65 replies to this topic

[teej]

TradNux 2d Animator
version 0.9 beta

Tradnux Animator is a 2d animation tool designed to help people in the indie game development scene to quickly create dynamic animated character sprites for their game projects. You can build a 2d character figure by adding and eventually creating a hierarchy of nodes or pivot points which you can rotate and resize, ultimately allowing you to create a body parts joined together which you can animate by simply adding frames and manipulating the pivot points.


See the animated sprites samples above? Tradnux Animator can help you produce sprites and graphics like that.

The Fighting Afroguy above is an example of animated polygon figure which Tradnux supports, allowing you to choose different polygonal shapes and apply color or textures to them. With this you can create "Iji" game style graphics easily.

The Fighting Girl in Blue above is an example of animated sprite based figure which you can create in Tradnux Animator, this will give your character figures more detailed appearance and more flexible animations. Tradnux allows you to import images/sprites (.png and .gif) and assign them to any nodes/points. With this, you can even reuse animations and re-skin your figure with different character sprites.

Tradnux can save/load your work, and it can export your animation into sequenced PNG files.

This tool will be similar to Tahnok's "Skeleton" tool (that, Tractimation and Pivot are my inspiration in creating Tradnux Animator) in that it has the same method of animating a structured figure. However Skeleton hasn't been updated for many years now, it is missing on some upgrades in GM, specifically the native support for PNG for better sprite quality. I always planned on making this tool for my own use, but it will really prove helpful enough for others.

This v8.0 released version is the earliest beta release, most functions are not yet implemented. And of course bugs are always there, so please report them ASAP.

This new release is v0.95 beta... we are really close to pushing to version 1. Lots of changes have been done especially on the save system.

Version is 0.98 Release Candidate beta. Big updates and bug fixes. New additions that may finally let users produce character animations with ease. Previous saved files will no longer work on this version though.


Also excuse me for the lack of guide or examples for to get the idea on how to work with it. I will make it up to you in the next reupload. Now... there available sample files (.tsf) you can load into Tradnux.

Screenshot



Old Screenshots

version Beta 0.9
version Beta 0.86
version beta 0.75
version alpha 0.6

Category: Tools and Applications.
File Size: 2.4 MB (1.4 MB: archived)
GM Version: GM8
Vista Compatible: yes
Changes Screen Resolution: no

Download Links:
(Note: I will now start uploading archived files (.rar) from now on since there will be multiple files required in the future)


Latest Version (v0.98b RC)
Tradnux2dAnimator from Host-A

Version (v0.86b)
Tradnux2dAnimator from MediaFire
Tradnux2dAnimator from YoyoGames


Old Version Download
tradnux animator v0.7 beta.exe from Host-A

Progress Logs:

Version 0.98 RC beta
- Fixed data file error.
- Added Spline All Points Tool
- Added Spline Point Tool
- Clean up sprites when deleting a Pivot Point for smaller filesize
- Node grip depth fix (force the node grips to appear on top)
- Export to Animated GIF
- Render Export Auto Crop
- Cropping Tool
- Sprite Deletion
- Drag Image Files to screen and it will automatically create the pivot point as well.

Version 0.95 beta
- Added File Format Support
- Added Flex Mode options on drawn image parts
- Added functionality to choose output folder
- Updated the Settings Window controls (project, output settings)
- Added Point Manager Sprite Window
- Improved Drawing Speed When Grid is enabled (grid display update)
- Fixed the quick sprite edit box (rotate, flip, reposition)
- Added sprite flexi modes
- Frame interpolations implemented (Smoothen, Reverse)
- Updated bone transform (Width, Length, Scale)
- Load backdrop
- and other obscure changes...

Version 0.90 beta
- Added Menu Bar options
- Added Point Manager Widget
- Added Project Settings Widget
- Added User Preferences Settings

Version 0.86 beta
- Zoom In/Out
- Scrollers
- Added Edit Mode (Free Node Transform)
- Sprite Set Transform Control
- Frame Animation Interpolations
- Full Screen Mode
- Tooltips options
- Grid options
- Miscellaneous options

Version 0.80 beta
- Application window size increased to 1024 x 768.
- Updated the GUI buttons.
- Added Nodes Point Manager for alternative transforms control.
- Implemented Animated GIF exporting (SilentDos + ImageMagick).
- Depth Control






To-DO-list:
Undo and Redo
Inserting Backgrounds
Export to .avi
Export Dialog Box
Profile Settings Box
Character Settings Box
Character Overview Box
Frame Management - Copy, Cut, Paste
Color Control Tool
Ease In/Out
Additional Shapes
Premade Sprites
Premade Characters
Premade Animations
Better Help File / User's Guide
Export for GameMaker usage
Weapon Sprite Design Tool
Body Part Sprite Maker Tool

Back compatibility for saved files from this version may not be supported on future versions.

