Springboard: The Storyboard Editor







		Springboard Version 0.85 29 February 2008. Shareware version expires 27 May 2008. File format version 8.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.80 cannot read this format. Now tested and supported on Windows Vista. Help is now compatible, and some graphics were improved. Now supports institutional deployment with the registration key on a read-only network share. Vista and XP - save changes during forced shutdown due to reboot after Switch User, or during Vista updates. Bugs fixed: In the unregistered version, the image watermark was drawn twice when zoomed in. Added better notification when the search string isn't found. Some story sections weren't showing up in the Frame menu. Crashed benignly while exiting after the program has expired. Version 0.84 8 December 2007. Shareware version expired 11 March 2008. File format version 8.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.80 cannot read this format. The current time (frame poster time) is now shown in the main tool bar. This is particularly useful while working with frame animation. Edit > Search And Replace for frame text. Frames' times (start, end, overlap, and duration) are available in the HTML export templates. Two new templates are added that include them: "One tall page, start time", and "One tall page, all times." Full undo for frame text edits. Bugs fixed: Redone drawing doesn't show up. Undo drawing on full-color layer makes garbage. Version 0.83 5 September 2007. Shareware version expired 10 December 2007. File format version 8.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.80 cannot read this format. Contains only internal architectural changes. Version 0.82 14 June 2007. Shareware version expired 13 September 2007. File format version 8.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.80 cannot read this format. Added recording layer animation (for transformation and opacity). Allows real-time recording of mouse gestures as animation. Added keyframable opacity for bitmap layers, accessible via the Tool Weight slider while Move Layer is active. Added Undo for frame property changes - duration, overlap, AutoZoom - as well as all new features. Delete Key works on all keys at the current time if none are selected. Added keyboard shortcuts for playing animation: Space, Enter, Esc. General speedups in rendering. Bugs fixed: Error messages when printing a file after deleting frames. Version 0.81 29 March 2007. Shareware version expired 28 June 2007. File format version 8.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.80 cannot read this format. Added Undo for Add Key, Delete Key, Move Layer. Added dragging keys in the Frame Animation view, with undo. Added Render Transitions button to the Frame Animation tool bar, to disable transitions while working on animation within a frame. Added Play From Start button to the Frame Animation tool bar, for more convenient playback of the entire frame without changing its poster time. Added keyboard shortcut 'X' to swap Foreground and Background colors. Bugs fixed: Right Alt key causes a non-fatal exception. When Color dialog is shown, Layer Properties dialog is hidden. Deflate to Fit Content doesn't adjust the width and height of the rubber band layer. Timeline drawing issues in Win98. E, V, Esc shortcuts don't work in some contexts. Black line around right and bottom of Base while zoomed in. Move Layer sometimes gets the layer out of sync with the rubber band until the mouse is released. Drawing problem with Intuos 3 tablet and/or current Wacom drivers. Ctrl+` accelerator doesn't work for View Frame Animation. Nested transformed layers aren't rendered properly in the Movie view. Camera moves that zoom way out lose some content at the borders that should be rendered. Frames smaller than the default story frame size have drawing errors when scrubbing in layer timeline. During a frame's out transition, subsequent frame's animations aren't played. Crash when reopening a file, then reopening the animation panel. Version 0.80 11 January 2007. Shareware version expired 12 April 2007. File format version 8.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.80 cannot read this format. Added Frame Animation View, allowing basic animation of layers within a frame. General speed improvements. Bugs fixed: Drawing issues in single-frame mode. Duplicate Layer doesn't refresh the Layers view. Cursor not set correctly when switching tools with keyboard shortcuts. Cursor not set correctly when moving mouse over splitter bars. Errors when upgrading old files to a new file version. Version 0.77 17 October 2006. Shareware version expired 16 January 2007. File format version 7.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.75 cannot read this format. Added Ctrl+W as a shortcut to New Layer. Bugs fixed: Errors on saving large files containing split files. Numbered backups strip out any numeric suffix on the base file. Cursor wrong over splitter bars. Version 0.76 8 September 2006. Shareware version expired 8 December 2006. File format version 7.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.75 cannot read this format. Added an Overlap macro in Print > Numbering > Formatting. Bugs fixed: Adding shot sections changes frame start times. Splitting out named sections causes file name errors. Start time problem when changing duration to 0 with preceding overlap. Errors on save. Crashes after deleting a split file. Version 0.75 20 July 2006. Shareware version expired 19 October 2006. File format version 7.