DigiCel FlipBook facts for kids
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| Developer(s) | DigiCel Inc. |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1999 |
| Stable release |
6.94 / December 21, 2016
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| Preview release |
7 / May 25, 2017
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| Operating system | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iOS |
| Size | 10 MB |
| Available in | English |
| Type | 2D animation |
| License | Proprietary commercial software |
| As of | February 2014 |
DigiCel FlipBook is a special computer program for making 2D animation. It works on computers that use Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X. There is also a version for iOS devices like the iPad, called DigiCel Flip-Pad.
This software is designed to work like old-school, traditional animation. This is the kind of animation where artists draw each picture by hand. Programs like TVPaint Animation and Toon Boom Harmony also use this method.
Contents
How Does FlipBook Help You Animate?
FlipBook lets you create animations in a few ways. You can scan drawings you made on paper. It works with scanners that use a special connection called TWAIN. You can also use a webcam to bring your drawings into the program.
If you like drawing directly on a computer, you can use a Wacom tablet. This is a special drawing pad and pen. All the drawings in FlipBook are made of tiny dots, like a digital painting. This is called raster graphics. It's different from vector graphics, which use math to create smooth lines.
Drawing Each Frame
When you animate, you draw many pictures that play quickly. Each picture is called a frame. FlipBook helps you draw each frame separately. It has a cool feature called onion skinning. This lets you see a faint ghost of the frames before and after your current drawing. It's like looking through thin onion paper to make sure your drawings flow smoothly.
FlipBook focuses on the traditional way of animating. This means you draw every single movement. It does not use things like skeletal animation. That's where you create a digital "skeleton" for a character and move its parts. It also doesn't use morph target animation, which smoothly changes one shape into another. These tools are not part of the classic animator's toolkit.
Different Versions of FlipBook
FlipBook comes in four main versions: Lite, Studio, Pro, and Pro HD. Each version offers more features than the last.
What Each Version Offers
- Lite: This is the simplest version. It lets you use one layer for your main drawing and one layer for the background. You can also add one sound effect or music track. It supports up to 300 frames for each animated scene.
- Studio, Pro, and Pro HD: These versions offer more. They let you use more layers for your drawings. You can also have more frames in your scenes and add multiple sound tracks. They also allow you to create animations with higher quality and bigger sizes.
FlipBook on Different Devices
DigiCel FlipBook works on older versions of MacOS, like Mojave. However, it does not work on newer MacOS versions like Catalina or Big Sur. But don't worry if you have an iPad! There is a version called DigiCel Flip-Pad that runs on iOS.
You can also download a free demo version of FlipBook. This demo has all the features of the full program. However, any animations you create with it will have a special watermark on them.
Famous Animations Made with FlipBook
DigiCel FlipBook has been used to create parts of some very famous movies! These include:
- Titan A.E.
- The Simpsons Movie
- Enchanted
- The Princess and the Frog
A well-known animator named Don Bluth has also said good things about FlipBook.
