cursor hovers timeline
Custom playback range and looped playback. Now you can select playback range on the timeline and make playback looped.
Workarea handles now hidden during playback.
Playback is stopped when user clicks on timeline (issue #415).
Other features and improvements
Basic functionality for importing video files. At the current state the system is still too slow to work with large AVI and MP4 videos, but it is already possible to play with animated GIFs (yes, it can import GIF as well).
Now it is possible to set default background for newly created documents (issue #636). The background can be a solid color or image. You can configure this via “Edit” -> “Preferences” -> “Document”.
Rendering status is now indicated with a progress bar at Info Panel (issues #383, #626).
A sound notification is played when rendering is done (issue #648).
Fixes and changes for onion-skin functionality. Onion-skin functionality was mainly broken since version 1.2.0 – it wasn’t able to display more than on onion-skin layer. Now this ability is restored. At the same time, we have changed functionality of onion-skin: in all previous versions it was linked to keyframes only, now it is set relatively to ordinary frames. We plan to continue improving onion-skin features as part of issue #600.
Now it is possible to configure color of transparent areas in Preview Window (issue #636).
Default render settings: now we use avi format with popular mpeg4 codec by default (issue #464).
Do not waste space for dropdowns in combo boxes (issue #650).
When new Text Layer is created, its name is set the same as text content (issue #407).
Vertex handles now placed above tangent handles (issue #645).
Color dialog now opens with HSV tab active (issue #672).
Portable version of Synfig (zip) now writes settings to its own configuration directory (issue #716)
Fixes
Fixed “No disc in drive” error (issues #489, #724).
Autosave now enabled by default (issue #657).
Removed “Cancelled by user” dialog that happens when the user tries to move an animated object (issue #693).
Fixed incorrect behavior of Draft rendering mode in some circumstances (issue 582).
Timebar is not hidden anymore for cases when scene is only 1 frame short.
Fixed issue with incorrect GUI font on some Windows systems (issue #667).
Fixed issues with incorrect window placement on Windows (issue #523).
Fixed issue which was preventing to change parameters at some circumstances (issues #659, #526, #520).
Fixed crash when exported value is set from parameters panel in animation mode (issue #588).
Fixed crash when user cancels parameter changing (issue #671).
Disabled scientific notation when displaying numbers (issue #635).
Synfig Studio 1.2.2 released
Konstantin DmitrievSeptember 15, 2018
We are happy to announce the release of new stable version of Synfig Studio! This version summarizes our work for the last 12 months, delivering several new features and many important fixes. Please read detailed notes about the changes below.
This release is made possible thanks to many people who supported Synfig development with contributions through Download page, Patreon and Bountysource platform.
Draft Rendering Mode
Draft rendering mode is intended to improve the usability of application with “heavy” scenes. When Draft mode is enabled Synfig turns off rendering of all time-consuming filters and applies a set of approximations to get faster updates workarea. This is useful if you wish to concentrate on animation process and need fast workarea updates while making changes to your characters and scrubbing your time cursor. To see a full list of filters that get disabled please consult this page.
Original scene – 694 milliseconds
Draft mode – 124 milliseconds
You can toggle Draft rendering mode using a special button on the toolbar, right above the workarea:
Thanks to Ivan Mahonin for implementing this feature.
Filter Groups
Filter Groups act just like ordinary groups, with just one exceptions – they do not limit scope for layers. That means, if you put several filter layers into a Filter Group, then they will be mixed together and apply as a single filter to the layers below.
What is this useful for? First, if you have a combination of filters, you can quickly enable and disable them all together with a single click.
Another advantage is that with Filter Group you can have a better control at which point blending will take place. Also, you can use blending for layers that are not supposed to have it (like Translations, Stretches, etc.). That allows you to easily create effects like mirror reflections and complex shadows.
Please check the video below to see this feature in action.
Our special thanks to the user under Zozorg nickname, who have made an initial request for this feature and sponsored its development.
Live image reloading
When any image you have imported gets changed in external application, then it is automatically reloaded in Synfig. No need to close and re-open file to see the changes! See video demonstration:
Thanks to Artem Konoplin for implementing this feature.
Keyframe widget in Curves Panel
In previous versions it was not possible to edit keyframes directly from Curves Panel. Now you can! Also, keyframe marks now displayed with curves. Thanks to Artem Konoplin for implementing this feature.
Portable version for Windows users
Together with regular installers, we now providштп a portable build, which allows to run Synfig on Windows without installation – just unpack downloaded zip archive and start the application. This allows users to have several versions of Synfig installed on the same system.
Improved UI layout
Less space for buttons and scrollbars – more for your artwork! In this version we did some tweaks to make UI more compact.
Other GUI improvements
Automatically select new layer when image is imported (issue #368). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Allow to rename layers with F2 key (issue #465). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Allow to delete layers by pressing Del key. Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Allow to zoom canvas by holding Ctrl and middle mouse button. Thanks to Alyssa Rosenzweig.
Fix color wheel being stuck to red on zero saturation (issue #452). Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Implemented correct sorting in Sets Panel (issue #372). Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Automatically choose “ffmpeg” target when rendering to “mp4” files. Thanks to Konstantin Dmitriev.
Remove cairo-rendering from preview dialog (issue #370). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Functionality fixes
Fix Low-Res rendering mode (issue #401). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fixed error preventing user to move keyframe at certain circumstances (issue #503). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Auto-recovery now works again (issue #363). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fix disconnect of Transformation Parameter – it was impossible to disconnect linked (as opposed to converted) nodes of transformation type using “disconnect” action (issue #438). Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Amount set to 0 for missing images (issue #373). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fix for the cases when PNG file imported with incorrect color (issue #366). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fix wrong selection area for Circle Layer (issue #442). Thanks to Olivier Jolly.
Fix compatibility with ImageMagick 7 (issue #478). Thanks to Matthew White.
Fix broken localization (issue #408). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Stability fixes
Fixed crash when user press Esc key during the rotation of the object (issue #470). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Fixed crash with Spline Tool tangent menu (issue #485). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Fix crash on attempt to run plugin (issue #502). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Fixed crash on Windows when closed file is re-loaded (issue #521). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Fixed freeze on SVG import (issue #290). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Synfig Studio 1.3.10 released
Konstantin DmitrievJuly 21, 2018U
We are happy to announce the release of Synfig Studio 1.3.10. This development version introduces just one small, but important enhancement – a button, which allows to quickly enable and disable Draft rendering mode.
Draft rendering mode was introduced in Synfig Studio 1.3.5 by our hired developer Ivan Mahonin and it is intended to improve the usability of application with “heavy” scenes. When Draft mode is enabled Synfig turns off rendering of all time-consuming filters and applies a set of approximations to get faster updates workarea. This is useful if you wish to concentrate on animation process and need fast workarea updates while making changes to your characters and scrubbing your time cursor.
Original scene – 694 milliseconds
Draft mode – 124 milliseconds
In previous versions the only way to enable (or disable) Draft rendering mode was visiting the Preferences dialogue, which was neither fast or convenient. Now you can easily switch Draft mode on and off using a button in workarea window. Thanks to Artem Konoplin for this addition!
Synfig Studio 1.2.1 released
Posted on September 11, 2017 by Konstantin Dmitriev
New stable version of Synfig Studio is available for download! This update delivers important fixes for previous stable version and recommended for all users. Much thanks to everyone who supported our efforts by donating via download page, purchasing training course, and provided continuous support through our Patreon page – this release is here thanks to you!
List of changes
Rendering engine:
Fixed rendering of text with international characters on Windows (issue #379). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fixed algorithm of Fast Gaussian Blur, eliminating the random artifacts. Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fixed incorrect rendering of Twirl Layer and Noise Distortion Layer (issues #305 and #316). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Improved performance for complex scenes with more than 1000 vector elements (issue #314). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fixed Z-Depth issue for ungroupped layers (issue #299). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Initial value of quality of Preview now independent from current zoom level and set to 1.0 by default. Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Other changes:
Fixed support for graphic tablets in Windows version (issue #241). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fixed crash with XP-Pen G540 tablet (issue #351).
Fixed crash of Skeleton plugin (issue #334). Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Filenames with international characters now correctly remembered in “Recent Files” menu. Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fixed size of dock area drop buttons for Gtk >= 3.20 (issue #227). Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Fixed “FFmpeg not found” error in Linux AppImages (issue #332).
JACK support is now available for Linux AppImages (issue #395).
Basic support for CMake build system. Thanks to Caryoscelus.
What’s next?
We will keep working on improvements and optimizations for Synfig’s rendering engine. Actually, there are already some interesting features and fixes landed to the master branch and waiting to be tested. They will be delivered with next development version and you can expect more of them soon.
Also, we plan to address other most critical bugs (such as auto-recovery problem). Bounty-supported issues also will get a special attention. Please visit this page to see our queue list and track our progress.
As usual we appreciate your support and donations via downloads or our Patreon page. Also, you can support the development by placing a bounty for some bug via BountySource service (in the same way as it was done for issue with rendering non-latin text characters). Thank you!
Synfig 1.2.0 released
Posted on January 10, 2017 by Konstantin Dmitriev
New stable version of Synfig Studio is finally here!
This release summarizes the results of our work for last 16 months, since the start of new development cycle in August 2015. Much thanks to everyone who supported our efforts by contributing to crowdfunding campaign, purchasing training course, donating via downloads and providing continuous support through our Patreon page! You really made this release happen.
Completely rewritten render engine
The new rendering engine is build with optimization in mind and have advanced task-based architecture. Current version provides significant speedup for bitmap and vector elements, full multithreading and also reduces memory usage.
View optimization results for vector layers…
Memory usage graph for different versions of Synfig.
Test file: shot 003 of Morevna Episode 3.
Lipsync features
Green light for talking characters in your animation! As result of our work on Morevna Episode 3, this version of Synfig got an integration with Papagayo lipsync software.
Other changes
New look of Preferences dialogue
New layer: Free Time – allows to animate time value (useful for making re-timing, slow-mo effect, etc). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
New converter: Animated File – allows to read waypoints from external files (only PGO files supported right now). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Completely reworked preferences dialogue. Thanks to Yu Chen (concept), Jerome Blanchi (implementation) and Caryoscelus (fixes).
Utilize multiple threads when rendering via CLI. Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Time Loop Layer, Free Time Layer and Stroboscope Layer placed into separate “Time” category. Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Switch Group now displays “ghost” elements for missing switch elements. Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Split and merged tangents now displayed in different way. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Selecting handle on the workarea now highlights the corresponding parameter in the Parameters Panel. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Alt+0 used to show/hide all handles. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Synfig code now compatible with C++11 (see issue #904). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Tooltips for group transformation widget. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Tooltips for group transformation widget (can be configured via preferences).
Fixed behavior of “Insert Item” action for Splines (it should be different from “Insert item & Keep shape” action). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fix crash when manipulating with guides. Alow to remove guides by dragging them back to onto rulers. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Zoom level now can be edited via dedicated widget in the bottom-left corner of Canvas Window. Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Now it is possible to hide File buttons on the toolbar to save horizontal space. Available via “Edit” -> “Preferences” -> “Preferences”. Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Fixed readability of “Current Time” text widget when using dark theme. Thanks to Chris London.
Fix HSV color panel not updated when opened. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Fix issue #234: Objects created with opacity less than 1.0. Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Fixed crash on attempt to edit “spline point”, “width point” or “dash item” in Parameters Panel. Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Fixed issues with loading sif files generated by Inkscape (bug #883).
“Add” converter now supports reverse manipulations for Vector value types. Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Download S
Synfig Studio 1.0.2 released
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on October 10, 2015
We are happy to announce that the new version of Synfig Studio is available for download! This update includes some results of optimizations fro rendering engine, improvements for group layers and number of fixes related to parameter linking (converts).
List of changes:
Rendering optimizations (every workarea update is faster by 50ms now).
Group Layer now have "Speed" parameter to adjust the playback of child layers. Thanks to Max May.
Dropdown list for Switch Group to choose active layer. Thanks to Max May.
Native build for OSX (no additional XQuartz package required anymore).
Allow to load Gimp Palette files (.gpl) in Palette Editor Panel (issue #830). Thanks to Tony (aka BobSynfig).
New convert type: Reverse. Allows to reverse lists, strings, spline points, segments, gradients, width points and dash items (read more). Thanks to Max May.
Allow to convert "Time" type to "Real". Thanks to Max May.
The "Add" convert type now supports reverse manipulations for Real and Angle values.
"On" and "Off" parameters of a "Switch" convert now aren't linked by default (issue #766). Thanks to Max May.
Fix crash on linking regular vertex and width point center (issue #889). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Fix crash of "Link to Spline" operation when trying to link vertex to the spline it belongs to (issue #574). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Forbid creating recursive (looped) connections for parameters (issue #48). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Synfig Studio 1.0.1 released
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on July 22, 2015
We are happy to announce that the new version of Synfig Studio is available for download! This update delivers a number of fixes and some minor improvements.
List of changes:
Switching bone parent now works correctly.
Fix reading alpha for images with indexed palette (bug #110).
Handles now highlighted interactively during bouding box selection.
Updated icons for "New", "Open", "Save/As/All" and "Undo/Redo".
Keyframes widget: Double click opens keyframe properties dialog box.
Keyframe properties dialog: Show keyframe description and active status.
Fix crash if no fonts installed in the system.
Some compilation-related issues fixed.
Synfig Studio 1.0
a new frontier for open-source 2D animation software
Completely reworked UI
The user interface was completely reworked for a more intuitive and user-friendly experience.
Enjoy the Single-Window mode, powered by the modern GTK3 libraries!
Bones
Use the full-featured bone system to create cutout animation using bitmap images or control your vector artwork.
Advanced image distortion
Apply complex deformations to your bitmap artwork using the new Skeleton Distortion layer.
Cutout Tool
Cut your bitmap images right in the Synfig! The new Cutout Tool provides the non-destructive editing, so you never have to worry about cutting a wrong part.
Sound support
The new Sound Layer provides basic features for syncing your animation with soundtrack.
Linux users can get all benefits of full-featured audio editors through the JACK integration.
Dynamics animations
Enhance your animation with automatic friction effects using the new Dynamics converter.
More for the future
Check out the experimental features, that lay a foundation for the further growing of Synfig:
New SFG file format with the possibility to embed all linked media.
Image painting engine with MyPaint brushes.
Preliminary support for frame-by-frame animation.
Synfig Studio 1.0 - Release Candidate #5
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on April 24, 2015
We are happy to present the fifth (and, hopefully, the last) release candidate of Synfig Studio 1.0! This update is kindly sponsored by:
Trisha O'Neill, Pitzik4, Kevin Wilcoxon.
This update delivers several fixes and minor usability improvements. Please check the full list of changes below.
List of changes:
Fix loading of brush presets in Windows version.
Allow to remove guide by dragging it outside of canvas (bug #856).
Improve order of Split/Merge Tangents menu items. Add icons.
Fix issue with Waypoint Marked as Off display black line in the Timetrack (bug #852).
Do not create zero-radius circles if user just clicks on the workarea (without holding and dragging the mouse).
Linux packages: Fix segfault happening on layer creation in GNOME on Fedora 21.
Synfig Studio 1.0 - Release Candidate #4
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on April 16, 2015
The fourth release candidate of Synfig Studio 1.0 is available for download and testing! We would like to give a special thanks to the people who supported Synfig Studio development in this period. Much thanks to:
Ksenija Kuzjaeva, Patrick Hlavac-Winsor, Ricardo Tanaka, Michael Thanem, Boudewijn Rempt, Joslyn Greenard.
With this update we deliver a dozen of important fixes and some usability improvements. Please check the full list of changes below.
List of changes:
Show warning when trying to edit animated parameter outside of Animation Mode. Hold Spacebar key while editing parameter to suppress the warning message.
JACK transport in Preview Window not interferes with canvas transport anymore.
Animated paths now parsed when saving animation file in different location (bugs #96, #262).
