kagestudio_v0.3.200512_win64.zip

kagestudio_0.3.200512_amd64.deb

Yes, that’s a Debian file, tested working on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS — along with the usual Windows release. The big file size difference is because Windows (50MB) includes official precompiled FFMPEG from ffmpeg.org and Gtkmm-3.0 runtime, while GNU/Linux (295KB) will ask you to separately pre-install its dependency gtkmm-3.0 and ffmpeg.

I’ve also added the source code used for this release: kagestudio_v0.3.200512_src.zip

Finally, I can say, enjoy this free and open source vector-based 2D Animation Software for Windows and Ubuntu GNU/Linux! — released with 17 fixes, 5 implementations, 7 improvements and let me hear what you think!

~creek23

Changelog:
Timeline Pane fixes, implementations, and improvements!
* Fixed Issue #5 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/5/
* Fixed Issue #40 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/40/
* Fixed Issue #41 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/41/
* Fixed Issue #47 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/47/
* Fixed Issue #48 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/48/
* Fixed Issue #49 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/49/
* Fixed Issue #50 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/50/
* Fixed Issue #51 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/51/
* Fixed Issue #52 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/52/
* Fixed Issue #55 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/55/
* Fixed Issue #56 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/56/
* Fixed Issue #57 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/57/
* Fixed Issue #58 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/58/
* Fixed Issue #59 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/59/
* Fixed Issue #60 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/60/
* Fixed Issue #61 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/61/
* Fixed Issue #65 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/65/
* Implemented Request #42 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/42/
* Implemented Request #43 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/43/
* Implemented Request #44 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/44/
* Implemented Request #45 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/45/
* Implemented Request #46 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/46/
* removing workaround applied on Issue #25 — seems newer FFMPEG already addressed issue indicated in https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/25/
* spliced stage.cpp as code keeps getting bigger
* added stage_[extentions].cpp in Makefile
* adjusted shape movement via Arrow Keys
* displayed X/Y in status bar — not working well when zoomed-in/out
* centered dialogs for discard/quit messages
* experimented with Getting Shape’s Width and Height disregarding zoomed-size — still working on “Setting X/Y”

Still a late-ALPHA or early-BETA release but still a good progress. As most backlogs for v0.3 has already been implemented in previous release, didn’t really expect to implement last few needed changes in achieving version 0.3 soon given the difficulty compared the first set of v0.3 backlogs done.

Demo, you say? Have you seen this timelapse of me illustrating a frame from Your Name (Kimi no Na wa)‘s MV.

For overview, I’ve published the project’s Roadmap last week. And if you check the roadmap, you can see v0.3 is just the first half of v0.8. Nonetheless, just got more time to start working on v0.4 backlog (which is basically the second half of v0.2 backlog).

Of course, this release isn’t bug-free just yet. That means v0.3 will be in Maintenance Mode and will probably have several bug-fix releases before v0.4 comes out.

~creek23

UPDATE: Originally released a very buggy v0.3.200410. Had to re-release 0.3 series with v0.3.200411

Changelog:
– fixed KageFrame::isEmpty()
– fixed canReUseNextFrame (previously, canDuplicateNextFrame)
– fixed Makefile.gnu to properly compile
– implemented saving/loading of Frame extension
– implemented Remove Frame
— different to Delete Frame which deletes content of Frame
— Remove Frame decreases number of Frames from the last
– made Add Frame to add New Frame if Next Frame is not reusable (empty/extension)
– made New Layer get focus after Layer->Add
– revamped handling of switching frames
– removed constraint on Cut/Copy/Paste since Copying/Pasting Frames have different shortcut key (Ctrl+C vs Ctrl+Shift+C)
– added Onion-rendering if modifying shape
– added File->Close as alias of File->New
– added propmpt before New/Close if current content is unsaved
– added Doxygen file for dev docs
– removed use of KageFramesManager::currentFrame
– moved split/trim to StringHelper
– renamed framemanager.cpp to frameset.cpp to avoid confusion with framesmanager.cpp

And I kid you not, this release is packed with 65 CHANGES mostly related to Timeline Pane.

Source code is available via SVN, at SourceForge.

As a quick preview, here’s a timelapsed screencast of me illustrating a frame from Japanese Anime, Your Name (Kimi no Na wa).

With the help of my kids and nieces, I was able to do heavy testing and we were able to identify 16 bugs, 12 missing functionalities needing urgent implementation, and 12 optimizations, which were all fixed/implemented/optimized on this release.

As well as fixes of 6 Bug Reports; implementations of 15 Missing Functionalities; and lots of code clean-ups.

Please note that despite all these changes, Kage is still under Alpha Release.

