#SYNFIG STUDIO CAMERA MOVEMENT TUTORIAL MANUAL#

We use the name mountain-bg.sifz.Ĭreate a new canvas for the animation. This means that if you move with the mouse point B, point B' will move too, and vice versa :-) The same could be done for B, B', but just to show another, more flexible way, the Y coordinate of B is exported and reused by the Y coordinate of B'. If you look at the sample sif file, you will see that the Y coordinates of A, A' and C, C' are hardcoded to match. In addition, the tangents should make the lines as smooth as necessary to adapt to the overall image stile. To tile seamlessly, the Y coordinates of the left control points A, B, C must match with the Y coordinates of the right control points A', B', C'. This is the one we will be using for the tutorial: This tells synfig that the canvas is a still image and the interface becomes simpler. In the 'Time' tab, set 'Start time' and 'End time' to 0. All the other values should be automatically updated. In the 'Image' tab, finally put the size: 'Width' = WB = 1200, 'Height' = HB = 480. In the 'Other' tab, check 'Pixel Width', 'Pixel Height', 'Image Aspect', 'Pixel Aspect'.

Open the Canvas Properties Dialog ( ' → → Properties'). To be sure to keep the correct background size when importing it into the animation, proceed as follows: Its height should be the same as the animation (HB = HA = 480), while its width should be bigger than the animation (no need to be a multiple). In Synfig Studio, create a new canvas with ' → '. Since we are creating the background and the animation from scratch, the easiest way is to use the same scale for the two synfig files. If you already have a background, skip to section The animation. This tutorial uses a vector graphics background, but the same workflow can be applied for bitmap images. Imagine duplicating the image and putting the duplicate next to the original in an horizontal line: the left edge must seamlessly blend with the right edge. In order to be usable as a looping background, the requirements are the same. The background can be a bitmap or a vector graphics. Say that the animation size will be WA = 640 pixels, HA = 480 pixels. We will be using two files: one for the background and one for the animation.

#SYNFIG STUDIO CAMERA MOVEMENT TUTORIAL MANUAL#

The one presented here is simple, minimizes manual work and repetition, and doesn't need keyframes. There are multiple ways to do looping backgrounds in Synfig.

So, here’s the workflow: if we want to change the camera animation, we will work in the camera-view-example.sifz window, but if we want to change the animation which we pan or zoom, we just switching to the example.sifz window and work there.A looping background is a moving background that simulates camera panning, and that seamlessly repeats itself. That’s because the example.sifz was linked to the camera-view-example.sifz file during import. You will notice, what modification will affect not only example.sifz file, but camera-view-example.sifz too. There you will see ValueBase Nodes belonging to example.sifz file.

Switch to the just opened canvas window and look at the Children Panel. To get access to them just open the example.sifz (but keep leave camera-view-example.sifz opened). It allows to switch between view from the camera and general view.īut the example.sifz file contains its own ValueBase Nodes which are not shown here. There you can see “camera view” ValueBase Node checkbox (it’s hidden inside of “ValueBase Nodes” tree). Place it at the bottom of the layers stack. The example will be placed on top of all layers. Select “File” -> “Import” command, choose example.sifz file and press OK. You could manipulate camera by clicking on the black semi-transparent box and dragging the widget ducks. The red border shows the area visible in camera view. Open camera-view-example.sifz in Synfig Studio. Rename camera-view-0.3.sifz to camera-view-example.sifz – this will be a “instance” of camera widget containing pan/zoom data for particular file (example.sifz). This tutorial demonstrates the usage of camera widget and also shows how this problem is solved in synfig-fu.ĭownload camera-view-0.3.sifz (camera widget itself) and example.sifz (background which we will pan and zoom). Some synfig users got confused about the managing ValueBase Nodes of imported canvases. You could find instructions on it’s usage below. Here’s the latest version of camera widget: camera-view-0.3.sifz. Me and Genete arranged a workaround to have a camera fake using logarithm convert type and the zoom layer. Synfig has no feature to manipulate camera view.

Synfig studio camera movement tutorial