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.75 cannot read this format. Internal architecture improvements completed. Improved Undo: Unlimited undo and redo of individual drawing strokes. Some performance increases. Version 0.74 5 May 2006. Shareware version expired 4 August 2006. File format version 7.0. Can read all previous formats; earlier versions cannot read this format. Substantial performance improvements for large files; feature films are now feasible. Split files implemented: Edit > Split Out/Unify, Edit > Split Every, and Unify Every. File > Move command added. Structure hierarchy is now used in the Frame menu. Cancel button added to File > Open dialog. Bugs fixed: Wrong URL passed to some browsers by the Register link in Help > About. Del doesn't delete newlines in text frame. Preferences font isn't used for frame text when Springboard starts. Switching from "move layer" tool to "eraser" tool doesn't work. Text Properties window does not appear on Windows 2000. Version 0.73 14 February 2006. Shareware version expired 16 May 2006. File format version 6.1. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.68 cannot read this format. Performance improvements in the Movie view and in tablet drawing. Minor interface additions. Internal architecture improvements. Bugs fixed: Prompt to save changes on exit when no changes have been made. Vector Properties dialog [still] sometimes doesn't show when needed. Version 0.72 17 November 2005. Shareware version expired 16 February 2006. File format version 6.1. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.68 cannot read this format. Overhauled the user interface appearance: cleaner, compatible with Windows XP Themes. Internal architecture improvements. Bugs fixed: Drawing with the pencil doesn't show up in the Movie view until you switch away from the frame and back. Vector Properties dialog sometimes doesn't show when needed. Uninstall prompts to remove registration information even if you're not registered. Version 0.71 5 August 2005. Shareware version expired 5 December 2005. File format version 6.1. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.68 cannot read this format. Zoom Frame Properties dialog Reverse direction box View/change the Start, Duration, and End Time Select basic Ease In and Out options; default for newly-created Zoom Frames is Ease In And Out. Gives you much better control over camera animation within a single frame. Reduce Imported Images dialog Shown automatically when large images are imported. Choose whether to import images as-is or reduce them all to fit in the frame. Saves memory and file space; makes working with storyboards quicker. Use arrow keys to nudge layer when Move Layer or Edit Vector is active. Added more context-sensitivity to the Help. Bugs fixed: Swatch box is sometimes drawn incorrectly while drawing Zoom Frames and constrained vectors. Benign exception dialog after deleting the last remaining frame. Crash-loop when clicking under the last Layer in the Layers palette. Version 0.70 11 July 2005. Shareware version expired 9 November 2005. File format version 6.1. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.68 cannot read this format. Automatic Zoom The camera is now animated automatically to follow Zoom Frame vectors in the Movie view and in exported movies. Just drag out a rectangle and play the camera move! A new Preferences dialog tab controls when and how Automatic Zoom will be applied. Some changes to the way Zoom Frame vectors are edited; e.g., aspect ratio is now constrained by default, and unconstrained when Shift is down. See the Help topic on Zoom Frames for more details. When working with nested layers, you can now merge the bottommost sibling layer down to its parent. Bugs fixed: An error dialog appears when a Windows screensaver activates and focus is in the Layers view. The Movie view doesn't update when a frame's contents change. The Eraser size and feel has been better tuned for use with both the pen and the mouse. Version 0.69 25 March 2005. Shareware version expired 25 July 2005. File format version 6.1. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.68 cannot read this format. Live vectors: you can now move and edit vector objects at any time after they are created, including editing text vectors, changing colors, etc. Bugs fixed: The version 0.68 installer doesn't register the Springboard file type correctly. Exception dialog when printing in certain circumstances. Pausing while playing a movie sometimes changes frame duration slightly. Changing the image size leaves some nested layers where they are. Certain drawing operations cause an error dialog when zoomed in. Crash on startup after initial installation on some fast machines under Windows XP. This is now fixed on all machines we've tested; if you still see the problem, please report it. Version 0.68 28 January 2005. Shareware version expired 30 May 2005. File format version 6.1. Can read all previous formats; earlier versions cannot read this format. Extensive support for printing section headings, created in the Story Tree. Integrate your story's sections into the printed output, print condensed outlines, and adjust styles to get the look you want. View > Scroll Current Frame and View > Lock Frame Position, to help you arrange the work area optimally while you're working. An option in the uninstaller to leave your registration files on the computer. Bugs fixed: In File > Export AVI, some combinations of color reduction and video codecs would produce garbaged colors in the output AVI. Can't find HTML templates with the new installer. Can't find Help file on some machines after initial installation. A new Zoom Frame's upper left corner is in the wrong place if it's created in Single Frame mode. Version 0.67 9 November 2004. Shareware version expired 8 February 2005. File format version 5.