Again apology to everyone for not including any demo guide videos. I will certainly work on that for the next releases.

Please try it and then give me some feedbacks; comments, suggestions, recommendations, anything.

Also... please do not use the sample animation.. that robot thing is already used on one of my games.

Regards,
Teej

Edited by teej, 21 July 2012 - 08:47 PM.

[gmdud]

Not bad at all, I actually made a program similar to this, But mine works more like a 3D skeletal animation tool, It exports the bone positions and rotations and what not of each key frame to a file, then I load that file into a game and build the skeleton with sprites attached to it, then tween the positions in real time for super smooth skeletal animations, Now I haven't spent much time on my programs interface so it's a bit tricky to use(which is why I'm telling you because this one seems to be easier to use), But you should add support to export the animation to a file which stores the bone positions/rotations of each frame so you can animate a character in real time in your game using separate sprites attached to each bone.

If possible, you should do some research on inverse kinematics, If you can find a good solving algorithm for it, then It would make animating even easier and quicker in this program, But I can still deal with forward kinematics.

[teej]

It has the potential to be used directly in Game Maker to allow for real-time animation, in fact that is what I intend in the future because that would have lots of advantages over the usual imported animated sprites;

- It creates a number of animation from non-animated images (body parts sprites) in real-time.
- Smoother animations (you can even switch to a lower fps for less cpu).
- You can re-use animations and skin the figure with different sprites creating multiple characters.

I will also add the ability to use sprites with multiple sub-images as sprite (body part) which means you can have different sprite for certain body parts, it is very useful and adds flexibility, for example you want to toggle different hand signs on certain frames for the hand part of your figure, you can do so by choosing the sub-image index on the current frame you want.

I will start working on that real-time Animator Engine version of this tool once I get all the necessary features available, (i.e. the one i mentioned in the last paragraph), as well as making a system to package all resources into one file, and many more. This app still has lots to go and it's still in beta.

This is how the current version looks like:
(note: this is not yet available for download)


For the Inverse Kinematics, as of now I am not sure about implementing that, I know I can't make my own kinematics algorithms, I'm not a math wiz per se, I'm just an artist with only intermediate programming skill, and without inverse kinematics i can create good animation with my app. However, if something comes along.. like a library, or set of scripts I can utilize then I may certainly implement inverse kinematics, because it is as you said, makes animating easier for others.

Thanks for the reply dude. I'll have that in mind.

Edited by teej, 12 May 2011 - 12:04 PM.

[ydawg314]

I also made one of these for my game razass assualt. One thing you should add is the ability to import another gif animation and use it as a background to make your animation.

[sub]

nice start. will keep an eye on this.

[teej]

@ydawg314

Implementing the backgrounds system is the easy part, I might actually try your nice idea about importing animated gif as background, however it will ignore delay-per-frame info from that imported gif file as there is no functions on GM to extract gif info and utilize from. Apart from animated gif backgrounds, I will also implement importing of animated gif as sprites for the figure, but unlike the background object, this by default will not animate you will specify which sub image will appear on which frame. But that's all ideas for now.

As for as background system is concerned, I also have plans on making an option for users so the static background can be turned as object so users can transform that background (position, scale, rotation, color, alpha, etc.) for each frame so you could animate the background as well.

Did you actually made a similar program to create your Gundam sprites? Your game looks nice, I've downloaded it. I will try it later.


@sub

Thanks, I will keep updating this as much as I can. I have so much ideas (like actually adding a sprite body part maker for use with this app), but I can't say the same with the spare time I have.

Edited by teej, 12 May 2011 - 02:52 PM.

[ydawg314]

@ydawg314

Implementing the backgrounds system is the easy part, I might actually try your nice idea about importing animated gif as background, however it will ignore delay-per-frame info from that imported gif file as there is no functions on GM to extract gif info and utilize from. Apart from animated gif backgrounds, I will also implement importing of animated gif as sprites for the figure, but unlike the background object, this by default will not animate you will specify which sub image will appear on which frame. But that's all ideas for now.

