Coming from Pivot or Stick Nodes
Open your .piv, .stk and Stick Nodes files, keep your Pivot habits, find where each Pivot control is now, and fix animation that plays too fast or snaps.
If you animated in Pivot Animator or Stick Nodes, you already know most of StykAnimate. This guide shows you how to open your old files, what works exactly as before, what is different, and where to find each control you are used to.
- Open your files: drag a .piv or .stk onto the window, or use File → Open project… (Ctrl+O). Stick Nodes .stknds, .nodes, .nodemc and .zip files open too.
- Your hands already know it: red joints turn, the orange one moves the figure, Ctrl-drag stretches. Click Simple in the timeline for Pivot-style frame cards.
- Animation too fast or snappy? When you press A, the frame before the new one drops to 0 inbetweens (1/24 of a second), and every frame uses Constant easing. Raise Inbetweens to slow a frame down; pick Auto easing to make it glide.
Open your Pivot and Stick Nodes files
- Choose File → Open project… (Ctrl+O), or drag the file from your folder onto the StykAnimate window.
- If your current animation has unsaved changes and the file is a whole project, StykAnimate asks Save changes to…? first: Save, Don’t save or Cancel.
- The file opens. If anything came in differently from the original, an import notes window (Pivot import notes or Stick Nodes import notes) lists what and why. Read it before you change anything.
- Press Ctrl+S to save your work as a StykAnimate project (.styk). Your original file is never changed.
What each kind of file does:
| File | What it is | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| .piv | A Pivot animation, versions 2 to 5 | Opens as your project, with its figures, frames, sprites and background |
| .stk | A Pivot figure | Is added to your current animation as a new figure |
| .stknds | A Stick Nodes project | Opens as your project: its figures, movieclips, poses, sprites, text, backgrounds and camera keys |
| .nodes | A Stick Nodes figure | Is added to your current scene as a figure you can edit |
| .nodemc | A Stick Nodes movieclip | Is added to your current scene as one movieclip |
| .zip | A Stick Nodes pack | Lists what is inside; pick the one you want |
The browser editor opens all of these too. The first time you open a Pivot file, it takes a moment longer while the Pivot reader downloads (about 13 MB). Stick Nodes files don’t need it.
What feels the same
The canvas uses Pivot’s colours, and posing works the way your hands remember. A joint is one of the dots on a figure (Stick Nodes calls it a node); the origin is the orange dot that moves the whole figure.
Figures you have not selected show blue dots; the selected one shows red dots and its orange origin.
A Pivot-style timeline
StykAnimate has two views of the same timeline. Advanced (the default) shows layers and keys on a ruler. Simple shows one card per frame with a thumbnail, like Pivot’s frame strip.
- At the left end of the timeline header, click Simple. The frame cards appear, with the frame bar on their left.
- Click a card to go to that frame, and pose. Press A to add the next frame.
- To always start in Simple, open Edit → Settings… (Ctrl+,), then Interface, and choose Simple under Timeline.
Switching changes only the view: nothing in your animation moves. More in Simple or Advanced timeline?
Why is my animation too fast or choppy?
This surprises almost everyone who comes from Pivot. Two settings decide how a frame plays: how long it lasts, and how it moves on to the next pose.
- How long it lasts: Inbetweens. A frame always shows for one frame of time, plus its inbetweens. At 24 frames per second (fps), one frame is 1/24 of a second, about 0.04 s.
- How it moves on: Easing. New frames use Constant easing: the pose holds, then jumps to the next one, exactly like a frame in Pivot.
Here is what happens in a new project. It starts as one frame of Blue with 9 inbetweens: 10 frames, 0.42 seconds. In the Simple timeline, A inserts a copy of the current frame right after it. The new frame takes over the 9 inbetweens, and the frame before it drops to 0. So if you press A three times and pose each frame, your first three poses flash by at 0.04 s each, and only the last one stays on screen. Played back, it looks far too fast.
To fix it:
- Click the first frame card. The frame bar on the left says Frame 1 of 4 and how long it holds.
- Raise Inbetweens with the +, or type a number. Each inbetween adds 1/24 s. The bar under the card grows.
- Do the same for each frame, then press Space to play. The poses now stay on screen, but each one still snaps to the next.
