Pivot Animator: Difference between revisions
I'm sorry, encyclopaedic content must be verifiable, and rumours or unrelated stuff must be kept out of this wikipedia. thanks.~ |
Cleaned up the page, made it abandonware as dev. has left it and deleted the XPivot filesize-3.1 is 2MB in size. Deleted forums links- WHY? No need, no encyclopaedic content. stop ego-massaging Tag: references removed |
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| operating system = [[Microsoft Windows]] |
| operating system = [[Microsoft Windows]] |
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| programming language = [[Object Pascal|Delphi]] |
| programming language = [[Object Pascal|Delphi]] |
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| size = 817 [[Kilobytes|KB]] |
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| genre = [[Graphics software]], Design tools |
| genre = [[Graphics software]], Design tools |
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| license = |
| license = Abandonware |
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}} |
}} |
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'''Pivot Stickfigure Animator''' (usually shortened to '''Pivot''') is a freeware [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] application that allows users to create [[stick-figure]] [[animation]]s, and save them in the animated [[GIF]] (Graphics Interchangeable Format) format used on web pages and, which can also be converted into videos using other software, such as [[Windows Movie Maker]]. |
'''Pivot Stickfigure Animator''' (usually shortened to '''Pivot''') is a freeware [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] application that allows users to create [[stick-figure]] [[animation]]s, and save them in the animated [[GIF]] (Graphics Interchangeable Format) format used on web pages and, which can also be converted into videos using other software, such as [[Windows Movie Maker]]. |
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Second major release of the Pivot Stickfigure Animator. This version implemented the 'Stick Figure Builder', which allowed users to create their own stick figure designs saved in the STK format. This allowed a much wider scope of animation choice for Pivot users. It also fixed a few minor bugs, added the "back" and "front" buttons to the main interface to bring a stick figure in front or behind other figures, and could automatically check to make sure the user does not lose unsaved projects. |
Second major release of the Pivot Stickfigure Animator. This version implemented the 'Stick Figure Builder', which allowed users to create their own stick figure designs saved in the STK format. This allowed a much wider scope of animation choice for Pivot users. It also fixed a few minor bugs, added the "back" and "front" buttons to the main interface to bring a stick figure in front or behind other figures, and could automatically check to make sure the user does not lose unsaved projects. |
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===Pivot 2.2. |
===Pivot 2.2.5=== |
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In this version, Pivot was introduced as a [[Windows Installer|MSI Installer Package]], ensuring that the program would be installed properly. This made the use of [[Windows Registry|Registry Keys]](.reg) easier to install, and that the appropriate file associations for animation and stick figure files would be set. Other additions include unique icons for '''.PIV''' and '''.STK''' files, the ability to load [[JPEG]] backgrounds, and further warnings when a user tried to overwrite an existing file, to make sure that the animation that they were working on were not lost. |
In this version, Pivot was introduced as a [[Windows Installer|MSI Installer Package]], ensuring that the program would be installed properly. This made the use of [[Windows Registry|Registry Keys]](.reg) easier to install, and that the appropriate file associations for animation and stick figure files would be set. Other additions include unique icons for '''.PIV''' and '''.STK''' files, the ability to load [[JPEG]] backgrounds, and further warnings when a user tried to overwrite an existing file, to make sure that the animation that they were working on were not lost. |
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==Future Releases== |
==Future Releases== |
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Because the developer, Peter Bone, stopped work on the project before releasing a Final version of the 3.1 Beta, there never was, and supposedly never will be, a Pivot 3.1 Final Release. On YouTube, he said, "I have a full time job now and so I don't have time to make my own programs." |
Because the developer, Peter Bone, stopped work on the project before releasing a Final version of the 3.1 Beta, there never was, and supposedly never will be, a Pivot 3.1 Final Release. On YouTube, he said, "I have a full time job now and so I don't have time to make my own programs." |
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==Operating Systems== |
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===Mac and Linux=== |
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Although Pivot was compiled only for the Windows environment, many have found success running Pivot in Linux and Mac using [[Wine (software)|WINE]]. |
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===Older Version of Windows=== |
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Because Pivot doesn't utilize many other [[DLL]] experienced users have been able to run Pivot in very stripped down or older Windows environments. |
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==Modifications/Third Party Variations== |
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Various members of the programming society have picked up Pivot and have either modified it or started remaking it: |
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===DarkDemon Mods=== |
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;DD Mod |
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:This modification was made by a member of the [http://www.darkdemon.org''DarkDemon''] forum and it is based on Pivot 3.1 Beta. This modification gets rid of a "Read-Me file not found" error pop-up in the Pivot 3.1 beta if the Readme.txt file isn't found on the desktop, and fixed various bugs. |
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;Pivot "Hotkeys" |
