Animations with Pivot Animator 4

Animations with Pivot Animator 4

Animations

Pivot Animator is free animation software. It is a great tool to learn the basic concepts of animation. Animation is a process of displaying of images in rapid sequence to create the impression of movement. It is like the flip book. A flip book is a book with a series of images that gradually change from one page to another. As you flip the book, the image or picture looks like it is moving. Pivot mainly uses lines and circles to create animations. It is a very simple program that is great for learning to animate, and always good for practicing. The creator, Peter Bone, decided to make a free to use animation program for people who would like to learn if they are cut out for animation.

Pivot allows you to easily create frame-by-frame animations.  You can move the sections of the stick figure and easily create a chain of animation frames that can be previewed as you go.  You can use more than one stick-figure in the animation, and even create your own stick figures using an easy to use visual editor that lets you assemble objects out of lines and circles.  This “free” application must be downloaded and installed on a local computer. This software only runs on Microsoft Windows. If you are looking for a comparable product for the Apple Mac OS, try Stykz. (download link of Pivot Animator software for windows is available at the end of this article).

Pivot Animator

Pivot Animator (formerly Pivot Stickfigure Animator and usually shortened to Pivot) is a freeware application that allows users to create stick-figure and sprite animations, and save them in the animated GIF format for use on web pages and the AVI format.

Pivot provides a simple, easy to use interface with a few features. It uses fixed length 'sticks' to ensure size consistency during animation.

First release

The first version of Pivot Animator had several software bugs. 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). Users were given few options of image optimization, compression or resizing when saving their animation.[ This Was one of the first animation programs available on the computer.

Pivot 2.2

The 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 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 didn't lose any unsaved projects.[citation needed]

Pivot 3.1 Beta

This release was sent intentionally to the Pivot Animation MSN groups for testing but the Beta was leaked from various unofficial sources to the general public.[citation needed] 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 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 saves a .piv file, the frame rate is saved with it.

Pivot 4.1

Pivot 4.1 beta was released was on January 2, 2013, with new features including.

•     Figure opacity

•     Extended canvas area

•     Multi-select and edit figures

•     Stretch segments using the Ctrl key

•     Rotate / scale figures using the Alt key

•     Image based figure and background selector

•     Split a segment into 2 in the figure builder

•     Copy and paste frames

•     Improved Gif export options and quality

•     Avi video export

•     Join figures tool

•     Png support for sprites and backgrounds

•     Keyboard shortcuts

•     Multiple languages and the ability to create your own translation

•     Multiple frame onion skins (0-9)

•     Undo / redo

•     Image preview of Stk files when loading figures

Pivot Animator 4.1.10 was released as the "stable" version of 4.1 and is still the latest non-beta version so far (as of October 2015). Pivot 4.2 was announced on December 23, 2014 followed by a beta release on January 1, 2015. New features include copying and pasting selected stick figures and sprites, a transparent figure builder window, and the ability to export images in the Scalable Vector Graphics format.

Click below to see the Animation Demo and Tutorial to Animations using Pivot Animator 4:

Tutorial to create Animations with Pivot Animator 4:

Tutorial 1: 

Tutorial 2: 

Tutorial 3: 

Tutorial 4: 

Tutorial 5: 

Tutorial 6: 

***Question and Answers on Pivot Animator***

Q1. What is flip book?

Ans: A flip book is a book with a series of images that gradually change from one page to another.

Q2. What is Animation?

Ans: Animation is the process of displaying images in a rapid sequence to create the impression of movement.

Q3. What is Pivot Animator and why it is use?

Ans: Pivot Animator is a user friendly software. It is use to create Two Dimensional (2D) stick figure animation.

Q4. How to move the stick figure in Pivot Animator 4?

Ans: The stick figure is moved by clicking on the Orange dot or Origin handle. The Red dot or Segment Handle is use to move a specific part of the stick figure

Q5. Write down the steps to create our own Stick Figure?

Ans:

Step1: Go to File Menu option

Step2: Click on ‘Create Figure Type’ option. So the Stick Figure Builder Window will Open.

Step3: Choose desired controls or tools and create your own stick figure.

Q6. Panshul created an animation in Pivot Animator 4. He wants to Play his animation again and again. Help him to do the same.

Ans: Panshul has to go to ‘Player control Section’ and has to check the Loop option then click on Play.

Q7. How to create the Animation in Pivot Animator 4?

Ans: An Animation can be created by creating a series of frames where each frame is slightly different from previous frame.

Q8. Why Frame Rate Scroll bar is used?

Ans: The Frame Rate Scroll bar is used set the playing speed of the Animation. The value below the scroll bar shows the frame rate in frames per second (fps) which ranges from 7 fps means slow playing to 33 fps means fast playing.

Q9. Write Down the difference between Save Animation and Export Animation.

Save Animation	Export Animation
Save Animation option is use to save your file in the default file format or extension of Pivot Animator i.e .piv	Export Animation Option is use to Save your animation file in animated GIF file or an AVI video file.
We can load and edit our animation again and again.	We can not load and edit the animation.

Q10. Write down the controls or tools for building a stick figure.

Q11. Rucha has created animation in pivot animator. She wants to save her animation. What steps she should follow.

Ans :

Step1: Click on File Menu.

Step2: Choose “Save Animation” option from appeared list.

Step3: A dialogue box will open, give any suitable Name to your created animation. It will be saved with given name and “.piv” extension or file format.

Q12. Raju has created an animation in Pivot Animator. He wants to upload his animation on youtube or wants to see in mobile phone as a video. Help him to do the same.

Ans: Raju will have to choose Export Animation option to convert his animation in video.

Steps to Export Animation:

Step1: Click on File Menu.

Step2: Choose “Export Animation” option from appeared list.

Step3: A dialogue box will open, give any suitable Name to your created animation with “.AVI” or .GIF extension. It will be exported in video or GIF format.

Q13. Fill in the blanks.

1.      The default extension to save pivot animator file is     .PIV    .

2.      The created stick figure is saved with     .STK    extension.

3.            Tween      is the short form for in-between.

4.      The term 2 D stands for     Two Dimensional   

5.            Create Figure Type      option is used to draw our own stick figure.

6.      The stick figure build from line or circle is called    Segments   .

7.         Segment Handle or Red Dots    is use to move a specific segment of an stick figure.

8.      We can make up to     255      segment in one stick figure.

9.         Origin Handle or Orange Dot    is use to move the whole stick figure.

10.   Arrow keys  are used to move the selected figure accurately.

11. We can slow down an animation without creating duplicate frames by entering value for each frame in the   Repeat Box     .

12. The    Timeline    shows all frames in the animation at the top of the main window.

13. The shadow of the previous frame is displayed on the current frame is called   Onion Skins    .

14. The term FPS stands for   Frames Per Second    .

15. FPS ranges from   7   to   33    frames to specify slow and fast playing.

Download Books for Advance Learning:

Download Pivot Animator Software
Pivot Animator Help 4.pdf
Pivot Animator.pdf