u/honmaguro_bluetuna

I'm not entirely sure what made this motion design online course get delayed like three months.

This course is to have a section that is dedicated to showcase antipixel and some demos for motion design. Antipixel, one of the tools I've been looking forward to, preview build was publicly available since April and this course has been announced around Q2 and was supposed to release this month. There is yet any explanation why the course is postponed but I have my own thoughts on this case.

There were some assumption that this tool was coded by ai and it was revealed to be somewhat true. The dev did share that this tool was indeed coded with ai. But here's the thing.

With so many features to be on this tool, it showed a hint of over-promise based on my experience from its preview build and current web browser build. I assume the dev could keep up by the deadline to showcase the tool on this course and decided to delay its launch.

This is something that I was worried about. Since there are some hype around ai people would overestimate ai and rely on it without proper evaluation and this might be one of those things.

There is another tool I have my eyes on to invest for future motion design and it is doing fine. It also uses ai but the dev is communicating with its tester and periodically updating the beta build, so good for them. However for this tool there is no channel for testers or any dedicated announcement or update whatsoever. The tool's website went through a revision but looks very incomplete.

I was afraid about its over-promising claims but didn't expect it to be this bad.

This is what game companies like Ubisoft did but who would have thought that it could happen for motion design tools. Now with Figma joining the motion design competition wonder what this tool can do to stand out on it official release.

Antipixel is yet in its early stage of development and I've been testing it for a while.

It seems the devs are getting feedbacks and updating the tool since it is a web build and it looks like they can update it readily(?)

But here's the thing.
If this is a tool to offer itself as another tool for motion design, it has to let the user to understand what the devs are going for, considering it trying to combine AE ux design with nodes.

The problem here is that whenever I try out some nodes, it is a hit or miss.

Antipixel is not at the stage for review or feedback. It feels more close to a BA course assignment and would get a good grade for trying on making a software but in reality it targets to be a professional motion design tool.
What good is it when making a motion graphics scene with constant hassle and struggle and why on earth is there keyframes I haven't made?

The more I try antipixel to make a list of feedbacks for the devs the more I lean in toward being more appreciative of AE for being a tool in the industry even with its own problems.

Considering its feature list that was on their website, I'm not entirely sure if the devs are able to keep up with their expected timeline. Aside from 2D features, they did hint 3D features and based on their current web version I'd say they're far from making a solid build for 2D and expand for 3D features like they claimed.

How are users supposed to anticipate or expect something good if there isn’t anything intuitive laid out about antipixel, no more feature details, nowhere are key features for antipixel.

When I tried the current web version and there was nothing but a sign up/in layout, I thought something isn't working for the devs that they had to hide or scrap details from their previous website and now I'm not really sure what feedbacks would help them for the next build.

On their IG posts there are comments asking if some clips for antipixel was made by using antipixel.

I doubt they made clips with antipixel just based on the experience I had with the web version. I had to fight with the tool when random keyframes were made as I checked the animaiton or modified features aside from keyframed ones.

Not sure if there is a better way to test and support the tool.

Since there are no dedicated forum for antipixel, I am not sure if it’s just me being dense and others are doing fine with the web version of antipixel.

Sharing my experience with antipixel's web version from its day one, May 19th, including April preivew build.

Please keep in mind these are indie? devs and the web version is still in development, so my experience might not be relevant in the future. I have made some adjustments to the feedback based on my previous post (it didn't let me edit certain parts).

I'd also like to hear others' experience with antipixel too

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Antipixel web version was tested on Chrome.

*Scaling performance

It was kinda usable on a 1080p monitor, but when moved to a 4K monitor, it lagged constantly.

*UX design

This seems to be in constant fix based on more recent experience. However, on day one, the web version of antipixel lacked details of what the effects did.

There are several bugs I encountered, and its poor UX design forced users to need to go down a rabbit hole to see and even grasp what it does. For a tool that claims it would be different from AE, the devs need to take a good look at its hierarchy structure and user flow.

*Keyframe Animation

The keyframe does not have a reset and a disable toggle like in AE.

I'm not sure why it is done this way, but the keyframe is static? like it's only magnetic when I try to adjust its place in the timeline panel. This wasn't a problem in AE.

Editing and dragging several keyframes at once is not available.

I had to move each keyframe and there was only either 'hold' or 'linear' but no eazy ease, ease out/in to smooth the animation. The label for hold/linear will hinder the keyframe that needs adjusting, so I had to click another keyframe to let me drag the target keyframe.

Also, to move or edit several keyframes by dragging isn't there; like, I had to manually click each keyframe and there isn't an easy way to make the keyframe bezier. It had either hold or linear.

*Effectors?