The usage of "" symbol as directory separator for filepaths in Windows version was resulting in compatibility problems when opening animation file on other platforms. Now the "/" symbol is used everywhere.
Colored handles for Transformation widget and Bones.
Fix issue with moving multiple handles.
Fix onionskin (bug #754). Onionskin values now can be edited through the buttons on the toolbar or through metadata panel. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Automatically attach Composite valuenode when calling Disconnect operation for Transformation parameter.
Tweak UI layout for Preference dialog. Thanks to Yu Chen.
Fix UI language switching (bug #633).
Fix dark theme switch problem happening on some configurations in Linux.
Allow to import *.lst files with CRLF line breaks (bug #568). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Fix file type selection in Sketch Tool open dialog box (bug #848). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Use scrolled window when display warnings on file load.
Windows version: Fix rendering of avi files with spaces in filename (bug #833).
Windows version: Fix crash of 64bit version on Windows 7.
Windows version: Console window is disabled now (bug #2). User can force console window for debug puerposes by passing "--console" or "-c" option to synfigstudio.exe. The separate shortcut for console mode is also provided.
Synfig Studio 1.0 - Release Candidate #3
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on March 28, 2015
The third release candidate of Synfig Studio 1.0 is available for download and testing! We would like to give a special thanks to the people who supported Synfig Studio development in this period. Much thanks to:
Trisha Toews, Kevin Wilcoxon, A J CODY, James Gregory.
With this update we deliver a number of usability and functionality fixes. Please check the full list of changes below.
List of changes:
Checkboxes are now displayed correctly in the Parameters Panel (bug #831).
Fix Z-Depth parameter not working when animated (bug #814).
Fix tangents linking operation (bug #815).
Properly display numbers for locales that use dot as decimal part delimiter.
Fix issue with GtkPaned margin not allowing to drag first keyframe in the Timetrack panel.
Rendering dialog: Fix lock icon not visible in dark interface. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Improve visibility of sliders in the color selection dialog (bug #751). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Windows version: Fix issues with saving and rendering files to a path with non-latin characters.
Linux build: Fix missing icons problem happening for tar package when binary is launched via relative path.
Synfig Studio 1.0 - Release Candidate #2
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on March 18, 2015
The second release candidate of Synfig Studio 1.0 is available for download! It's been more than a month since the last release candidate, but we are slowly moving towards the better release. Thanks to everyone who reporting bugs and leaving feedback!
We would like to give a special thanks to those people who supported development of Synfig Studio in via regular PayPal subscription in this period. Much thanks to:
Boudewijn Rempt, Trisha Toews, Ksenia Kuzyaeva, Kevin Wilcoxon, Walter Michalik.
Download Synfig Studio 1.0-RC2
This update addressing an important crossplatform compatibility issues for Linux and OSX, as well as other general fixes and improvements. Below you can find a full list of changes comparing to the previous release candidate.
List of changes:
New Cutout Tool. Thanks to Evgenij Katunov.
New option to choose light or dark UI theme (see "Edit" -> "Preferences" -> "Misc" -> "Use dark UI theme").
Fix Z-Range feature (#757).
Fix crash when using any tool on Region Layer (#810).
Fix crash when clicking "Open history" button (#788). Thanks to Frijol.
Synfig CLI fixes: Replace ETL functions with Boost, display frames instead of lines, percentage completed and improved remaining time calculation. Thanks to Diego Barrios Romero.
Linux build: Fix missing icons in GNOME, LXDE and some other environments (#786, #806).
Linux build: Fix missing dependency for Ubuntu (#675).
OSX build: Fix insensitive menus (#810).
OSX build: Fix Preferences dialog crash (#789).
NOTE: For OSX build we have hit a serious Gtk3 compatibility issues (see here and here), so we have been forced to migrate from native to X11-based builds. So, in order to run Synfig Studio on OSX, users have to install Apple's XQuartz package.
Synfig Studio 0.64.3 - Release Candidate #2
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on December 17, 2014
The second release candidate of upcoming bugfix release is available for download now. The list of changes has grown a bit since the build of the last week:
Fixed crash when rendering with Magick++, Gif and other targets (bug #702).
Fix UI compatibility issues for the latest Linux distributions - Ubuntu 14.10, Fedora 21 and others (bugs #699, #715).
Fixed issue with incomplete localization in Windows version.
Fix Magick++ target not working on Ubuntu 14.10 (bug #728).
Fix FFmpeg target for Ubuntu 14.10 (bug #729).
Fix Extract Alpha option for CairoPng target (bug #730).
Synfig Studio 0.64.3 - Release Candidate
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on December 13, 2014
In the next few days we are going to release a new update for our stable version, which fixes several critical issues. We would like to make sure that this version will work as expected, so here are the release candidate builds for testing.
List of changes:
Fixed crash when rendering with Magick++, Gif and other targets (bug #702).
Fix compatibility issues for the latest Linux distributions - Ubuntu 14.10, Fedora 21 and others (bugs #699, #715).
Fixed issue with incomplete localization in Windows version.
Synfig Studio 0.64.2
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on October 18, 2014
We are happy to present the new release of Synfig Studio animation software. This is a bugfix release, addressing important compatibility issues and minor enchancements. See the detailed description below.
For the full list of changes please refer to the NEWS file in the source code.
Follow the link below to download the source code or binary installation packages for Linux, Windows and OSX.
Download Synfig Studio
Synfig Studio runs natively on OSX
Synfig Studio runs natively on OSX
Better crossplatfrom compatibility
This version have a special focus on crossplatform compatibility by delivering following fixes and improvements:
Synfig Studio now runs natively on OSX. That means the installation of X11/XQuartz is not required anymore.
Fixed issue, which was preventing file saving for some users of Windows version (bug #572).
Fixed FFMPEG video export for Ubuntu (bug #118).
Demonstration of aligned timeline
Aligned timeline
A fix that deserves a special mention. For a long time the rows in Params Panel and TimeTrack Panel were suffered from misalignment, which result in a lot of distraction for our users. With this version the issue is fixed.
Lossless encoding profile
Lossless encoding profile
Improvements for video encoding
Synfig Studio now have an option for lossless video encoding. The special FFMPEG encoding profile utilizes features of H.264 codec and provides a good compression without quality loss.
This version also introduces a new "Extract Alpha" option, which allows to keep transparency when exporting to video file. This is useful for mixing 2D animation with 3D compositions.
Check out the video below for details on both features.
The "Extract Alpha" rendering mode is also available as CLI option - just supply "--extract-alpha" or "-x" arguments.
Synfig Studio 0.64.2 - Release Candidate
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on October 7, 2014
The release candidate for upcoming Synfig Studio 0.64.2 is available for download now. The upcoming release introduces minor improvements and addressing an important compatibility issues.
List of changes:
Fix video rendering for Ubuntu (bug #118).
"Extract Alpha" rendering mode.
New profile for Lossles H.264 encoding.
Align rows of Params Panel and Timetrack Panel (bug #161).
Fix file saving in Windows (bug #572).
Show rendering time in status bar (benchmark).
Fix compatibility issues for OSX 10.9.
Native build for OSX (no X11 required anymore).
Synfig Studio 0.64.1
Posted by Konstantin on November 4, 2013
We are happy to present the new release of Synfig Studio animation package. This version introduces a series of usability improvements, new features and bug fixes. See the detailed description below.
For the full list of changes please refer to the NEWS file in the source code.
Follow the link below to download the source code or precompiled installation packages for Linux, Windows and OSX.
Download Synfig Studio 0.64.1
Changing the scale value of the group
Changing the scale value of the group
Creating outline for region layer
Creating outline for region layer
Usability improvements
This version brings several additions to improve user experience in daily routine tasks.
First of all, the Group Layer now allows to change the scale value using the control point on the workarea. This feature is hard to pass by unnoticed - just put anything into group and test it out!
Next improvement is about creation of regions and outlines. One of the very frequent tasks during construction of vector artwork is creating a fill inside of existing outline or creating outline for existing region. The correct way to acomplish this with previous versions is explained in the Synfig Studio's documentation and this process is non-trivial and quite routine. In this version it is possible to easily create a outline for existing region just right-clicking on the layer and choosing "Make Outline" or "Make Advanced Outline". Smilarly, the fill region can be created for any outline layer.
Finally, the Linux users now can use drag'n'drop to import images or Synfig files into composition. Dragging multiple elements at once is also supported.
Interpolation menu
Interpolation menu
Parameter-defined interpolation
There are five types of interpolation for waypoints in Synfig Studio. The default type of interpolation for new waypoints is defined by the special dropdown list at the Toolbox.
But sometimes it might be useful to force a specific type of interpolation for some parameter of some layer. So, new waypoints for this parameter would have particular interpolation type, independently of globally defined one. That's where the new feature come.
Now it is possible to right-click any parameter and choose its default interpolation from a submenu. The defined interpolation is indicated with corresponding icon near the parameter value.
Exclude layers from rendering
In this version it is possible to disable rendering for a layer. The disabled layer will remain visible on the workarea during an artwork construction, but will be excluded from the final render.
To exclude layer from rendering just right-click on it and choose "Disable Layer Rendering". The disabled layer have their name displayed with italic font. To revert layer status back to normal choose "Enable Layer Rendering" from the layer's context menu.
This feature allows to add production comments right into the composition or create a custom control widgets for manipulating complex artwork.
Activating Cairo render engine
Activating Cairo render engine
Cairo render engine
In previous version of Synfig Studio we have introduced the new workarea rendering engine implemented with Cairo libraries. This is part of ongoing work targeted at increasing workarea visualization speed and improving the user experience.
In this version the Cairo render engine now capable to visualize all layer types, existing in Synfig Studio. Also, many critical visualisation bugs were fixed in this mode.
Still, the optimization of render engine is a work-in-progress, so at the current state the perfomance gain is delivered for bitmap cutout animation only.
Activating experimental features
Activating experimental features
Bones (experimental)
The bones feature is one of the most demanded for many 2D animation software. It allow to quickly manipulate characters by deforming them using a special high-level structure - the skeleton.
This version includes the first results of an effort to provide a full-featured bones system in Synfig Studio, which allows to construct skeletons of any topology and apply influence-based deformation to vector shapes. The current implementation have most internal (core) functionality done and the very basic user interface is provided. Although the user interface is very limited at the moment, it's already possible to produce results like the one demonstrated below.
Please be warned - this feature is still experimental and is not intended for in-production usage. Some specification elements might be a subject to change, so it is not guaranteed your files will open correctly in the future versions of Synfig Studio. Please use for testing purposes only. For the reasons above this feature is disabled by default. Use "Enable experimental features" option in the Setup dialog to turn it on.
For instructions about the usage please refer to the "Skeleton Layer" page on the wiki. For the deeper explanations with some basic concepts please refer to the pages in developer documentation.
New command line interface
Other changes
Add distinction for disabled keyframes on time track panel and keyframe widget
Magick++ and ffmpeg targets fixed in Windows and OSX versions
64bit Windows builds available
Synfig Studio 0.64.0
Posted by Konstantin on May 11, 2013
After a whole one year of development we are happy to present you a major new release of Synfig Studio. This version includes a new optimized rendering engine - the most significant improvement made for whole history of Synfig (since the time it was released as open-source). There are also some other new features and improvements, as well as many bug fixes. See the detailed descriptions below.
For the full list of changes please refer to the NEWS files in the source code.
Download Synfig Studio 0.64.0
Activating Cairo render engine
Activating Cairo render engine
Chinese text rendering in Cairo (top) and Software (bottom)
Chinese text rendering in Cairo (top) and Software (bottom)
Radial Gradient issues fixed in Cairo engine
Radial Gradient issues fixed in Cairo engine
Comparing Cairo and Software render engines
Comparing Cairo and Software render engines
Cairo-optimized workarea rendering
The major highlight of this version is a new workarea rendering engine optimized with Cairo libraries. This implementation is part of ongoing work targeted at increasing workarea visualization speed and improving the user experience when using Synfig Studio.
Please note, that engine have an experimental status and still a work in progress. Some layers are not implemented yet and it is planned to complete that task for the next 0.64.1 version. Please refer to the 0.64.1 roadmap for the list of unsupported layers.
Also, in current implementation the speed is heavily depend on the set of the layer types used in composition. While giving a high benefit to the vector layers and some types of images, Cairo libraries are not suitable to provide optimization for raster filter layers (like Blur, Sphere Distortion and others). Since the emulation of such operations requires the additional overhead, those layers may render slower than the old software rendering engine. Those gaps are planned to be filled in the future versions by using external libraries, specially adapted for such operations (possibly GEGL).
Despite of the mentioned issues, the new rendering engine is already delivers a good perfomance impact for many usage cases, like cutout animation, for example:
Due to its experimental status, the Cairo rendering engine is not enabled by default. Users can turn it on by selecting "File -> Setup" from the main Synfig menu and enabling "Use Cairo render on Navigator" and "Use Cairo render on WorkArea" checkboxes on the "Render" tab.
There are also some collateral consequences of the Cairo integration to mention:
Cairo render engine development helped to reveal many bugs not noticed before in the software render engine. They are fixed in Cairo implementation.
Text Layer effectively uses styles form the parameters and its render is more robust thanks to the use of Pango within Cairo. UTF-8 characters are also displayed correctly with Cairo renderer now.
Imported png images are rendered faster now.
Library Panel icon
Library Panel icon
Terminology rework
For a long time the Synfig Studio was famous as an application with a weird and exotic terminology. Words like "Duck" or "BLine" are used to distract all the newcoming users, raising the barrier for learning new software.
Finally, after some discussion it was decided to standartize terminology in the following way:
Ducks -> Handle
Curves Panel -> Graphs Panel
Encapsulate -> Group (icon reworked)
Paste Canvas / Inline Canvas layer -> Group Layer (icon reworked)
Group -> Set (icon reworked)
Add/remove from Group -> Add/remove from Set (icon reworked)
BLine -> Spline
BLine Point -> Spline Point
BLine Tool -> Spline Tool
Params Panel -> Parameters Panel
Children Panel -> Library Panel
CPoint -> Color Stop
This is a small change to the code, but with huge influence to documentation. Consequence of this renaming is a total wiki revolution. The English pages are updated, but the translations to other languages are still have to be reviewed. We're asking community members to take a look at the English version of each page and complete the renaming of your favourite language.
Plugins menu
Plugins menu
Simple Skeleton
Simple Skeleton
Simple Plug-Ins engine
Some of our advanced users are used to write scripts to automate some complex or tedious operations on Synfig's (*.sif) files. Those scripts are usually written in python. But execution of such automatiztion tasks requires the use of terminal and for most users this is not comfortable. The new Plug-Ins menu provides a quick way to run external python scripts for currently opened file. Now users can install scripts as easy as they copy files and transparently run them in the same way as they use standard Synfig Studio commands. Runing script from menu is much faster than using the terminal and it greatly improves the workflow for advanced users as well.
Read the details about Plug-Ins feature
With this version of Synfig Studio we deliver two sample plugins and one of them deserves a special mention - it is the skeleton template, which is a bones-like system for animating human-like characters. This script is an evolution of "Stickman Template", developed by Morevna Project. With the current system it is possible to easily add one or many skeletons to any document now.
Our beta-testers already started to play with the Plug-Ins feature weeks ago and requested for a place to share their scripts, so we have opened a new forum section for that. Check it out!
Keyframes panel showing activate / deactivate column
Improvements for keyframes
Keyframes are used to "lock" image composition for specific moment of time and sometimes when editing a complex animation with a lot of keyframes some of them could stand on your way. Although the "Lock keyframes" button allows to deactivate past or further keyframes (relatively to time cursor), in a lot of cases a more flexible approach is desired. Deleting keyframes is not solves the problem, since that implies removing all associated waypoints and thus the image configuration for this point of time is lost.
In this version there is a new option to disable keyframes. Disabled keyframes doesn't have any influence to the composition, acting merely like a time marker. This also provides a way to delete keyframes when it's required to preserve existing waypoints.
