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Kostanstin Dmitriev isone of the pioneersmaking professional animation tools available for Linux users. His primary focus over the years has been the ongoing development of Synfig Studio, a 2D animation program. Konstantin has proven Synfig's power with the completion of his short film, "The Beautiful Queen Marya Morevna: Demo."

To help other artists and to promote his work, Kostanstin chronicled the progress of his animation on the Morevna Project.What started as a simple blog quickly evolved into a rich resource for anyone interested in using open source tools for animation.

The Beautiful Queen Marya Morevna: Demo |Morevna Project, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Recently, when I was visiting the Morevna Project, I discovered the Linux version of OpenToonzavailable for download. For those of you who don't know about OpenToonz, it's an open version of the software that Studio Ghibli co-developed with Digital Video and uses to create their breathtaking animations. In 2016, Dwango launched the OpenToonz project in cooperation with Digital Video and Studio Ghibli, opening up their code to users.

There was a lot of press and buzz on social media regarding OpenToonz in the animation community, soI was surprised and excited to see OpenToonz available to Linux users. Making high-end software like OpenToonz accessible to professionals and aspiring animators is exciting, but making that same software available on Linux makes even a stronger case for people to convert to an open system for their work.

I thought that I would reach out to Dmitriev and talk to him about his thoughts about supporting a Synfig competitor and what this means for Synfig's development in the coming year.

Photo of Kostanstin Dmitriev |Denis Kholodilin, CC BY 4.0.

Stephen Egts (SE): Are you still teaching animation? In the past, I know you have worked with young people, sharing your knowledge of animation, Synfig, and open source tools.

Kostanstin Dmitriev (KD): Yes, as part of my volunteer activities I am teaching offline animation classes at the local art school. This is a kind of testing ground for all free animation software developments made by my team. I have a group of 8 to 10 students ranging in age from 11 to 24 years old who are learning animation with free software. I provide free admission to the classes for everyone.

Kostanstin Dmitriev teaching a class. |Denis Kholodilin, CC BY 4.0.

SE: Being one of the lead developers of Synfig, why did you think properly porting OpenToonz to Linux was important?

KD: Well, first of all, let me clarify one thing: My team didn't actually "port" OpenToonzat least on a code level. The hard work of porting OpenToonz code was done by Campbell Barton (who is well known forhis contributions to Blender) and Franois Revol, with additional help from the community. Thanks to their efforts, it became possible to compile, and use, OpenToonz on Linux.

But when the actual porting was done there was only one way to run OpenToonz on Linuxto compile it from source. This is obviously not a comfortable option at all for many users. There were one or two custom binary packages, but they all were distribution specific (i.e., for specific version of Ubuntu or OpenSuse) and required to have particular libraries installed in your system.

So we decided to fill this gap and build a portable binary of OpenToonz capable of runningon any Linux distro. This is generally not a trivial task, but I already had experience on making such binaries for Synfig. Also, I wanted to make running with minimal efforts possible, so it was decided to deliver it as anAppImage package.

This is why I feel "port" is not really correct word here. What did our team actually do? We delivered OpenToonz to Linux users.

SE: Yes, the AppImage installation process for OpenToonz was seamless and very easy to install. Do you see that as a path Synfig is going to follow when it comes to future updates?

KD: Yes. Right now, we're almost done with rewriting Synfig packaging scripts, so the next update will be shipped as AppImage.

Synfig interface |Image and Artwork by Anastasia Majzhegisheva, CC BY 4.0.

SE: Let me rephrase my initial question then. Many people would wonder why you would contribute to software that may compete with Synfig. What would you say in response?

KD: To get a better understanding of my reasons it would be best to rewind eight years and remember my initial motivation of contributing to Synfig and how I ended up as its maintainer.

My involvement began in 2008, and was heavily influenced by the concepts of the free software movement and was inspired by the idea of open movies as introduced by Blender Foundation. I was looking for a way to make my own open movie. Since I was a fan of Japanese animation, I wanted it to be hand-drawn in anime style (i.e., "not 3D"), soI was looking for a free tool for 2D animation that wascapable of doingwhat I wanted.

I think it worth it to put a special emphasis heremy initial motivation was to create animation with free software.

So, I found Synfig. Of course, it was far from perfectit had a clumsy multi-window UI, lots of important features missing, and it crashedevery fiveminutes. But it had very good concept and according to my analysis, it was the most powerful open source tool for 2D animation. Back then I already had experience with commercial 2D animation software (Flash, Moho, Anime Studio, CreaToon), so I knew what was comparable. Instead of "just complaining" () about its imperfection, I started to do my own code tweaks, and this is how my contributions to Synfig started.

