Synfig Studio 0.62.01 Released

Revision as of 19:00, 3 June 2010

width="300px"

June 31, 2010

The Synfig Team is proud to announce a new version of Synfig Studio - 0.62.01. This release delivers a number of improvements and bugfixes, some of them listed below. For detailed list of changes please examine the NEWS files for synfig-core and synfig-studio.

Download Synfig Studio 0.62.01 now!

New functionalities for the Normal Tool

Normal Tool is renamed to Transform Tool

Transform tool in rotate mode

Transform tool in scale mode

The Normal Tool is used to move ducks in the work area. In the new version apart from translating, it can rotate and scale without need to select another tool.

To use the new rotate and scale abilities, hold down the Ctrl or Alt (MOD for Mac) keys while dragging the ducks. Then cursor will change to indicate if the ducks are being scaled or rotated. To produce produce constrained rotations (every 15 degrees) or scales (keep aspect ratio) hold the ⇧ Shift key together with the Ctrl or Alt. If both Ctrl and Alt keys are pressed the scale and rotation modes will be enabled at the same time.

Users should find this new feature to be more convenient for construction and animation. Because of the new functionality the Normal Tool has been renamed to the Transform Tool.

Improvements in SVG import module

Original SVG file opened in Inkscape

Same file imported in Synfig Studio

Import of SVG image format was improved. Now it have support for gradients and import results are more accurate than before. Here you can see artwork imported from Inkscape to Synfig Studio.

Images ceded by Ricardo Alexandre B. Graça.

Increased stability in Microsoft Windows environment

In the past, Synfig Studio had suffered from a bad reputation due to its stability problems on Windows. While we have not been able to determine why multithreading leads to crashes on Windows, a single-thread option has been added and enabled by default to make the application behave more stable in Microsoft Windows environment.

Rendering to ffmpeg video formats

Rendering parameters for ffmpeg target

For a long time there was a very limited support of rendering avi files using ffmpeg. The files were rendered with low bitrate resulting in pixelated images.

In this version it is possible to select video codec and bitrate when using ffmpeg target. It is also possible to pass a custom codec when ffmpeg expands its range of supported codecs (for example, it will be possible to render to the WebM format once a new version of ffmpeg get the support for VP8 codec).

Interface

Reduced rulers in the workarea

New icons

This version introduces several minor changes to interface. Rulers in workspace were reduced to get you more space for your composition. Thanks to several contributors, all the Synfig Studio layers and most of the menu actions have now icons. Mouse cursor changes when you use different tools.

This time we have two alternative splash screens because both top entries got equal count of voices in the voting poll. But that is not a problem! Both are shipped with the application and one is selected at random during start up.

Other changes

Motion blur types

Middle-click in palette editor sets the outline color

There are several more changes to mention:

Motion Blur Layer got it's full functionality: now it's possible to set detail level, transparency and choose one of the three algorithms.
Palette Editor is used to select fill color with left click, now it is possible to set outline color with middle click.
When using Mirror Tool holding ⇧ Shift key now changes mirror axis.
Italian and German translations added.

We have worked hard to ship to you a stable, clean and polished release. As always, you can get free and diligent support for any problem you might have during installation or usage.

