Stykz is a lite application that allows you to create animated movies starred by simple articulated figures, also known as stickmen. When you'll first run Stykz, you'll see that it is very similar to Pivot Stickfigure Animator. The animation system of Stykz is based on frames and squares, that means that you have to create the different frames one by one or modify the previous one. Stykz is a lite application that allows you to create animated movies starred by simple articulated figures, also known as stickmen. When you'll first run Stykz, you'll see that it is very similar to Pivot Stickfigure Animator. The animation system of Stykz is based on frames and squares, that means that you have to create the different frames one by one or modify the previous one.
After four long weeks of bug fixes and enhancements, the second Public Beta for Mac is available for download at http://www.stykz.net.This version of Stykz builds on the popularity of Beta 1 by adding several new features:
- Ability to import Pivot 2 .stk files, which means that Stykz will be able to use thousands of already created .stk files so that animators won't have to recreate work that is easy to download and import.
- You can export the currently displayed frame as a PNG, JPG, or GIF image
- You can export all the frames in an animation to a sequence of PNG or GIF images.
- We added an indicator in the title bar of a document window and in the Window menu to indicate a document that needs to be saved.
- A new StykzPlayer window was added for playback that shows up automatically that lets Stykz get better performance in playback.
- You can now move any selected figures to the center of the current stage by choosing “Move to Center Stage” from the Arrange menu.
- We added shortcut keys to most menus items to make things easier to access.
- A “Revert to Saved” menu item was added to the File menu to allow for discarding all changes made to a document.
- You can now create a circle by just choosing “Circle” from the Figure menu.
- We have made it a lot easier to move Stykz figures (.styk files) into and out of the Library: at the bottom of the Library palette are buttons to add/rename/delete items in the Library, to open the actual Library folder on your hard drive, and to refresh the list if you choose to add files to the Library folder while Stykz is open. You can also drag .styk files from the desktop directly to the Library palette to quickly add .styk files into your Library.
- You can now specify that any figure, including those in your Library, can be used for new documents in the Preferences window
In addition to the features listed above, fixed a whole bunch of bugs so as we approach the 1.0 release Stykz will be as bug-free as possible. To see a list of everything we’ve done, see the Release Notes.
Note that this version has been re-engineered for better performance and that required a file format change; so when you open any .stykz files you created in Beta 1, you will be prompted to convert to the new format (a backup of the original is made just in case).
The next targets on the horizon are the first Windows Public Beta on February 21, and the official Mac 1.0 release on February 28. You can always see the current timeline at the Stykz forums by going to http://tinyurl.com/stykzdevtimeline, and the features we’ll be adding to future versions of Stykz by going to http://tinyurl.com/stykzdevroadmap.
Stykz For Mac Animation
As always, if you run into any issues, or have any comments or suggestions, please use the “Send Feedback” menu item in the Help menu, or send email to stykzman@stykz.net.Enjoy!
The Stykz Development TeamDownload Stykz For Mac
Download Stykz For Mac
Stykz is a multi-platform animation program that lets you bring simple stick figure drawings to life. Figure editing is based on a frame system: you draw each frame, one by one, in order to generate an animation.
The figures are drawn using lines, or segments, which are connected to each other using nodes; these nodes are also the figure’s joints. Functions such as onionskin lets you simplify editing by displaying the previous or following frame on the scene.
Figures which you create can be rotated, scaled, duplicated, colored, and flipped. You can also select several figures at the same time in order to line them up. The final animation can be saved in a MOV format movie clip. The creation of animated GIFs is still not supported.
Note
For OS X 10.4.2 or later.
The figures are drawn using lines, or segments, which are connected to each other using nodes; these nodes are also the figure’s joints. Functions such as onionskin lets you simplify editing by displaying the previous or following frame on the scene.
Figures which you create can be rotated, scaled, duplicated, colored, and flipped. You can also select several figures at the same time in order to line them up. The final animation can be saved in a MOV format movie clip. The creation of animated GIFs is still not supported.
Note
For OS X 10.4.2 or later.