Marya Morevna, Episode 3.0.1 |Morevna Project, CC BY-SA 4.0

SE: Didn't you receive a grant from the Shuttleworth Foundation in 2013 Synfig's development?

KD: Although it was called a grant,it actually was more of a sponsorship,and I was free to use it for whatever I liked. At the time, my team was still suffering while working with the limited functionality of existing open source 2D animation tools, and it was holding my projects back. I then decided to hire a developer to work on Synfig. This is how Ivan Mahonin come to project.

Bringing Ivan onboard was a key decision. Thanks to this sponsorship and additional crowdfunding campaigns, with just one hired developer during 20132014, we made more progress than the previous seven years Synfig was open sourced. Working with Ivan made it possible to implement asingle-window mode, port GUI to Gtk3, finish the bone animation system (with the support for cutout animation, image distortions, and vector rigging), add some sound support via Sound Layer, and add many more features and fixes.

Synfig: Tool for cutout animation

Since then, I have been handling all funding responsibility and acting as Ivan's coordinator. For many people, I have become a stakeholder of Synfig or as some used to say, "the man of Synfig." In fact, the scope of my work was a bit broaderbesides my work with Synfig, I maintain the Papagayo fork and develop RenderChan, an automated build system for animation projects.

Synfig + Papagayo: A lip-sync tutorial

Managing animation projects with RenderChan

To sum up, my efforts were put into Synfig for one particular reason: I wanted a tool for 2D animation and Synfig was the most powerful and most promising open source software option. Period.

The key words here are it was. Since March 2016, we all have OpenToonz.

SE: Have you tried OpenToonz on projects with students yet? Has it been an easy learning curve? Do you have any examples?

KD: Usually, before I start teaching a tool to my students, I spend several months learning it and trying to use in my own projects. Right now, I am exactly at this stage. Still from time to time, I cannot hold myself back from sharing my discoveries, and some of my students have already tried the powerful vector drawing features of OpenToonz.

Drawings in OpenToonz | Anastasia Majzhegisheva, CC BY 4.0

SE: What would you like to see improved on OpenToonz?

KD: I haven't dug too deep, so I am apprehensive to complain about OpenToonz's existing shortcomings. Anyway, I will give it a tryit would be really awesome to improve bitmap drawing tools by integrating MyPaint brushes. There is even a bounty posted about that.

SE: Are you going to start developing OpenToonz for Linux or are you going to just be making AppImage updates that are pushed out for Mac and PC?

KD: It is possible that at some point my team will start contributing to OpenToonz code.At the moment, we have automatic builds that deliver all the latest changes from official OpenToonz code to Linux users. If at some moment we want to make some feature or fix, then our first step will be to submit a pull request back to the official OpenToonz code repository. However, as practice shows, merging pull requests can take weeks, even months. I can perfectly understand why, since I am managing the official repository of Synfig and deal with all these routines. While a pull request will be waiting for approval, we will ship a custom build of OpenToonz with our own fixes. That way Linux users will be able to test our changes before the pull request gets merged. This even can make the merging procedure faster. That's the plan.

Horizontal timeline in OpenToonz

Agnyy Ignatyev, Used with permission

SE: Do you think making OpenToonz available for Linux makes people think twice about adopting Linux as they operating system?

KD: I don't dare to make any bold statements here. Although I would say it another way: If a 2Dartist or animation studio decided to migrate to Linux, it would be much easier to do now.

I think in the first place itchanges the gameplay for the ones who already uses Linux; they have a really powerful animation tool now.

Before March2016 all Linux-based 2D animation artists were starving for good tools. Now, suddenly, they have plenty of choices. There is OpenToonz with its powerful toolkit. Synfig still has an appealing simplicity for motion graphics and a fast learning curve with rich multi-language educational resources. Since September 30, 2016, Blender has featured Grease Pencil as what itcalls its full 2D drawing and animation tool. And don't forget Krita, which is on its way to adding what it says are "interpolation and keyframing for layers and masks and their properties." For Krita this is surely a step beyond simple "frame-by-frame only animation" and should bring it on par with other full-featured animation tools.

Daniel M. Lara, Used with permission

Announcement of Grease Pencil on official Blender website.

Blender Foundation, CC BY-SA 3.0

As you can see, the competition in 2D animation software niche is getting stronger, and this is absolutely awesome to see.

Wolthera van Hvell tot Westerflier, CC BY-SA4.0

SE: 2015 saw Synfig 1.0 and in 2016 we've got integration with Papagayo and a rewritten rendering engine. What developments do you see for 2017?