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.63 cannot read this format. New, industry-standard installer. More extensive Help with some context-sensitivity - i.e., you can press F1 and get help related to what you're looking at. New preset sizes for NTSC and PAL DV. Bugs fixed: Bake position sometimes does nothing on a layer you've just edited. Smooth sampling without padding didn't work right to export an AVI with rectangular pixels. Make the color and tool weight last used for a vector under a Full-Color layer sticky. Known issues: Crashes on startup under Windows XP on some fast dual-processor or hyper-threaded systems, intermittently. The workaround is integrated into the new installer, but the bug itself has not yet been fixed. Section titles aren't included in printing. Version 0.66 18 August 2004. Shareware version expired 17 November 2004. File format version 5.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.63 cannot read this format. You can now use macros to show the frames' times with the frame number when printing. If you save a file called Default.sbd in the program install directory, it will be loaded on File > New. This lets you set up a template with all the file-specific settings you like. Bugs fixed: Crash on startup after first execution in unregistered version when Story Tree is showing. Improved responsiveness of the Eraser tool - made it easier to feather at lower fudge settings. File > Save Numbered Backup shouldn't clear the file-changed flag. The Filled Rectangle tool copies alpha rather than adding it. Merge Down on nested layers produces a layer that's too large. Known issues: Crashes on startup under Windows XP on some fast dual-processor or hyper-threaded systems, intermittently. [Full description and workaround] Section titles aren't included in printing. Version 0.65 7 June 2004. Shareware version expired 6 September 2004. File format version 5.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.63 cannot read this format. Nestable layers: Local layers can now be dragged under other layers in the Layers palette. Nested layers inherit visibility settings from their containing layers, and are transformed with their containing layers. You can use nested layers to organize your drawings, make reusable objects with smart structure, and to group layers together so they're easy to move around while still being able to edit them separately. The new Merge Contained Layers command permanently collapses a subtree of layers, without changing the frame's visual appearance. Clipboard changes: A dotted border is now drawn around the item that has the keyboard focus, and the clipboard commands operate on the item that has focus. The Clipboard Target buttons have been removed. Now, just click on the item you want instead. E.g., to cut a Layer, click on it in the Layers palette, and then choose the Cut command or button; to cut a Frame, click in the frame grid and then choose the Cut command or button. The Escape key returns focus to the frame grid. File > Import now supports importing from GIF files. Transparency is fully supported. Merge Down no longer modifies the appearance of the frame. The target layer will be converted to Full Color if necessary. You can now shear layers with the Move tool by holding down the Control key while dragging their side handles. The new File > Save Numbered Backup command takes a snapshot of your work in a numbered file. Image > Clear All Layers resets the current frame to its default state -- just the global layers, with no content. Layer > Mirror Horizontally works like Image > Mirror Horizontally, but only on the current layer. Layer > Matte-In Transparency is similar to Layer > Reset Transparency, but replaces all transparent areas with the current frame's background color. Use this if you have trouble editing full-color layers in an external editor (and you don't need transparency for the given layer). Layer > Matte-Out Color lets you pick a color, then makes that color transparent on the current (full-color) layer. This is mainly useful for importing clip art with a flat background color; it's not "fuzzy" enough to use for blue-screening. (Yet...) Bugs fixed: Removed obsolete files from the standard HTML export templates. Canvas Size dialog's Custom button is broken. Dragging off the bottom of the story tree should mean beyond the bottom node. Can't see the selected item in the Story Tree. [Sebastien] The story tree's drag indicator gets erased by the cursor sometimes. Moving a global layer in Frame 1 affects new frames. [Serge] Awkward startup if the ape was minimized at last close. Structured frame numbers aren't used in HTML output. [Serge] Resizing problems with Export to HTML. [Serge] Hang when printing a file with a particular configuration of frames. Fixed memory leaks, and reduced memory usage when memory is tight. [Serge] Timecode double-click inconsistent. [Serge] Installation doesn't make file associations on some systems. [Sebastien] Make small layers draggable. Known issues: Section titles aren't included in printing. Version 0.64 16 March 2004. Shareware version expired 17 June 2004. File format version 5.