Which version? add layer in timeline (alpha version)? export image sequence?

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#1

Hi there,

I’m looking at options for making some short animations to go in videos on a youtube channel I am developing, wick looks very promising as I used flash 8 back in the day and have been searching for something similar for using on linux.

I have a couple of questions that will help me decide if wick is going to work with my project:

  1. which version should I use? there seem to be 2, the main version at http://wickeditor.com/wick-editor/ and a newer version at https://alpha.wickeditor.com/

  2. On the newer version I can’t seem to add a layer to the timeline - am I missing something or is this feature not enabled yet [EDIT: found it, just click in the blank space below the current layer…]? Also right clicking doesn’t seem to work at all in the newer version - should it?

  3. I’ll need to use my animations in a video editor (kdenlive) so I need to be able to export an image sequence - is this possible? ( I see there is a method involving taking screen shots - I suppose this MIGHT work but it might be tricky to get my layers to match up - which will be important for the (simple) keyframe animations I will be including…)

Thanks for any help anyone can offer, wick looks very promising, I’ve been wanting a flash replacement on linux for years…

#2

Made an animation in the new version that I am hoping to add to a new project as an asset in the library, but the only way I seem to be able to do that is as a gif which saves the whole background when I want to be able to import just the animation I made, any way to do that? Does wick work with svg at all?

#3

trying the old version now, i want to make a short animation, convert it to a clip (asset?) then place multiple instances of that clip on the main project stage, so that the animation contained within the clip will play on a loop multiple times (I will then add some other elements to the main stage). Is this possible? I made my animation as a clip but don’t see how to add it to the library so I can add it to the main stage.

Also, right now I am just sketching, but I’m hoping I will be able to “ink” my clip once I’ve got it working and have the changes automatically update on the main stage animation…EDIT: this doesn’t seem to be working, rather than a (independent) “copy” of my clips, I think I need a “dependant” instance of it that changes if I go back and change the original…

Sorry for all the questions, thanks for any responses, kind of excited about this if I can get it working…

EDIT:
ok got clips working, I was expecting an entry in the library but it seems i select an object on the stage then convert that to a clip and edit the timeline from there, actually managed the looping animation part of what I wanted:ikimono(1).wick (66.8 KB)

EDIT again: any way to re-name layers and also move them up and down?

#4

Hi there! I’m happy to answer any questions you have about the editor:

  • Definitely stick to using the old version for now, the alpha version is still missing a few things so it’s kind of difficult to use currently - but it will support old project files, so don’t worry about compatibility issues with your current projects :slight_smile:

  • Seems like you were able to get clips working, but let me know if you need any more help with them, as they are slightly different from how MovieClips work in Flash.

  • You should be able to move frames by dragging them by the handle on the left (the three horizontal lines): 15%20AM

  • You can rename layers by clicking the name, this will make the name of the layer editable.

Let me know if you have any other questions~~

1 Like
#5

Great, thanks for the reply! I hit some other stumbling blocks (maybe partly because I was working in the new version of wick…) so I ended up finishing my animation in krita this time around, but it was a bit unwieldy (lots of copy-and-past keyframes to get a repeating loop), and I kid you not, I have been pining for a flash replacement for linux for years now, so I am really excited about this project! I will have anaother play with wick (old version) later today…

I also have some thoughts and suggestions on the user experience of the drawing environment (by contrast I know nothing about the coding side of things) that you might find helpful , but I’ll put those in another topic.

thanks for making a great utility, I’m looking forward to seeing it develop!