New command line interface
Other changes
A full rewrite of the command line interface using Boost libraries.
New convert types: Convert to Real, Convert to Integer.
Enable reverse manipulations for convert types: Angle -> Real; Real -> Scale; Real -> Integer; Angle -> Integer.
Translations updated. New languages: Czech, Hungarian, Japanese.
Synfig Studio 0.63.05
We are proud to announce the new release of Synfig Studio. This version introduces new Outline Grow parameter, some usability improvements and bugfixes.
Synfig Studio 0.63.04
Posted by Konstantin on February 8, 2012
We are proud to announce the new release of Synfig Studio. This version will bring you some new features, usability improvements and bugfixes. Please read the main highlights below. For the detailed list of changes please refer to the NEWS files in the source code.
Overshot effect produced by TCB interpolation
Comparsion of Clamped and TCB interpoltion methods
New interpolation method - Clamped
Many users found themselves uncomfortable when using TCB interpolation method, which used to be set as default in Synfig Studio. The TCB method produces fluid and smooth movement, natural for the "organic" motion, but it have some drawbacks. The main reason of complains are "overshots", produced by this method (see illustration on the left), which are undesirable by the users in most cases.
This version of Synfig Studio introduced new interpolation method called "Clamped", which is acts mostly as TCB, but producing much more accurate curve without "overshot" effect. And yes, it is default now!
Groups Panel
Fixes for Groups Panel
For a long time Groups Panel in Synfig Studio suffer of bugs and incomplete functionality. With this version it got the fixes. Here's the list of changes:
Groups can be renamed now.
Layers can be renamed in the Group Panel like in the Layer's panel.
Deactivating layer in the Group Panel would deactivate the Layer in the Layers Panel and vice versa.
When deactivating/activating a non empty group the child groups and layers are deactivated/activated.
Deleting multiple vertices (notice the tangents selected)
Improvements in BLine editing
This release fixes inconsistent behavior of Synfig Studio for "Split Tangents" and "Merge Tangents" menu items - they used to appear in the tangent menu when BLine is being constructed, but when BLine edited with Transform Tool they are located in the vertex context menu. This usability issue confused many users and now the situation is fixed - both menu items can be called via tangents or vertex context menu, independently whether you create or edit BLine.
Similar modification were made for "Loop", "Unloop" and "Remove Item" commands - they used to be called from vertex context menu, now it is possible to call them by right-clicking the tangents as well.
Deleting multiple vertices (or widthpoints) was also improved - now it is possible to call this action even if secondary elements (such as tangents or width ducks) are selected.
Preview Window redesign
The Preview Window was redesigned and updated with following fixes:
new time slider widget
new play/pause, seek to previous/next frame buttons
new stop, re-preview, erase all icons
hidden time tracker widget
enable close button for Gnome 3 users
preview content always stay in the centre of preview window
Other changes
Fix crash when inserting an item on a generic empty dynamic list.
Fix broken ffmpeg target that doesn't work for some non dot-decimal points numeric locale settings.
Fix several bugs and crashes related to dashed outlines.
Fix loadfile crashes - #23017929, #23342471.
Fix #23212095 - crash if two rotations of 90 and -90 are consecutive.
Fix #3472549 - don't parse keyboard shortcuts when editing the parameter.
Translations updated.
Synfig 0.63.04 RC1
FIXES:
Fix crash when inserting an item on a generic empty dynamic list.
Fix broken ffmpeg target that doesn't work for some non dot decimal points numeric locale settings.
Fix several bugs and crashes related to dashed outlines
Fix bug: http://www.pivotaltracker.com/story/show/23017929
Fix bug http://www.pivotaltracker.com/story/show/23212095. If two rotations of 90 and -90 are consecutive the program crashes.
Fix bug http://www.pivotaltracker.com/story/show/23342471.
Fix several bugs in the Groups Panel
Fix bug 3472549. When editing the parameter don't parse the keyboard shortcuts.
ADDITIONS:
Allow Loop and Unloop actions when value description is a Tangent of a BLine Point.
Allow merge and split tangents when using a tangent as value node.
Allow split/merge tangents loop/unloop bline and delete vertex every where possible in the BLine Tool.
Include any of the sub parameters of the Composite Value Node to the candidates of remove multiple items smart.
Allow remove item smart when a child of a composite value node is selected and the composite is child of a dynamic list.
New interpolation type "Clamped"
Redesign of the preview window updating the slider widget, adding new start/stop button and a new toggle loop button. Close button for Gnome 3 users is also included.
Synfig 0.63.03 Release Notes
============================
Bug Fixes:
* Fix bug: https://pivotaltracker.com/story/show/18136743. BLine linked objects get wrong initial position
* Fix bug #1863133: Metadata doesn't work.
* Fixed script to generate synfig API.
* For Importer layer, even if file is physically impossible to open,
set the parameter with the passed file name. This would allow to load and
save Synfig's documents with paths for imported files badly adjusted but that user
doesn't want to modify.
* Fix for compatibility with libpng 1.5. Patch #3427945 by SpeckFleck.
* Fix bug in Time Loop Layer. Patch ID: #3414729 by Ray Frederikson
* Avoid crash when there is only one blinepoint and the bline is not looped on Advanced Outlines.
* Fix some old render artifacts and new ones due to render optimization on Advanced Outlines.
* Avoid crash when DIList is empty on Advanced Outlines.
* Don't stretch button in file selection widget. Use shorter text. Patch by Konstantin Dmitriev
Features:
* Full support to create Advanced Outlines with the Draw Tool. Stylus pressure used.
* When modify a value that has a waypoint at the current time, don't modify its interpolations, only the value.
* Add feature to delete multiple vertices at the same time on blines and other list types.
* Insert Item smart is allowed now over empty lists.
* Enum Widget allows icons now. Add icons to Default Interpolation widget.
* Added two new parameters to the WidthPoint class. Lower Boundary and Upper Boundary
They define the lower and upper boundaries value of the widhtpoint position
When placed at start and end of the BLine. By default lower = 0.0 and upper = 1.0
Lower boundary must be always smaller than Upper boundary.
As parameters they cannot be exported, converted or animated.
* Render improvements for Advanced Outlines:
With 'Fast' parameter disabled: 55% of reduction render time
With 'Fast' parameter enabled: 10% of reduction render time
Artwork:
* Update on the splash screen. Patch from Yu Chen.
Translation:
* New languages support: Greek
* Updates for rest of languages.
Miscellaneous:
* Use Widget::Distance for feather spin button on Draw Tool options.
* Enable tool tips for Tool Options dialogue buttons.
* Make Draw Tool options greyed when not usable.
* Widthpoint position duck shows a text with its value when mouse hovers.
* Use Gtk::Tooltip instead of deprecated Gtk::Tooltips. This fully fix tooltips for Layer parameter panel.
* Widhtpoint position duck now allows 'Edit Waypoint' contextual menu.
Synfig 0.63.02 Release Notes
============================
Features:
* Add new parameter 'Fast' to Advanced Outline to allow render faster but less
accurate.
Synfig 0.63.01 Release Notes
============================
Bug Fixes:
* Fix bug 3147736: avoid zero or negative value for supersample layer' size parameter.
* Guides are saved now between sessions. Fix bug
* Guides are not dragged if not visible. Fix bug
* Interpolated width is from now on homogeneous. Fixes some render artifacts.
* Fixed some interpolation errors produced by bad WPList loop interpretation.
* When change the Setup Dialog, spread it inmediately to the canvas's rules.
Features:
* Width points can be placed in a curve length basis using Homogeneous parameter.
* Interpolated width is from now on homogeneous.
* Add new Dash Item List and support for dashed outlines in Advanced Outlines.
* Linked to BLine has the option of be curve length based. On by default.
* Add undo capability for guides.
* Circle, Rectangle, Star and Polygon Tools allows create Advanced Outlines Layers.
* Canvas window buttons rearranged.
Artwork:
* New icons for canvas navigation, preview, render and animate mode buttons.
Translation:
* New languages support: Persian, Slovakian, Dutch and Lituanian.
* Updates for rest of languages.
Miscellaneous:
* Allow use the Joined List Convert type to file name parameter of the Import Image layers.
* If tangents are zero and are merged, then consider them as split to make corners.
* Snap to grid is now relative to zoom.
* OptionMenu (deprecatd) has been replaced by ComboBox.
* Imported canvases are now 'Children Locked' by default.
Synfig 0.63.00 Release Notes
============================
Bug Fixes:
* Fix bug #31044763: fps rounding to integer.
* Fix bug: Change default bline width spin button widthout first focus a canvas
produces undesired changes to the width size.
* Fix bug: Avoid Crash when reversed manipulation for certain converted types.
* Fix bug #3000536: Press ALT+5 when using Width Tool causes Studio to hang.
* Fix bug #3000535: ALT+2 when using Draw Tool causes Studio to hang.
* Fix #2175043: Crash when rendering in directory without write permission.
* Various fixes in the windows NSIS installer scripts.
* Fix bug #3111032: Load and save settings must be locale independent.
* Fix bug: Avoid negative precision to produce always good strings from angle.
* Fix bug #2175043: Crash when rendering in directory without write permission
Features:
* Fix tool tips for layer parameters and add tool tip support for linkable
value node parameters.
* Fix Width Tool adding influence radius feedback and duck influence position visibility.
* New cairo renderer for ducks, timecode, preview, navigator, grid and guides.
* New beizer dragging system pulling from the bezier itself.
* Fix workarea guides usage.
* New advanced outline layer. Slidable variable width support and other features.
Artwork:
* New Splashscreen. Thanks to Carl-Christian Gehl (Razputin)
Translation:
* New languages support: Portuguese (Brazilian), Polish (Poland), Romanian, Norwegian and Slovakian
* Updates for Spanish, French and Italian, Chinesse and German.
Miscellaneous:
* Added support for 256x256 icons needed by Gnome 3.
* Set priorities for duck selection with mouse when they are at the same place.
* Use high resolution by default at the work area.
* Enable restrict radius duck to top right quadrant by default.
* Install freedesktop.org mime info.
* Combine Name column with Icon column to clean up layer dock.
* Don't show debug info in about dialog for stable releases.
* Various fixes in the windows NSIS installer scripts.
* Updates and fixes for autobuild script.
* Added missing descriptions for several parameters.
* Added new descriptions for linkable value node parameters.
* Rename Vertices parameter for Polygon layer.
Synfig 0.62.02 Release Notes
============================
Bug Fixes:
* Fix Bug #3029832. Time Offset parameter fails for files imported multiple times.
* Fix bug #2958077. Incorrect fps in ListImporter.
* Fix bug #3060560. When linking two tangents, one of which is animated, the animated one is not used.
* Fix and enable saving and loading of color palettes. Use the file extension "spal".
Features:
* New blend method option in the toolbox: "By Layer Default". This allows Synfig Studio to automatically select the blend method most approperiate for each layer. For example, the default blend method for the Shade layer is "Behind".
* New Stroboscope Layer. Ray Fredesikson.
* Added "Static" option for individual parameters. If "Static" is on, editing the parameter in animation mode does not create any waypoints. The option is only available for layer parameters and constant value nodes.
* Smart linking of bline tangents. Linking tangents that run in opposite directions no longer produces twisted shapes. Now all tangents have yellow ducks.
Artwork:
* Full rework of the Synfig Studio icons. Yu Chen
* Splash Screen for development snapshots. Konstantin Dmitriev
* New Splash Screen. Thanks to David Rylander
Translation:
* Britain English translation. Robert Readman.
* Simplified Chinese translation. Yu Chen
* Spanish translation update. Carlos López
* New translatable strings.
Miscellaneous:
* Synfig Core code review and documentation (partial).
* Synfig Studio code restructuring.
* Reverse manipulation code has been moved into the "Set Value Desc" action. It is now possible to do inverse manipulation on entries in the parameter panel, not just ducks. This also enables recursive inverse manipulation of valuenodes whose subparameters are themselves converted.
* Rename secondary layer's Z column to "Icon" and make it non-reorderable. Make "Name" column resizable.
* Adapt api.sh script to run as a cron job at tuxfamily servers. The API, updated regularly, is available at http://download.tuxfamily.org/synfig/api/index.html
* Don't limit bitrate to 1000 in target parameters.
* It is now possible to select the release splash screen or the development snapshot splash screen by modifying the configure.ac file.
Release for 0.62.01
================================
You need to download and build he following packages:
ETL-0.04.13-RC1.tar.gz
synfig-0.62.00-RC1.tar.gz
synfigstudio-0.62.00-RC1.tar.gz
See the INSTALL and README files.
NEWS for ETL
============
0.04.13 (git tag: "ETL-0.04.13") - October 12, 2009 - Bug fixes.
* No news since that date.
NEWS for synfig
===============
0.62.01 (git tag: "synfig-0.62.01") - May 31, 2010 - Bug fixes, features.
* Enable reverse manipulation to range value nodes. Fix bug in value node range.
* Resolve issues with libtool 1.5.26 and 2.2.4.
* Improve SVG import support. Better support for gradients and some bug fixes.
* Add code to make possible pass parameters to the renderers. Implementation for ffmpeg.
* New Italian and German translations.
* Automatic build script for linux system. Please report success of usage.
* New parameters for Motion Blur layer. Now allows linear and constant interpolation too.
* Updated Russian, French and Spanish translation
NEWS for synfigstudio
=====================
0.62.01 (git tag: "synfigstudio-0.62.01") - May 31, 2010 - Bug fixes, features.
* Enable reverse manipulation to range value nodes. Fix bug in value node range.
* Add new functionalities to the Normal tool. It can rotate (CTRL), scale, (ALT)
as well as translate. Using SHIFT constraints the three operations.
* Update Mirror tool to allow use SHIFT to alternate between horizontal and vertical
mirrors.
* Enable single threaded renderer for windows version. It increases stability.
* Fix file chooser label to fit into button size.
* Stop button now works properly.
* By default disable extended input devices. Fix a previous introduced bug.
* Suit custom mouse cursors for some tools.
* Add code to make possible pass parameters to the renderers. Implementation for ffmpeg.
* Repack rulers and caret menu to get less space.
* New italian and German translations.
* New parameters for Motion Blur layer. Now allows linear and constant interpolation too.
* New icons for actions and layers. Thanks to several authors.
* Fixed feature that reset windows docks to default size and position.
* Separate the reset setup values to original values feature in a new menu entry.
* Updated Russian, French and Spanish translation.
* Automatic build script for linux system. Please report success of usage.
* Update Help menu entries according to new website.
Release Notes for Synfig 0.62.00
================================
You need to download and build he following packages in this order:
ETL-0.04.13-RC1.tar.gz
synfig-0.62.00-RC1.tar.gz
synfigstudio-0.62.00-RC1.tar.gz
See the INSTALL and README files.
Source code: http://synfig.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=synfig/synfig;a=summary
Known Issues with SVG import
============================
* SVG import only works with SVG files Based on SVG XML specification 1.1. See:
http://www.w3.org/TR/xml11/ for deatils. To obtain a SVG XML 1.1 specification
file you can load the SVG into Inkscape and save the sile as "Plain SVG". The saved
file will be imported in Synfig Studio properly.
* The first time you import any SVG file it read the values wrongly. It is a known
issue that we don't know how to solve at the moment. Deleting the imported and reimporting
it again should work. Further imports works fine as well.
* Gradients tends to be misplaced.
* Some times colors are not coded properly.
NEWS for ETL
============
0.04.13 (git tag: "ETL-0.04.13") - October 12, 2009 - Bug fixes.
* Migration to git repository.
* Delete generated ETL/etl_profile_.h.in file.
* Improve the rendering of curve gradient layers near vertices with 0-length tangents.
* Fix a division by zero when calculate the distance to a bezier.
* Fix the pthread and kernel32 library check to not check for main.
* Don't enable the use of mutexes on platforms other than windows unless pthread is available.
* Remove ancient trunk folder from svn repository.
* Several compiler warnings fixed.
