Programs like spriter

Hi i would like to know iff someonr can tell me what program i should use to anitmate my character. i want a program that i can just import arms and legs and move them around and export as an png.?? please help.

You try inkscape.

Thanks any other suggestions inscape would not install.btw what is the animaion method that spriter use. ps sorry for spelling.

The most established term would be "cutout animation" but that is a poor word to describe the animation you can do in Spriter.

Another program that does the same thing but for Flash is Toonboom Animate

Tween Animation sounds better.

thanks.

Hi kobusvdwalt. The term 'cutout animation' is used frequently, but implies that each body part stays the same throughout the animation, making the character look like a marionette puppet. 'Modular animation' seems to be the established term for a character made from several separate sprites that move around separately. There are a few programs that do similar things, such as Toon Boom(as Julmust mentioned), Adobe Flash, and Anime Studio, but none that I know of that specialize in modular animation. Because they were more built for shape morphing or page-flipping animation, you'll have varying degrees of comfort depending on your workflow preferences. Also, there is and will always be a free version of Spriter that allows you to animate and export to PNG. If you're considering using Spriter but haven't gotten started yet, though, I'd wait for the upcoming version later this month, which has tons of stability and ui improvements.

Thanks lucid i realy want to support you but as i am only 16 i have no means of paying you.i didnt know that there is a free version of spriter i will be sure to use that, i saw the video on kickstarter and think you did a great job with spriter thanks for the suggestions also.

lucid, Great work on Spriter. Really impressive showcase of Spriter on Kickstarter, BrashMonkey, and YouTube

I watched all the videos and read through the reviews and it sounds like it is a great program.

Just wish I had heard about your project when you were still looking for funding as I definitely would have pledged for such a worthy project.

I have downloaded SprtieBeta.zip and look forward to using it with Construct 2 which I recently purchased.

From everything I know now, there is little doubt that I will be buying Spriter.

thank you very much.

btw, the latest Kickstarter update has alot of cool news, and depending how recently you watched the videos, you might not have seen our most recent video, with the all new cross-platform Spriter: kickstarter.com/projects/539087245/spriter/posts

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZVNb-8rW5k&feature=player_embedded[/tube]

lucid, I caught the above video and all the rest which I found to be really informative with lots of great insight on using the tool.

By the way, just registered on your forum site and did not find in the boards when the Construct 2 Plug-In will be available. Any insight into this?

hi jwjb, we're working on getting a more concrete answer for that, and I'll post an update in Construct 2 forums when we have one.

lucid, just pre-ordered Spriter Pro 1.0. Really liking the program so far and feel it is well worth the $25. Thanks also for your reply about posting the availability of the Construct 2 Plug-In when it has been completed.

Hey Lucid,

I wasn't aware of this campaign. Congratulations on getting funded!

I have a few questions:

1. It's easy to animate a character who is walking or running left or right. But one of the things I've always had a problem doing with 2D animations, is convincingly animating walking and running when a characters back is turned to the camera the way the character is in the last 9 frames of the following animation:

<img src="http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc308/kylock1/sam.png" border="0" />

Or when the character is directly facing the camera like the first three frames show. I mean sure, if I don't care about the animations looking realistic I can do it, but I want them as real as possible.

Does or will Spriter have a way to manipulate the limbs when a character is in those positions, and do it in a way that can look believable? I just saw the deformation tool in the KS video and I'm wondering if that's something that might directly address this?

2. Is this compatible with Construct Classic?

lucid ?

Sorry for the delayed reply everyone. Haven't checked the forums in a bit.

Thanks MrMiller

1.Mike will be making art packs using the usual technique used in professional studios which isto render it in 3d, then use that as the base for the hand-drawn art. You'll be able to replace the body parts with your own art, and tweak the animation. You'll most likely get ideas of how to solve some of the problems associated with making iso characters as well.

The deformation is the very last thing we're adding to Spriter. It might appear in some limited fashion before then, but it won't be until after 1.0, which is estimated for a late December release.

Procedural animation will arrive before deformation, and possibly before 1.0. Using procedural editing features will provide some new an interesting ways to deal the isometric issue, and things like forshortening, etc. With video of the features in action it'd take a minute or two to describe and make sense. Without video, I'd have to outline it in detail, which is quite a read, but if you're interested, can be found here. Please excuse the typos. It was the last 64 hours of the Kickstarter.

2. It will be when I or someone else makes a plugin

unfortunately I won't be able to get to that in the near future. If any of the other CC plugin devs want to get to it sooner, I'd be more than happy to help them.

To everyone else, sorry it took so long to update you on the Construct 2 plugin. I need to confirm something before making the announcement, but I expect to have some good news by the end of the week.