If you follow our weekly reports on Patreon, then you probably aware that all those months we are working hard to bring you next stable version of Synfig (1.4.0). In this post I would like to highlight major features that you are going to see in the new release.
1. Playback cache
Synfig now does background rendering of all frames in current animation and the result of rendering is saved into cache, which makes switching to other frames and timeline scrubbing very fast.
You can also disable background rendering of frames if you wish to keep your CPU free. Already rendered frames will remain cached, so you still will get a good impact on scrubbing and playback.
2. Custom playback range and looped playback
Now you can select playback range on the timeline and make playback looped.
3. Video import
We’ve got basic functionality for importing video files. At the current state the system is still too slow to work with large AVI and MP4 videos, but it is already possible to play with animated GIFs (yes, it can import GIF as well).
4. Rendering progress bar and sound notification on render completion
Rendering progress is now indicated with a progress bar at Info Panel. Also, Synfig now plays a nice chime sound to notify you when rendering is done!
5. Default background for new files
Now it is possible to set default background for newly created documents. The background can be a solid color or image. You can configure this via “Edit” -> “Preferences” -> “Document”.
When?
Consider, that there are still a lot of work to do before the release of stable version 1.4.0 can happen.
Right now we are preparing for release a new development build, which will include all those features and many more other improvements. So, stay tuned for our updates!
Much thanks to everyone who supporting our project through donations and Patreon, many thanks to ASIFA Holywood for giving a major push to our development – that’s all done thanks to you and we will keep working hard to bring you the best version of Synfig ever.
Hi Konstantin,
Thanks for this great software and for making it completely free. I would like to suggest something. Can you please make synfig’s UI a little bit more flexible like the UI of Opentoonz or like Toonboom. Currently, UI is in a fixed position and can’t be flexible or changed according to the User’s liking. and for me, according to my laptop, the drawing/animation area is too short and I can’t change it. Thanks again.
Kind Regards,
Joey
Hello Joey! Synfig interface is fully configurable, please check this video for details – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKTE7IchKfc
Hi Konstantin! This software is very good, thank you very much! I would like to make a suggestion: whether the handle circle of the spline tool can be reduced or translucent is more convenient. Because the handle tool’s handle circle can’t be shrunk or translucent, it will cover some graphics or details.
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