- To make a move glide instead of snap, open the frame’s Easing menu in the frame bar and choose Auto (smooth starts and stops) or Linear (the same speed all the way).
| Inbetweens | The frame lasts (at 24 fps) | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 frame, 0.04 s | A flash, an impact frame |
| 2 | 3 frames, 0.13 s | A fast punch or step |
| 5 | 6 frames, 0.25 s | An ordinary move |
| 11 | 12 frames, 0.5 s | A slow move, a short pause |
| 23 | 24 frames, 1 s | A held pose, a look |
Try the difference below: play it, then change the easing and play it again.
- Press Space: Blue snaps across.
- Double-click the first key.
- Choose Auto and play again.
- Try Linear too, and compare.
Many animators add all their poses with A first, then go back and set each card’s Inbetweens while playing the animation. It is quicker than guessing as you go.
Lowering the fps box in the timeline header makes every frame longer, but the motion also gets jerkier. Keep 24 fps and use Inbetweens instead. See Easing and The Simple timeline.
Where things are: Pivot → StykAnimate
| In Pivot you… | In StykAnimate |
|---|---|
| Drag the red handles to pose | The same, with Select and pose (V) on the tool rail |
| Click Next frame | A, or Add frame in the timeline header |
| Make or edit a figure in the figure builder | Select the figure, click Build in the top bar, change it, then click Done. See The Figure Builder |
| Load a figure file | Drop the .stk on the window, or File → Import → Import figures… |
| Add a sprite | Add (the + on the tool rail) → Image…, or File → Import → Import sprite image… |
| Load a background | File → Import → Import background…, or click an empty spot on the stage and use Background in Properties |
| Change a figure’s colour or size | Select it: Appearance and Transform in Properties, on the right |
| Flip a figure | Shift+H, or Flip at the top of Properties |
| Join a weapon to a hand | Join… in the Arrange section (J). See Join figures |
| Turn on onion skin | O, or the onion button in the timeline header |
| Change the animation speed | The fps box in the timeline header, or Rate in the scene’s Properties |
| Save a GIF or a video | Export in the top bar (Ctrl+Shift+E), then Video or GIF |
| Save for Pivot | Export → Project, then Pivot animation (.piv) or Pivot figure (.stk) |
What’s new to you
These have no Pivot equivalent. You don’t need any of them to start, but each one saves a lot of work later.
Each character on its own row, with its own timing, in the Advanced timeline.
Layers EasingMoves that speed up and slow down, instead of the same speed all the way.
Easing CameraPan, zoom and shake the view without moving every figure.
Camera IKDrag a hand and the elbow follows. Pin feet to the floor.
IK EffectsGlows, outlines, hit flashes, particles and more.
VFX SoundMusic and sound effects, lined up with the action and exported with the video.
AudioComing from Stick Nodes
Stick Nodes words, in StykAnimate:
A Stick Nodes project keeps its figures, poses, sprites, text, backgrounds, movieclips and camera keys. A few things can come in differently, and the Stick Nodes import notes tell you which:
- Sound: the project only names its audio files, so add your sounds again. See Audio.
- Smart stretch, floaty motion and connectors: your poses come in exactly as stored, but StykAnimate doesn’t recreate their automatic motion.
- Effects like blur and glow, and text fonts, can look a little different.
- Camera wobble and tracking are not simulated.
Keep your original Stick Nodes file: StykAnimate never changes it.
A safe way to move an existing animation
- Open the original file and read the import notes, if any appear.
- Press Ctrl+S straight away to save a .styk copy. Work on the copy; keep the original as it is.
- Click Simple, check the fps in the timeline header, and press Space to play the whole animation before you change anything.
- Make one small change and play it again.
- If you still need a Pivot file at the end, try Export → Project → Pivot animation early: effects, sound and some newer features can’t go into a .piv, and the Export window tells you when something can’t.
Common questions
Can I still send my animation to someone who uses Pivot?
Yes: Export → Project → Pivot animation. Things Pivot doesn’t have (effects, sound, connectors, Smart Stretch, some fills) can’t go into a .piv. The Export window tells you what is in the way, so you can keep a .styk copy with everything.
Will opening a .piv change it?
No. Opening never changes the original. Ctrl+S saves a separate StykAnimate project (.styk). If you export an unchanged Pivot file back to .piv, you get the same file, byte for byte.
Where is the figure builder?
It is the Build workspace. Select a figure, click Build in the top bar, and click Done when you have finished.
My Pivot animation plays at the wrong speed.
Check the fps box in the timeline header: it comes from your file. If it looks right, the timing of each frame is in its Inbetweens. See Why is my animation too fast or choppy?
Keep going
Still stuck?
Ask the community, or tell us what’s missing from the docs.