As for as background system is concerned, I also have plans on making an option for users so the static background can be turned as object so users can transform that background (position, scale, rotation, color, alpha, etc.) for each frame so you could animate the background as well.

Did you actually made a similar program to create your Gundam sprites? Your game looks nice, I've downloaded it. I will try it later.

I used the program I created to generate animation files which are used for real time animation. The player's multiple png body parts are controlled by the bone animation system. I got this idea from Anime Studio

http://anime.smithmicro.com/

Edit another cool feature (something which I am working on for my game too) would be to make it so you can animate player states as well. So for example if you make a running animation and make code for it that tells your player that its movement should be running

Edited by ydawg314, 12 May 2011 - 04:28 PM.

[teej]

I used the program I created to generate animation files which are used for real time animation. The player's multiple png body parts are controlled by the bone animation system. I got this idea from Anime Studio

http://anime.smithmicro.com/

Edit another cool feature (something which I am working on for my game too) would be to make it so you can animate player states as well. So for example if you make a running animation and make code for it that tells your player that its movement should be running

Yeah, bone system, that's how Tradnux works too. It's hierarchy, you start with one object and it can extend by giving it children, then you create the figure by doing so.

I used Anime Studio, it is a good program for vector animation, and lots of features.

And ofcourse I will make a system that will put index name or id for each animation, so they can be identified, and set them up, and eventually draw them.

[Ace]

Dude, this rocks! I've been trying to come up with something like this for a while and there's a program out there that sort of does this already (Spriter by Brash Monkey), but it's not native to GM yet. The creator gave me the stuff to make it portable with GM but it seems like it's a bit too complicated to use and the UI for this seems like it would be much better. Just be sure to allow using the mouse wheel to roll back and forth through frames and possibly a zoom in/out feature with Shift or CTRL + the mouse wheel in the case of using it for editing tiny sprites rather than just huge ones.

I will so totally use this when you get it complete. Try to keep in mind what I said about possibly inputting some code to execute on each frame, when changing the animation, frame, etc. to allow it to mimick the Create, Step, and Destroy events of Game Maker itself, but on a per-frame basis. The application I'll be working on is going to be doing this as well so that it will work similar to my state machine, except it should work like a having an entirely different state machine on a per-frame basis. You could use the Zero Engine to handle the physics, etc. in addition to this based on whatever the name of the animation or frame is that you're currently on. Not a bad idea, eh?

[teej]

Hi Ace, thanks for the interest in this tool. Sure, I will really finish this, I have so much ideas and stuff I wanted to add to this app, but what's important for now is to make it stable and user friendly, unlike that Spriter program by BrashMonkey, and its good that you mentioned that tool because that was the reason Tradnux Animator is here, the GUI of "Spriter" is not very intuitive enough for me, I lost any interest on even trying to produce a simple animation from that tool because of the steep learning curve, and so I started working on this tool.

Speaking of user friendliness, I might allow custom shortcut keys for all actions, I have my own set of preference when it comes to operating editor apps, and so is everyone, therefore having to set your preference on this program will make you more comfortable working on it with efficient results.

The zoom function is working now in the current version (except the scroll bar slider), I will also add a 'panning' control. I used the mouse scroll for zoom functions though, but as I said I will implement a preference options to set re-map keys to certain actions. Also I think an undo/redo system is another "a must have" feature for this kind of application, so those will be my priority for now.

I will think about putting the codes (to be execute string right?) for each frame mechanism, that would allow for more flexibility and power to this animation system. I will start working on the export animation data first though, that is the most crucial part in order for this to work in GM in real-time. Until then I will look inside your ZeroEngine further and see how I can make it be compatible with my animation system for them to work hand in hand.

[ydawg314]

I will so totally use this when you get it complete. Try to keep in mind what I said about possibly inputting some code to execute on each frame, when changing the animation, frame, etc. to allow it to mimick the Create, Step, and Destroy events of Game Maker itself, but on a per-frame basis. The application I'll be working on is going to be doing this as well so that it will work similar to my state machine, except it should work like a having an entirely different state machine on a per-frame basis. You could use the Zero Engine to handle the physics, etc. in addition to this based on whatever the name of the animation or frame is that you're currently on. Not a bad idea, eh?