KD: In the near future, I plan to release a new stable version with all our developments from the past months. After that, I am going to invest some time into Synfig infrastructure. We already redesigned the Synfig front page and you can expect more infrastructure changes soon. Also, putting our efforts into bug fixing and iron out the current feature set is important.

SE: How are fundraising efforts going to support Synfig's development?

KD: There is no fundraising in its traditional way planned for the nearest future. At the moment, we are trying to shift focus to funding development using "bounties" via the Bountysource platform.

The idea is that a user can place a small reward (or bounty) for a bug or issue he or she wants to see addressed. Then the user spreads a word about the bounty to convince other users to join in and pitch the amount. In turn, the bounties attract the attention of developers as "most demanded" issues, and they fix them for a given reward. You can think each bounty as micro-crowdfunding, originated and driven by users.

You can view active bounties and submit new ones on the Synfig page at Bountysource.

Image courtesy of Bountysource.com, Used with permission

SE: How dependent is Synfig on donations?

KD: I think past years have proventhat intensive development of Synfig is 100% dependent on donations. Right now, this is more true than ever. At the moment, we are completely without funds to handle an "on-staff" developer. This is why, starting in September 2016, all development activities of Synfig are Bounty-based.

To help Synfig development:

As part of our Patreon activities we are contributing not only to Synfig, but also to thePapagayo lip-sync software, RenderChan automatic build system, and now also OpenToonz. By contributing to our Patreon you can help us to make all them better.

Denis Kholodilin, CC BY 4.0

See the rest here:
OpenToonz: Making high-end animation software accessible - Opensource.com

Kodi -- a hot favourite (and free) media management software -- has just been updated to a shiny new version. Codenamed Krypton, it is available for Windows, Android, MacOS and iOS. Among its numerous enhancements there are improvements to video playback, music library management, audio on Android and several bug fixes and stability improvements.

The most visible change is the a new skin called Estuary, which is specially designed to make for easier and more intuitive browsing of your media library elements with a layout and elements that stand out clearly when viewed from your couch. Based on this updated theme is another new one built specifically for touchscreen devices.

This new version has an all-new video processing engine that makes for better audio/video synchronization and decoding/encoding on all platforms. On the music front, large libraries should now be quicker to browse, with support with better tag scraping when adding new music.

Kodi 17.0 on Android devices now features such home theater standards as DTS-HD, DTS-X, Dolby TrueHD, and Dolby ATMOS passthrough on hardware that supports it. Theres also support for 4K video output and the ability to decode video based on new video compression standards such as HEVC, VC-1 / WMV 9, and VP9.

This version also marks the first to be available on the Windows Store, but it can also be directly downloaded from the Kodi website for all platforms including Linux, Raspberry Pi etc. Head over to http://www.kodi.tv to know more.

Read more from the original source:
Free home theater software Kodi v17.0 now released, here's what's new - Daily News & Analysis

ANZ announced its collaboration with cloud-based HR platform Employment Hero, offering ANZ customers free access to the market-leading software.

The Employment Hero platform manages the entire employment life-cycle for small-to medium sized businesses. It combines HR software, scheduling and payroll tools, performance management and employee benefits, and financial services into a user-friendly Human Resources Information System.

According to Mark Hand, ANZ Managing Director Corporate and Commercial Banking, Running a small business is tough and being an employer in Australia can be complex, so we want to support our customers beyond just being a traditional bank.

He said the platform contains everything an employer needs to recruit, manage, pay and engage their workforce in a simple cloud solution.

Without effective HR management, businesses are exposed to losing valued employees or breaching compliance requirements. Staying on top of the administration can not only cost them money and time, but can also take business owners away from growing their business, Hand said.

Employment Hero Founder and CEO, Ben Thompson said, By simplifying administrative processes we can help businesses be significantly more productive.

According to Thompson, it takes 100 pages of paperwork to on-board an employee. This is often then sent by mail and stored in manila folders, which is a huge waste of resources and time. The company removes the paperwork, sending the information to the parties in a secure real-time environment.

Our goal is to support 10,000 individual businesses by 2020. The ability to deliver Employment Hero to business owners through ANZs business bankers and their many other distribution channels is really exciting, he said.

ANZ business customers will get free access to the Employment Hero platform from early 2017.

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ANZ bank offers customers free HR software - Which-50 (blog)

Music production software are digital audio workstations that give music artists a platform to record, edit, mix and otherwise refine their audio tracks. Above all else, they enable users to create music without any live instruments, which is probably preferable to banging away at the drums in a garage. Here are some freeware and open-source music production software you can add to Windows.

