Create 2D animations with Stykz

It might not compete with Dreamworks' animations but Stykz is a great way to create simple animations with stick figures.

Installation is simple and the Welcome centre is better than most. There are options to create new projects and plenty of support for getting started, including links to videos online.

The interface will be familiar to anyone who has used the GIMP image editor with lots of panels arranged on the Windows Desktop. This can make the screen look cluttered but it does make it more flexible.

Adding characters to the scene is simple and coloured dots mark the joints that can be moved. It is is also possible to create your own elements in the scene. Once a frame is finished, a click on the Next Frame button copies the frame so the next moves can be set up. The postition of all the elements in the previous frame is shown as a lighter grey making it easy to make accurate changes.

There are some backgrounds that are helpful for creating scenes such as stairs and a city scape.

Stykz can export MOV video files if Quicktime is installed on the computer, animated GIFs or a sequence of gif, png or jpg files.