StykAnimate
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StykAnimate Docs

Find the control.
Understand the result.

Never animated before? Start here. Each guide shows you where a control is, what it does and how to use it, in short steps with a playground you can try right on the page. No experience needed.

Popular:Your first animationComing from PivotSmooth motionExport a video

New to animation?

Learn in order.

Seven short guides, from your first pose to a finished video. Each one builds on the one before, so start at 1 and stop whenever you like.

  1. 1The basicsPose Blue, add frames, play them back and save your first animation.20 min
  2. 2Pose a figureTurn, stretch and bend any part of a figure, exactly where you want it.10 min
  3. 3The Simple timelineAdd, copy and delete frames, and choose how long each one stays on screen.9 min
  4. 4EasingMake a move speed up and slow down, instead of snapping from pose to pose.7 min
  5. 5Onion skinSee faded copies of the frames around you, so each pose follows on from the last.5 min
  6. 6The cameraPan, zoom and follow the action without moving every figure.10 min
  7. 7ExportTurn your animation into a video or a GIF you can share.10 min
  8. DoneYou can make an animation from start to finish and share it.About 71 min in all

Don’t have the app yet? Install StykAnimate first (6 min), or open it in your browser. Used Pivot or Stick Nodes before? Read Coming from Pivot or Stick Nodes next.

What are you working on?

Start here

Make my first animation

Pose Blue, the stick figure every new project starts with, add a few frames and play them back. Takes about 20 minutes.

The basics Switching

Move over from Pivot or Stick Nodes

Open your .piv, .stk and Stick Nodes files, keep your habits, and find where each Pivot control is now.

Coming from Pivot Timing

Make the motion smooth

Choppy, or much too fast? Two settings control it: how long a frame lasts and how it moves to the next pose.

Easing Figure Builder

Draw my own character

Build a figure from lines, circles and shapes, give it colours, then pose and animate it just like Blue.

The Figure Builder Share

Turn it into a video

Export an MP4, a GIF or still pictures, trim the start and end, and pick a size for where you will post it.

Export Get unstuck

Fix something that went wrong

A figure won’t move, a pose snaps, the canvas is blank or an export fails? Find the cause and the fix.

Troubleshooting

Already animating? Go deeper with the Advanced timeline, Smart Stretch and Connectors.

Every guide

Everything the editor can do.

48 guides, grouped by what you are making. Each one starts with the simplest way to do something and ends with the details, the limits and the fixes.

Keyboard

Six keys to learn first.

You don’t need to remember every shortcut. These six cover most of a first animation. In the app, point at a button and wait a moment: its tooltip shows its shortcut.

All shortcuts
AAdd frame / key
SpacePlay / pause
OOnion skin
Ctrl+ZUndo
Ctrl+SSave
Ctrl+PCommand palette
Coming from Pivot or Stick Nodes?Your projects open in StykAnimate, and your Pivot habits still work. See what is the same and where things moved. Stuck on something?Ask the community on Discord, or send a report with the steps, the app version and a small project.