The Synfig 2D Animation package [LWN.net]

Synfig is a 2D vector animation film production system that runs under Linux, MacOS X and Windows. The Synfig project overview and history explains:

Synfig is a powerful, industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation software package, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources. While there are many other programs currently on the market to aid with the efficient production of 2D animation, we are currently unaware of any other software that can do what our software can.

One of the major and unique design goals of Synfig was to automate the tweening process, which involves smoothing out the coarse transitions from one image to the next.

Synfig started off as a commercial application. Primary developer Robert Quattlebaum's company Voria Studios, LLC released the software as open-source under the GNU GPL in early 2006. A January, 2006 OSNews interview with Quattlebaum covers the reasons behind this decision in more detail.

Synfig version 0.61.06 was recently announced: "It is the result of more than a year of contributions by the free software community. It has far fewer bugs, several usability enhancements, a set of new Tango-styled icons and other improvements."

A Linux screenshot shows the application's user interface. A few short animation clips are available on the Synfig gallery, they can be viewed with the MPlayer utility. Additional demos have been posted on YouTube. The quality of the demos shows that the software is indeed able to produce useful animation.

Synfig is available for download in source and package form here. There are a number of tutorials available for learning to use Synfig. The project is currently looking for assistance in the areas of C++ programming, art and documentation. Interested people should take part in the July 28, 2007 IRC meeting.

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