Features on the Development Roadmap

[Chris]

Well hotkeys are already available. As for the piv 3 import. That was declined because pivot 3 is still in a beta with bugs and errors, the last thing you want is an import feature from a buggy file. ;D

[stykzman]

Well hotkeys are already available. As for the piv 3 import. That was declined because pivot 3 is still in a beta with bugs and errors, the last thing you want is an import feature from a buggy file. ;D

To be fair, it was declined *for now*... I am probably going to support Piv 3 .stk import and Piv 2 .piv import but NOT Piv 3. .pivs; but I won't know for sure until I get some time to look into it, which won't be for a month or so.

[Hoboapple]

Well, people will understand if the pivot 3 stks are buggy, because they're buggy anyway.

[Chris]

I've broken the list of features into three sections: those we are definitely planning on implementing, those we are considering implementing, and those we can't or won't implement (and for each of these we'll give a specific reason why). The items in the list are in no specific order.

This list will get updated over time, and I've tried to provide a target version for certain features when I can, although don't hold me to them - it's just my best estimate (in fact, things in one section may end up being implemented in another).

Features We Definitely Will Be Implementing

Features That Will Be in 1.0

• Undo
  
• Export to Animated GIF format
  
• Import Pivot 2 .stk files
  
  Features That Are Targeted For 1.0
  
• Drag-and-drop from Library palette to disk to export .styk files for users to upload, and vice-versa (drag-and-drop onto the Library palette to import .styk files)
  
• Holding down the shift key to constrain drawing/dragging to 45 degree (or smaller) increments
  
• Setting node sizes from 1-10 pixels in width; document-specific setting
  
• Specifying that preferences and library items go in a folder next to the Stykz app instead of where prefs are normally installed
  
  Features That Are Targeted For 2.0
  
• Sound effects / Background sound
  
• Grids and guides, with optional snap-to-grid/guide lines
  
• Change the transparency/opacity of a segment or figure
  
• Apply ink effects (burn, dodge, xor, reverse, etc.) to segments or figures
  
• Transitions / Visual effects
  
• Import bitmap as background image / different backgrounds on different frames
  
• Option to show onionskins directly behind figures, or in single layer
  
• Sprites (imported images)
  
• Inbetweening
  
• Draw objects (polygons, ovals, arrows, etc.)
  
• Text boxes / word balloons
  
• Drag-reordering of frames / cut/copy/paste frames
  
• A freehand curve tool
  
• The ability to name figures, plus a layers palette that would let you see all the figures by name in a frame and change their z-order; possibly being able to group sticks into layers and have layers be locked or shown/hidden (like Photoshop and others)
  
• The ability to name frames and let you jump to a specific frame by number or by name
  
• A gray "work area" surrounding the stage
  
  Features That Are Targeted For Some Version After 2.0
  
• Merging figures (useful for creating figures that are vertically symmetrical - for example creating one side of a sword, copy it, flip it, and merge it to make a full sword)
  
• Merging/combining animation files ("Insert Animation...")
  
• Export to SWF
  
• The ability to paint your own backgrounds
  
• Grouping of frames into "clips" or "scenes"
  
• Automatic uploading/downloading of .styk files to/from the Forum (or other sharing area for Stykz files)
  
• Adding the ability to "straighten" or "smooth" a set of lines
  
• Zooming in and out of the stage (to make it easier to work with things off screen)

Features We're Considering Implementing
(Note: Items on this list are ones that we don't have enough info to make a decision on yet. Once we've looked into them and know the full impact of implementing the feature, we'll put them on the right list(s).)

• Import Pivot 2 .piv files and/or Pivot 3 .piv and .stk files
  
• Multiple onionskin levels shown as well as specifying where/how onionskins are displayed (for example, if you have a figure that takes up the entire stage, you wouldn't normally be able to see any onionskins, since the onionskin layer is below all of the figures - but adding this feature would let you specify how to layer/manipulate the onionskins to get around this limitation)
  
• Being able to select a certain frame's (or frames') onionskins to show on the current frame - that is, if you were on frame 5 and were trying to position something relative to a figure on frame 1, you could choose to see frame 1's onionskins on frame 5
  
• Applying background images, possibly with the ability to move them over a certain number of frames (this may be fulfilled with Sprites and Inbetweening, though)
  
• Providing the ability to add some "depth" to animations, even to the point of shifting the point of view from the viewer (see the Depth thread for more info)
  
• A perspective tool for adjusting the perspective of sticks (like in GIMP).
  
• Adding shadows to figures at a specified angle and skew
  
• Bezier curves
  
• Adding a credits screen at the end of an animation
  
• Gradient fills for draw polygons and polyfills
  
• Export to AVI or other Windows Media format
  
• Adding a "blur" tool (like in Photoshop)
  
• Export to Flex

Features We Can't or Won't Implement

• Importing animated GIFs - We can't do this because the GIF format basically just holds a series of raster (bitmap) slides in order, and there's no way we can extract any "figure" info from them. The only thing we'd be able to do is to possibly import each frame as a full-frame sprite (maybe for tracing or positioning purposes), but once an animation has been exported to GIF, we can't reconstruct the animation from the GIF itself.
  
  And even though it's possible to write "metadata" (identifying information) into a GIF that's created by Stykz, the only thing I can see this being useful for is to recreate a .stykz from a GIF because the original .stykz was lost. In any event, it's not something we will be doing.

Off screen needs a space ;D

[stykzman]

Off screen needs a space ;D

Thanks, Chris... I fixed it.

[scykei]

Features That Are Targeted For 1.x (actual version number TBD)
Optional single-window-with-panels implementation

That's the update I'll be waiting for most. I don't know why but all the tools floating around looks very messy. I can't really concentrate. Just make sure the Windows version is going to look as smooth as the Mac's one you let us preview.

[DarkFlame]

Features That Are Targeted For 1.x (actual version number TBD)
Optional single-window-with-panels implementation

That's the update I'll be waiting for most. I don't know why but all the tools floating around looks very messy. I can't really concentrate. Just make sure the Windows version is going to look as smooth as the Mac's one you let us preview.

I must say I agree

[scykei]

Wait... I can't seem to find it on the list... the repeat frame...

You know what I like to use Pivot 3 (or 3.1) instead of the 2.2.5? Because it has the "Repeat frame" feature so I don't need to create multiple similar frames if I want to make my animation still for a while.

For now, every frame is only a single frame, but with the repeat, I can set a particular frame to be considered as maybe five, or more frames. Sort of like a delay feature.
I don't think this would be hard to implement, would it? I dunno...

[Hoboapple]

Wait... I can't seem to find it on the list... the repeat frame...

You know what I like to use Pivot 3 (or 3.1) instead of the 2.2.5? Because it has the "Repeat frame" feature so I don't need to create multiple similar frames if I want to make my animation still for a while.

For now, every frame is only a single frame, but with the repeat, I can set a particular frame to be considered as maybe five, or more frames. Sort of like a delay feature.
I don't think this would be hard to implement, would it? I dunno...

Really sure it's on the list.

[stykzman]

Well, it wasn't on the list, but it should have been. I added it to the 1.x feature list.