NEWS for synfig
===============
0.62.00 (git tag: "synfig-0.62.00") - October 12, 2009 - Bug fixes, features.
* Migration to git repository.
* Bugs fixed: #2195749, #1968248, #2250533, #2116947, launchpad.net/ubuntu/#195447
* Bugs fixed: #1993098, #1730067, #2353248, #2037732, #2412072, #2458112
* Bugs fixed: #2502818.
* Improved messages for failed open filed commands.
* Fix crash when unsetting import layer filename after using PNG or JPEG importers
* Improve the rendering of curve gradient layers near vertices with 0-length tangents.
* Fix previous bug that produced bad render to the star layer.
* Enable use of ffmpeg importer.
* Set four modules as essential: gradient, geometry, particle, freetype.
* Improve message when initialize synfig fails.
* New environment variables for options.
* Add support for alpha in paletted PNG files.
* New option: Scale New imported Images to Fit Canvas.
* Better errros when open a file that doesn't exists.
* Enable Example module: Metaballs, Simple Circle, Filled Rectangle.
* New Value Nodes: Greyed, Power, And, Not, Compare,
* Add 'Loop' parameter to the Random Value Node.
* Reverse manipulation for Scale Value Nodes.
* Remove ancient trunk folder from svn repository.
* New Import SVG files module.
* Disable corp imported images by default.
* Updated translations.
* First time Russian translation.
* Several compiler warnings fixed.
NEWS for synfigstudio
=====================
0.62.00 (git tag: "synfigstudio-0.62.00") - October 12, 2009 - Bug fixes, major features.
* Migration to git repository.
* Bugs fixed: #2205700, #2112320, #2116947, #1814151, launchpad.net/ubuntu/#195447
* Bugs fixed: #2256600, #2119775, #1826376, #1848018, #1901753, #1829182
* Bugs fixed: #2315706, #2321845, #2350636, #1501383, #2378787, #2435346
* Bugs fixed: #2579838, #2652974, #1677510, #2175043.
* Build rectangular blines using the rectangle tool.
* Update time ruller properly when modified the start or end time.
* New layer Curve Warp.
* Updated options for Polygon, Circle and Star Tools.
* New option: Scale New imported Images to Fit Canvas.
* Fix the rendered position of a polygon under a transform layers.
* Fix zoom to fit button result. Now border is visible.
* Better errros when open a file that doesn't exists.
* Paste canvases now update when the canvas parameter changes.
* Paste canvas with unset canvas parameter can be exported now.
* Holding control in the zoom tool when releasing the mouse button to
complete drawing a box will zoom out such that the currently displayed
area is zoomed out to fill the drawn box.
* Enable the Focus Point parameter in the Paste canvas layer.
* Reorder ducks render stack and prefernces form mouse interaction.
* Fix crash with LC_ALL=fr@euro
* Improved Color Dialog.
* Input Device configuration can be saved/load now.
* Fill/Outline instead of Background/Foreground.
* Additions to the Canvas Window: Update Zoom Dial, Frame Dial, Keyframe Dial
Toogle Ducks Dial, Resolution Dial, Quality Butons, Show/Snap to Grid,
Onion Sking buttons.
* Past and future onion skins enabled and selectabled.
* Improve UI on crash recovery dialog.
* Added Preferred and Predefined FPS in the Setup Dialog.
* Keyframes are shown now in the Curves dialog too.
* Keyframe Set Delta enabled and fixed.
* New Keyframe Widget. Allows drag keyframes with mouse.
* Synfigstudio cph-monitor.
* Adapt About Dialog to git repository.
* Remove ancient trunk folder from svn repository.
* New Import SVG files module.
* Some new icons.
* Updated translations.
* First time Russian translation.
* Several compiler warnings fixed.
Synfig Studio version 1.4.4 delivers some important bugfixes for all platforms. Please read the details below.
Critical fixes
Fixed missing last frame when exporting video (#2912).
Fixed crash when using Draw Tool in Fedora/Flatpak version (#2445).
Fixed issue with opening file via CLI when its path contain non-Latin characters (Windows) (#2819).
Fixed issue when right-clicking a layer shows empty menu on just opened file (#2781).
Fixed loading of palette (#2722).
Fixed application freeze when importing palette (#2730).
Fixed messed up translations for Russian language.
Fixes for build system (Autotools)
Allow to compile release build with debug info (#2838).
Add support for MLT++-7 (#2306).
Synfig 1.4.3 Release Notes
Synfig Studio 1.4.3 introduces major performance optimizations for Windows users and important bugfixes for all platforms. Please read the details below.
Optimizations for Windows version
We have removed many bottlenecks in Synfig’s code, related with redundant calls of “getenv” function. This resulted in great performance improvement of Windows version (#2826). This fix also gives slight speed boost for MacOS, while Linux users will not see any significant difference.
Windows version now shipped with embedded Python version 3.8.10, which results in smaller size of distributive and faster installation (#67).
Critical fixes
Connecting bone parameter to exported value does not results in corrupted file anymore (#2433).
Fixed issue with autosave not working when interval is set to 15 seconds (#2647).
Fixed “Link To Spline” action not shown in menu when trying to connect vertex to spline (#2344).
Fixed Appimage compatibility with recent Linux distributions (#33).
Fixed issue with Text Tool not working on MacOS because of missing “fonts.conf” file (#2380).
Improvements
Ask if user wants to link transformation instead of origin (#2468).
The “Link width and height” option is enabled by default in Render Settings (#2351).
Export
Fixed issue with wrong image aspect when rendering to non-standard dimensions (#2463).
Fixed exporting issue which was resulting in exported video trimmed to audio length (#2477).
Fixed “magick++” render module not available in in Linux AppImage (#2320).
Fixed crash when rendering to gif target (#2389).
Fixed compatibility with FFmpeg 3.x (#2628).
Import
Fixed importing Papagayo (.pgo) file not showing the expected layers (#2495).
Fixed issue with file coruption after importing an SVG file (#2482).
Fixed incorrect framerate when importing image sequence (#2224).
Fixed crash when trying to import a file into yourself (#2239).
Fixed wrong size of image which is imported to canvas with non-standard size (#2252).
Other fixes
Apply action to all selected layers from choosing entry from context menu (#2352).
Fixed Clamp Layer not rendering (#2550).
Fixed crash when deleting last waypoint from exported parameter (#2587).
Don’t allow to connect to exported value node if it has wrong type (#2694).
Fixed crash when using Width Tool on Skeleton Layer (#2500).
Fix Keyframes Panel doesn’t capture space input in entry text field (#1820).
Parameters and Timeline panels show the same row selected (#2422).
Synfig 1.4.2 Release Notes
Synfig Studio 1.4.2 delivers some improvements and critical bugfixes. Please read below for details.
Improved export for Web
The Lottie exporter plugin has gained new capabiilities and includes all improvements made during Google Summer of Code 2020.
image0
Here is what’s new:
The plugin now capable to export Advanced Outline layers (#2199) and Blur layers (#1505).
Added support for converters: “Sine”, “Cos”, “Integer”, “Linear gradient”, “aTan2”, “Vector angle”, “Radial composite”, “Radial gradient”, “Vector X”, “Vector Y”, “Power”, “Dot product”, “Logarithm”, “Reciprocal”, “Range”, “Vector length”, “Not” (#1236 #1254 #1286 #1363 #1409 #1447 #1446 #1516 #1515 #1593 #1586 #1619 #1606 #1650 #1587).
Added support for variable gamma correction, fixed issue with wrong colors when exporting files (#1174).
Fix converter methods not working with radius of simple circle layer (#1101).
Improved support for exported values (#2182).
Use non-minified bodymovin.js script to avoid code obfuscation (#2202).
Better handling of shortcuts
This version got brand new Keyboard Shortcut Editor dialog (#2160 #2173). You can access it through “Edit” -> “Preferences” -> “Shortcuts”.
image1
Also, some default shortcuts/hotkeys were changed for improving usability and compability with other apps like Inkscape (#1769 #1776 #1811 #1823 #1848 #1855 #1953 #2033 #2172).
For example, all tools shortcuts are remapped to single keys, no need to hold Alt key anymore!
image2
Also:
On MacOS “Undo” and “Redo” shortcuts now use ⌘ (Command key) instead of Control.
Added shortcut for toggling Animate mode (Ctrl Spacebar).
UI/UX improvements
Editing parameters does not requires one extra mouse click anymore (#1337 #1351 #1325).
TimeLoop valuenode now editable via workspace (#2066).
LinkableValueNode now provides methods for inverse manipulation (#2057).
Now it is possible to close tabs by clicking with middle mouse button (#2107 #2120 #2210).
Add “Undock panel” context menu item for panel tabs (#1929 #2109).
Bugfixes
Fixed incorrect background restoration on animated GIFs with transparent background (#2134).
Fixed crash when user drags a Group layer to a child group (#2110 #2116).
Fixed crash in Spline Width and return of improper type in Spline converters (#1890).
Exported canvas can be reopened again after closing (#2092).
Fixed action “Duplicate Layer” for Skeleton Layer and their bone links (#2059).
Fixed action “Duplicate Layer” for Skeleton Deformation Layer and their bone links (#2071).
Fixed error that prevented convert to dot-product valuenode (#1260).
Fixed issue with saving loop flag in some dynamic lists (#2165).
Fixed SVG importer ignoring some style properties set as attributes and fixed a lot of memory leaks (#2137).
Fixed crash in rare cases caused by race condition when rebuilding LayerTreeStore (#2209).
Fixed issue when Widget_Vector do not uses locale for decimal separator (#2102 #2157).
Don’t show extra vertical scrollbar for Dock Sound (#1173).
Fix missing is_distance hint for vertex coordinates (#2000).
Fixed problem with missing *.glsl files in distribution (#1982).
Synfig 1.4.1 Release Notes
Synfig Studio 1.4.1 delivers some improvements and critical bugfixes. Please read below for details.
Features
Synfig now can export videos with sound (#1623, #1830). In previous versions Synfig was ignoring all Sound Layers in animation file when doing export to video format. Now all sounds are mixed and added into video file.
image0
Windows-specific fixes
Fixed Synfig window not showing after closing it in minimized state (#1973).
Fixed issue of rendering to file when using non-Latin filenames (#2011, #1940).
Fixed incorrect import of lst files when path contains non-Latin characters (#1924).
Fixed non-working command “Edit image editing in external tool…” (#1912).
Fixed problem with non-working plugins when loading them from path containing non-Latin characters (#1882).
Fixed saving/loading palette to file with non-Latin name (#1889).
MacOS-specific fixes
Fixed issue with Synfig not starting if SynfigStudio.app was renamed (#1834).
Bugfixes
Fix Duplicate Layer ignoring all layers but the first one (#1829).
Fixed crash when frame fails to render (#1861).
Fix loading of Average Converter type (#1955).
Fixed interpolation for parameters of Boolean type (#1826).
Fixed crash when user attempts to drag-and-drop layer while renaming (issue #540).
Do not show “Link to Spline” menu item when a vertex of spline itself is selected (#1988).
Fixed crash when right-clicking on group in the Sets panel (#1920).
Fixed crash in Spline Tangent converter (#1836).
Fixed crash in Spline Vertex converter (#1802).
Fixed crash on unsuccessful action with a clean undo history (#1643).
Fixed issue with duplicating Duplicate Layer (#1971).
Avoid possible random crashes related with non-unique node identifiers (#2029).
UI/UX improvements
Allow to use Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V/Ctrl+A shortcuts in Color and Gradient Dialogs (#1821).
Fix layer duplication action for cases when group selected together with its children items (#2050).
Waypoint Editor dialog now shows TCB options only if current point has TCB type (#1182).
Change order of Waypoint Editor buttons to match other dialogs (#1880).
Waypoint Editor now properly handles parameters of Enumerated type (issue #1965).
Fix issue with closing some configuration dialogs: changes were applied anyway, as if “OK” button was pressed (#1573).
The “View” -> “Toolbar” menu item now active and usable (#1386).
Synfig 1.4.0 Release Notes
Synfig Studio 1.4.0 is a major stable release, which is introducing many new features and improvements. Please read below for details.
Animation Tools
Editable curves in Graphs Panel
Now curves in Graphs Panel have control points, and you can drag to change curve shape. Multiple selection for waypoints is also available. You can also use arrow keys on keyboard to move points. Double-click on a curve creates a new waypoint, Ctrl+A/Ctrl+D shortcuts are selecting/deselecting all points. Much thanks to Rodolfo Ribeiro Gomes for implementing this!
Sound synchronization features
We did a major cleanup of code responsible for sound playback, fixed non-working volume parameter and eliminated synchronization issues.
In addition to that, Rodolfo Ribeiro Gomes implemented a special panel to display waveform. Now it’s so easy to sync your animation with soundtrack!
image0
Control point to change Transformation Origin
Now transformation widget has a special control point to easily change origin of transformation.
image1
Animation Baking
Now you can “bake” animation of any parameter! This operation “burns” any interpolated curve as a sequence of waypoints.
image2
Result:
image3
Improved TimeTrack
TimeTrack Panel got several improvements. Now you can define playback range and make playback looped. Hovering mouse cursor over TimeTrack now shows frame preview.
http://www.synfig.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/screenshot_002.png
Frame thumbnail shown when cursor hovers timeline
Open images in external tool
Ankit Kumar Dwivedi implemented a possibility to open images in external editor. Right now it is possible to configure preferred image editor via relevant option in Preferences. After that you can right-click any Image Layer and choose “Edit image in external tool…”.
image5
image6
Fixes and changes for onion-skin functionality
Onion-skin functionality was mainly broken since version 1.2.0 - it wasn’t able to display more than one onion-skin layer. Now this ability is restored. At the same time, we have changed functionality of onion-skin: in all previous versions it was linked to keyframes only, now it is set relatively to ordinary frames. We plan to continue improving onion-skin features as part of issue #600.
image7
Importing
Simple import of image sequences
Now it is easy to import image sequences - just choose “File” -> “Import sequence…” from menu.
image8
Vectorization of bitmap images
Synfig Studio now allows to convert raster (bitmap) image into vector image constructed from outlines. The vectorization algorithm is ported from OpenToonz animation software by Ankit Kumar Dwivedi, as part of Google Summer of Code 2019 program.
Read more about this feature…
Basic video import functionality
This version introduces basic functionality for importing video files. At the current state the system is still too slow to work with large AVI and MP4 videos, but it is already possible to play with small animated GIFs (yes, it can import GIF as well).
Rendering and Export
Export animation for web (Lottie)
Synfig Studio can export animations to Lottie JSON format, which allows to embed them into web pages, play them natively in web browser and on mobile platforms. This format is also used for creating Telegram’s animated stickers! This feature is implemented by Anish Gulati as part of Google Summer of Code 2019 program.
Read more about this feature…
Default render settings
Default rendering settings now configured to use AVI format with popular mpeg4 codec by default, which resolves issues with playback on most systems (issue #464).
image9
Still, if you wish to achieve best quality, consider to choose “H.264 (Lossless)” codec option.
image10
Other notable changes regarding rendering process:
Changing rendering target now automatically changes extension of output file.
Rendering status is now indicated with a progress bar at Info Panel (issues #383, #626).
A sound notification is played when rendering is done (issue #648).
Render engine improvements
Render engine got some major optimizations, which greatly reduces time of handling scenes with many layers, comparing to version 1.2.2 (see issue #314).
In this version following layers got special optimizations: Outline Layer (completely rewritten), Region Layer, Checkerboard Layer, SuperSample Layer.
Also, render engine now has downsampling algorithm for bitmaps, which greatly improves quality resulting image.
http://www.synfig.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/morevna-shot003-1.2.2.gif
Rendering result in Synfig 1.2.2
http://www.synfig.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/morevna-shot003-1.3.11.gif
Rendering result in Synfig 1.4.0
“Preview” rendering mode for workarea
Downsampling algorithm for images (mentioned above) greatly improves quality if your scene uses big images scaled to smaller size. Unfortunately, this operation demands additional CPU resources and you will notice general application slowdown when working with such scenes.