Enjoy the release! Proudly yours,
The Synfig Team

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 __NOTOC__
 {{Title|Synfig Studio 0.62.01 Released}}
-{| cellpadding="5"
+{| cellpadding="5" width="80%"
 |-valign="top"
-| width="150" |
+| width="300px"
-[[File:Splash-06201-1.png|border|150px]]
+[[File:Splash-06201-1.png|border|250px]]
 |
-<p style="text-align:right">June 31, 2010</p>
+June 31, 2010
-The Synfig Team is proud to announce a new version of Synfig Studio - 0.62.01. This release delivers a number of improvements and bugfixes, some of them listed below. For detailed list of changes please examine the NEWS files for [http://synfig.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=synfig/synfig;a=blob_plain;f=synfig-core/NEWS;hb=5455fd235a45b9a9274a6113555ec1f4688353e2 synfig-core] and [http://synfig.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=synfig/synfig;a=blob_plain;f=synfig-studio/NEWS;hb=5455fd235a45b9a9274a6113555ec1f4688353e2 synfig-studio].
+<br>The Synfig Team is proud to announce a new version of Synfig Studio - 0.62.01. This release delivers a number of improvements and bugfixes, some of them listed below. For detailed list of changes please examine the NEWS files for [http://synfig.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=synfig/synfig;a=blob_plain;f=synfig-core/NEWS;hb=5455fd235a45b9a9274a6113555ec1f4688353e2 synfig-core] and [http://synfig.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=synfig/synfig;a=blob_plain;f=synfig-studio/NEWS;hb=5455fd235a45b9a9274a6113555ec1f4688353e2 synfig-studio].
-[http://synfig.org/en/current-release Download Synfig Studio 0.62.01 now!]
+<br>[http://synfig.org/en/current-release Download Synfig Studio 0.62.01 now!]
 |}
@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 {| cellpadding="5"
 |-valign="top"
-| width="150" |
+| width="160" |
-[[File:Normal icon.png|center|Normal Tool is renamed to Transform Tool]]
+[[File:Normal icon.png|center|70px|Normal Tool is renamed to Transform Tool]]
 <br>
 [[File:Transform Tool Rotate.png|thumb|150px|none|Transform tool in rotate mode]]
 [[File:Transform Tool Scale.png|thumb|150px|none|Transform tool in scale mode]]
 |
-The Normal Tool is used to move ducks in the work area. It is also the tool that is selected when the user stops using another tool. In this new version, the Normal Tool has been renamed to the Transform Tool. Apart from simply translating objects, it can now rotate and scale them without need to select another tool. Users should find this new feature to be more convenient for construction and animation.
+The Normal Tool is used to move ducks in the work area. In the new version apart from translating, it can rotate and scale without need to select another tool.
-To use the new rotate and scale abilities, the user needs to hold down the CTRL or ALT (MOD for Mac) keys while dragging the ducks. Then cursor will change to indicate if the ducks are being scaled or rotated. The SHIFT key can be also pressed together with the CTRL or ALT keys to produce constrained rotations (every 15 degrees) and scales (keep aspect ratio). If both CTRL and ALT keys are pressed the ducks well be both scaled and rotated.
+To use the new rotate and scale abilities, hold down the {{Shortcut|CTRL}} or {{Shortcut|ALT}} (MOD for Mac) keys while dragging the ducks. Then cursor will change to indicate if the ducks are being scaled or rotated. To produce produce constrained rotations (every 15 degrees) or scales (keep aspect ratio) hold the {{Shortcut|SHIFT}} key together with the {{Shortcut|CTRL}} or {{Shortcut|ALT}}. If both {{Shortcut|CTRL}} and {{Shortcut|ALT}} keys are pressed the scale and rotation modes will be enabled at the same time.
+Users should find this new feature to be more convenient for construction and animation. Because of the new functionality the Normal Tool has been renamed to the Transform Tool.
 |}
@@ Line 32: / Line 34: @@
 {| cellpadding="5"
 |-valign="top"
-| width="150" |
+| width="160" |
 [[File:SVG Import Inkscape.png|thumb|150px|none|Original SVG file opened in Inkscape]]
 [[File:SVG Import Synfig Stufio.png|thumb|150px|none|Same file imported in Synfig Studio]]
 |
-Gradient support have been improved in the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) import module. Now import your artwork from Inkscape is more accurate and usable than before. Here you can see a import example of artwork from Inkscape to Synfig Studio. Images ceded by Ricardo Alexandre B. Graça.
+Import of SVG image format was improved. Now it have support for gradients and import results are more accurate than before. Here you can see artwork imported from Inkscape to Synfig Studio.
+<small>Images ceded by Ricardo Alexandre B. Graça.</small>
 |}
@@ Line 43: / Line 47: @@
 {| cellpadding="5"
 |-valign="top"
-| width="150" |
+| width="160" |
-[[File:PackageIconWin.png|center]]
+[[File:PackageIconWin Big.png|128px|center]]
 |
