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Project

Project properties

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  • show/hide the project

    When this switch is off, no layer is visible (irrespective of the show/hide settings of each layer). Right-click on this switch to show/hide the project in the projection window independently of its visibility in the main window.

  • project name

    Until you save the project, it is shown as an [unsaved project], right-click on its name to close the project or save the project to some file. When the project has an unsaved modification, there is a star after its name. You can also close and save the project in Top Menu/File.

  • opacity of project

    You can change the opacity of the whole project (e.g., to quickly hide everything when needed).

  • play/pause project

    Play/pause the project. When paused, no layer is playing (irrespective of the play/pause settings of each layer).

  • rewind all layers

    Rewind instantly each layer to its first frame.

  • erase all layers

    Erases every frame of every layer. Undo button can undo this on the active layer as far as nothing was drawn on the layer since the erase. Changing the active layer you can undo this erase on each layer one by one.

Note that the hide and pause states of the project override the respective states of the layers. That is, a layer is shown only if both the project shown/hide switch and its own show/hide switch are both in play state. Similarly, a layer is playing only if both the project play/pause switch and its own play/pause switch are both in play state.

FX properties

Set an FX that alters the final composite of the canvas and the layers. You can set two FX's as of now.

  • turn FX on/off
  • choose FX type
  • change FX parameter(s)

Layer list

A project consists of several layers. The visual order of the layers determines the drawing order of the layers, the bottommost is drawn first and so on.

A project can contain layers of four types: static, loop, finite and infinite. As different layer types are better for different things, you are allowed to combine them as you like. The layer types are the following:

  • img static layer

    It has only a single frame and thus it cannot be animated. It is perfect to create background drawings.

  • img loop layer

    It rewinds to the beginning when it reaches its last frame and is playing again from the first frame. This is the most convenient and important layer type when it comes to live animation.

  • img finite layer

    It plays once and stops when reached the last frame. It needs to be rewound manually. On a finite layer you can even create traditional animations with the unique tools of Fragmenter.

  • img infinite layer

    It plays once and when it reaches its last frame it keeps extending it with additional frames. It is good if you want to make a live drawing that keeps changing over time without recurring parts.
    Note that initially an infinite layer has only one (empty) frame and even when it is not paused, it does not start to extend its length until something is drawn on it.

    Both on a finite and on an infinite layer, if you set the tail length so that all previous frames are visible, it can be used to make animations of drawings that gradually appear (these are also called whiteboard animations).

Each layer listing has the following elements:

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  • index of the layer

    By definition the indices are forced to be ordered such that lowest layer has index 1 and increasing from then on. This can be disabled in the Settings top menu.

  • show/hide layer

    • When this switch is off, the layer is not visible.
    • Right-click on this switch to show/hide the layer in the projection window independently of its visibility in the main window.

  • play/pause layer

  • layer name

    • You can choose which layer is active by clicking on its name. You always draw on the active layer.

    • Grab and drop the layer name to move it in the layer order, thus changing the drawing order of layers.

    • Right-Click on the name of a layer to see a context menu, where you can rename, save and delete the layer.

  • opacity of layer

  • layer tags

    Tags are useful when referencing multiple layers in the controls window.

    • You can add a new tag by clicking on img

    • You can change or remove a tag by clicking on it.

Layer operations

  • img add new layer
  • img duplicate layer
  • img merge down layer
  • img delete layer

Background properties

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  • background color

  • canvas image on/off

    You can load a new png/jpg image as a canvas image in the File browser. - canvas opacity