Project Draco is our free technology preview from Autodesk Research that makes animation as easy as sketching. The easy-to-use interface allows you to add a rich set of subtle, continuous animation effects to your images (e.g., JPGs, PNGs, GIFs) without the complications of timeline and key-framing. Project Draco outputs to video that can be used to create an animated GIF file with tools like Camtasia Studio.

Here are some examples:

The Autodesk Research team is looking for iPad users who want to participate in the project and provide feedback. They deliver the tech preview to you using Apple's TestFlight platform. The team has a limited number of TestFlight slots available, so they are accepting requests for participation.

Complete a short survey and request participation.

Once accepted into the project, you can provide feedback via the project forum or labs.draco@autodesk.com.M

The team recently updated Project Draco. Here are some things to try in the most recent update.

• Eraser tool
• Import to Layer
• Duplicate Layer
• Controls for Grow: Orientation, Spacing
• Granular animation for Grow without Bend
• Save to Video Settings (resolution, duration)
• Bug fixes

To test the updated Project Draco app, participants open TestFlight on their iPad using iOS 8.0 or later and install the update.

Animation is alive in the lab.