-In the past, Synfig Studio had suffered from a bad reputation due to its stability problems on Windows. While we have not been able to determine why multithreading leads to crashes on Windows, a single-thread option has been added and enabled by default to make the application much more stable.
+In the past, Synfig Studio had suffered from a bad reputation due to its stability problems on Windows. While we have not been able to determine why multithreading leads to crashes on Windows, a single-thread option has been added and enabled by default to make the application behave more stable in Microsoft Windows environment.
 |}
@@ Line 53: / Line 57: @@
 {| cellpadding="5"
 |-valign="top"
-| width="150" |
+| width="160" |
 [[File:Ffmpeg Parameters.png|thumb|150px|none|Rendering parameters for ffmpeg target]]
 |
-Users reported several times that the built-in settings passed to the ffmpeg renderer were not correct and produced pixelated renders. Previously, the option to select the codec to use with ffmpeg was also unavailable.
+For a long time there was a very limited support of rendering avi files using ffmpeg. The files were rendered with low bitrate resulting in pixelated images.
-In this version we let the user select the video codec and the bitrate to pass to the ffmpeg renderer. It is possible to pass a custom codec when ffmpeg expands its range of supported codecs. (For example, it will be possible to render in the WebM format once a new version of ffmpeg supporting the VP8 codec is released).
+In this version it is possible to select video codec and bitrate when using ffmpeg target. It is also possible to pass a custom codec when ffmpeg expands its range of supported codecs (for example, it will be possible to render to the [http://www.webmproject.org/ WebM format] once a new version of ffmpeg get the support for VP8 codec).
 |}
@@ Line 64: / Line 68: @@
 {| cellpadding="5"
 |-valign="top"
-| width="150" |
+| width="160" |
-[[File:Releases/0.62.01/New Icons.png|thumb|150px|none|Rendering parameters for ffmpeg target]]
+[[File:Releases 0.62.01 Rulers.png|thumb|150px|none|Reduced rulers in the workarea]]
-[[File:New Icons.png|thumb|150px|none|Rendering parameters for ffmpeg target]]
+[[File:Releases 0.62.01 New Icons.png|thumb|150px|none|New icons]]
 |
-Introduces several minor interface changes. ...
+This version introduces several minor changes to interface. Rulers in workspace were reduced to get you more space for your composition. Thanks to several contributors, all the Synfig Studio layers and most of the menu actions have now icons. Mouse cursor changes when you use different tools.
-Rulers...
+This time we have two alternative splash screens because both top entries got equal count of voices in the voting poll. But that is not a problem! Both are shipped with the application and one is selected at random during start up.
-Thanks to several collaborators, all the Synfig Studio layers and most of the menu actions have now icons.
-This time we have two alternative splash screens because there was a tie between the top entries in the competition. But that is not a problem! Both are shipped with the application and one is selected at random during start up.
 |}
-== Other improvements ==
+== Other changes ==
 {| cellpadding="5"
 |-valign="top"
-| width="150" |
+| width="160" |
-[[File:Palette-editor.png|thumb|150px|none|Middle-click sets the outline color]]
+[[File:Motion Blur Types.png|thumb|150px|none|Motion blur types]]
+[[File:Palette-editor.png|thumb|150px|none|Middle-click in palette editor sets the outline color]]
 |
-... Palette, Mirror Tool, Motion Blur ...
+There are several more changes to mention:
+* Motion Blur Layer got it's full functionality: now it's possible to set detail level, transparency and choose one of the three algorithms.
+* Palette Editor is used to select fill color with left click, now it is possible to set outline color with middle click.
+* When using Mirror Tool holding {{Shortcut|Shift}} key now changes mirror axis.
+* Italian and German translations added.
 |}
-Although the features that you are seeing here are not so many, we have worked hard to ship to you a stable, clean and polished new release.
+We have worked hard to ship to you a stable, clean and polished release. As always, you can [http://synfig.org/en/support get free and diligent support] for any problem you might have during installation or usage.
-There have been also some bug fixed and other added features (new Italian and German translations, automatic building and packaging script, more parameters for the motion blur layer...) To discover them, download Synfig now!
-As always, you can get free and diligent support for any problem you might have during installation, usage, remaining bugs or missing features.
 <p style="text-align:right">Enjoy the release! Proudly yours,<br>The Synfig Team

Synfig Studio 0.62.01 Released

Revision as of 19:00, 3 June 2010

New functionalities for the Normal Tool

Improvements in SVG import module

Increased stability in Microsoft Windows environment

Rendering to ffmpeg video formats

Interface

Other changes

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