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:Pivot "Hotkeys" is a modified version of the official Pivot 2.2.5, and adds the ability to just click "N" to go to a new frame, and other various functions as such. (It is freely available for download from the [http://darkdemon.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27080&start=0''DarkDemon.org forum''].) |
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;3D Mod |
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:This mod did not live up to many of the expectations presented by the DD community. To animate in the 3D mod, individual .stks (or "sticks") must still be used.'''Pivot 3.1 Beta |
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===Stykz=== |
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A similar program based on Pivot, [[Stykz]], has almost all the functionalities of Pivot 2.25, and many that have never been included in any version of Pivot. Most of Stykz' features are similar to Pivot's. Stykz can import Pivot 2.x and 3.x .stk figures, but is not yet compatible with .piv projects. Stykz is being developed in [[RunRev|LiveCode]] and works on Mac and Windows (with Linux planned) is available for free download from [http://stykz.net''stykz.net'']<ref>[http://stykz.net''Stykz website'']</ref>. On November 26, 2010, [http://www.darkdemon.org''Darkdemon''] started a Stykz discussion forum, and on November 27, 2010, [http://www.droidz.org''Droidz''] announced that they will soon be accepting .styk files for downloading. |
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=References= |
=References= |
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{{Reflist}} |
{{Reflist}} |
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==External links== |
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===Pivot Forums=== |
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<!-- Feel Free to add your forum to this list... --> |
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*[http://www.darkdemon.org/''Dark Demon''] |
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*[http://www.droidz.org/''Droids''] |
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*[http://www.pivotanimation.net/''Pivot Animation''] |
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*[http://www.pivotbrasil.forumeiros.com/''Pivot Brasil''] |
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{{Animation editors}} |
{{Animation editors}} |
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Revision as of 20:08, 26 January 2011
| Pivot Stickfigure animator running on Windows XP media center edition | |
| Developer(s) | Peter Bone[1] |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 2.2.5
/ September 7, 2004 |
| Written in | Delphi |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Type | Graphics software, Design tools |
| License | Abandonware |
| Website | pivotanimator |
Pivot Stickfigure Animator (usually shortened to Pivot) is a freeware Windows application that allows users to create stick-figure animations, and save them in the animated GIF (Graphics Interchangeable Format) format used on web pages and, which can also be converted into videos using other software, such as Windows Movie Maker.
Pivot provides a simple, easy to use interface with a few features. It uses fixed length 'sticks' to ensure size consistency during animation, something which is not as simple to recreate in professional animation software such as Blender or Adobe Flash.
Animations created within Pivot are uploaded frequently to the well known video forum, YouTube. There are also websites that allow the sharing of Pivot Project Files (.piv) or Stick Figure Files (.stk) created with Pivot[2].
Releases
Pivot 1.0
First Pivot release. This version of Pivot Animator had several software bugs, as with most first-generation programs. Stick figures were limited to one type of stick figure, the default stickman. Animations could be saved in the .PIV (Pivot Project File) or exported as Animated .GIFs (Graphics Interchangeable Format) format. Users were given few options of image optimization, compression or resizing when saving their animation.
Pivot 2.2
Second major release of the Pivot Stickfigure Animator. This version implemented the 'Stick Figure Builder', which allowed users to create their own stick figure designs saved in the STK format. This allowed a much wider scope of animation choice for Pivot users. It also fixed a few minor bugs, added the "back" and "front" buttons to the main interface to bring a stick figure in front or behind other figures, and could automatically check to make sure the user does not lose unsaved projects.
Pivot 2.2.5
In this version, Pivot was introduced as a MSI Installer Package, ensuring that the program would be installed properly. This made the use of Registry Keys(.reg) easier to install, and that the appropriate file associations for animation and stick figure files would be set. Other additions include unique icons for .PIV and .STK files, the ability to load JPEG backgrounds, and further warnings when a user tried to overwrite an existing file, to make sure that the animation that they were working on were not lost.
A few more minor bugs were fixed in this release, and the installer was now downloaded as an Executable .EXE file instead of the Windows Installer '.msi. There is also another feature which allows the animator to select the stk on screen using the Scroll on the mouse in case the joints were not on the screen. This version was considered the last "official" release of Pivot. This is one of the most commonly used versions of Pivot. Pivot 2.2.5 is currently the most stable version, but the more knowledgeable pivot animators use DarkDemon's (a Pivot community) called "Pivot Hotkeys" (see below).
Pivot 3.1 Beta
This release was sent intentionally to the Pivot Animation MSN groups for testing[4], but the Beta was leaked from various unofficial sources (such as the DarkDemon forums) to the general public. Several features had been vastly improved and several new features had been added. There was an improved interface, with new icons, a better default stickman with bolder arms and legs and a reorganization of the features. New features included the ability to import any .GIF or .BMP image as a sprite to be moved around in the animation like a stick figure. Another added feature was the ability to have multiple backgrounds in an animation. When a user saved a .piv file, the frame rate was saved with it.
Future Releases
Because the developer, Peter Bone, stopped work on the project before releasing a Final version of the 3.1 Beta, there never was, and supposedly never will be, a Pivot 3.1 Final Release. On YouTube, he said, "I have a full time job now and so I don't have time to make my own programs."
References