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.63 cannot read this format. View > Tool Palettes On > Left/Right lets you customize the screen layout. A Defaults button in the Edit Structure lets you reset all the structure settings. The new frame numbering is now supported in all dialogs. There is now a confirmation dialog before deleting in the Tree view, to prevent accidents. Tool tips for buttons now contain just the tool name; the long description is still in the status bar at the bottom of the main window. Bugs fixed: Looping error dialog on drag operation. Opening a new document while the old one's dirty, then choosing Cancel discards changes. Some tree operations take a long time and cause the grid to thrash. Inverting the background works inconsistently. Loading printer settings doesn't load all of them correctly. Can't delete from the edit boxes in the Edit Structure dialog. The tool tips are sometimes painted as black bars. Set Background Color sets the wrong color in the swatch box. Set Background Color and Mirror Horizontally don't commit frame changes. Set Background Color sets the wrong color in the Layer icons. Known issues: Section titles aren't included in printing. Version 0.63 6 March 2004. Shareware version expired 7 June 2004. File format version 5.0. Can read all previous formats; earlier versions cannot read this format. The new Story Tree view (pictured at right) shows a hierarchical view of your story, and lets you create new sections, rearrange sections, and customize the way sections and frames are numbered. You can use this to develop an outline your production before drawing storyboard frames, or as a way to organize them once they're drawn. The Properties view has been moved under the Story Tree, and now shows the properties for any selected element, including Frame Properties, Section Properties, and Story Properties. Bugs fixed: Movie View plays wrong with zero-duration frames. Selecting text, then deleting in the Frame Text box deletes one extra character. Canceling a request to save changes on File > New is the same as not saving. Saving changes while opening a new file overwrites the new file. If no printers are defined, gives an error message on printing and then repeats it a lot. Known issues: Some tree operations are slow. Workaround: Zoom the storyboard view out several times to speed up updating. Section titles aren't included in printing. The new formatting options for frame numbers aren't used in the Print dialog. Tool tips show up as black rectangles sometimes. (More details welcomed!) Workaround: restart the program. Version 0.62 18 December 2003. Shareware version expired 18 March 2004. File format version 4.1. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.56 cannot read this format; versions between 0.56 and 0.61 can read this format for files that do not contain print settings. You can now record frame durations in real-time. The new Record mode in the Movie View lets you press a key when you want the frame to change, and then stores the frame durations accordingly. You can then play the movie back with the same timing. You can also record frame transitions (overlap) the same way, by holding down the key while recording frame changes. There are now a number of advanced controls in the Movie View's tool bar: Bugs fixed: Arrow keys don't always work right in the Movie View's time display. Printing a file that contains accented characters (e.g., German umlauts) produces an error dialog. Version 0.61 2 December 2003. Shareware version expired 2 March 2004. File format version 4.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.56 cannot read this format. Animatic viewing and export is now supported. You can now set the duration of each frame and how much it overlaps with the following frame in the new Frame Properties palette: Once you've set durations, you can view your movie in real time with the Movie View: And when you want to share the animatic with others, you can export it to the AVI format (registered version only): Along with this new Export format, all Export formats now save their last-used settings in the file for easy reuse. Bugs fixed: Landscape/portrait changes don't stick in the Print Setup dialog. Color matching errors sometimes occur when reducing colors for image export. The main symptom was that white backgrounds became off-white when exporting to GIF. Version 0.60 3 November 2003. Shareware version expired 2 February 2004. File format version 4.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.56 cannot read this format. Printing is now fully supported. This screenshot shows one of the settings tabs and the page preview, illustrating one of the many customizable page layouts you can select: Version 0.59 8 October 2003. Shareware version expired 7 January 2004. File format version 4.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.56 cannot read this format. Windows Metafiles (WMF and EMF) are now supported in File > Import, including transparency. You can now change the global/local property in Layer > Properties, so you can create new empty local layers and change existing global layers to local. Added File > Story Properties, with Title (overrides file name in HTML export) and default frame size (used when creating new frames). Added Image > Mirror Horizontally, to help you visualize alternate frame compositions. Made zoom settings sticky when you toggle Single Frame mode. Bugs fixed: Some non-ASCII characters were ignored by the Text tool. Some settings were not reset in the Preferences dialog on Cancel. Frame text font preference didn't take effect immediately. Version 0.58 14 August 2003. Shareware version expired 12 November 2003. File format version 4.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.56 cannot read this format. Bugs fixed: Clipboard problems before a file has been loaded. Version 0.57 28 July 2003. Shareware version expired 27 October 2003. File format version 4.