The Great List of Programs to Use with Stencyl

Ok, I am going to be a bit pretentious here.
I want to put in one place all the programs we can use to make graphics, animations, sprites, sounds, music, etc...
If you know of any great program that can be used with stencyl to make game resources, just post it here...

Disclaimer: this is in no way intended to advertise program X or Y. Just to point out to fellow stencylers where the resources are.

But lets set some standards for the program reference:

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Licensing: Please mark if the program is:
OpenSource / Freeware / Shareware / Commercial

Code: [Select]

[b][color=green]OpenSource [/color]/ [color=blue]Freeware [/color]/ [color=gold]Shareware [/color]/ [color=red]Commercial[/color][/b]
Platform: Please state the platforms the program is available.
All Platforms / Windows / Linux / Mac

Code: [Select]

[b][color=green]All Platforms[/color] / [color=purple]Windows [/color]/ [color=orange]Linux [/color]/ [color=gray]Mac[/color][/b]
Link: link to the program's website. Front page, not the download page.

Description: Some words about what the program does. Whenever possible, quote the program's own website.

I will try to update this list often as more programs are listed.

The Great List of Programs

Gimp / OpenSource / All Platforms / http://www.gimp.org/
Gimp is a image manipulation program, for "photo retouching, image composition and image authoring".

Inkscape / OpenSource / All Platforms / http://inkscape.org/
"An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, using the w3c SVG file format".

GraphicsGale /  Freeware / Commercial / Windows / http://www.humanbalance.net/gale/us/index.html
"Powerful tool for spriting and pixel art."

FamiTracker / OpenSource / Windows / http://famitracker.shoodot.net/index.php
"FamiTracker is a free windows tracker for producing music for the NES/Famicom-systems"

Paint.Net/Freeware/Windows /http://www.getpaint.net/
"Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows."

BFXR/OpenSource/All Platforms/http://www.bfxr.net/
"Bfxr is the program of choice for many people looking to make sound effects for computer games."

Audacity/OpenSource/All Platforms/http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
"Audacity is a free and multilingual audio editor and recorder."

Finale /  Shareware / Commercial /   Windows / Mac http://www.finalemusic.com/default.aspx
"The premier family of music notation software" *the 2008 version seems to no longer be available.

Synfig Studio / OpenSource / All Platforms / http://synfig.org/cms/
"Synfig Studio is a free and open-source 2D animation software, designed for creating film-quality animation using a vector and bitmap artwork."

The Great List of Credits

This list is made by the stencyl community. I just update the list with the contibution of fellow stencylers, listed below in the replies.

Finale Notepad 2008.
finale-notepad-2008.software.informer.com/
T'was the only place I could find it. The finale site is advertising the new one.
It is....
Freeware!
All platforms!
I haven't used it for long, but for a few days, it hasn't given off sound, though my speakers are working fine. Being able to read music would help.

I want to tell you that Famitracker works fine under wine. For Graphics Gale I don't know.

Also for animations I suggest Synfig Studio - Open Source, All platforms.

Paint.net/Freeware/Windows /http://www.getpaint.net/
"Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows."

BFXR/OpenSource/All Platforms/http://www.bfxr.net/
"Bfxr is an elaboration of the glorious Sfxr, the program of choice for many people looking to make sound effects for computer games."

Audacity/OpenSource/All Platforms/http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
"Audacity is a free, easy-to-use and multilingual audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems."

About BFXR, it's nothing more than SFXR ported to flash, so if you think that you'll cut off net for some time, download SFXR for your platform (it's available 100% for Win32 and Linux, for MAC, idk, let's say 45%).


//edit: Maybe we could pin this topic since it's very useful and may go down with time passing, particularly when all or most useful programs will be listed.

anyone knows how 2 get pxtone?

and about pinning, i dont even know if its in the right board..

What about FL Studio?

anyone knows how 2 get pxtone?

and about pinning, i dont even know if its in the right board..

You can get it on Amaya-san's (Pixel) site: http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA022293/
Go to PxTone and download the file. After downloading it extract it and I think you have to delete a file on the program's folder folder to set the program's language to English. (I think is a file called Japanese, but it should be indicated on the read-me)

Here's my two cents.

Schism Tracker / Freeware (open source?) / All Platforms / http://schismtracker.org/wiki/Schism%20Tracker
"Schism Tracker is a free reimplementation of Impulse Tracker, a program used to create high quality music without the requirements of specialized, expensive equipment, and with a unique "finger feel" that is difficult to replicate in part."
(direct from the page)

SunVox/ Freeware (but not version for iOS)/All Platforms (iOS paid)/http://www.warmplace.ru/soft/sunvox/index.php
From author's site:

SunVox is a small, fast and powerful music sequencer with modular synthesizers. It is a tool for those people who want to compose music anywhere. SunVox available for desktop PC (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X), pocket computers (Windows Mobile, PalmOS, Maemo, iPhone/iPad) and netbooks.

My few cents:

SunVox combines best features of Jeskola Buzz a.k.a. Buzz Digital Composer (each instrument or effect is a module which you can connect in many different ways), software like eJay or Magix Music Maker (great timeline) and normal trackers (music editing style). That makes easier for non-musicians to begin their own adventure as music composers. Plus you have great amount of examples shipped with program from which you can learn

PXTone Collage / Freeware / Windows / http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA022293/pxtone/index.html
A music creation program by Pixel, the creator of Cave Story. Make and import voices and then compose using a piano roll interface.

I tried Synfig Studio and I'm really liking how it's setup.  The problem is that it's very slow on my PC -- meaning when I create a shape it has a noticeable delay before it fills it in.  Does anyone else have that problem?  I have no issues with this when using Inkscape. 

Yes, this is definitely problem with Synfig's coding. I sometimes with complicated scenes have same issue, despite fact that I have good PC (Intel Core2Quad Q9450, 4GB RAM, GeForce 9600GT). Also noticed that the bigger zoom you use, the more problem is visible.

http://www.jokosher.org
Basically Garageband For Windows and Linux. It's nowhere near as powerful, and it seems more focused on recording instead of using premade tracks. The problem I haev is that parts of their website don't load. It's FREE!
Sibelius - http://www.sibelius.com
$500 I don't have it, and I haven't used it, but it's really powerful. It's worthwhile if you're really interested in music, and you are good at music theory.

There's also...
http://www.acoustica.com/ Mixcraft 5 and all their other products! But these are NOT free

I'm not going to be much help since I use Adobe products (Flash and Photoshop) which are outside the price/computer power range for a lot of people, but I should note that my college gave me the entire CS5 Master Suite collection for the paltry price of about $150 added onto my tuition (and, for later students, will continue to provide them with the latest edition of the software as long as they are enrolled).  The Master Collection would have been thousands of dollars had I purchased it normally!

I was in an animation program so there were specific reasons for letting us have the software for that cheap, but if you're currently attending a post-secondary educational institute, it's worth looking into whether they're eligible for one of Adobe's student discount programs or whatever.  Mind, you may need a fairly powerful computer as well, but it's an option.