# DefAnimator, visual animator for Defold **URL:** \ **Category:** Dev diaries\ **Created:** [December 24, 2016, 12:19pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772 "2016-12-24T12:19:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sven](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/sven/32/1086_2.png) [@sven](https://forum.defold.com/u/sven)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 12:19pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/1 "2016-12-24T12:19:51Z")
As some of you might have read on our public slack, we have had two hack days this week where we had the opportunity to do some fun projects using Defold. I decided to do something I have been thinking about for a while, a tool created in Defold! So without a long introduction, let me introduce my hack result; **DefAnimator 0.1** šŸ™‚ ### Screenshot ![](https://forum-defold-uploads.b-cdn.net/original/2X/f/fb8644bb797202d2b5b59ed33632bc7ed991b1f6.png) ### Video [http://forum.defold.com](http://forum.defold.com):/uploads/default/original/2X/2/21e09c9b794c40191a4dc8c2f6e13639d436c16e.mov DefAnimator is a (_super non-official_ ;)) visual animation tool built as a regular Defold project. The idea is that you can use it to author simple GO animations visually with keyframes, then save the animations as Lua-modules and use in your own game/project. The output from the save functionality creates a Lua module that returns a function consisting of chained `go.animation` calls. ### Example usage ```Lua local my_animation = require "my_animation" -- my_animation.lua was saved using the tool and is located in the project directory function init(self) my_animation("gameobject_id") -- starts the generated animation on GO /gameobject_id end ``` ### Implementation details - GUI was done using [dirtylarry](https://github.com/andsve/dirtylarry), with some modifications and custom ā€œthemeā€. - Some OS native interaction using LuaJit FFI, including: - Native ā€œSave/Open Fileā€ dialogs using [defold-dialogs](https://github.com/andsve/defold-dialogs) - Native context menus using a lib Iā€™m planning to release soon-ish. šŸ™‚ ### Future plans - Being able to use DefAnimator as a library in your own project. Meaning that you could in theory just depend on DefAnimator to animate your own GOs (create a `.collection` with your own GO, add the supplied `defanimator.gui` and it ā€œ_Should just work ā„¢_ā€. ### Download I want to release it as open source eventually, but for now here is a (a bit buggy šŸ˜ƒ ) OSX version. [DefAnimator.zip](https://forum-defold-uploads.b-cdn.net/original/2X/e/efddcf6e00009236ce6346d2842f8f9f63e86723.zip) (2.3 MB) ### Known bugs and limitations - The timeline is a bit wonky, you can only select keyframes on the current property you have selected (visualised as lighter gray in the left most column). - Playback preview does not loop. - Playback preview does not handle different easing options, but the saved file will. - Opening/Loading previously saved animations does not work currently. ---
**Author:** ![britzl](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/britzl/32/23_2.png) [@britzl](https://forum.defold.com/u/britzl)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 1:03pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/2 "2016-12-24T13:03:23Z")
This is a really brilliant showcase of what can be done with Defold and Lua. Well done Sven! ---
**Author:** ![88.josh](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/88.josh/32/20137_2.png) [@88.josh](https://forum.defold.com/u/88.josh)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/3 "2016-12-24T15:48:22Z")
I am really looking forward to checking this out. ---
**Author:** ![AGulev](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/agulev/32/4541_2.png) [@AGulev](https://forum.defold.com/u/AGulev)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/4 "2016-12-26T13:10:52Z")
I try to use your program. When I clicked to ā€œSave Asā€ nothing happens. ---
**Author:** ![sven](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/sven/32/1086_2.png) [@sven](https://forum.defold.com/u/sven)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/5 "2016-12-26T13:34:25Z")
Whoops, my bad! Fixed and updated the Zip in the original post, but here is a direct link: [DefAnimator.zip](https://defold-forum-bucket.nbg1.your-objectstorage.com/original/2X/e/efddcf6e00009236ce6346d2842f8f9f63e86723.zip) ---