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.56 cannot read this format. Drawing on full-color layers is now supported, in a color chosen with a drop-down next to the FG color chip. New Layer commands: Merge Down, Deflate To Fit Content and Inflate To Fit Frame, Scale To Fit Frame (now performed automatically when pasting or importing layers), Bake Position, Reset Transparency, and Duplicate. Image > Set Background Color View > Single Frame Frame text font added to Preferences. New hotkey: V toggles the Move Layer tool. Bugs fixed: Layer > Convert to Spot Color discards transparency. Image > Image Size and Canvas Size discard transparency. Image > Image Size and Canvas Size don't operate properly on moved layers or layers that are not the same size as the frame. JPEG import broken. Copy Frame doesn't pick up recent changes to the current frame. Problems drawing vectors while zoomed in. Shortcut keys don't work when the Layers palette has the focus. Convert To Grayscale doesn't preserve alpha. Version 0.56 25 June 2003. Shareware version expired 24 September 2003. File format version 4.0. Can read all previous formats; earlier versions cannot read this format. Import sequences of images from a number of formats, many of which support transparency from an alpha channel. Move Layer tool lets you move, resize, and rotate layers with one simple manipulator. Now you can place your imported alpha-masked images over background layers. Export in Sequential Targa format. Improvements to Edit Externally: Optionally use Targa format for external files; supports round-trip editing of alpha channels in full-color layers; supports round-trip editing of spot-color layers with no loss of information. Bugs fixed: Crash when drawing outside of pasted layers. Layer Properties window refuses to accept changes when opened after initially creating the layer. Convert Layer doesn't work with pasted layers until a file has been closed and reopened. Various small issues with the clipboard and layers. Error message when using the Delete key in the frame text edit box. Image > Image Size and Image > Canvas Size were lossy in the colorspace when applied repeatedly. Changed Copy Layer to copy in grayscale, so it can be round-tripped. Version 0.55 20 May 2003. Shareware version expired 19 August 2003. File format version 3.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.53 cannot read this format. Full-Color Layers can now be imported via the clipboard, and converted to/from spot-color layers with the new Layer > Convert command. Drawing and transparency are not yet supported, but full-color layers can be edited externally. Layers can be reordered by dragging them in the Layers list. Bugs fixed: Many fixes for Windows 98, including resource leaks, freezing, and crashing. Version 0.54 2 May 2003. Shareware version expired 31 July 2003. File format version 3.0. Can read all previous formats; versions earlier than 0.53 cannot read this format. New vector tools designed for drawing storyboards: Text, Ellipse, Filled Ellipse, Solid Arrow, Outlined Arrow, and Zoom Frame. Samples of these tools in action: Faster drawing and general usage, particularly with larger frame sizes. Bugs fixed: Fixed timeout to work correctly with Daylight Saving Time. Generated more helpful error messages when unrecognized objects are found in a file. Version 0.53 4 April 2003. Shareware version expired 4 July 2003. File format version 3.0. Can read all previous formats; earlier versions cannot read this format. New tool options make the Arrow tool more flexible: edit endpoints, curvature, and head size directly: Zoom setting available under the new View menu. Zoom in to see what you're drawing or zoom out to see lots of frames at once. Bugs fixed: Ignored pressure information from a pressure-sensitive eraser if an external mouse was also present. Edit Externally wouldn't re-import when used with Photoshop. Version 0.52 14 March 2003. Shareware version expired 25 June 2003. File format version 2.0. Can read all previous formats. New drawing tools to make it easier to draw with a mouse: Line, Arrow, Rectangle, and Filled Rectangle. Heaviness setting available for all tools. Affects all input devices, with and without pressure-sensitivity. Constrain drawing tools by holding down Shift. Bugs fixed: Text changes aren't saved on New Frame. Changing the image size, then changing layer properties before changing frames corrupts all layers. Version 0.51 7 March 2003. Shareware version expired 6 June 2003. File format version 2.0. Can read all previous formats. Layer Properties dialog lets you change the name and color of layers. Add and Delete Layers using the menu or the buttons on the Layer palette. Use as many layers as you like to store whatever kinds of information your production requires, all color-coded and separately viewable and editable. Pens: The Pencil, Eraser, and Quill pens now use a logarithmic response to pen pressure, so they are easier to control and feel more like real media. Bugs: Fixed one bug that caused wraparound or error dialogs when drawing over the frame edge with the One-Pixel pen. Version 0.50 5 March 2003. Shareware version expired 4 June 2003. File format version 2.0. Can read all previous formats. Better-looking graphics that still store compactly. Layers: You can now draw camera motion without disturbing your base image layer. You can toggle the visibility of either layer, for display and export. Pens: The drawing tools have been completely reworked, for more precise control and smoother results. Shareware registration. Demo version has watermarks and expires. Versions 0.20 - 0.41 6 September 1998 - 12 October 2002 File format version 1.0. Cannot read later file formats. Image > Edit Externally Multiple frames visible Image > Canvas Size and Image > Image Size File > Export to HTML, sequential image formats Basic drawing tools. Copyright (c) 2003-2008 by Six Mile Creek Systems LLC. Page last updated: Tuesday, March 11, 2008.