CinePaint Frequently Asked Questions
by Robin Rowe
What's CinePaint? CinePaint is a deep paint image retouching tool that supports
higher color fidelity than ordinary painting tools.
What Platforms run CinePaint?
Linux, FreeBSD, Macintosh (native with GTK+OSX, not X11). The
Windows version was withdrawn because it was unstable, but will
come back eventually.
Why don't I see any file type but XCF in the image types
list when I try to open a file? What happened to JPEG, etc.? CinePaint isn't finding its plug-ins. (XCF isn't a plug-in.)
Change your user preferences setting to point toward CinePaint's
plug-ins directory.
Did you fork GIMP?
Back in 1998, the film industry employed some GIMP developers
to enhance GIMP for 16-bit deep painting. GIMP never released
that code. It was called the HOLLYWOOD branch in GIMP CVS, and
within the film industry it was known as Film Gimp. In 2000,
the GIMP project announced a new direction, GEGL. Film Gimp was
forgotten. In 2002, I discovered Film Gimp in use at the studio
Rhythm & Hues while writing a story for Linux Journal. Readers
wrote me for the tarball and started sending me patches. I made
the patched code available on SourceForge. Film Gimp was renamed
CinePaint and has evolved significantly since.
How do I get the film industry to sponsor my software
project?
Not a CinePaint question, but something I get asked. In general,
there's no chance of selling vaporware to a studio. Vendors beg
studios to try their latest software and hardware for free in
order to gain future business. Getting a meeting isn't easy.
The time of film people is quite valuable, like a doctor or lawyer.
It's so competitive that even getting to be an intern working
for free at a studio is a challenge. Furthermore, it typically
takes about seven years to accomplish much in the film industry.
That's the typical cycle to develop and release one major movie.
And remember, "Don't call us...we'll call you...."
