Show HN: SVG Animation Software
expressive.appExpressive Animator is an SVG vector animation software that helps users create and export animated icons, logos, and illustrations. Users can import SVG, PDF, Adobe Illustrator files, and Figma designs, and animate them using easing controls, motion paths, masking, and other techniques. Expressive Animator also allow users to export their animations in other formats as Lottie, GIF, PNG, and video.
So many comments in here interpreting “lifetime license” as “lifetime updates”. Ugh. As a person with a one-time purchase product I feel the pain of trying to explain succinctly.
msarca - it might be worth looking at the wording on CleanShot’s pricing page. I notice they avoid the word “lifetime” entirely. I wonder how much confusion they still get.
This looks like a great product filling a gap in the marketplace. You mention a Affinity a lot in these comments, but not in your marketing. If people who like the Affinity model is your target consumer, maybe you should mention compatibility on the site. Affinity also offers a free trial, and perhaps you should too since you don't have a reputation. This product is also about the same price as an Affinity product, which feels too expensive.
Thanks for your suggestion! We provide a free trial https://expressive.app/expressive-animator/download/
Missed the free trial. Definitely make it clear there is free trial on the pricing page.
Will do, thanks!
Expressive Animator gives you the right to use the current version of the software (v1) in perpetuity and entitles you to receive free updates until version 2 becomes available (no planned release date currently).
So... is it the real lifetime license? What about the next versions?
When version 2 is out, you will have the option to upgrade for a fee or to continue to use version 1 for free for as long as you like.
That's a fine business model (similar to Jetbrains) but your ad copy is a bit misleading:
From the pricing page:
"Enjoy the benefits of our lifetime license and get access to all features and upcoming updates with a one-off payment"
I think that this is a disingenuous use of the (legacy) term 'Lifetime license'. No-one who hasn't recently been screwed over by a software house like 4K Video Downloader [1] would think that 'lifetime' only covered the current lead version number.
A new term such as 'All version [n] updates included' (or something less clunky) needs to be found. At least one could Google it and understand the proposition, if its meaning was not clear - but 'lifetime license' is massively deceptive.
[1] https://reddit.com/r/4kdownloadapps/comments/1hbmdpn/really_...
It is not, because you do get a lifetime license. Of course you don't get free "lifetime updates", but you can keep using the version you have paid for as long as you want.
So apparently it’s not your lifetime, it’s the lifetime of the software version. If you never upgrade then it could be your lifetime.
It's always the lifetime of the version or the lifetime of the software, never your lifetime.
By lifetime I mean you can use it as long as you like without having to pay again. So it depends on how you get the software, if it’s web based then yes there may be a lifetime of the software but if you install it on your machine then you will stop getting bug fixes or security updates at some point but software itself won’t stop working until your hardware dies.
Is this one of those lifetime purchases where I have to pay again in 5 years when the developers realise they regretted offering a lifetime licence?
If Adobe buys them, then all bets are off.
Their faq states that the license is valid for the current version (v1) and not for any future versions. So all they have to do is increase the version number when money is tight.
wow, that's a lot of life for "lifetime" license right?
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I have no affiliation with this product or company. I'm curious about the options here from a business perspective.
A business has continual costs, which at the minimum may just be the ability to support a single developer's adult life. This app is selling itself once per major version, which judging by some comments here is somewhat unappealing. Many people are justifiably sick of subscription payments. I am also assuming many people would not appreciate e.g. an ad-supported version of something like this app.
So, what does that leave in terms of realistic business options? Are there any examples out there of a software business that succeeds in supporting its own development while helping its customers feel like they are getting their money's worth?
You have to charge for upgrades. It's not reasonable to pay once and expect lifetime updates. Subscriptions are annoying, but if you want ongoing support of course you have to pay.
I think selling by version is arguably the most ethical way to do it, maybe with a SaaS license option. I think the main thing is just be honest that that is what you are doing.
We have exactly the same business model as Affinity.
Probably. Isn't Expressive also the people that touted being Open Source til that didn't live up to their unrealistic expectations?
There's a Github link but there are no repos. How do I package this for my favourite Linux distro?
You can't, we don't support Linux, but someone here suggested Synfig as an alternative.
Is it a bit flash like in the sense, that I can script the whole thing easily?
Looks really cool. I appreciate all the videos on youtube too!
I like it! Will give this a try, any free trail?
Sure thing https://expressive.app/expressive-animator/download/
Hey, didn't know where else to say this, but your logo breaks on dark mode. Pretty sick software!
Thanks for the heads up! I'll fix it
You'll also want to remove the GitHub link. It's been a long time since 2021.
Nope, I like that link!
Cool! How does it differ from Animatron that had SVG animations for ~10 years already?
So awesomeeee I always wanted something like this
Thanks! I'm glad you like it
Lots of bitter nerds in the comments here for some reason. Who hurt you?
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Maybe that's why people don't bother targeting Linux. Look at your comment. Why are people so easily offended these days by things that are out here, doing no harm to anyone. Like, you could just hit the back button and go on with your day. Why do you need to be so offended? If this is the sort of stuff that triggers you I can't imagine how your day looks like.
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Completely normal for Show HNs to be someone's attempt at making a business...
Damn. Didn't expect so much bitterness this morning. What a strange set of "demands" for a pretty decent piece of kit.
I find it interesting when folks criticize software for not being free / open source. There's nothing stopping you from creating the FOSS you are disappointed someone else didn't create - or from investing your own time into improving an existing project. I don't think we need to criticize someone else's choice to go a different path.
We don't _need_ to criticize it, but there's also nothing wrong with expressing the criticism. Maybe I would have found this useful and worth paying for, but I can't without having the source. It's a shame that the potential usefulness of this work is limited in a way that prevents people like me from supporting it.
The project was originally open source. Here's a fork of the original 2021 repo.
https://github.com/gqshell/ExpressiveAnimator
You're not the market
It’s a shame but you also have to be realistic. People have to make a living.
You know, a "made with" blender film just won an Oscar. I bet Blender devs also have to make a living and I doubt they work for free.
Blender is actually a business in spirit (even if not legally) and has very active and aggressive marketing. That is why they are dominating the OSS DCC tool space and get millions in corporate sponsorship.
Blender is amazing and I love it. That doesn’t mean that replicating their success is an easy feat or for everyone.
If it was easy to get the required funding, wouldn’t Synfig be in a position to rake in funds and hire people to improve Synfig?
Got to be realistic. That was one piece of software and it took decades and a team and plenty of free labor to get to where it is. People have to eat daily.
FLOSS devs do eat daily. It's not developed by fasting people.
The vast majority of FLOSS projects are underfunded and we have far more cases of projects that had to shutdown because they lacked funding than projects that were successfully able to fund themselves.
Survivor bias backed examples are not a good argument.
lol. 50-50 you’re an llm or a troll.
You https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=hahsusuya , dksisudh https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=dksisudh and hdsese https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=hdsese created accounts after my comment. The first comment of each of these accounts were against my comment. I'm not the one here who looks like a troll.
There’s a lot of work behind Blender, and behind it having that infrastructure to pay some devs. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blender_(software)#History
To be fair, Blender did not start as a FOSS but as a proprietary software.
As opposed to this that seemingly started as foss and no longer is.
You know, survival bias. For each floss project where its devs can make a decent living just working on that project, I can can name way more where they depend on the free labour/willing of their maintainers.
What are you talking about? Hundreds of Blender developers did and do work for free.
Just because a movie made with it did well, doesn't mean Blender devs get paid.
https://devtalk.blender.org/t/hiring-a-blender-dev/13151