Sif Format

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A .sif file is the XML representation of a canvas. It holds the canvas's metadata, such as width and height, as well as information about its layers. Typically, a Synfig production comprises many .sif files joined in a sequence or nested within each other.

The .sif format is formidably complex and evolving. It is implementation-defined rather than spec-defined. Therefore, you should take everything on this page with a grain of salt. Indeed, the implementation can change at any point.

There are no plans to freeze the format.

Source code

The .sif format is implemented by the following file:

https://github.com/synfig/synfig/blob/master/synfig-core/src/synfig/loadcanvas.cpp

The format as of January 2016

Concepts

.sif files aren't always self-contained. They can import (read: link to) other .sif files, which creates a dependency of one on the other. This may seem alien to animators who are used to Flash Professional because, in Flash, importing something causes it to become embedded in the animation.

A consequence of Synfig's approach is that a .sif file's dependencies can be hard to track. A tool called Remake solves this problem.

Recursion should be prohibited in all .sif implementations.

XML

<canvas>

The top element of a .sif file is always a <canvas>.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<canvas version="0.1" width="300" height="350" xres="2952.7559"
        yres="2952.7559" view-box="-1.5 2.5 1.5 -1" antialias="2"
        fps="12" begin-time="0f" end-time="0f" bgcolor="0.5 0.5 0.5 1">
    ...
</canvas>

Attribute	Required?	Value
version	yes	0.1, always
width	no	the width of the canvas in pixels
height	no	the height of the canvas in pixels
xres	no	the width of the canvas in Synfig's own units (?)
yres	no	the height of the canvas in Synfig's own units (?)
view-box	no	the bounding coordinates of the canvas (Xmin Ymin Xmax Ymax)
antialias	no	how hard Synfig should try to antialias the image
fps	no	frames per second
begin-time	no	what frame rendering should start at
end-time	no	what frame rendering should end at
bgcolor	no	the color of the background

<canvas> Children

Inside a <canvas> you can find the following elements:

• <defs>
• <meta>
• <name>
• <desc>
• <author>
• <layer>
• <bones>
• <keyframe>

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English