Audacity is one of the more renowned open-source audio editors that has had millions of downloads. This is a multi-platform package compatible with macOS, Windows and Linux. Press the Download Audacity 2.1.2 link on the softwares home page to add the program to Windows.

With Audacity, you can both record music from a variety of sources and post-process almost any type of audio. The software enables users to apply a range of effects to music, adjust pitch, treble and bass and even analyze tracks with its frequency analysis tool. The program presents music tracks as editable waveforms that users can edit. Users can also edit audio files with cut, copy and paste or use its truck load of additional plug-ins to enhance the range of effects and audio analysis. Audacity has built-in support for the LV2, LADSPA and Nyquist plug-ins.

Darkwave Studio is freeware that gives users a virtually modular audio studio that supports both VST and ASIO. The program supports 64-bit Windows platforms from XP to 10. It requires just 2.89 MB storage space and you can add it to your desktop or laptop by pressing the Download button on this web page. Note that Darkwave Studio also comes with adware, so check the third-party program offers in the installer.

The first thing most users will probably note about Darkwave is its elegant tabbed UI design. Darkwave has a streamlined UI with a lot of the options and settings in separate windows and context menus. The software incorporates up to eight separate modules that include a pattern editor, HD recorder, sequence editor, MIDI input and percussion synthesizer. With the pattern editor, you can select and edit digital music patterns. The sequence editor enables users to mix the track patterns together. The HD recorder tab includes recording options for streaming audio. The program also includes 19 built-in plug-ins with which to add virtual effects to the tracks, and you can add plenty more VST/VSTi plug-ins to the software.

Studio One Prime is the freeware version of the Presonus Studio One software, complemented by the Artist and Professional version which retail at $450. Studio One Prime is a stripped down version of those packages that you can add to your software library with a my.presonus.com account. The software is compatible with more recent Windows and macOS platforms, and youll also need at least 4GB RAM and 30GB of storage for it.

Although the freeware version lacks quite a few of the options and native audio effects offered in Studio One Artist and Professional, it still has the same intuitive drag-and-drop UI with which to create new tracks and add effects. Studio One Prime includes unlimited audio tracks, FX and virtual instruments. You can also add nine native audio effects to music tracks. Latency compensation, easy side-chain routing and the control link MIDI-mapping system are a few of the mixing and control tools retained in the freeware version. In addition, One Prime has multitrack MIDI and multitrack track transform (for track freezing) editing tools. So, even though its a stripped down Studio One version, it still has most of theessential tools to create recordings.

Hydrogen is open-source music production software thats more specifically a digital drum machine which imitates drums. The program is compatible with Windows, Linux and macOS. Note that the Windows version is still in beta, so it might have a few bugs. Click Hydrogen 0.9.7 on this page to save Hydrogens installer to Windows.

Hydrogen has a pre-installed GMkit that includes Snare, Jazz, Ride Jazz, Ride Rock, Stick, Snare Jazz, Closed HH (high hat), Pedal HH and Cowbell drum kits. among others. The softwares pattern sequencer has an unlimited number of patterns and enables users to chain patterns together within a music track. Users can select and arrange various drum audio effects over a file and even overlap them. Hydrogens Mixer is another of its handy tools with which you can tune drum volume and also apply some extra special effects. The latest version of the software enables users to export and import song patterns into tracks, and it also includes a Director Window with a metronome and a Sample Editor with cut and loop options. So, if you need to cook up some drumming beats, Hydrogen will provide the required tools and options.

LMMS, otherwise known as the Linux Multimedia Studio, is a comprehensive, open-source music production application that comes with five editors and a variety of synthesizers to further refine your audio tracks. This is cross-platform software you can run with Windows, Linux (Ubuntu, Mint and Debian) or macOS. Press one of the LMMS buttons on this web page to save either the 32 or 64-bit installer to Windows.

As mentioned, LMMS has five editors that consist of aSong Editor for composing melodies, a Beat+Bassline Editor to consolidate instrument tracks with, Piano Roll, Automation Editor and an FX Editor with which you can mix FX channels. Users can import both MIDI files and Hydrogen project files with the Song Editor. LMMS boasts a wide variety of instrument synthesizers, among which are a Roland monophonic bass, oscillator, wavetable, NES, organic and mallets synthesizers. The program also supports VST and LADSPA plug-ins with which you can mix a multitude of extra effects into the music track. As such, LMMS certainly packs in plenty of music production tools.

Those are five audio production tools for Windows that have most of the tools youll need for music production. As theyre all open source or freeware programs they offer unbeatable value and are great alternatives to proprietary digital audio workstations.