There is an option to enable Draft rendering mode (it disables downsampling), but this solution doesn’t fits for all cases, as it is hides many layers, which could be important for you.
So, we added one more display mode for workarea - “Preview” - which displays all possible layers, but with some simplifications - i.e. no downsampling, approximations for blur algorithms and some other simplifications. “Preview” mode is giving a fair compromise between speed and display quality and is used by default in GUI. For more details please check this discussion.
image13
Workarea Cache and Background Rendering
Synfig now remembers already rendered frames, which is greatly improves experience of playback and timeline scrubbing.
Also, now it is possible to have background rendering of all frames in current animation. This allows to achieve very smooth playback and timeline scrub. You can enable background rendering using a relevant button on toolbar (see second video below).
Gamma handling
Since the very beginning of its development, Synfig was handling all color calculations with Gamma value set to 2.2. As result, there were a lot of issues with color interpolation and blending, like this one.
We decided, that it is good moment to get rid of this behavior and changed how Gamma handled in Synfig. The tricky part here was to keep compatibility with old files. Here’s what we did:
Gamma is now defined on per-document basis (in previous versions it was an application-wide setting). So, now every document has its own gamma value defined. You can see/change Gamma value by selecting “Canvas” -> “Properties” from menu and switching to “Gamma correction” tab.
For all newly created documents Gamma is set to 1.0.
Old documents (from previous versions) are opened with Gamma set to 2.2, so you won’t notice changes (although you will still notice same artifacts from old version, like the one noted here). You can manually set Gamma to 1.0, to get rid of those issues, but this will change the look colors would look in your animation.
So, with this change users should not notice any change when working with their old documents. Still you can encounter an issue, when copying layers from old files to new (and vice versa) - the colors of copied layers appear different in destination document. This can be easily fixed manually as described here.
image14
Layers
Advanced Outline Layer
Advanced Outline Layer was completely rewritten and optimized in this version. Also, it is now capable to display two new types of tips - “Off-Peak Stop” and “Inner Rounded Stop”, that can be used to define outline start/end for dashes.
image15
With this addition you can easily do effects like shown here (source file):
image16
Switch Layer
Now it is possible to select visible layer by index in Switch Layer. This is done using a new parameter - “Active Layer Depth”. The parameter takes effect when “Active Layer name” parameter is empty.
image17
Rectangle Layer
Rectangle Layer now capable to have two types of rounded corners and horizontal/vertical feather. Users with a deep knowledge of Synfig know, that those features were available in Filled Rectangle Layer (not the same as Rectangle Layer), which was a part of Example layers. Now all those features are merged into standard Rectangle Layer, and the Filled Rectangle Layer is removed. See GitHub’s issue #745 for details.
image18
image19
Settings & Customization
Saving workspace layouts
Now it is possible to save your workspace layout - just choose “Workspace” - “Save workspace” from menu. Also you can edit list of custom workspaces by calling “Workspace” - “Edit workspace list…”.
image20
Default background for new files
Now it is possible to set default background for newly created documents (issue #636). The background can be a solid color or image. You can configure this via “Edit” -> “Preferences” -> “Document”.
image21
Other notable improvements
Improved process of creating Splines and Polygons: now it is possible to finish shape creation with double-click or by hitting Enter. Also you can click first vertex of Spline to loop and finish shape creation.
Now it is possible to remove Layers by hitting Delete key.
Tab placement crosses now hidden by default and revealed only when user starts dragging some panel. See issue #238 for details.
Now it is possible to change animation length directly from workarea (see issue #684).
Double-clicking waypoint in Timetrack panel shows Waypoint Properties dialog.
Now it is possible to configure color of transparent areas in Preview Window (issue #636).
Workarea now has a widget to change length of timeline.
Brush Tool is now disabled by default. User can get it back by enabling “Experimental features” option in Preference.
Home/End keys now set time cursor to start/end of timeline.
Minor improvements
DashItem Offset and Length parameters of Advanced Outline now use consistent units when editing them (issue #1265).
Do not waste space for dropdowns in combo boxes (issue #650).
Show interpolation type directly in waypoint’s context menu (see details).
Disabled scientific notation when displaying numbers (issue #635).
When new Text Layer is created, its name is set the same as text content (issue #407).
Vertex handles now placed above tangent handles (issue #645).
Color dialog now opens with HSV tab active (issue #672).
Portable version of Synfig (zip) now writes settings to its own configuration directory (issue #716).
“Amount” parameter renamed to “Opacity”.
Playback is stopped when user clicks on timeline (issue #415).
Removed unused Change Preview Quality menu item.
Activate widget_filename right after user chooses file via button/file dialog (issue #1425).
Homogenous parameter of Advanced Outline is enabled and static by default.
Set Animation Speed parameter of Noise Distort Layer as static by default.
Bugfixes
Fixed issue when copying skeletons from one file to another. Previously this was resulting in corrupted file, but now it isn’t.
Fixed a very old and annoying issue with Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V shortcuts behavior, which was making impossible to use them for text entries in UI (layers were copy-pasted instead).
Fixed behavior “Local Time” parameter of Time Loop layer (issue #479).
Fixed issues opening and exporting of files with multibyte (i.e. Arabic) symbols in filename.
Fixed hang when opening a second .sif file from Explorer on Windows (issue #291).
Fixed “No disc in drive” error (issues #489, #724).
Autosave now enabled by default (issue #657).
Removed “Cancelled by user” dialog that happens when the user tries to move an animated object (issue #693).
Fixed incorrect behavior of Draft rendering mode in some circumstances (issue 582).
Timebar is not hidden anymore for cases when scene is only 1 frame short.
Fixed issue with incorrect GUI font on some Windows systems (issue #667).
Fixed issues with incorrect window placement on Windows (issue #523).
Fixed issue which was preventing to change parameters at some circumstances (issues #659, #526, #520).
Fixed crash when exported value is set from parameters panel in animation mode (issue #588).
Fixed crash when user cancels parameter changing (issue #671).
Fixed wrong behavior of “Lock Ratio” button in Canvas properties and Rendering window (issue #771).
Fixed issues with Canvas not preserving Length and Resolution after exporting (issues #715 and #874).
Fixed issue with Linear interpolation for Integer parameters (issue #828).
Fixed bug with empty floating windows appearing after workspace switching (issue #1143).
Fixed crash when removing a Spline vertex using “Remove item (Smart)” (issue #1102).
Fixed popup menu disappearing right after button release for Widget Gradient/Spline (issue #1274).
Fixed crash when exporting with “pngspritesheet” target (issue #356).
Fixed crash when unexporting value node (issue #231).
Fixed renaming layer set affecting other names (issue #1146).
Synfig 1.3.16 Release Notes
Fixed crash when right-clicking on any Waypoint in TimeTrack Panel.
Fixed incorrect height of Keyframes wdget in Sound Panel (issue #1601).
Fixed incorrect visualisation of dashes on Advanced Outline (issue #1589).
Synfig 1.3.15 Release Notes
Critical fixes
Fixed issue when copying skeletons from one file to another. Previously this was resulting in corrupted file, but now it isn’t.
Advanced Outline fixes
Fixed glitches when moving Widthpoints on unlooped Advanced Outline (issue #1401).
Fix Incorrect position of Widthpoints on Homogenous Advanced Outline (issue #1431).
Fixed Widthpoints that were wrongly computed on non-homogenous Advanced Outline (issue #1523).
Fixed “Link to Spline”: now places vertex into correct position when Spline is looped (issue #1467).
Fixed rendering of Advanced Outline width point tips (issue #1480).
DashItem Offset and Length parameters now use consistent units when editing them (issue #1265).
Windows version fixes
Fixed issues opening and exporting of files with multibyte (i.e. Arabic) symbols in filename.
Fixed random crashes when editing splines (issue #1442).
UI/UX improvements
Removed unused Change Preview Quality menu item.
Activate widget_filename right after user chooses file via button/file dialog (issue #1425).
Homogenous parameter of Advanced Outline is enabled and static by default.
Set Animation Speed parameter of Noise Distort Layer as static by default.
Other bugfixes
Fixed crash when exporting with “pngspritesheet” target (issue #356).
Fixed crash when removing spline vertex too fast.
Fixed crashes related with exceptions thrown in GTK event callback handlers.
Fixed crash when undoing creation of a moved/changed vertex of spline.
Fixed crash when unexporting value node (issue #231).
Fixed time and delta values in tooltip while dragging in Graph panel (issue #1405).
Fixed renaming layer set affecting other names (issue #1146).
Fixed initial value for filename entry in Render Settings dialog.
Synfig 1.3.14 Release Notes
Improvements
Show interpolation type directly in waypoint’s context menu (see details).
Bugfixes
Fixed crash when removing a Spline vertex using “Remove item (Smart)” (fix #1188).
Fixed incorrect placement of width points on outline when loading old files (see details here and here).
Fixed crash when Shade Layer has no sublayers (issue #1272).
Fixed popup menu disappearing right after button release for Widget Gradient/Spline (issue #1277).
Fixed hang when opening a second .sif file from Explorer on Windows (issue #291).
Fixed behavior “Local Time” parameter of Time Loop layer (issue #479).
Fixed wrong percentage displayed when exporting a subset of frames (issue #1304).
Fixed crash when undoing deletion of Group Layer (issue #1070).
Fixed TimeTrack not updating when new waypoints added to bone (issue #1342).
Fixed importing of 16-bit PNG files (issues #1160 and #1371).
Fixed some memory leaks (PR #1292, #1293, #1319).
Synfig Studio 1.3.13 released
Konstantin DmitrievMarch 17, 2020Releases / Releases (development)1 Comment
New development version of Synfig Studio is available for download now! This version includes updated UI translations and last-minute stability fixes for upcoming stable release 1.4.0. Much thanks to everyone who found time to test previous development version and report issues to us! List of changes:
Fixed nasty stability issue which was leading to frequent crashes during switching tools.
Background rendering now turned off by default (see relevant discussion here).
Fixed bug with backup files not discarded properly (issue #1140).
Fixed bug with empty floating windows appearing after workspace switching (issue #1143).
Synfig Studio 1.3.12 released
Konstantin DmitrievFebruary 7, 2020Releases / Releases (development)0 Comments
New development release of Synfig Studio is available for download now! For a list of changes, please see following posts:
What’s coming to Synfig 1.4.0 (part 2)
https://www.synfig.org/2019/12/27/whats-coming-to-synfig-1-4-0-part-2/
What’s coming to Synfig 1.4.0 (part 3)
https://www.synfig.org/2020/02/01/whats-coming-to-synfig-1-4-0-part-3/
This version includes all features, which will be shipped in our next stable release, and you can consider it as “1.4.0 beta”. We also expect to have at least one more development release, which will include only translation updates and critical fixes (if any). So, we encourage you to download this version and give it a good testing before the final stable release is out. Any issues found please report to our bugtracker. Thank you!
Synfig Studio 1.3.11
The new development release of Synfig Studio is here! This build provides a preview of our work towards the next stable version (1.4.0), at its current state. Please consider that many features are still work-in-progress and can behave not as expected. We strongly discourage you from using this version in production. Any bugs found please report to our issue tracker.
List of changes:
Render engine improvements
Implemented downsampling for image layers. This greatly improves quality if your scene uses big images scaled to smaller size. Unfortunately, this operation demands additional CPU resources and you will notice general application slowdown when working with such scenes. We are working on solution to provide mechanism to avoid the slowdown.Below you can see a sample scene with large images rendered in old and new versions of Synfig.
Rendering result in Synfig 1.3.11
Major optimization of parsing scenes with many layers (issue #314).
Optimizations for Outline Layer, Region Layer, Checkerboard Layer, SuperSample Layer.
Improvements for workarea playback
Playback cache. Synfig now remembers already rendered frames, which is greatly improves experience of playback and timeline scrubbing.
Background rendering. Synfig now does background rendering of all frames in current animation and the result of rendering is saved into cache. This allows to achieve very smooth playback and timeline scrub. This feature is enabled by default, but you can disable it with a relevant button on toolbar if you wish to keep your CPU free.
Hovering on timetrack now displays frame preview.
Frame thumbnail displayed when cursor hovers timeline
Custom playback range and looped playback. Now you can select playback range on the timeline and make playback looped.
Workarea handles now hidden during playback.
Playback is stopped when user clicks on timeline (issue #415).
Other features and improvements
Basic functionality for importing video files. At the current state the system is still too slow to work with large AVI and MP4 videos, but it is already possible to play with animated GIFs (yes, it can import GIF as well).
Now it is possible to set default background for newly created documents (issue #636). The background can be a solid color or image. You can configure this via “Edit” -> “Preferences” -> “Document”.
Rendering status is now indicated with a progress bar at Info Panel (issues #383, #626).
A sound notification is played when rendering is done (issue #648).
Fixes and changes for onion-skin functionality. Onion-skin functionality was mainly broken since version 1.2.0 – it wasn’t able to display more than on onion-skin layer. Now this ability is restored. At the same time, we have changed functionality of onion-skin: in all previous versions it was linked to keyframes only, now it is set relatively to ordinary frames. We plan to continue improving onion-skin features as part of issue #600.
Now it is possible to configure color of transparent areas in Preview Window (issue #636).
Default render settings: now we use avi format with popular mpeg4 codec by default (issue #464).
Do not waste space for dropdowns in combo boxes (issue #650).
When new Text Layer is created, its name is set the same as text content (issue #407).
Vertex handles now placed above tangent handles (issue #645).
Color dialog now opens with HSV tab active (issue #672).
Portable version of Synfig (zip) now writes settings to its own configuration directory (issue #716)
Fixes
Fixed “No disc in drive” error (issues #489, #724).
Autosave now enabled by default (issue #657).
Removed “Cancelled by user” dialog that happens when the user tries to move an animated object (issue #693).
Fixed incorrect behavior of Draft rendering mode in some circumstances (issue 582).
Timebar is not hidden anymore for cases when scene is only 1 frame short.
Fixed issue with incorrect GUI font on some Windows systems (issue #667).
Fixed issues with incorrect window placement on Windows (issue #523).
Fixed issue which was preventing to change parameters at some circumstances (issues #659, #526, #520).
Fixed crash when exported value is set from parameters panel in animation mode (issue #588).
Fixed crash when user cancels parameter changing (issue #671).
Disabled scientific notation when displaying numbers (issue #635).
Synfig Studio 1.2.2 released
Konstantin DmitrievSeptember 15, 2018
We are happy to announce the release of new stable version of Synfig Studio! This version summarizes our work for the last 12 months, delivering several new features and many important fixes. Please read detailed notes about the changes below.
This release is made possible thanks to many people who supported Synfig development with contributions through Download page, Patreon and Bountysource platform.
Draft Rendering Mode
Draft rendering mode is intended to improve the usability of application with “heavy” scenes. When Draft mode is enabled Synfig turns off rendering of all time-consuming filters and applies a set of approximations to get faster updates workarea. This is useful if you wish to concentrate on animation process and need fast workarea updates while making changes to your characters and scrubbing your time cursor. To see a full list of filters that get disabled please consult this page.
Original scene – 694 milliseconds
Draft mode – 124 milliseconds
You can toggle Draft rendering mode using a special button on the toolbar, right above the workarea:
Thanks to Ivan Mahonin for implementing this feature.
Filter Groups
Filter Groups act just like ordinary groups, with just one exceptions – they do not limit scope for layers. That means, if you put several filter layers into a Filter Group, then they will be mixed together and apply as a single filter to the layers below.
What is this useful for? First, if you have a combination of filters, you can quickly enable and disable them all together with a single click.
Another advantage is that with Filter Group you can have a better control at which point blending will take place. Also, you can use blending for layers that are not supposed to have it (like Translations, Stretches, etc.). That allows you to easily create effects like mirror reflections and complex shadows.
Please check the video below to see this feature in action.
Our special thanks to the user under Zozorg nickname, who have made an initial request for this feature and sponsored its development.