**Author:** ![gianmichele](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/gianmichele/32/24028_2.png) [@gianmichele](https://forum.defold.com/u/gianmichele)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 10:29am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/6 "2019-10-03T10:29:37Z")
Eheh was searching for something else and this came back. Wish we had something similar in the editor šŸ˜‰ šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![TheKing0x9](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/theking0x9/32/13588_2.png) [@TheKing0x9](https://forum.defold.com/u/TheKing0x9)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 11:05am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/7 "2019-10-03T11:05:05Z")
I can die for it šŸ—” (and then respawn to use it šŸ‘» ) šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![COCO](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/coco/32/38692_2.png) [@COCO](https://forum.defold.com/u/COCO)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 11:48pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/8 "2019-10-04T23:48:13Z")
whatā€™s going on about it now? after 3 yearsļ¼Ÿ ---
**Author:** ![88.josh](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/88.josh/32/20137_2.png) [@88.josh](https://forum.defold.com/u/88.josh)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/9 "2019-10-06T18:53:40Z")
hi! Is there any chance I could get a working version of this? The archive is damaged and canā€™t be opened (not the zip, the app itself) ---
**Author:** ![sven](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/sven/32/1086_2.png) [@sven](https://forum.defold.com/u/sven)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 7:55am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/10 "2019-10-07T07:55:32Z")
Can you try this version @88.josh? [animator\_0.2.zip](https://defold-forum-bucket.nbg1.your-objectstorage.com/original/3X/9/4/949d5ffc3db58502fb2bb446173b41323ad440c4.zip) (2.4 MB) @COCO havenā€™t made any progress on this, I really should release it open source. šŸ¤” ---
**Author:** ![88.josh](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/88.josh/32/20137_2.png) [@88.josh](https://forum.defold.com/u/88.josh)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 8:16am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/11 "2019-10-07T08:16:38Z")
Okay, I can open the app, but it appears to immediately close. thatā€™s a shame. Iā€™d really love to have a play around with this! donā€™t worry if itā€™s too much work ---
**Author:** ![sven](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/sven/32/1086_2.png) [@sven](https://forum.defold.com/u/sven)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 8:18am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/12 "2019-10-07T08:18:37Z")
Could you try running the binary inside the app folder through a terminal? `Animator.app/Contents/MacOS/Animator` You should be able to see the logs there since I build it for debug. ---
**Author:** ![88.josh](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/88.josh/32/20137_2.png) [@88.josh](https://forum.defold.com/u/88.josh)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 8:20am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/13 "2019-10-07T08:20:59Z")
INFO:DLIB: Log server started on port 53029 INFO:ENGINE: Engine service started on port 8001 INFO:ENGINE: Defold Engine 1.2.162 (e07f3bb) INFO:ENGINE: Loading data from: dmanif:/Users/joshrackstraw/Downloads/animator\_0.2/Animator.app/Contents/Resources/game.dmanifest INFO:ENGINE: Initialised sound device ā€˜defaultā€™ ERROR:SCRIPT: main/dialogs.lua:5: dlopen(native\_libs/nfd, 5): image not found stack traceback: [C]: in function ā€˜loadā€™ main/dialogs.lua:5: in main chunk [C]: in function ā€˜requireā€™ main/main.gui\_script:3: in main chunk WARNING:RESOURCE: Unable to create resource: /main/main.gui\_scriptc WARNING:RESOURCE: Unable to create resource: /main/main.guic WARNING:RESOURCE: Unable to create resource: /main/main\_generated\_1.goc ERROR:GAMEOBJECT: Could not instantiate game object from prototype /main/main\_generated\_1.goc. WARNING:RESOURCE: Unable to create resource: /main/main.collectionc logout Saving sessionā€¦ ā€¦copying shared historyā€¦ ā€¦saving historyā€¦truncating history filesā€¦ ā€¦completed. Deleting expired sessionsā€¦109 completed. [Process completed] ---
