Pivot Stickfigure Animator

Pivot Stickfigure Animator

Developer(s)	Peter Bone
Stable release	2.2.6 / May 17, 2011
Written in	Delphi
Operating system	Microsoft Windows
Type	Graphics software, Design tools
License	Freeware
Website	http://pivotanimator.net/

Pivot Stickfigure Animator (usually shortened to Pivot) is a freeware application, for Windows, that allows users to create stick-figure animations, and save them in the animated GIF (Graphics Interchangeable Format) format used on web pages and, which can also be converted into videos using other software, such as Windows Movie Maker.

Pivot provides a simple, easy to use interface with a few features. It uses fixed length 'sticks' to ensure size consistency during animation, something which is not as simple to recreate in professional animation software such as Autodesk Maya or Macromedia Flash.

Animations created within Pivot are uploaded frequently to YouTube and include, but is not limited to, music videos, combat, humor, and miscellaneous items.

Development

First release

This version of Pivot Animator had several software bugs, as with most first-generation programs. 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) format. Users were given few options of image optimization, compression or resizing when saving their animation.

Pivot 2.2

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 does not lose unsaved projects.

Pivot 2.2.5

In this version, Pivot was introduced as a MSI Installer Package, ensuring that the program would be installed properly. This made the use of Registry Keys(.reg) easier to install, and that the appropriate file associations for animation and stick figure files would be set. Other additions include unique icons for .PIV and .STK files, the ability to load JPEG backgrounds, and further warnings when a user tried to overwrite an existing file, to make sure that the animation that they were working on was not lost.

Pivot 2.2.6

The latest stable release. Few more minor bugs were fixed and the installer was improved.

Pivot 3.1 Beta

This release was sent intentionally to the Pivot Animation MSN groups for testing^[1] but the Beta was leaked from various unofficial sources (such as the DarkDemon forums) to the general public. Several features had been vastly improved and several new features had been added. 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. This Beta release has glitches that mess up parts of an animation. One known error is the "Invalid floating point"; this could cause some frames in the animation to be corrupted when saving it. Another error is when saving the pivot animation as an .avi file, an error message appears and the text says "not ready yet."

External links

• Author's web page,
• Example
• Example

References

Personal Experiences with 3.1 Beta