Live image reloading
When any image you have imported gets changed in external application, then it is automatically reloaded in Synfig. No need to close and re-open file to see the changes! See video demonstration:
Thanks to Artem Konoplin for implementing this feature.
Keyframe widget in Curves Panel
In previous versions it was not possible to edit keyframes directly from Curves Panel. Now you can! Also, keyframe marks now displayed with curves. Thanks to Artem Konoplin for implementing this feature.
Portable version for Windows users
Together with regular installers, we now providштп a portable build, which allows to run Synfig on Windows without installation – just unpack downloaded zip archive and start the application. This allows users to have several versions of Synfig installed on the same system.
Improved UI layout
Less space for buttons and scrollbars – more for your artwork! In this version we did some tweaks to make UI more compact.
Other GUI improvements
Automatically select new layer when image is imported (issue #368). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Allow to rename layers with F2 key (issue #465). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Allow to delete layers by pressing Del key. Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Allow to zoom canvas by holding Ctrl and middle mouse button. Thanks to Alyssa Rosenzweig.
Fix color wheel being stuck to red on zero saturation (issue #452). Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Implemented correct sorting in Sets Panel (issue #372). Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Automatically choose “ffmpeg” target when rendering to “mp4” files. Thanks to Konstantin Dmitriev.
Remove cairo-rendering from preview dialog (issue #370). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Functionality fixes
Fix Low-Res rendering mode (issue #401). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fixed error preventing user to move keyframe at certain circumstances (issue #503). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Auto-recovery now works again (issue #363). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fix disconnect of Transformation Parameter – it was impossible to disconnect linked (as opposed to converted) nodes of transformation type using “disconnect” action (issue #438). Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Amount set to 0 for missing images (issue #373). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fix for the cases when PNG file imported with incorrect color (issue #366). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fix wrong selection area for Circle Layer (issue #442). Thanks to Olivier Jolly.
Fix compatibility with ImageMagick 7 (issue #478). Thanks to Matthew White.
Fix broken localization (issue #408). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Stability fixes
Fixed crash when user press Esc key during the rotation of the object (issue #470). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Fixed crash with Spline Tool tangent menu (issue #485). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Fix crash on attempt to run plugin (issue #502). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Fixed crash on Windows when closed file is re-loaded (issue #521). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Fixed freeze on SVG import (issue #290). Thanks to Artem Konoplin.
Synfig Studio 1.3.10 released
Konstantin DmitrievJuly 21, 2018U
We are happy to announce the release of Synfig Studio 1.3.10. This development version introduces just one small, but important enhancement – a button, which allows to quickly enable and disable Draft rendering mode.
Draft rendering mode was introduced in Synfig Studio 1.3.5 by our hired developer Ivan Mahonin and it is intended to improve the usability of application with “heavy” scenes. When Draft mode is enabled Synfig turns off rendering of all time-consuming filters and applies a set of approximations to get faster updates workarea. This is useful if you wish to concentrate on animation process and need fast workarea updates while making changes to your characters and scrubbing your time cursor.
Original scene – 694 milliseconds
Draft mode – 124 milliseconds
In previous versions the only way to enable (or disable) Draft rendering mode was visiting the Preferences dialogue, which was neither fast or convenient. Now you can easily switch Draft mode on and off using a button in workarea window. Thanks to Artem Konoplin for this addition!
Synfig Studio 1.2.1 released
Posted on September 11, 2017 by Konstantin Dmitriev
New stable version of Synfig Studio is available for download! This update delivers important fixes for previous stable version and recommended for all users. Much thanks to everyone who supported our efforts by donating via download page, purchasing training course, and provided continuous support through our Patreon page – this release is here thanks to you!
List of changes
Rendering engine:
Fixed rendering of text with international characters on Windows (issue #379). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fixed algorithm of Fast Gaussian Blur, eliminating the random artifacts. Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fixed incorrect rendering of Twirl Layer and Noise Distortion Layer (issues #305 and #316). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Improved performance for complex scenes with more than 1000 vector elements (issue #314). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fixed Z-Depth issue for ungroupped layers (issue #299). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Initial value of quality of Preview now independent from current zoom level and set to 1.0 by default. Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Other changes:
Fixed support for graphic tablets in Windows version (issue #241). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fixed crash with XP-Pen G540 tablet (issue #351).
Fixed crash of Skeleton plugin (issue #334). Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Filenames with international characters now correctly remembered in “Recent Files” menu. Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fixed size of dock area drop buttons for Gtk >= 3.20 (issue #227). Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Fixed “FFmpeg not found” error in Linux AppImages (issue #332).
JACK support is now available for Linux AppImages (issue #395).
Basic support for CMake build system. Thanks to Caryoscelus.
What’s next?
We will keep working on improvements and optimizations for Synfig’s rendering engine. Actually, there are already some interesting features and fixes landed to the master branch and waiting to be tested. They will be delivered with next development version and you can expect more of them soon.
Also, we plan to address other most critical bugs (such as auto-recovery problem). Bounty-supported issues also will get a special attention. Please visit this page to see our queue list and track our progress.
As usual we appreciate your support and donations via downloads or our Patreon page. Also, you can support the development by placing a bounty for some bug via BountySource service (in the same way as it was done for issue with rendering non-latin text characters). Thank you!
Synfig 1.2.0 released
Posted on January 10, 2017 by Konstantin Dmitriev
New stable version of Synfig Studio is finally here!
This release summarizes the results of our work for last 16 months, since the start of new development cycle in August 2015. Much thanks to everyone who supported our efforts by contributing to crowdfunding campaign, purchasing training course, donating via downloads and providing continuous support through our Patreon page! You really made this release happen.
Completely rewritten render engine
The new rendering engine is build with optimization in mind and have advanced task-based architecture. Current version provides significant speedup for bitmap and vector elements, full multithreading and also reduces memory usage.
View optimization results for vector layers…
Memory usage graph for different versions of Synfig.
Test file: shot 003 of Morevna Episode 3.
Lipsync features
Green light for talking characters in your animation! As result of our work on Morevna Episode 3, this version of Synfig got an integration with Papagayo lipsync software.
Other changes
New look of Preferences dialogue
New layer: Free Time – allows to animate time value (useful for making re-timing, slow-mo effect, etc). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
New converter: Animated File – allows to read waypoints from external files (only PGO files supported right now). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Completely reworked preferences dialogue. Thanks to Yu Chen (concept), Jerome Blanchi (implementation) and Caryoscelus (fixes).
Utilize multiple threads when rendering via CLI. Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Time Loop Layer, Free Time Layer and Stroboscope Layer placed into separate “Time” category. Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Switch Group now displays “ghost” elements for missing switch elements. Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Split and merged tangents now displayed in different way. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Selecting handle on the workarea now highlights the corresponding parameter in the Parameters Panel. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Alt+0 used to show/hide all handles. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Synfig code now compatible with C++11 (see issue #904). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Tooltips for group transformation widget. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Tooltips for group transformation widget (can be configured via preferences).
Fixed behavior of “Insert Item” action for Splines (it should be different from “Insert item & Keep shape” action). Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Fix crash when manipulating with guides. Alow to remove guides by dragging them back to onto rulers. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Zoom level now can be edited via dedicated widget in the bottom-left corner of Canvas Window. Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Now it is possible to hide File buttons on the toolbar to save horizontal space. Available via “Edit” -> “Preferences” -> “Preferences”. Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Fixed readability of “Current Time” text widget when using dark theme. Thanks to Chris London.
Fix HSV color panel not updated when opened. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Fix issue #234: Objects created with opacity less than 1.0. Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Fixed crash on attempt to edit “spline point”, “width point” or “dash item” in Parameters Panel. Thanks to Caryoscelus.
Fixed issues with loading sif files generated by Inkscape (bug #883).
“Add” converter now supports reverse manipulations for Vector value types. Thanks to Ivan Mahonin.
Download S
Synfig Studio 1.0.2 released
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on October 10, 2015
We are happy to announce that the new version of Synfig Studio is available for download! This update includes some results of optimizations fro rendering engine, improvements for group layers and number of fixes related to parameter linking (converts).
List of changes:
Rendering optimizations (every workarea update is faster by 50ms now).
Group Layer now have "Speed" parameter to adjust the playback of child layers. Thanks to Max May.
Dropdown list for Switch Group to choose active layer. Thanks to Max May.
Native build for OSX (no additional XQuartz package required anymore).
Allow to load Gimp Palette files (.gpl) in Palette Editor Panel (issue #830). Thanks to Tony (aka BobSynfig).
New convert type: Reverse. Allows to reverse lists, strings, spline points, segments, gradients, width points and dash items (read more). Thanks to Max May.
Allow to convert "Time" type to "Real". Thanks to Max May.
The "Add" convert type now supports reverse manipulations for Real and Angle values.
"On" and "Off" parameters of a "Switch" convert now aren't linked by default (issue #766). Thanks to Max May.
Fix crash on linking regular vertex and width point center (issue #889). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Fix crash of "Link to Spline" operation when trying to link vertex to the spline it belongs to (issue #574). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Forbid creating recursive (looped) connections for parameters (issue #48). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Synfig Studio 1.0.1 released
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on July 22, 2015
We are happy to announce that the new version of Synfig Studio is available for download! This update delivers a number of fixes and some minor improvements.
List of changes:
Switching bone parent now works correctly.
Fix reading alpha for images with indexed palette (bug #110).
Handles now highlighted interactively during bouding box selection.
Updated icons for "New", "Open", "Save/As/All" and "Undo/Redo".
Keyframes widget: Double click opens keyframe properties dialog box.
Keyframe properties dialog: Show keyframe description and active status.
Fix crash if no fonts installed in the system.
Some compilation-related issues fixed.
Synfig Studio 1.0
a new frontier for open-source 2D animation software
Completely reworked UI
The user interface was completely reworked for a more intuitive and user-friendly experience.
Enjoy the Single-Window mode, powered by the modern GTK3 libraries!
Bones
Use the full-featured bone system to create cutout animation using bitmap images or control your vector artwork.
Advanced image distortion
Apply complex deformations to your bitmap artwork using the new Skeleton Distortion layer.
Cutout Tool
Cut your bitmap images right in the Synfig! The new Cutout Tool provides the non-destructive editing, so you never have to worry about cutting a wrong part.
Sound support
The new Sound Layer provides basic features for syncing your animation with soundtrack.
Linux users can get all benefits of full-featured audio editors through the JACK integration.
Dynamics animations
Enhance your animation with automatic friction effects using the new Dynamics converter.
More for the future
Check out the experimental features, that lay a foundation for the further growing of Synfig:
New SFG file format with the possibility to embed all linked media.
Image painting engine with MyPaint brushes.
Preliminary support for frame-by-frame animation.
Synfig Studio 1.0 - Release Candidate #5
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on April 24, 2015
We are happy to present the fifth (and, hopefully, the last) release candidate of Synfig Studio 1.0! This update is kindly sponsored by:
Trisha O'Neill, Pitzik4, Kevin Wilcoxon.
This update delivers several fixes and minor usability improvements. Please check the full list of changes below.
List of changes:
Fix loading of brush presets in Windows version.
Allow to remove guide by dragging it outside of canvas (bug #856).
Improve order of Split/Merge Tangents menu items. Add icons.
Fix issue with Waypoint Marked as Off display black line in the Timetrack (bug #852).
Do not create zero-radius circles if user just clicks on the workarea (without holding and dragging the mouse).
Linux packages: Fix segfault happening on layer creation in GNOME on Fedora 21.
Synfig Studio 1.0 - Release Candidate #4
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on April 16, 2015
The fourth release candidate of Synfig Studio 1.0 is available for download and testing! We would like to give a special thanks to the people who supported Synfig Studio development in this period. Much thanks to:
Ksenija Kuzjaeva, Patrick Hlavac-Winsor, Ricardo Tanaka, Michael Thanem, Boudewijn Rempt, Joslyn Greenard.
With this update we deliver a dozen of important fixes and some usability improvements. Please check the full list of changes below.
List of changes:
Show warning when trying to edit animated parameter outside of Animation Mode. Hold Spacebar key while editing parameter to suppress the warning message.
JACK transport in Preview Window not interferes with canvas transport anymore.
Animated paths now parsed when saving animation file in different location (bugs #96, #262).
The usage of "" symbol as directory separator for filepaths in Windows version was resulting in compatibility problems when opening animation file on other platforms. Now the "/" symbol is used everywhere.
Colored handles for Transformation widget and Bones.
Fix issue with moving multiple handles.
Fix onionskin (bug #754). Onionskin values now can be edited through the buttons on the toolbar or through metadata panel. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Automatically attach Composite valuenode when calling Disconnect operation for Transformation parameter.
Tweak UI layout for Preference dialog. Thanks to Yu Chen.
Fix UI language switching (bug #633).
Fix dark theme switch problem happening on some configurations in Linux.
Allow to import *.lst files with CRLF line breaks (bug #568). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Fix file type selection in Sketch Tool open dialog box (bug #848). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Use scrolled window when display warnings on file load.
Windows version: Fix rendering of avi files with spaces in filename (bug #833).
Windows version: Fix crash of 64bit version on Windows 7.
Windows version: Console window is disabled now (bug #2). User can force console window for debug puerposes by passing "--console" or "-c" option to synfigstudio.exe. The separate shortcut for console mode is also provided.
Synfig Studio 1.0 - Release Candidate #3
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on March 28, 2015
The third release candidate of Synfig Studio 1.0 is available for download and testing! We would like to give a special thanks to the people who supported Synfig Studio development in this period. Much thanks to:
Trisha Toews, Kevin Wilcoxon, A J CODY, James Gregory.
With this update we deliver a number of usability and functionality fixes. Please check the full list of changes below.
List of changes:
Checkboxes are now displayed correctly in the Parameters Panel (bug #831).
Fix Z-Depth parameter not working when animated (bug #814).
Fix tangents linking operation (bug #815).
Properly display numbers for locales that use dot as decimal part delimiter.
Fix issue with GtkPaned margin not allowing to drag first keyframe in the Timetrack panel.
Rendering dialog: Fix lock icon not visible in dark interface. Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Improve visibility of sliders in the color selection dialog (bug #751). Thanks to Jerome Blanchi.
Windows version: Fix issues with saving and rendering files to a path with non-latin characters.
Linux build: Fix missing icons problem happening for tar package when binary is launched via relative path.
Synfig Studio 1.0 - Release Candidate #2
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on March 18, 2015
The second release candidate of Synfig Studio 1.0 is available for download! It's been more than a month since the last release candidate, but we are slowly moving towards the better release. Thanks to everyone who reporting bugs and leaving feedback!
We would like to give a special thanks to those people who supported development of Synfig Studio in via regular PayPal subscription in this period. Much thanks to:
Boudewijn Rempt, Trisha Toews, Ksenia Kuzyaeva, Kevin Wilcoxon, Walter Michalik.
Download Synfig Studio 1.0-RC2
This update addressing an important crossplatform compatibility issues for Linux and OSX, as well as other general fixes and improvements. Below you can find a full list of changes comparing to the previous release candidate.
List of changes:
New Cutout Tool. Thanks to Evgenij Katunov.
New option to choose light or dark UI theme (see "Edit" -> "Preferences" -> "Misc" -> "Use dark UI theme").
Fix Z-Range feature (#757).
Fix crash when using any tool on Region Layer (#810).
Fix crash when clicking "Open history" button (#788). Thanks to Frijol.
Synfig CLI fixes: Replace ETL functions with Boost, display frames instead of lines, percentage completed and improved remaining time calculation. Thanks to Diego Barrios Romero.
Linux build: Fix missing icons in GNOME, LXDE and some other environments (#786, #806).
Linux build: Fix missing dependency for Ubuntu (#675).
OSX build: Fix insensitive menus (#810).
OSX build: Fix Preferences dialog crash (#789).
NOTE: For OSX build we have hit a serious Gtk3 compatibility issues (see here and here), so we have been forced to migrate from native to X11-based builds. So, in order to run Synfig Studio on OSX, users have to install Apple's XQuartz package.