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Free malware removal tools

Malware is a serious problem, and if you download free software it's all too easy to end up with a malicious program on your PC that presents a threat to your personal data or system integrity.

Not all antivirus software comes with a specific malware scanner, and because malware doesn't behave like a virus, it can easily be missed. To identify and fully remove malicious software, you need a tool that's designed specifically for the job.

Note that you should only have one antivirus program installed at a time, but the rest of these tools are ideal supplements for your main security suite.

Malwarebytes is the best tool for removing stubborn malware infections, with deep scans and daily database updates

The most effective malware remover, with deep scans and daily updates to find the latest threats

If you suspect a malware infection, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware should be your first port of call. Its updated daily with the latest threats, and

The first time you install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, youre given a 14-day trial of the premium edition, which includes preventative tools like real-time scanning and specific protection from ransomware. After two weeks, it reverts to the basic free version. This wont stop you falling victim to a malware attack in the first place, but thanks to Malwarebytes regular updates,

Last year, Malwarebytes bought Adwcleaner, which as its name suggests targets and removes annoying programs that hijack your browser by changing your homepage, resetting your default search engine, or adding unwanted toolbars. Its also available free, and along with Anti-Malware, is a great addition to your malware-removal toolkit.

Download here: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

Bitdefender is a superb all-round security suite, and unlike many free antivirus programs, it has a dedicated malware scanning engine

Prevention is better than cure, and Bitdefender delivers both in one slick package

If youre thinking about replacing your antivirus software, check out Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition. It has a dedicated anti-malware engine to help you avoid an infection in the first place, and effectively mops up any existing problems.

One of BitDefenders best features is the ability to scan files or folders that look a bit suspicious by simply dragging and dropping them onto its home screen (it might be a good idea to do this with your Downloads folder if youve noticed some funny business lately). Any unpleasantness detected by the anti-malware engine will be swiftly quarantined, and can be disposed of at your leisure.

BitDefender is unobtrusive, but its Protection Shield will alert you to any malicious attempts to compromise your system. All in all, its an excellent foundation for your anti-malware arsenal.

Download here: Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition

Whether you want to replace your regular antivirus software or just want to beef up your malware protection, Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ is a dependable choice

Ad-Aware can replace your main antivirus or work a supplement to eliminate brand new malware

Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ is another great option if youre building an anti-malware toolkit from the ground up. It includes a virtual environment where suspicious programs can be analysed to see if they behave like malware (a technique known as heuristic analysis). This means youre always protected from new malware even if youre the very first person to be affected and the malicious program isnt yet in Ad-Awares database of known threats. The malware can then be safely contained and removed.

All this happens quietly in the background, and can be suspended temporarily if you want your processors full power for a gaming session.

Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ can also scan downloads before you install them, helping prevent malware infestations in the first place by filtering their most common point of entry.

If you already have an antivirus program you trust, you can opt to install a version of Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ without real-time scanning, so it wont cause conflicts and can work as a security supplement instead.

Download here: Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+

When you have to remove a malware infection for a friend or family member, EEK is invaluable

Portable malware removal thats perfect if youve been assigned the role of home tech support

If youre called in to help a friend with a malware infestation, Emsisoft Emergency Kit is the tool for you. Its a portable app, so you can keep it handy on a USB stick, or your cloud storage service of choice (its only 591GB, though it does generate log files, which will take up a little extra room).

Like any malware removal tool, Emsisoft Emergency Kit has a database of current threats, and the PC youre cleaning needs an internet connection so the software can check for updates.

Once its updated itself, it scans the PC for threats and quarantines anything it finds to stop it doing further damage to your system. After a quick reboot, the files will be deleted.

Download here: Emsisoft Emergency Kit

If you think a file or folder might be harboring malware, use SUPERAntiSpyware to submit it for closer analysis

All-round protection from malicious software that gives you full control over manual scans

The free edition of SUPERAntiSpyware detects all forms of malicious software including adware and spyware and removes every trace quickly and efficiently.

If you suspect that a particular file might contain malware, you can submit it to SUPERAntiSpywares threat labs, where its behavior will be analyzed. Its not as fast or convenient as tools that scan files using a virtual machine, but is a good option if your system is low on resources.

You can also control which types of file are scanned, whether SUPERAntiSpyware should follow shortcuts, and whether it should check inside ZIP archives very handy if youve downloaded a program in an archive and want to check it before extracting the contents.

Scans must be performed manually, but SUPERAntiSpywares granular control makes it a great choice for more confident users.

Download here: SUPERAntiSpyware

Read more:
The best free malware removal tools | TechRadar - TechRadar