~ceek23

Changelog:
– Fixed Issue #9 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/9/
– Fixed Issue #24 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/24/
– Fixed Issue #15 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/15/
– Fixed Issue #16 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/16/
– Fixed Issue #20 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/20/
– Fixed Issue #26 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/26/
– Implemented Issue #12 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/12/
– Implemented Issue #14 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/14/
– Implemented Ticket #18 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/18/
– Implemented Ticket #19 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/19/
– Implemented Workaround for Issue #25 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/25/
– Implemented Issue #27 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/27/
– Implemented Issue #29 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/29/
– Implemented Issue #30 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/30/
– Implemented Issue #32 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/32/
– Implemented Delete Layer (Issue #34 https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/34/)
– Implemented Issue #35 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/35/
– Implemented Issue #36 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/36/
– Implemented Issue #37 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/37/
– Implemented Issue #38 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/38/
– Implemented Issue #39 – https://sourceforge.net/p/kage/tickets/39/
– Fixed Timeline->Play
– Fixed items in Properties Pane showing upon opening KSF file
– Fixed missing icon to “Straighten”
– Fixed ffmpeg missing but Export AVI still proceeds to generate PNG Sequence having no AVI in the process
– Fixed layer renaming via double-clicking where rename dialog pops-up when double-clicking via visibility/lock icons
– fixed zoom issue where shapes on hidden layer are deleted
– fixed zoom issue where selected layer is not synchronized to frame
– fixed exporting PNG/AVI where only one layer is rendered
– fixed exporting AVI where file already exists and Kage Studio freezes
– fixed exporting HTML5/KS locked/hidden layers are not exported
– fixed Undo/Redo where layer is locked/hidden
– fixed Delete Layer when only one item is remaining
– fixed top layer not rendering when drawing/modifying shape
– fixed message when saving/exporting failed
– Fixed scrolling of Layers/Frames
– Fixed Node Properties Pane not showing
– Implemented use of GResource
– Implemented workaround for “FIX inability to select Frame 1 due to HPane” since, newer HPane-handling problem isn’t present no Ubuntu
– implemented Extend Frame
– implemented Shift/Control Zoom to Zoom-out
– added toBoolean in StringHelper
– added setCurrentLayerByID for use of KageFrame via KageFrameManager->Kage
– added KageStage::setSelectedShapes/getSelectedShapes to support code revamp for VectorDataManager
– added shape-selection via stroke
– Added File->Save As
– added overwrite prompt if saving/exporting filename already exists
– added Onion of Layers
– added guide when using Poly
– added Check Update but landing page is pending
– added separate Copy/Paste/Cut/Delete Frame under Timeline menu
– added Quit-App handler if content is unsaved
– added some formatting when saving KSF file
– optimized Timeline->Play
– Improved Fill/Stroke Alpha from Gtk::Entry to Gtk::Scale
– Improved File->Save
– layer/layermanager code revamp
– major KageStage/VectorDataManager code revamp: moved Vector-editing functions from KageStage to VectorDataManager
– revamped code from Kage to FramesManager/FrameManager/Frame
– Extracted string helpers functions to util/string/stringhelper.cpp as static functions
– Removed static KageFramesManager::currentLayer; use Kage::getCurrentLayer() instead
– reflected saving/loading of layer’s visibility/access(locked/unlocked state)
– disabled Double-Click-shortcut from SELECT to NODE when nothing is selected
– addressed Cairo deprecating write_to_png (added CairoKage)
– Renamed ‘shared’ to ‘share’

Here’s a sneak peek of the beloved character of Mr Berlin Manalaysay.

Just to be clear, rather than screencast of me drawing Combatron, the video above is a screencast of me doing Edit->Redo after Undo-ing — over 380 Redo. That’s because I haven’t placed a limit yet to the number of Undo Stacks that Kage Studio will have — that’s purpose of this stress testing. Although, I’m testing it under a 12GB RAM laptop. So, if someone can test it on lower RAM, please provide feedback.

With the technical topic over, so, what do you think of my retake on Combatron — I know the first one is a bust.

Also, you may have noticed the website indicated at the end of the video. Yes, it’s true. More on that later.

~creek23

Since releasing the first Kage Studio early BETA, I’ve made some minor but important fixes.

64bit Windows users (yes, even Windows 7 — not sure with earlier Windows) should be able to enjoy exporting their animations to AVI now that we packed a pre-compiled FFmpeg (by FFmpeg team) to the zipped file.

Another is the Saving and Opening of Kage Studio files which was buggy with previous release due to missing GTKMM3 dependency files — it was working fine on my Windows dev box with all the dependency files neatly installed.

Thanks for the input from first release tester, vonHalenbach — I’m sorry you weren’t able to save your files.

Download Kage Studio 0.2.20200202 for Windows on SourceForge.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/konsolscript/files/studio/kagestudio_v0.20200202_win64.zip

Feedback is always appreciated.

Next release would focus on the Timeline pane. As of current, one can only Add Frame, Duplicate Frame, Add Layer, and nothing else. This may take a while as current implementation is heavily dependent on Frames inside this Timeline.

~creek23

What’s in it? It’s CPP-port of Quixie 0.4 series. Is it faster? Well, I haven’t fully benchmarked it yet but more than being faster than FreeBASIC-port, I’m aiming for Chrome/Firefox plug-in for Web-deployment capability. So, “Why?” …well, why not?

