Looping Background

Language:

English

Work in progress

note end

Introduction

A looping background is a moving background that simulates camera panning, and that seamlessly repeats itself. It is a standard animation technique.

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

Background image

The background can be a bitmap or a vector graphics. In order to be usable as a looping background, the requirements are the same. 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.

This tutorial uses a vector graphics background, but the same workflow can be applied for bitmap images.

If you already have a background, skip to the next section.

Create background

In Synfig Studio, create a new canvas with File | New.

Workflow overview

1. Prepare or gather background.
   1. Mention trick to keep same size when importing a sif file.
   2. Mention trick to keep the two ends the same (exported, decomposed vector).
2. Import background.
3. Genete's trick of the Zoom layer.
4. Duplicate encapsulated background. Say bounding box width is L pixels.
5. Move center of the duplicate L pixels towards the direction of the loop.
6. Add translation layer.
   1. Record mode. Move translation layer opposite direction of loop, L pixels. Two waypoints, one at time 0, one at time T. Exit from record mode.
7. Add Timed Loop layer. Set duration to T.
8. Enjoy!

Credits

Based on posts by Genete and others in the Synfig forum.

Language:

English