Stykz
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encyclopedia
Stykz (pron.: /ˈstɪks/ stiks) is a freeware multi-platform stick-figure animation
program, developed and maintained by Sons of Thunder Software, Inc. It is
similar to the popular Pivot
Stickfigure Animator and
builds upon many of the features from it, also adding its own functionality.
Version 1.0 for Windows and Macintosh has been recently released. A version
for Linux is being developed and is in an
internal beta phase,
and will be released as a Public Beta when it is ready.
Development
Stykz in early development stages
Near the middle of 2007, Ken Ray, a freelance
software developer and consultant, began writing Stykz after discovering the
limitations of Pivot, and the fact that there was no solution available for
Macintosh users (forcing them to have to resort to using an emulator or
virtualization program to run Pivot). Pivot was also no longer under active
development (its last "release" being in 2005), so the fixes/additions
that Pivot users were asking for were likely not coming any time in the near
future.
Ken had been creating software using Revolution for a long time and knew the benefits
of its cross-platform development and deployment capabilities, along with
built-in drawing and painting tools that could be scripted to allow the end
user to implement them. So he decided that it was time to develop the first
cross-platform stick figure animation program that would address the
limitations of Pivot and also continue to be actively developed and influenced
by feedback provided by its end users.
Development continued off and on through 2008
until December 25, 2008, when the first Macintosh Public Beta was released.
This date, affectionately dubbed "Stykzmas", became the first time
the public had ever heard about Stykz. Ken decided to release the Macintosh
version firstbecause of
the needs of the Macintosh community, plus the fact that Windows users already
had a stick figure animation tool.
Usage
Stykz is a frame-based animation system where
a user creates and manipulates stick figures composed of "segments"
(limbs) and "nodes" (joints). Segments can be created and manipulated
directly on the Stage (the main window) through the use of the tools in the
Tools palette:
Features
Because Stykz was built based on Pivot, they
share many similarities. Stykz has almost all the features in Pivot except
sprites and background image support. More
features will be included as the software develops.
Tools
The Select tool lets the user move figures and
pivot segments around nodes, and can be used to create, distort, or stretch
segments while the Subselect tool lets the user select individual
segments for the purposes of changing just the selected segment's properties such
as color, thickness and angle. Figures can be created, distorted or stretched
directly on the stage.
The PolyFill tool lets the user fill in areas of a
stick figure by creating a polygon which is "attached" to several
nodes of a figure. The Add
Line and Add Circle tool lets the user create new line or
circle segments to an existing figure.
Figure
Manipulation
Once a figure has been created, it can be
scaled, rotated, colored, and moved to wherever the user desires. Individual
segments can also be modified, changing the stacking order of segments, or
changing the individual segment properties.
Document/Figure
Management
Stykz also allows for working on multiple
documents (animations) at the same time, and figures can be transferred between
documents through the use of copy and paste. Stykz animation documents are
saved with the "stykz file" format (*.stykz), and hold all the frames
of animation within. Stykz documents can also store certain meta-information
about the document like Owner and Description.
It also features a Library where the user can
store figures for later reuse. Figures in the Library are stored in a
"styk file" format (*.styk), which can be transferred to and shared
with others.
Pivot
Stick-figure Importation
Stykz also lets the user import Pivot 2.x and
3.x "stick files" (*.stk) and can convert them with almost 100%
fidelity (although there are some differences between how Pivot and Stykz
manage circles that could require certain rare figures to require some sort of
"tweaking"). Figures containing sprites can be imported, but the sprite in the
figure will be ignored and the rest of the figure will be imported. There are
future plans to support sprites in Stykz; when that happens, sprites in Pivot
figures will be imported.
Playback/Export
As the user creates their frames of
animation, they are represented in the Frames palette. The animation can be played
back inside Stykz, and the frame rate can be adjusted anywhere from 1 to 33
frames per second. When the user is ready, they can export their animation to
one of several formats: QuickTime movie (*.mov), Animated GIF (*.gif),
or series of sequenced GIF, JPEG,
orPNG images (one for each frame). These
formats can then be moved to a movie editor or Adobe Flash in
order to add sound or special effects if desired.
Bugs
As with all new software, Stykz still has
some bugs. Some are (but not limited to) a save glitch, inability to hand type
numbers and use arrow keys, removal of the task bar, shutdowns, and others.
Major Milestones
Stykz 1.0
(pre-release versions)
These versions were released at various
stages to validate features and identify bugs to be fixed for 1.0's release.
The first public beta release for Mac was on December 25, 2008 and the first public beta release for
Windows was on February 22, 2009. Several Beta and Release Candidate versions
followed.
Stykz 1.0
This is the official release of Stykz 1.0,
and was released on November 26, 2010.
Stykz on
DarkDemon.org
On November the 26th, Adam Davis of
DarkDemon.org announced Stykz 1.0
and created a separate forum for Stykz on Darkdemon. Users feel that this may
replace Pivot in the near future, however the Stykz section is not as active as
the Pivot sections of Darkdemon.org.
Media Coverage
Stykz was reviewed by Chris Pirillo (of TechTV fame) on his video blog,
live.pirillo.com, on July 14, 2009.
On October 5, 2009, DAWN.com, an independent
Paktistani web-based news service, covered Stykz in their 'YOUNG-WORLD' section.
On January 24, 2010, NCS-Tech (a site
dedicated to providing information about K-8 educational resources) reviewed
Stykz as a resource for kids to use to expand their creativity skills.
MakeUseOf.com reviewed Stykz as one of three
stick figure animation programs on June 24, 2010.
In addition to the above, Stykz has been
reviewed on several software application download and review sites, such as
FreeDownloadaDay.com and The Kim
Komando Show.
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