I plan to officially release it once we are on one to one porting of capabilities as current Quixie is heavily dependent on FreeBASIC’s functionality which could ideally be translated to CPP as well but it may take time which is rather scarce — like playing MP3, WAV, OGG — as well as loading BMP, JPG, TGA. Not to mention, the pixel-perfect collision detection. So, yeah, the current state of Quixie 0.5 is somewhat crippled but what a milestone that we actually have a CPP-ported Quixie in the repository that can load and display PNG and vectors, eh? I was actually able to play Smack with it! See screenshot below (just don’t mind the frame rate as my current build has lots of debug prints)

I’m planning to drop BMP/JPG/TGA support and instead, focus my limited free time on enabling Network functionality of CPP-ported Quixie.

If you can’t wait for the release, you can always checkout the current code and compile it yourself. Current code was tested to compile and work on a 64-bit Windows using MSYS2.

Happy hacking!
~creek23

Was gonna clean-up my drive when I realized that the prototype-ish source code of Kage Studio hasn’t been committed, yet.

Didn’t have a working GTKMM-2.0/GCC on my Windows box so I have no idea what works and what does not in the code, so I simply committed the code last week.

Days past and I’m itching to see if I can compile the code, so I started setting-up a dev box. Fast forward, here it is! Got the code to compile under Windows 7 64-bit using GNU GCC-G++ and GTKMM-3.0!

Also did a fix about the flicker issue which made me stop the development of Kage Studio, back when I was not getting support from GTK+/Cairo developers.

Still won’t be releasing a working binary as the code is pretty bare; no added functionality was made since 5 years ago. It can only draw rectangles and export them in HTML5 or KonsolScript as shown in screenshot below; no animations just yet.

You can compile the code yourself by checking-out the code, assuming you have a working dev box with GNU GCC-G++ 5.3 and GTKMM-3.18.6.

Won’t commit any promises for now. Will blog post as the code progresses.

~creek23

Was gonna resume working on it again last week until I bumped into the root cause of what I thought was a bug in Smack’s code. Apparently, I need to update my GCC for Windows (MinGW) as I currently don’t have a GNU/Linux box. I’m currently using GCC 4.8.1, and 4.8 series is currently in 4.8.5. Sadly, MinGW isn’t offering it. So when I tried to compile GCC 4.8.5 it myself, it doesn’t seem to work properly on Windows — or I suck at compiling compilers. -_-

~creek23

So, I tried bringing the concern to FreeBASIC developers, that “fbc should be added in Ubuntu’s and/or Debian’s upstream”, but they don’t see this as an issue. I think they only see FreeBASIC as a hobbyist’s tool. I waited years for them to actually have it submitted to no avail.

Quixie’s dependency on FreeBASIC is an anchor for the project. It’s about time to move forward and leave the BAS source codes behind.

I’m currently porting Smack in C++ with IrrLicht as the graphics engine. Carefully building what would be a Kage Library, then add the scripting capability along with the game to finally have a brand new Quixie, in the hopes of making Quixie more portable, and available to Ubuntu Software Center. Fingers crossed.

With IrrLicht, 3D would be available in Kage as well.

I’m quite happy that it’s actually easy to port the game itself given the similarity of KonsolScript and C++ in syntax. Pretty much proves that KonsolScript/Quixie is a very good prototyping tool for any gamers with brewing idea. I only had to write the functionalities of loading and rendering of PNG files. Handing mouse and keyboard inputs are okay. Some others are still not implemented, especially handling sound. If you know a free and open source sound library that is compatible with IrrLicht’s license, please comment below.

~creek23

Yes, is some ways it still is game-related — kind of like scripting an explosion when the player throws a bomb or something. But this use case is basically pre-rendering FX then saving it as frames to be used as a clip on a video.

No, KonsolScript doesn’t have the capability to create an image file on your disk. Yet. But with a few modifications, it does now.

Introducing Screen:Capture(filename) command!

I figured, this function can also be used when you want your players help you debug your game.

Visual FX does sound like an exaggeration to describe my experiment. It’s actually more of automating my task of doing a simple animation for a skateboarding video ad. But still, any one can always script a particle system and use it as a Visual FX of a fire, smoke, or explosion for a clip — and I believe KonsolScript can do that as well.

You may not know this but I’ve long been restraining myself from using proprietary tools (except for Windows so I could make sure Quixie does run on Windows as it does on GNU/Linux, and except for Windows Movie Maker — let’s face it, there really is no other good Free and Open Source video editing software that runs right out of the box and is easy to use).

So I’ve created a 30-second video using only Free and Open Source software namely GIMP, Inkscape, Audacity, FFMPEG, and KonsolScript — with Windows Movie Maker being the only non-FOSS software involved (and Windows, of course).

So where did KonsolScript came in to the view? It was when I needed a transition of the following photo below.

I’m pretty sure that no other ready-made open source video editing tool (not even Movie Maker) could do this simple animation.

With time running out, there’s no way I could learn Blender’s Video Sequence editor and do this simple less-than-two-seconds animation. In less than 5 minutes, I updated Quixie, wrote the script for the animation and I’m done!

It’s not officially out yet — I’m still working on the release-process like committing it on SVN, updating the installer, etc.

Just a side note, we currently have a company activity that includes video editing — I’m excited to see how KonsolScript will help in generating some of the effects/animation.

~creek23