Synfig Studio 0.64.3 - Release Candidate #2
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on December 17, 2014
The second release candidate of upcoming bugfix release is available for download now. The list of changes has grown a bit since the build of the last week:
Fixed crash when rendering with Magick++, Gif and other targets (bug #702).
Fix UI compatibility issues for the latest Linux distributions - Ubuntu 14.10, Fedora 21 and others (bugs #699, #715).
Fixed issue with incomplete localization in Windows version.
Fix Magick++ target not working on Ubuntu 14.10 (bug #728).
Fix FFmpeg target for Ubuntu 14.10 (bug #729).
Fix Extract Alpha option for CairoPng target (bug #730).
Synfig Studio 0.64.3 - Release Candidate
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on December 13, 2014
In the next few days we are going to release a new update for our stable version, which fixes several critical issues. We would like to make sure that this version will work as expected, so here are the release candidate builds for testing.
List of changes:
Fixed crash when rendering with Magick++, Gif and other targets (bug #702).
Fix compatibility issues for the latest Linux distributions - Ubuntu 14.10, Fedora 21 and others (bugs #699, #715).
Fixed issue with incomplete localization in Windows version.
Synfig Studio 0.64.2
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on October 18, 2014
We are happy to present the new release of Synfig Studio animation software. This is a bugfix release, addressing important compatibility issues and minor enchancements. See the detailed description below.
For the full list of changes please refer to the NEWS file in the source code.
Follow the link below to download the source code or binary installation packages for Linux, Windows and OSX.
Download Synfig Studio
Synfig Studio runs natively on OSX
Synfig Studio runs natively on OSX
Better crossplatfrom compatibility
This version have a special focus on crossplatform compatibility by delivering following fixes and improvements:
Synfig Studio now runs natively on OSX. That means the installation of X11/XQuartz is not required anymore.
Fixed issue, which was preventing file saving for some users of Windows version (bug #572).
Fixed FFMPEG video export for Ubuntu (bug #118).
Demonstration of aligned timeline
Aligned timeline
A fix that deserves a special mention. For a long time the rows in Params Panel and TimeTrack Panel were suffered from misalignment, which result in a lot of distraction for our users. With this version the issue is fixed.
Lossless encoding profile
Lossless encoding profile
Improvements for video encoding
Synfig Studio now have an option for lossless video encoding. The special FFMPEG encoding profile utilizes features of H.264 codec and provides a good compression without quality loss.
This version also introduces a new "Extract Alpha" option, which allows to keep transparency when exporting to video file. This is useful for mixing 2D animation with 3D compositions.
Check out the video below for details on both features.
The "Extract Alpha" rendering mode is also available as CLI option - just supply "--extract-alpha" or "-x" arguments.
Synfig Studio 0.64.2 - Release Candidate
Posted by Konstantin Dmitriev on October 7, 2014
The release candidate for upcoming Synfig Studio 0.64.2 is available for download now. The upcoming release introduces minor improvements and addressing an important compatibility issues.
List of changes:
Fix video rendering for Ubuntu (bug #118).
"Extract Alpha" rendering mode.
New profile for Lossles H.264 encoding.
Align rows of Params Panel and Timetrack Panel (bug #161).
Fix file saving in Windows (bug #572).
Show rendering time in status bar (benchmark).
Fix compatibility issues for OSX 10.9.
Native build for OSX (no X11 required anymore).
Synfig Studio 0.64.1
Posted by Konstantin on November 4, 2013
We are happy to present the new release of Synfig Studio animation package. This version introduces a series of usability improvements, new features and bug fixes. See the detailed description below.
For the full list of changes please refer to the NEWS file in the source code.
Follow the link below to download the source code or precompiled installation packages for Linux, Windows and OSX.
Download Synfig Studio 0.64.1
Changing the scale value of the group
Changing the scale value of the group
Creating outline for region layer
Creating outline for region layer
Usability improvements
This version brings several additions to improve user experience in daily routine tasks.
First of all, the Group Layer now allows to change the scale value using the control point on the workarea. This feature is hard to pass by unnoticed - just put anything into group and test it out!
Next improvement is about creation of regions and outlines. One of the very frequent tasks during construction of vector artwork is creating a fill inside of existing outline or creating outline for existing region. The correct way to acomplish this with previous versions is explained in the Synfig Studio's documentation and this process is non-trivial and quite routine. In this version it is possible to easily create a outline for existing region just right-clicking on the layer and choosing "Make Outline" or "Make Advanced Outline". Smilarly, the fill region can be created for any outline layer.
Finally, the Linux users now can use drag'n'drop to import images or Synfig files into composition. Dragging multiple elements at once is also supported.
Interpolation menu
Interpolation menu
Parameter-defined interpolation
There are five types of interpolation for waypoints in Synfig Studio. The default type of interpolation for new waypoints is defined by the special dropdown list at the Toolbox.
But sometimes it might be useful to force a specific type of interpolation for some parameter of some layer. So, new waypoints for this parameter would have particular interpolation type, independently of globally defined one. That's where the new feature come.
Now it is possible to right-click any parameter and choose its default interpolation from a submenu. The defined interpolation is indicated with corresponding icon near the parameter value.
Exclude layers from rendering
In this version it is possible to disable rendering for a layer. The disabled layer will remain visible on the workarea during an artwork construction, but will be excluded from the final render.
To exclude layer from rendering just right-click on it and choose "Disable Layer Rendering". The disabled layer have their name displayed with italic font. To revert layer status back to normal choose "Enable Layer Rendering" from the layer's context menu.
This feature allows to add production comments right into the composition or create a custom control widgets for manipulating complex artwork.
Activating Cairo render engine
Activating Cairo render engine
Cairo render engine
In previous version of Synfig Studio we have introduced the new workarea rendering engine implemented with Cairo libraries. This is part of ongoing work targeted at increasing workarea visualization speed and improving the user experience.
In this version the Cairo render engine now capable to visualize all layer types, existing in Synfig Studio. Also, many critical visualisation bugs were fixed in this mode.
Still, the optimization of render engine is a work-in-progress, so at the current state the perfomance gain is delivered for bitmap cutout animation only.
Activating experimental features
Activating experimental features
Bones (experimental)
The bones feature is one of the most demanded for many 2D animation software. It allow to quickly manipulate characters by deforming them using a special high-level structure - the skeleton.
This version includes the first results of an effort to provide a full-featured bones system in Synfig Studio, which allows to construct skeletons of any topology and apply influence-based deformation to vector shapes. The current implementation have most internal (core) functionality done and the very basic user interface is provided. Although the user interface is very limited at the moment, it's already possible to produce results like the one demonstrated below.
Please be warned - this feature is still experimental and is not intended for in-production usage. Some specification elements might be a subject to change, so it is not guaranteed your files will open correctly in the future versions of Synfig Studio. Please use for testing purposes only. For the reasons above this feature is disabled by default. Use "Enable experimental features" option in the Setup dialog to turn it on.
For instructions about the usage please refer to the "Skeleton Layer" page on the wiki. For the deeper explanations with some basic concepts please refer to the pages in developer documentation.
New command line interface
Other changes
Add distinction for disabled keyframes on time track panel and keyframe widget
Magick++ and ffmpeg targets fixed in Windows and OSX versions
64bit Windows builds available
Synfig Studio 0.64.0
Posted by Konstantin on May 11, 2013
After a whole one year of development we are happy to present you a major new release of Synfig Studio. This version includes a new optimized rendering engine - the most significant improvement made for whole history of Synfig (since the time it was released as open-source). There are also some other new features and improvements, as well as many bug fixes. See the detailed descriptions below.
For the full list of changes please refer to the NEWS files in the source code.
Download Synfig Studio 0.64.0
Activating Cairo render engine
Activating Cairo render engine
Chinese text rendering in Cairo (top) and Software (bottom)
Chinese text rendering in Cairo (top) and Software (bottom)
Radial Gradient issues fixed in Cairo engine
Radial Gradient issues fixed in Cairo engine
Comparing Cairo and Software render engines
Comparing Cairo and Software render engines
Cairo-optimized workarea rendering
The major highlight of this version is a new workarea rendering engine optimized with Cairo libraries. This implementation is part of ongoing work targeted at increasing workarea visualization speed and improving the user experience when using Synfig Studio.
Please note, that engine have an experimental status and still a work in progress. Some layers are not implemented yet and it is planned to complete that task for the next 0.64.1 version. Please refer to the 0.64.1 roadmap for the list of unsupported layers.
Also, in current implementation the speed is heavily depend on the set of the layer types used in composition. While giving a high benefit to the vector layers and some types of images, Cairo libraries are not suitable to provide optimization for raster filter layers (like Blur, Sphere Distortion and others). Since the emulation of such operations requires the additional overhead, those layers may render slower than the old software rendering engine. Those gaps are planned to be filled in the future versions by using external libraries, specially adapted for such operations (possibly GEGL).
Despite of the mentioned issues, the new rendering engine is already delivers a good perfomance impact for many usage cases, like cutout animation, for example:
Due to its experimental status, the Cairo rendering engine is not enabled by default. Users can turn it on by selecting "File -> Setup" from the main Synfig menu and enabling "Use Cairo render on Navigator" and "Use Cairo render on WorkArea" checkboxes on the "Render" tab.
There are also some collateral consequences of the Cairo integration to mention:
Cairo render engine development helped to reveal many bugs not noticed before in the software render engine. They are fixed in Cairo implementation.
Text Layer effectively uses styles form the parameters and its render is more robust thanks to the use of Pango within Cairo. UTF-8 characters are also displayed correctly with Cairo renderer now.
Imported png images are rendered faster now.
Library Panel icon
Library Panel icon
Terminology rework
For a long time the Synfig Studio was famous as an application with a weird and exotic terminology. Words like "Duck" or "BLine" are used to distract all the newcoming users, raising the barrier for learning new software.
Finally, after some discussion it was decided to standartize terminology in the following way:
Ducks -> Handle
Curves Panel -> Graphs Panel
Encapsulate -> Group (icon reworked)
Paste Canvas / Inline Canvas layer -> Group Layer (icon reworked)
Group -> Set (icon reworked)
Add/remove from Group -> Add/remove from Set (icon reworked)
BLine -> Spline
BLine Point -> Spline Point
BLine Tool -> Spline Tool
Params Panel -> Parameters Panel
Children Panel -> Library Panel
CPoint -> Color Stop
This is a small change to the code, but with huge influence to documentation. Consequence of this renaming is a total wiki revolution. The English pages are updated, but the translations to other languages are still have to be reviewed. We're asking community members to take a look at the English version of each page and complete the renaming of your favourite language.
Plugins menu
Plugins menu
Simple Skeleton
Simple Skeleton
Simple Plug-Ins engine
Some of our advanced users are used to write scripts to automate some complex or tedious operations on Synfig's (*.sif) files. Those scripts are usually written in python. But execution of such automatiztion tasks requires the use of terminal and for most users this is not comfortable. The new Plug-Ins menu provides a quick way to run external python scripts for currently opened file. Now users can install scripts as easy as they copy files and transparently run them in the same way as they use standard Synfig Studio commands. Runing script from menu is much faster than using the terminal and it greatly improves the workflow for advanced users as well.
Read the details about Plug-Ins feature
With this version of Synfig Studio we deliver two sample plugins and one of them deserves a special mention - it is the skeleton template, which is a bones-like system for animating human-like characters. This script is an evolution of "Stickman Template", developed by Morevna Project. With the current system it is possible to easily add one or many skeletons to any document now.
Our beta-testers already started to play with the Plug-Ins feature weeks ago and requested for a place to share their scripts, so we have opened a new forum section for that. Check it out!
Keyframes panel showing activate / deactivate column
Improvements for keyframes
Keyframes are used to "lock" image composition for specific moment of time and sometimes when editing a complex animation with a lot of keyframes some of them could stand on your way. Although the "Lock keyframes" button allows to deactivate past or further keyframes (relatively to time cursor), in a lot of cases a more flexible approach is desired. Deleting keyframes is not solves the problem, since that implies removing all associated waypoints and thus the image configuration for this point of time is lost.
In this version there is a new option to disable keyframes. Disabled keyframes doesn't have any influence to the composition, acting merely like a time marker. This also provides a way to delete keyframes when it's required to preserve existing waypoints.
New command line interface
Other changes
A full rewrite of the command line interface using Boost libraries.
New convert types: Convert to Real, Convert to Integer.
Enable reverse manipulations for convert types: Angle -> Real; Real -> Scale; Real -> Integer; Angle -> Integer.
Translations updated. New languages: Czech, Hungarian, Japanese.
Synfig Studio 0.63.05
We are proud to announce the new release of Synfig Studio. This version introduces new Outline Grow parameter, some usability improvements and bugfixes.
Synfig Studio 0.63.04
Posted by Konstantin on February 8, 2012
We are proud to announce the new release of Synfig Studio. This version will bring you some new features, usability improvements and bugfixes. Please read the main highlights below. For the detailed list of changes please refer to the NEWS files in the source code.
Overshot effect produced by TCB interpolation
Comparsion of Clamped and TCB interpoltion methods
New interpolation method - Clamped
Many users found themselves uncomfortable when using TCB interpolation method, which used to be set as default in Synfig Studio. The TCB method produces fluid and smooth movement, natural for the "organic" motion, but it have some drawbacks. The main reason of complains are "overshots", produced by this method (see illustration on the left), which are undesirable by the users in most cases.
This version of Synfig Studio introduced new interpolation method called "Clamped", which is acts mostly as TCB, but producing much more accurate curve without "overshot" effect. And yes, it is default now!
Groups Panel
Fixes for Groups Panel
For a long time Groups Panel in Synfig Studio suffer of bugs and incomplete functionality. With this version it got the fixes. Here's the list of changes:
Groups can be renamed now.
Layers can be renamed in the Group Panel like in the Layer's panel.
Deactivating layer in the Group Panel would deactivate the Layer in the Layers Panel and vice versa.
When deactivating/activating a non empty group the child groups and layers are deactivated/activated.
Deleting multiple vertices (notice the tangents selected)
Improvements in BLine editing
This release fixes inconsistent behavior of Synfig Studio for "Split Tangents" and "Merge Tangents" menu items - they used to appear in the tangent menu when BLine is being constructed, but when BLine edited with Transform Tool they are located in the vertex context menu. This usability issue confused many users and now the situation is fixed - both menu items can be called via tangents or vertex context menu, independently whether you create or edit BLine.
Similar modification were made for "Loop", "Unloop" and "Remove Item" commands - they used to be called from vertex context menu, now it is possible to call them by right-clicking the tangents as well.
Deleting multiple vertices (or widthpoints) was also improved - now it is possible to call this action even if secondary elements (such as tangents or width ducks) are selected.
Preview Window redesign
The Preview Window was redesigned and updated with following fixes:
new time slider widget
new play/pause, seek to previous/next frame buttons
new stop, re-preview, erase all icons
hidden time tracker widget
enable close button for Gnome 3 users
preview content always stay in the centre of preview window
Other changes
Fix crash when inserting an item on a generic empty dynamic list.
Fix broken ffmpeg target that doesn't work for some non dot-decimal points numeric locale settings.
Fix several bugs and crashes related to dashed outlines.
Fix loadfile crashes - #23017929, #23342471.
Fix #23212095 - crash if two rotations of 90 and -90 are consecutive.
Fix #3472549 - don't parse keyboard shortcuts when editing the parameter.
Translations updated.
Synfig 0.63.04 RC1
FIXES:
Fix crash when inserting an item on a generic empty dynamic list.
Fix broken ffmpeg target that doesn't work for some non dot decimal points numeric locale settings.
Fix several bugs and crashes related to dashed outlines
Fix bug: http://www.pivotaltracker.com/story/show/23017929
Fix bug http://www.pivotaltracker.com/story/show/23212095. If two rotations of 90 and -90 are consecutive the program crashes.
