The CinePaint FAQ
- What's the difference between CinePaint and Film Gimp?
CinePaint was known unofficially by many names: Gimp16, Film
Gimp and Hollywood Gimp. The name was officially changed to CinePaint
in March 2003, which may end the confusion. The first release
of CinePaint was on the Windows platform because that happened
to be released at the time of the name change. That it is Film
Gimp 0.16 on some platforms and CinePaint 0.16 for Windows has
no special significance beyond timing. Future versions on all
platforms will be called CinePaint.
- What's are the differences between CinePaint on the various
platforms?
To users, CinePaint should seem about the same regardless
of platform. CinePaint uses a common codebase to build on all
platforms. For many years Linux, Irix, and Alpha were the only
supported platforms. When Robin Rowe became the project leader
a goal he set was to support all operating systems. That was
accomplished in less than a year. Because Mac OS X is based upon
FreeBSD which is similar to Linux, it was fairly easy to port.
The Mac port came first and then FreeBSD. The Mac port uses the
X11 and Fink compatibility tools, CinePaint on this platform
is more clumsy. A native Mac Aqua port is in development. NetBSD
is supported. CinePaint for Windows is not X11-based, rather
a native port. It was the last and a more difficult port. The
Windows version uses the new threaded plug-in architecture, which
will be adopted across all platforms eventually. The same plug-in
code on Windows runs as a thread with direct in-memory communications,
rather than as a forked executable with network pipes. The Windows
version doesn't support Script-Fu.
- What's the difference between CinePaint and GIMP?
See How Many Gimp's Are There?
- What's the difference between CinePaint and Photoshop?
The base functionality is similar, but Adobe Photoshop doesn't
include the special features that CinePaint has for working with
motion pictures and film. CinePaint has higher color fidelity
-- supporting 16-bit channels, plus a frame manager and a flipbook
movie player.
Photoshop is more mature as an application, with a more pleasing
user interface, support for color spaces, and CMYK. These areas
are being improved in CinePaint.
CinePaint is available for many more operating systems. Photoshop
is available on Windows and Macintosh. CinePaint is available
for Windows, Macintosh OS X (via X11 only), Linux, IRIX, DEC/Compaq
Alpha, FreeBSD, NetBSD, Solaris, Intel IA64, IBM S/390, and HP-UX.
A native Mac Aqua version is coming.
Some consider it a significant difference that CinePaint is free
and Photoshop costs hundreds of dollars.
- How can it be free? What's the catch? How do you make
money?
CinePaint is free open source software. There is no catch.
CinePaint exists through the generosity of its sponsors and developers.
Some developers receive funding from sponsors who consider what
we're doing worthwhile. Some sponsors are motion picture studios
that want to see the project advance to better support their
production needs. Other companies want to support CinePaint for
prestige or to become better known in the motion picture industry
or by the public generally. Some companies see CinePaint as an
opportunity to provide better support for their hardware. Some
simply consider helping us the right thing to do. If your company
would like to become a sponsor contact Robin Rowe at Robin.Rowe@MovieEditor.com
or 818-243-0339 (Hollywood vicinity).
Some developers employed at motion picture studios are permitted
to work on CinePaint between productions when relatively idle.
Others work on CinePaint as volunteers, which can be more rewarding
emotionally than sitting around watching television. Some students
and unemployed programmers see CinePaint as an opportunity to
improve their resume, skills, and contacts.
- On Mac OS X when I try to install the software I can't
get past the password field. It keeps saying I need admin rights.
What's wrong?
This is the elusive Mac install admin password beachball bug.
On certain Macs to install CinePaint you must type the password
excruciatingly slowly and perhaps try several times before it
gets accepted. We've had no luck tracking this bug to its cause.
One reason is none of our developers has a machine that exhibits
this behavior. It may be related to the model of keyboard. The
Mac installer is complex and depends on Fink and other X11-based
software we didn't write. Because the Mac install includes other
supporting software it is much larger. At 60MB it is about ten
times the size of the Windows and *nix versions. All these issues
will go away when CinePaint for Mac Aqua is released.
- What's the history of CinePaint? How did it come about?
See The History of CinePaint.
- How do I contribute code to CinePaint? Why haven't I heard
anything back regarding that patch I sent in yesterday?
You can use either patches
or CVS. If you aren't sure which
is best for you, use patches. If you are contributing a new plug-in
simply tarball or zip the source and post it to patches as though
it was a patch. Do not post patches to the email list because
unless posted to patches it isn't tracked for inclusion in CinePaint.
When a new release is made any outstanding patches are integrated.
It may be nobody will look at your patch until we wrap the next
version release. If the next version of CinePaint doesn't include
your patch and you haven't received any word that's when to ask
us if it got lost or has a problem. Most patches are accepted
and the changes simply show up in the next version.
If you are contemplating making major changes to CinePaint you
should contact us first so your effort can be coordinated with
others.
- Does CinePaint edit movies? Can it replace Adobe Premiere
or Apple Final Cut Pro? Is it a compositor like Apple Shake?
Does it render?
Not yet. See Using CinePaint.
- How does CinePaint do scanning, screenshots, and printing?
Those features aren't presently available. The GIMP plug-ins
are being ported over. If you have other software to create 48-bit
scans, which may come with your scanner, CinePaint is one of
the few programs that can manipulate the resultant files.
- How do I get a GIMP 1.2+ plug-in to compile with CinePaint
headers?
There's an experimental compatibility header that fixes most
problems. However, bringing plug-ins over to Windows presents
special challenges because some are unfriendly to the new threading
architecture and hang CinePaint by starving the event loop. It's
being worked on. Another area in development is gimp-print 16-bit
support so that high fidelity art prints can be output.
- How do I print digital computer images modified in CinePaint
to film?
For 35mm motion pictures the studios have million dollar
high resolution film recorders. Some can be rented. Studio gear
can be custom made or bought commercially. Prices start at $120k
for LaserGraphics printer.
- Where do you get those cool images of fighter planes,
the space shuttle, and so forth?
From the Air Force, NASA, and other sources on the web. See
Sample Data.
Questions to rower@movieeditor.com
Created April 9, 2003; updated April
18, 2003