This is actually what i was trying to get at. It would be very useful to use code frame by frame. This could also be good for simple ai design

[gmdud]

Don't forget to add things like pressing shift to snap to the nearest 45 degree angle
Also, A tool tip for each button would be awesome too.

[teej]

Alright I'll certainly add those to my ToDoList.

Also here are additional samples you can do with this program;


These are animated gif though so edges are kind of rough, for better quality use pngs.

Please ask permission if you want to use these sprites for your games.

Edited by teej, 14 May 2011 - 12:28 PM.

[sub]

can you add support for hand equips? (sword / shield?) or can this be achieved by simply adding an extra node and supplying a weapon or shield sprite for it?

can it make non-bipeds?

[teej]

can you add support for hand equips? (sword / shield?) or can this be achieved by simply adding an extra node and supplying a weapon or shield sprite for it?

Yep, just add a point child from the appropriate point (in that case, the hand) then assign weapon sprite. In later versions you are allowed to change the current sub-image of a sprite (from png strip or animated gif) at any frame you desire, its perfect for some situations you can imagine like for example, the sword weapon got broken.

Make note, that one node can have up to 3 sprites, they can appear on the node simultaneously. This perfect for situations like for example you want the node 'head' to have 3 sprites for helmet, head, and mask... and you can them if they have subimages.

can it make non-bipeds?

Yeah, you're not limited to human figures, you can structure your figure similar to animals, and any other model imaginable.

This is why designing your figure structure is the first important thing to keep in mind before you even add a frame, make sure that in the first frame you have compeleted your character figure.

[gmdud]

Hey, any progress on this?

Also do you ever have problems with seams in sprites(knee, elbow, etc..)?

I'm not an artist so it's fairly tricky for me to come up with a sprite that blends well together(I'm picky hah.), Which is why in my program I have a "primitive" you can add to the skeleton(simple triangle strip with a sprite of your choice as a texture), but what I did was allow you to move each vertex(usually just 4) around and attach it to a bone of your choice so it stays in it's current position relative to the bone(joint/node) you attached it to, so that way you can make it stretch between two bones(upper leg and lower) it helps me blend the seam lines(Usually only when bent is when the seams appear) of the sprites attached to the bones.

Not really sure why I told you that hah, I guess to see your input on the matter.

Edited by gmdud, 17 May 2011 - 09:04 AM.

[teej]

I usually don't have problems with sprite based, there are some sprite creation techniques to hide the seams. Well I guess that goes natural being an artist. I am happy with sprite based technique.

Although, I've been thinking about that idea before, binding the polygons. The feasibility is certain since i have already primitives working on this program, however that will require recoding. Or maybe I'll just add it on top of basic primitives.... as a separate option for drawing primitives instead of sprites. It will require lots of work though, I will need to have a system so the user selects which points/nodes can have the added primitive (and binding the selected nodes primitives together). I might implement that after version 1.0.

Progress? yeah I've made some. Version 0.85 beta is soon to come.

- Application window size increased to 1024 x 768.
- Updated the GUI buttons.
- Added Nodes Point Manager for alternative transforms control.
- Implemented Animated GIF exporting (SilentDos + ImageMagick).
- Depth Control
- Zoom In/Out
- Scrollers
- Camera Panning
- Added Edit Mode (Free Node Transform)
- Sprite Set Transform Control
- Frame Animation Interpolations
- Modified so sprite will be on the middle/center between the node and it's parent node.
- Configurations Dialog Box


---

I have a question;

- Should I add grid, user customize sized grid... with snapping feature?
- Do you know of any extensions that allow this program to produce .avi from sequenced images?

[aplus]

tried it seems good, but it would be nice if when you hovered over a button it would say what it was like, "create new pivot point" etc. becuz i was clicking blindly but still got a few things to work, 8/10

[gmdud]

I have a question;

- Should I add grid, user customize sized grid... with snapping feature?
- Do you know of any extensions that allow this program to produce .avi from sequenced images?

Yeah a grid is a handy thing to have when lining things up, you should make it so the user can change the size, also make sure you let the user toggle it, so they can turn it on or off.

And for the AVI thing, I know of one from AGES ago, you can check it out and see if it works(Link could be dead)
HERE

[ydawg314]

another suggestion
make it so that you can change frames anywhere like in anime studio. By this i mean you can make for example a 30 frame walking animation by only editing like 8 frames.

I have an algorithm to do this so if you need help let me know