Fix bug http://www.pivotaltracker.com/story/show/23342471.
Fix several bugs in the Groups Panel
Fix bug 3472549. When editing the parameter don't parse the keyboard shortcuts.
ADDITIONS:
Allow Loop and Unloop actions when value description is a Tangent of a BLine Point.
Allow merge and split tangents when using a tangent as value node.
Allow split/merge tangents loop/unloop bline and delete vertex every where possible in the BLine Tool.
Include any of the sub parameters of the Composite Value Node to the candidates of remove multiple items smart.
Allow remove item smart when a child of a composite value node is selected and the composite is child of a dynamic list.
New interpolation type "Clamped"
Redesign of the preview window updating the slider widget, adding new start/stop button and a new toggle loop button. Close button for Gnome 3 users is also included.
Synfig 0.63.03 Release Notes
============================
Bug Fixes:
* Fix bug: https://pivotaltracker.com/story/show/18136743. BLine linked objects get wrong initial position
* Fix bug #1863133: Metadata doesn't work.
* Fixed script to generate synfig API.
* For Importer layer, even if file is physically impossible to open,
set the parameter with the passed file name. This would allow to load and
save Synfig's documents with paths for imported files badly adjusted but that user
doesn't want to modify.
* Fix for compatibility with libpng 1.5. Patch #3427945 by SpeckFleck.
* Fix bug in Time Loop Layer. Patch ID: #3414729 by Ray Frederikson
* Avoid crash when there is only one blinepoint and the bline is not looped on Advanced Outlines.
* Fix some old render artifacts and new ones due to render optimization on Advanced Outlines.
* Avoid crash when DIList is empty on Advanced Outlines.
* Don't stretch button in file selection widget. Use shorter text. Patch by Konstantin Dmitriev
Features:
* Full support to create Advanced Outlines with the Draw Tool. Stylus pressure used.
* When modify a value that has a waypoint at the current time, don't modify its interpolations, only the value.
* Add feature to delete multiple vertices at the same time on blines and other list types.
* Insert Item smart is allowed now over empty lists.
* Enum Widget allows icons now. Add icons to Default Interpolation widget.
* Added two new parameters to the WidthPoint class. Lower Boundary and Upper Boundary
They define the lower and upper boundaries value of the widhtpoint position
When placed at start and end of the BLine. By default lower = 0.0 and upper = 1.0
Lower boundary must be always smaller than Upper boundary.
As parameters they cannot be exported, converted or animated.
* Render improvements for Advanced Outlines:
With 'Fast' parameter disabled: 55% of reduction render time
With 'Fast' parameter enabled: 10% of reduction render time
Artwork:
* Update on the splash screen. Patch from Yu Chen.
Translation:
* New languages support: Greek
* Updates for rest of languages.
Miscellaneous:
* Use Widget::Distance for feather spin button on Draw Tool options.
* Enable tool tips for Tool Options dialogue buttons.
* Make Draw Tool options greyed when not usable.
* Widthpoint position duck shows a text with its value when mouse hovers.
* Use Gtk::Tooltip instead of deprecated Gtk::Tooltips. This fully fix tooltips for Layer parameter panel.
* Widhtpoint position duck now allows 'Edit Waypoint' contextual menu.
Synfig 0.63.02 Release Notes
============================
Features:
* Add new parameter 'Fast' to Advanced Outline to allow render faster but less
accurate.
Synfig 0.63.01 Release Notes
============================
Bug Fixes:
* Fix bug 3147736: avoid zero or negative value for supersample layer' size parameter.
* Guides are saved now between sessions. Fix bug
* Guides are not dragged if not visible. Fix bug
* Interpolated width is from now on homogeneous. Fixes some render artifacts.
* Fixed some interpolation errors produced by bad WPList loop interpretation.
* When change the Setup Dialog, spread it inmediately to the canvas's rules.
Features:
* Width points can be placed in a curve length basis using Homogeneous parameter.
* Interpolated width is from now on homogeneous.
* Add new Dash Item List and support for dashed outlines in Advanced Outlines.
* Linked to BLine has the option of be curve length based. On by default.
* Add undo capability for guides.
* Circle, Rectangle, Star and Polygon Tools allows create Advanced Outlines Layers.
* Canvas window buttons rearranged.
Artwork:
* New icons for canvas navigation, preview, render and animate mode buttons.
Translation:
* New languages support: Persian, Slovakian, Dutch and Lituanian.
* Updates for rest of languages.
Miscellaneous:
* Allow use the Joined List Convert type to file name parameter of the Import Image layers.
* If tangents are zero and are merged, then consider them as split to make corners.
* Snap to grid is now relative to zoom.
* OptionMenu (deprecatd) has been replaced by ComboBox.
* Imported canvases are now 'Children Locked' by default.
Synfig 0.63.00 Release Notes
============================
Bug Fixes:
* Fix bug #31044763: fps rounding to integer.
* Fix bug: Change default bline width spin button widthout first focus a canvas
produces undesired changes to the width size.
* Fix bug: Avoid Crash when reversed manipulation for certain converted types.
* Fix bug #3000536: Press ALT+5 when using Width Tool causes Studio to hang.
* Fix bug #3000535: ALT+2 when using Draw Tool causes Studio to hang.
* Fix #2175043: Crash when rendering in directory without write permission.
* Various fixes in the windows NSIS installer scripts.
* Fix bug #3111032: Load and save settings must be locale independent.
* Fix bug: Avoid negative precision to produce always good strings from angle.
* Fix bug #2175043: Crash when rendering in directory without write permission
Features:
* Fix tool tips for layer parameters and add tool tip support for linkable
value node parameters.
* Fix Width Tool adding influence radius feedback and duck influence position visibility.
* New cairo renderer for ducks, timecode, preview, navigator, grid and guides.
* New beizer dragging system pulling from the bezier itself.
* Fix workarea guides usage.
* New advanced outline layer. Slidable variable width support and other features.
Artwork:
* New Splashscreen. Thanks to Carl-Christian Gehl (Razputin)
Translation:
* New languages support: Portuguese (Brazilian), Polish (Poland), Romanian, Norwegian and Slovakian
* Updates for Spanish, French and Italian, Chinesse and German.
Miscellaneous:
* Added support for 256x256 icons needed by Gnome 3.
* Set priorities for duck selection with mouse when they are at the same place.
* Use high resolution by default at the work area.
* Enable restrict radius duck to top right quadrant by default.
* Install freedesktop.org mime info.
* Combine Name column with Icon column to clean up layer dock.
* Don't show debug info in about dialog for stable releases.
* Various fixes in the windows NSIS installer scripts.
* Updates and fixes for autobuild script.
* Added missing descriptions for several parameters.
* Added new descriptions for linkable value node parameters.
* Rename Vertices parameter for Polygon layer.
Synfig 0.62.02 Release Notes
============================
Bug Fixes:
* Fix Bug #3029832. Time Offset parameter fails for files imported multiple times.
* Fix bug #2958077. Incorrect fps in ListImporter.
* Fix bug #3060560. When linking two tangents, one of which is animated, the animated one is not used.
* Fix and enable saving and loading of color palettes. Use the file extension "spal".
Features:
* New blend method option in the toolbox: "By Layer Default". This allows Synfig Studio to automatically select the blend method most approperiate for each layer. For example, the default blend method for the Shade layer is "Behind".
* New Stroboscope Layer. Ray Fredesikson.
* Added "Static" option for individual parameters. If "Static" is on, editing the parameter in animation mode does not create any waypoints. The option is only available for layer parameters and constant value nodes.
* Smart linking of bline tangents. Linking tangents that run in opposite directions no longer produces twisted shapes. Now all tangents have yellow ducks.
Artwork:
* Full rework of the Synfig Studio icons. Yu Chen
* Splash Screen for development snapshots. Konstantin Dmitriev
* New Splash Screen. Thanks to David Rylander
Translation:
* Britain English translation. Robert Readman.
* Simplified Chinese translation. Yu Chen
* Spanish translation update. Carlos López
* New translatable strings.
Miscellaneous:
* Synfig Core code review and documentation (partial).
* Synfig Studio code restructuring.
* Reverse manipulation code has been moved into the "Set Value Desc" action. It is now possible to do inverse manipulation on entries in the parameter panel, not just ducks. This also enables recursive inverse manipulation of valuenodes whose subparameters are themselves converted.
* Rename secondary layer's Z column to "Icon" and make it non-reorderable. Make "Name" column resizable.
* Adapt api.sh script to run as a cron job at tuxfamily servers. The API, updated regularly, is available at http://download.tuxfamily.org/synfig/api/index.html
* Don't limit bitrate to 1000 in target parameters.
* It is now possible to select the release splash screen or the development snapshot splash screen by modifying the configure.ac file.
Release for 0.62.01
================================
You need to download and build he following packages:
ETL-0.04.13-RC1.tar.gz
synfig-0.62.00-RC1.tar.gz
synfigstudio-0.62.00-RC1.tar.gz
See the INSTALL and README files.
NEWS for ETL
============
0.04.13 (git tag: "ETL-0.04.13") - October 12, 2009 - Bug fixes.
* No news since that date.
NEWS for synfig
===============
0.62.01 (git tag: "synfig-0.62.01") - May 31, 2010 - Bug fixes, features.
* Enable reverse manipulation to range value nodes. Fix bug in value node range.
* Resolve issues with libtool 1.5.26 and 2.2.4.
* Improve SVG import support. Better support for gradients and some bug fixes.
* Add code to make possible pass parameters to the renderers. Implementation for ffmpeg.
* New Italian and German translations.
* Automatic build script for linux system. Please report success of usage.
* New parameters for Motion Blur layer. Now allows linear and constant interpolation too.
* Updated Russian, French and Spanish translation
NEWS for synfigstudio
=====================
0.62.01 (git tag: "synfigstudio-0.62.01") - May 31, 2010 - Bug fixes, features.
* Enable reverse manipulation to range value nodes. Fix bug in value node range.
* Add new functionalities to the Normal tool. It can rotate (CTRL), scale, (ALT)
as well as translate. Using SHIFT constraints the three operations.
* Update Mirror tool to allow use SHIFT to alternate between horizontal and vertical
mirrors.
* Enable single threaded renderer for windows version. It increases stability.
* Fix file chooser label to fit into button size.
* Stop button now works properly.
* By default disable extended input devices. Fix a previous introduced bug.
* Suit custom mouse cursors for some tools.
* Add code to make possible pass parameters to the renderers. Implementation for ffmpeg.
* Repack rulers and caret menu to get less space.
* New italian and German translations.
* New parameters for Motion Blur layer. Now allows linear and constant interpolation too.
* New icons for actions and layers. Thanks to several authors.
* Fixed feature that reset windows docks to default size and position.
* Separate the reset setup values to original values feature in a new menu entry.
* Updated Russian, French and Spanish translation.
* Automatic build script for linux system. Please report success of usage.
* Update Help menu entries according to new website.
Release Notes for Synfig 0.62.00
================================
You need to download and build he following packages in this order:
ETL-0.04.13-RC1.tar.gz
synfig-0.62.00-RC1.tar.gz
synfigstudio-0.62.00-RC1.tar.gz
See the INSTALL and README files.
Source code: http://synfig.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=synfig/synfig;a=summary
Known Issues with SVG import
============================
* SVG import only works with SVG files Based on SVG XML specification 1.1. See:
http://www.w3.org/TR/xml11/ for deatils. To obtain a SVG XML 1.1 specification
file you can load the SVG into Inkscape and save the sile as "Plain SVG". The saved
file will be imported in Synfig Studio properly.
* The first time you import any SVG file it read the values wrongly. It is a known
issue that we don't know how to solve at the moment. Deleting the imported and reimporting
it again should work. Further imports works fine as well.
* Gradients tends to be misplaced.
* Some times colors are not coded properly.
NEWS for ETL
============
0.04.13 (git tag: "ETL-0.04.13") - October 12, 2009 - Bug fixes.
* Migration to git repository.
* Delete generated ETL/etl_profile_.h.in file.
* Improve the rendering of curve gradient layers near vertices with 0-length tangents.
* Fix a division by zero when calculate the distance to a bezier.
* Fix the pthread and kernel32 library check to not check for main.
* Don't enable the use of mutexes on platforms other than windows unless pthread is available.
* Remove ancient trunk folder from svn repository.
* Several compiler warnings fixed.
NEWS for synfig
===============
0.62.00 (git tag: "synfig-0.62.00") - October 12, 2009 - Bug fixes, features.
* Migration to git repository.
* Bugs fixed: #2195749, #1968248, #2250533, #2116947, launchpad.net/ubuntu/#195447
* Bugs fixed: #1993098, #1730067, #2353248, #2037732, #2412072, #2458112
* Bugs fixed: #2502818.
* Improved messages for failed open filed commands.
* Fix crash when unsetting import layer filename after using PNG or JPEG importers
* Improve the rendering of curve gradient layers near vertices with 0-length tangents.
* Fix previous bug that produced bad render to the star layer.
* Enable use of ffmpeg importer.
* Set four modules as essential: gradient, geometry, particle, freetype.
* Improve message when initialize synfig fails.
* New environment variables for options.
* Add support for alpha in paletted PNG files.
* New option: Scale New imported Images to Fit Canvas.
* Better errros when open a file that doesn't exists.
* Enable Example module: Metaballs, Simple Circle, Filled Rectangle.
* New Value Nodes: Greyed, Power, And, Not, Compare,
* Add 'Loop' parameter to the Random Value Node.
* Reverse manipulation for Scale Value Nodes.
* Remove ancient trunk folder from svn repository.
* New Import SVG files module.
* Disable corp imported images by default.
* Updated translations.
* First time Russian translation.
* Several compiler warnings fixed.
NEWS for synfigstudio
=====================
0.62.00 (git tag: "synfigstudio-0.62.00") - October 12, 2009 - Bug fixes, major features.
* Migration to git repository.
* Bugs fixed: #2205700, #2112320, #2116947, #1814151, launchpad.net/ubuntu/#195447
* Bugs fixed: #2256600, #2119775, #1826376, #1848018, #1901753, #1829182
* Bugs fixed: #2315706, #2321845, #2350636, #1501383, #2378787, #2435346
* Bugs fixed: #2579838, #2652974, #1677510, #2175043.
* Build rectangular blines using the rectangle tool.
* Update time ruller properly when modified the start or end time.
* New layer Curve Warp.
* Updated options for Polygon, Circle and Star Tools.
* New option: Scale New imported Images to Fit Canvas.
* Fix the rendered position of a polygon under a transform layers.
* Fix zoom to fit button result. Now border is visible.
* Better errros when open a file that doesn't exists.
* Paste canvases now update when the canvas parameter changes.
* Paste canvas with unset canvas parameter can be exported now.
* Holding control in the zoom tool when releasing the mouse button to
complete drawing a box will zoom out such that the currently displayed
area is zoomed out to fill the drawn box.
* Enable the Focus Point parameter in the Paste canvas layer.
* Reorder ducks render stack and prefernces form mouse interaction.
* Fix crash with LC_ALL=fr@euro
* Improved Color Dialog.
* Input Device configuration can be saved/load now.
* Fill/Outline instead of Background/Foreground.
* Additions to the Canvas Window: Update Zoom Dial, Frame Dial, Keyframe Dial
Toogle Ducks Dial, Resolution Dial, Quality Butons, Show/Snap to Grid,
Onion Sking buttons.
* Past and future onion skins enabled and selectabled.
* Improve UI on crash recovery dialog.
* Added Preferred and Predefined FPS in the Setup Dialog.
* Keyframes are shown now in the Curves dialog too.
* Keyframe Set Delta enabled and fixed.
* New Keyframe Widget. Allows drag keyframes with mouse.
* Synfigstudio cph-monitor.
* Adapt About Dialog to git repository.
* Remove ancient trunk folder from svn repository.
* New Import SVG files module.
* Some new icons.
* Updated translations.
* First time Russian translation.
* Several compiler warnings fixed.