**Author:** ![sven](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/sven/32/1086_2.png) [@sven](https://forum.defold.com/u/sven)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 8:32am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/14 "2019-10-07T08:32:45Z")
Ahhhh, right! Now I remember, I had to do some hack to get dynamic images to load. Let me see if I remember what I actually did. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![sven](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/sven/32/1086_2.png) [@sven](https://forum.defold.com/u/sven)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 8:46am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/15 "2019-10-07T08:46:39Z")
Managed to remember what I did last time, actually wrote a thing about it apparently. ([Loading dynamic libraries from inside macOS .app-folders](http://svenandersson.se/2016/loading-dynamic-libraries-from-inside-macos-app-folder.html)) šŸ™‚ Fixed version: [animator\_0.2.1.zip](https://defold-forum-bucket.nbg1.your-objectstorage.com/original/3X/e/5/e53e464782761c81b5d6a8778a18cdb8a4e4c9f2.zip) (2.4 MB) ---
**Author:** ![88.josh](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/88.josh/32/20137_2.png) [@88.josh](https://forum.defold.com/u/88.josh)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/16 "2020-05-16T22:04:38Z")
Okay, I canā€™t get this one to work either. And you know what? Iā€™m going to have to make this myself (unless sven can make it open source šŸ˜…) Key features: Ability to animate tint, scale, euler, position using keyframes along a timeline. I think thatā€™s it. Even if I have to import images myself in the editor and get the animations out via debug everytime i want to do this, itā€™s still going to be useful for me. ---
**Author:** ![ross.grams](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/cab0a1/32.png) [@ross.grams](https://forum.defold.com/u/ross.grams)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 12:45am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/17 "2020-05-17T00:45:13Z")
Release the source, Sven. We will fix it. The Collective has spoken. ---
**Author:** ![88.josh](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/88.josh/32/20137_2.png) [@88.josh](https://forum.defold.com/u/88.josh)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 9:14am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/18 "2020-05-17T09:14:10Z")
![15](https://forum-defold-uploads.b-cdn.net/original/3X/9/f/9f4e072ad402ab4876c5e3cdc271bd5bc4be86bb.png) My efforts are not going badly! I have timelines and I can select different objects and different points on the time line. I also have a play button. the only downside is that I have no idea how to actually do the animations once the play button is pressed. My idea is that for each attribute to animate (i.e. ā€œposition.xā€ to create a table with 1. the object, 2. the attribute, 3. a nested table with the keyframes and target values > { > "gui.get\_node(ā€œobject1ā€), ā€œposition.xā€, {0 = 0, 0.5 = 0, 1 = 20} > } the target animation here would be the position.x waiting for the first half of the animation, then sliding to 20 during the second half. And aside from actually doing the animation, Iā€™d also like to print something like gui.animate(ā€œobject1ā€ā€¦) in the debug. And even then i wonā€™t be able to do automatic easing. Any help? ---
**Author:** ![88.josh](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/88.josh/32/20137_2.png) [@88.josh](https://forum.defold.com/u/88.josh)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 9:20am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/19 "2020-05-17T09:20:05Z")
okay got it! like in Svenā€™s example, itā€™s chained animations using callbacks! and that means you CAN do easing! okay WE DONā€™T NEED THE SOURCE CODE ANYMORE, Iā€™M GONNA MAKE THE SOURCE CODE MYSELF edit: I DONā€™T KNOW HOW TO DYNAMICALLY CREATE FUNCTIONS CAN ANYONE HELP edit: OKAY I THINK I CAN USE A GENERIC FUNCTION AND A COUNTER AND MSG.POST() ---
**Author:** ![Pawel](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/pawel/32/24623_2.png) [@Pawel](https://forum.defold.com/u/Pawel)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 11:44am UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772/20 "2020-05-18T11:44:13Z")
Maybe you could push your project on Github so we can help developing it? šŸ˜‰ P.S. I wish there could be more hackathon days in Defold team! šŸ˜ Maybe even we can prepare something like that, in community? What do you think? šŸ˜‰ [Next page](https://forum.defold.com/t/defanimator-visual-animator-for-defold/3772.md?page=2)