This seems to be a similar one from C4D's mograph. Antipixel has repeater effects, but there was no explanation on how the effect worked. Lately, it seemed to have changed a bit. Aflow uploaded a clip on their IG account, and it shows that the repeat now has a list of options available for the repeat formation. But it still lacks clear elaboration on how the effect can be used. The error pop-up just says it's incompatible but does not suggest what can be used.

*Align tool

This was disabled somehow. There is snapping, but it is not clear on the shape being in the center of the composition. Yes, there is a box label that pops up that shows if it's in the center of the bounding box, but it would be more intuitive, like in AE that actually indicates that the layer is dead center of the frame. I hope they can come up with something close to Adobe's illustrator cause AE's align is a nightmare when it comes to more delicate adjusting.

*Documentation (OC, this would be in the official release)

As I have mentioned several times, the devs maybe presumed testers would know which is which. If they are to make antipixel for motion designers and future generations to approach without being intimidated, they need a team that focuses on clearer and easier explanations of their tool and its components.

*ETC

Maybe I haven't found the right effect, but I couldn't find one that does loop(in,out etc), time expression. I did see 'real time' but this wasn't what I was looking for, and I had to keep doing experiments with the math: tools to ease the constant stuttering. Random and evolution(like in AE) wasn't found when I did my testing too.

I'm honestly not sure how to put my stance at the moment.

A new software that is being developed is a good thing, but being naively optimistic is kinda farfetched thing to do when things are as is.

*Misc.

Somehow Antipixel devs wiped out their previous website with features, pricing, terms of condition, etc., and changed it to "a web-based workspace" with very limited detail of antipixel.

*Pricing (Maybe temporary)

The "Founder's Edition" was $399 and it was an option for supporting the devs' vision for a tool that is being made by comparing to AE, Cavalry, Rive, C4D?, Houdini pros and cons. This license will be permanent for v1 which is a great option since there are so many subscription-only that it made designers have subscription fatigue.

I assume they will have subscriptions based on their first pricing policy, but if they are true to their vision for motion designers, I hope they also include a permanent license for sustainable income for future development.

*First PC preview build

Compared to Antipixel's "web version," the preview version shared in April was similarly wonky.

It was only available in macOS, and it was a hassle for users to do a bouncing animation, which is easier in AE. Yes, beta versions or previous phases are not stable versions, but I'm not sure if their preview build shows a glimpse of what resembles their vision or features as listed on their website.

I wish I had more screenshots of their previous website details, but it pretty much had features that people wanted from AE.

Aside from Cavalry and Autograph being free, I still believe that they are bound to phase back to paid pricing, one-time purchase (if we're lucky), or subscription (Maxon's only option).

Therefore, new software from indie developers is crucial in this domain. I am willing to support them, but only if their words are true to their claim and features in their official build.

TBF I am disappointed with the preview build. To be frank, it would get an A+ for a college software engineer project, but to be a soon-to-be-paid tool, it has a lot to live up to its ambition.

We'll have to see how antipixel devs progress as more feedback is gathered

*Other alternatives

Caddis app

Having watched the Jakes motion livestream about Caddis, the preview/beta build they presented was surprisingly polished. Gaynor the developer of Caddis explained how the app would work when Jake tried the build and did some animation project, and it looked very solid. I am very much looking forward to testing Caddis' beta.

I had my interest for other motion design tools for a while and Antipixel was one of those.

Lately Aflow, one of antipixel developer/motion designer, announced antipixel that would cater for motion designer who are having trouble with AE.

They made ambitious feature comparing and benchmarking AE, Houdini, Rive, C4D, Cavalry. I've been optimistic and also worried at the same time since they seem to have no background or activities related to coding or software engineering. They might use ai agents for vibe coding but it is unclear how they are making Antipixel but they do seem to have a clear vision what they want to create and present a better alternative for motion designers.

Now that I tried their preview build on macOS(Windows version unavailable) and the web browser based tool here is my impression.

"Antipixel with all it ambitious vision and features it looks like it would need more than a year to function as a open beta build with key features it claims to be available"

*April Preview build

Initially this build was only available in macOS and it was unaccessible from the beggining. I had to take my time and reopen days later for me to get pass the sign in window. It didn't let users have a simple test experience that there were comments on how to access the tool since the sign in window had errors pop up and asked if only paid users had access when it was claimed to be accessible by any user. Maybe aflow or their team got the error appeal and fixed it.

Having tried the preview build from its launch it had several effects unusable and were filled with bugs that it would either crash or wipe out the process that user wouldn't be able to figure out what the error was coming from. Undo was so unreliable that it wasn't doing what many softwares did, undo. It wipe a vast amount of process that I kept remove the previous layer to redo all the process until the error. I did keep in mind this was a preview build but there is a line for everyone what is acceptable for a preview build.

*Web base beta build

It's a motion design tool that is stripped away with features from the preview build and had some clean up for maybe the most stable version they can share for feedback.

