Is there a way or a tool i can use to make WPF animations and controls without using Expression Blend...maybe just using Visual Studio 2008 or something???
A:
You can do everything in visual studio, but the designer isn't much use so you will be in XML mode a lot, and animations generally take a lot of xaml! If you really want to do it then take a look at the documentation for DoubleAnimation (for animating properties) and Storyboard (for grouping animations)
Steven Robbins
2009-10-02 06:23:35
Ok, I haven't tried using overly complex animations so far but for simple fading and moving around writing them directly in XAML works pretty well. But yes, they take an awful lot of markup in some cases.
Joey
2009-10-02 06:27:35
Yeah, it's doable, and fine for simple things, but animations are one of the few things I usually turn to Blend for :-)
Steven Robbins
2009-10-02 06:30:08
+2
A:
You can create animations entirely in XAML. In fact, I prefer to do so. I find the Expression Blend interface confusing (or maybe I am just too lazy to learn it). I like to use kaxaml to experiment. It comes with a bunch of XAML snippets, including an animation one to get you started.
Mark Heath
2009-10-02 06:45:40
+1
A:
You can use Visual Studio.
ALSO:
Visual Web Developer
If you're looking for a visual XAML tool and can't swing Blend, take a look at:
Kaxaml Even though the page says for Silverlight two, the designer says:
The latest beta of Kaxaml works with Silverlight 3 with you doing anything. That said, I’m looking to expand the support and finally bump SL support out of beta. Unfortunately, Kaxaml takes a back seat to paying gigs these days so the best way to get a new release of Kaxaml is to not hire me.
A:
You might want to read Jeff Paries's book "Foundation Silverlight 2 Animation" - it sounds like you are going to need it.
Seriously, I could not imagine writing serious animations without Blend.
Joel Cochran
2009-10-02 15:00:21
I can't imagine actually using Blend. Seriously this tool is so behind Visual Studio, I can't even use the keyboard to navigate between most parts of the app and the XAML editor lacks the keyboard shortcuts and all of that from Visual Studio making it difficult for developers to use.
jpierson
2010-08-05 02:02:31
I would say that if you are using Blend to manually edit XAML, you're missing out on what Blend is all about. I agree: if you want to write XAML, I would use Visual Studio. What I am saying is I couldn't conceive of wanting to manually write XAML for something as complex as an animation, especially when I have such a simple way of doing it using Blend.I think the real problem lies in assuming parity between the two tools: Visual Studio is an IDE, Blend is a vector-oriented GUI designer. They serve two distinct purposes and should be employed accordingly.
Joel Cochran
2010-08-10 14:51:09