Scene size, frame rate and background
Make a vertical video, change the background and set the frames per second.
The scene is the picture your animation lives in: its size and shape, its background, and how many frames play each second. In this guide you turn a wide scene into a vertical video for phones, give it a background and change its speed.
- Click an empty part of the stage (or Scene in the stage header) to open the Scene settings in Properties.
- Width and Height set the size in pixels. Figures keep their positions and size: nothing is stretched.
- Background is a colour, a gradient or a picture. Rate is the frames per second.
Make a vertical video
New projects are 960 × 540: wide, like a TV. For TikTok, Shorts or Reels you want the same picture standing up.
- Open the Scene settings. Click an empty part of the stage, away from Blue. Properties shows Scene, with a line like “1 figure · 24 frames · 1.00 s” under it.
- Make it tall. Under Canvas, type Width 1080 and press Enter, then Height 1920 and Enter. The white artboard stands up, and the stage header reads Scene 1080 × 1920.
- Notice Blue. He kept his position and size in pixels, so he is now small and near the top. Move and scale your figures (and the camera) to fit the new shape.
- Colour the background. Under Background, click the white swatch. In the picker, drag in the square or type a HEX colour. The stage changes as you pick.
- Change the speed. Under Playback, type Rate 12 and press Enter. The same 24 frames now last 2 seconds instead of 1: press Space to see Blue wave at half speed.
- Click an empty part of the stage to open the Scene settings.
- Make it vertical: Width 1080, Height 1920.
- Change the background: click the swatch and pick a colour.
- Change the Rate, for example to 12 fps.
- Press Space (or the play button) to see the new speed.
Open the Scene settings
Any of these shows the Scene settings in Properties:
- Click an empty part of the canvas.
- Click Scene 960 × 540 at the left of the stage header (the small swatch beside it opens the background colour straight away).
- Click the Scene row in the Advanced timeline.
- Choose View → Scene properties…, or search Scene properties… in the command palette (Ctrl+P).
The line under the title counts the figures on the current frame, the frames in the animation and how long it lasts. While you edit inside a movieclip, these settings belong to the clip: click Done first to get back to the main scene.
Size and shape
Under Canvas, Width and Height are whole pixels from 1 to 16,384. Type a number and press Enter, or drag the field’s name sideways. Your exported video is this size unless you choose another size when you export.
| Shape | Size | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Wide 16:9 (the default) | 960 × 540, or 1920 × 1080 for Full HD | YouTube, a TV, a computer screen |
| Vertical 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels |
| Square 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 | Feeds and profile pictures |
Figures keep their position and size in pixels, counted from the top-left corner. Make the scene bigger and they look smaller; make it smaller and some may end up outside it. Move or scale them yourself, and check the camera on every shot. Ctrl+Z undoes a resize.
Going from 960 × 540 to 1920 × 1080 keeps the shape but doubles every distance. If you only want a sharper video, keep the scene size and choose a bigger size when you export instead.
The background
Under Background:
- The swatch opens the colour picker. Pick a colour, or switch the picker to Gradient for a Linear, Radial, Angular or Diamond blend with as many colour stops as you like. Alpha % makes it see-through.
- The picture button (Import background) loads an image as the background. File → Import → Import background… does the same.
- Library… opens the Background window: every background this project has used. Search them, pick one and click Use selected, give it a Name and click Rename, or set a new fill with the Solid color button and click Apply fill.
A see-through background shows a checkerboard while you work. Whether the exported file keeps the transparency depends on the format.
A background image is part of the scene: it can’t move, scale or use parallax on its own. If the picture should move, add it as a sprite instead (File → Import → Import sprite image…), see Text and images.
Change the background during the animation
The background belongs to the Scene row of the Advanced timeline, so it can change over time, like a sky going from day to sunset.
- In the Advanced timeline, click the Scene cell where the new background should start and press A. A violet dot (a key) appears.
- Change the background now. Without that key, the change would go to the earlier key and change the background from there on.
- Double-click the earlier Scene key to set its easing: Constant switches at the new key, Linear or Auto blends the colours over the frames in between.
Frames per second
Under Playback, Rate is how many frames play each second, from 1 to 120. It is the same number as the fps field in the timeline header. New projects use 24.
The length in seconds is frames ÷ rate: 48 frames last 2 seconds at 24 fps and 4 seconds at 12 fps. Changing the rate doesn’t add or remove frames, so the whole animation plays faster or slower. Camera moves and keys are counted in frames, so they speed up and slow down with it. Audio clips stay in seconds, so check your sound sync after changing the rate.
In Pivot every frame is a pose you drew. StykAnimate plays 24 frames a second and can fill the frames between your poses with inbetweens. For a choppy, hand-made look, use Constant easing or a lower rate.
Problems and questions
My figures got small after I made the scene bigger.
They kept their pixel size. Scale them up or move the camera in, or undo the resize with Ctrl+Z.
Some frames have the old background.
The background follows the Scene row’s keys. Click the Scene cell where it should change, press A, then set the background again; or select the frames and set it once.
I can’t change the background.
The Scene row is locked or hidden in the timeline: click its lock or eye.
My animation is too fast or too slow after changing fps.
That is what the rate does: same frames, different speed. To keep the same speed at a new rate, you also need to change how many frames each pose holds.
Related
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