Depending on the computer hosting the installation, the developer’s download produced the same failed results.
Only the package on, which bears the identical file name, failed to install due to unresolved dependency issues. When I doubled back more recently to recheck the anomalies, both URLs brought me to the same web site - īoth web sites display a link to for a mirror download of Pencil-Animation. The downloadable Pencil package, though named the same, did not install from one of them. Initially, the two web sites for the Pencil Animation package I sought were clearly distinct locations, not mirror sites.
It was not the same Pencil project as the beta software I ultimately sought and finally tested. While the screenshots were similar, the feature sets were not. It is listed as the open source GUI prototyping tool for GNU/Linux, Windows and Mac. This web site asserts that it has the latest version of Pencil - 2.0.3 offered in packages for Fedora and Arch Linux (RPM format) as well as Linux Debian strains (.DEB format). Other searches led me to the web site that seemed to have similar, if not the same Linux packages. I also found the same program - based on displayed screenshots - at the Sourceforge web site here. Not all were the same software, and some versions of the intended package failed to install.įor example, when I first began my quest for an advanced hand-drawn animation package, I found Pencil Animation references and tracked it down to the web site. Several websites host packages bearing the Pencil name or something very similar. That was the case in tracking down and installing this software. Sometimes reviewing Linux software can involve high intrigue and mystery. Its tool set includes the ability to add multiple layers for bitmap, vector, sound and camera. Regardless of my personal lack of sketching skills, Pencil has functionality far beyond the tools in simple computerized drawing applications. My rickety hand added the pencil scratchings to form a new single image. I lack the artistic skills required to produce sketches by moving the mouse pointer around Pencil’s virtual canvas.ĭon’t think so? Take a gander at my hand-crafted letters scratched around the image drawn by the developer and imported into a Pencil frame I created for this review.Ĭlearly, a talented hand created the multicolored cartoon image. I can only assess the performance of this software. Trying to do justice to the hand-drawn images for which Pencil is capable is a fool’s errand, at least for me. Despite that, it is very stable and usable. Its current version, 0.4.4b, is a beta package released on January 21, 2008. This particular open source project does not appear to be actively supported. However, getting it installed was no easy task. It imitates hand-drawn animation techniques, is easy to use and produces high-quality output. Pencil is a very impressive drawing tool.
Animated sketches can be exported in several handy Flash or Movie file formats. Finished animations can be exported as a PNG image. Pencil creates both bitmap and vector images.