Honestly the keyframe UI and UX design needs a lot to be dealt with cause simple dragging and editing keyframe isn't available. On AE when one click a keyframe we are able to change it to hold, bezier, linear and Antipixel does have this but in a bery confusing way.

Initially when I make a keyfram it has a box label that has 'linear' on it and when I click it, 'linear' turns into 'hold' but bezier isn't shown. So when I get to the graph tab there are more dots. I wasn't sure at first but later found out that some were handles that I could turn linears into bezier but the catch is each handle isn't available at the get go. I have to make prior keyframe to access the left side handle of the keyframe while the right side is available on the current keyframe.

While I was testing bouncing and scale keyframe animation, I only could assume how the node system worked but as I clicked on errors popped up and I wasn't sure what the error was about.

The fill element is also wonky that I am not sure what overrides the fill function. When we use Adobe Illustrator we get to see in appearance tab how the hierarchy define which is shown at the top but Antipixel lacks the visual UI to let users understand what took over.

Overall the software doesn't have a recurring design language/system like other softwares.

Cavalry, Blender, C4D, Houdini, AE each has their own UX design system that define themselves. Antipixel doesn't have this it sort of have a resembling element but does have a coherent system to why things work as is.

- There isn't a glimpse of hint Antipixel's unique or vision within the system design -
If the devs are watching I hope they hire software engineer, UI/UX designer for motion design or simialrly related cause several of the features on the preivew build and the web browser based motion design tool shows wonkiness that comes from vibe coding or ai agents coding builds. I truly hope they take this software seriously cause the features they put on their website is nowhere to be seen or felt TBH. There isn't a glimpse of alternative system or usability on Antipixel that proves their vision.

I am all in for supporting indie developers that are dedicating for motion designers but to be frank there are numerous reasons for backed up softwares that had a hard time being launched even with competent designers. Unless the indie developer are some underdogs with skillsets to make a breakthrough this might be just one of ambitious project but I do hope I am wrong.

Antipixel is to maybe to be shown in the upcoming paid online course from Aflow around mid July but I am not sure how polished are their latest test build. The current build that is accessible does not show the potential of anitpixel to make a breakthrough in tedious workflow in motion design.

Now that Antipixel has shown its web based beta build I am also looking forward to Caddis app which I am aware it caters to a different side of motion design

I 'd like to hear from you guys who have used the recent Antipixel web base beta build

Ahead of reading this post this is not to callout not disparage one’s project but to share my honest initial opinion of an upcoming new motion designer tool made by a motion designer.

Above the clips are recorded from motion designer Aflow’s IG stories that show antipixel’s demo. It was interesting to see and anticipate what the tool could be capable of.

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Somehow Antipixel devs wiped out their previous website with features, pricing, terms of condition, etc and changed it to "a web based workspace"

The "Founder's Edition" was $399 and it was an option for supporting the devs' vision for a tool that was made by comparing to AE, Cavalry, Rive, C4D?, Houdini pros and cons.

Just tried Antipixel "web version" and it is as wonky as the preview version shared in April.

It was only available in macOS and it could let users do bouncing animation as easy in AE.

It is known that beta version or previous phases are not a stable version but I'm not sure if this aligns to their vision or features as listed.

I wish I had screenshots of their previous website but it pretty much had features that people want from AE.

The web browser tool was tested on Chrome and it is sort of useable in 1080p but when moved it to a 4K monitor it lagged constantly. There are so many bugs and bad UX design that users need to go in a rabbit hole to see and even grasp what it does.

The keyframe does not have reset, disable function like in AE. There are some UI problem that needs fixing. One of the problem is that when having a keyframe clicked it hinders the around keyframe with a status? box that I had to click a keyframe way away from adjacent ones.

Also to move or edit several keyframes by dragging isn't there, like I had to manually click each keyframe and there isn't an easy way to make the keyframe bezier. It had either hold or linear.

If I'm sure nowhere are the effects features are available(cloner, repeater, etc). Maybe the web mode wasn't stable enough for the browser to show stable workflow.

I'm honestly not sure how to be put my stance at this point. A new software that is being developed is a good thing but to keep being optimistic is a bit farfetched thing to do when things are as is.

Aside from Cavalry and Autograph being free, I still hold the ground that they are bound to phase back to pricing to one time purchase or subscription(Maxon's only option) and New software from indie developers are crucial in this domain. I am willing to support them but only if their words are true as their claim and features.

Honestly I am very disappointed of the build. To be frank it would get a A+ for a college software engineer project but to be a paid tool it has a lot to live up to its ambition.

Wonder how Caddis would work but as of today I am not sure Antipixel will have the validity to challenge AE in someway at this point.

📍I will also leave screenshot of my experience in the comments. I am well aware that this isn’t the final nor an open beta version so please do not use this post as an example to belittle the software. We do need alternative tools for AE. and as I have mentioned above this is my honest opinion if the devs are watching or anyone who are interested in their project.