Hi!
I know in software development nowadays to request a scripting interface
Is often not a popular thing because folks generally say “hey I’m an artist
not a programmer” but I’ve been involved in animation now almost 20 years
and I can say although I’ve recently been studying programming
(Which makes scripting a breeze by comparison) I have to say I miss 2 things
In synfig. A list of hotkeys is the first (this may exist I just haven’t found it??)
and a scripting interface, the second.
My main reason for saying this is that when you consider pairing Synfig with other
3D software you have a potential productivity gain which is massive IF Synfig
had a scripting interface.
My first example example would be using Synfig in
rotoscoping. Consider the Maya Embedded Language and a function it has to
return values from a color or alpha of an image across a user specified grid of
samples. One could effectively automate tracing a profile of an object and with
the exported values animate (via a script) a closed b-line matten which could the be a
monochrome gradient and used to post process a depth of field for stop frame
animation or live action. So potentially by tweaking a copy of the footage you plan
to rotoscope and isolating a color you could this way automate the animating
to a point and more easily achieve something like “a scanner darkly”.
Finally if you consider how easily on can now extrapolate tracked points from
footage via software and frame by frame text files, having a scripting interface
available to synfig user would put the program in even bigger standing, especially
since the developers have had the foresight to have it output floating point color.
So my humble request is for a (hopefully extensive) scripting interface to be developing in Synfig.
I’m quite prepared to be involved in testing such a feature, so developers, just contact me