What package should I be using for 2d animation?

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What package should I be using for 2d animation?

I am working with a client on a 2d map. The map is centered on the user's position and marks various headings and points of interest. As the user moves, the headings change and the points of interest move.

My client is insistent on using OpenGL for this, but this seems like overkill.

He has mentioned he thinks GDI+ and SDL are too slow for this purpose, but I disagree. Flash is not being considered, due to costs.

Could anyone give some advice on a good 2d, free animation solution?

Qt has fully featured, OpenGL accelerated 2D painting/animation, it's free, also for commercial applications (LGPL license), cross-platform and generally a joy to use.

On a side note: why anyone would consider SDL slow is really beyond me, how much faster can it get?

Greg S 2010-07-13 06:42:20

"how much faster can it get?" Well, depending on how and how much you render, with OpenGL/DirectX you can get from 300 to 600 frames per second on a weak hardware.

SigTerm 2010-07-13 07:12:21

@SigTerm: Just to clarify my remark: the Simple DirectMedia Layer 2D API is certainly not faster than OpenGL, but for a light-weight 2D API, it is probably one of the best out there for speed (with portability and ease of use added as a bonus).

Greg S 2010-07-13 08:42:08

We only need around 30-40 fps. My client kept mentioning he always saw "choppy" animation from SDL and the others. I think he just forgot to turn on double buffering.

samoz 2010-07-13 11:28:41

If you want smooth animation instead of choppy, then you need to match the fps to the refresh rate of the monitor. If the refresh rate is 60 Hz, then anything but 60 fps is choppy, no matter what graphics library you are using. Double buffering can only save you from tearing, not from choppiness.

Roku 2010-07-13 14:02:40

The first library we used to make a game was Allegro. I checked the website just now and they do support animation (among other things).

Unfortunately I do not remember how to use it or how long it took to get started (my knowledge of programming was just evolving at that point) but I do remember that the results looked good :) Hope that this helps!

Default 2010-07-13 06:57:42

allegro is roughly as easy to setup and use as sdl

Ross 2010-07-19 13:08:04

ansaurus

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What package should I be using for 2d animation?

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