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Reference backlog

What the absorbed and upstream projects have, what Flare on main lacks, and the work packages that close the gaps that matter most for Animate users moving to Flare. The summary is in ROADMAP.md (Reference backlog). This file is the evidence behind it.

Checked on 2026-11-04 against origin/main (commit 5026a07). Gaps were confirmed by grepping crates/ and apps/ for each feature's name and by reading ROADMAP.md, SURFACES.md and crates/editing/flare-tools/src/not_yet.rs. A gap marked "not found" means no matching name in the code, not a proof of absence.

Licences

Flare is BSD-3-Clause (root LICENSE, Cargo.toml license). A source can feed Flare code only if its licence allows it to be copied into a BSD-3 project with its notice kept.

Source Licence (file read) Compatible with Flare Use
Flare-RustBase (Flare-Animate/rustconversion-animatecraft, the AnimationCraft code) MIT OR Apache-2.0 (LICENSE-MIT, LICENSE-APACHE) Yes, with the notices kept Port allowed, with attribution
ArtCraft (storytold/artcraft) MIT OR Apache-2.0 (LICENSE-MIT, LICENSE-APACHE, NOTICE) Yes, with notices Port allowed, with attribution
OpenToonz (opentoonz/opentoonz) BSD-3-Clause (LICENSE.txt); thirdparty/ and stuff/library/mypaint brushes/ keep their own licences Yes, same licence family Port allowed, notices kept, third-party files checked one by one
Tahoma2D (tahoma2d/tahoma2d) BSD-3-Clause (LICENSE.txt), same third-party carve-outs Yes Port allowed, same rule as OpenToonz
Old Flare C++ (original/, this repo) BSD-3-Clause (root LICENSE) Yes Read as reference only: AGENTS.md forbids depending on, linking or copying from original/
Next2Flash (SSF2-Mods-Official/Next2Flash) MIT (LICENSE); its editor is based on the Next2D NoCode Tool, MIT (app/LICENSE); toolchain/ffdec-worker is GPLv3 (bundles FFDec) Yes for the MIT parts; no for the GPLv3 worker MIT parts: port allowed. FFDec and its worker: behaviour only, no code, no bundling
minnamate (mirvoxtm/minnamate) No licence file in the repo (root listing, README.md, Cargo.toml, CLAUDE.md checked). Its CLAUDE.md says it is clean-room and that MIT/Apache inputs may be reused, which is about its inputs, not its own licence Unknown: with no licence, all rights are reserved Behaviour only until the maintainer licenses it
nflare (Flare-Animate/nflare) GPLv3 (full text in LICENSE); a fork of nanofl No: BSD-3 Flare cannot take GPLv3 code without relicensing Behaviour only, no code
ArtCraft's Replicraft Not found (see below) Unknown Not used
bitmapflow (Bauxitedev/bitmapflow) No LICENSE file in the repository; its README says MIT, which is not relied on Unknown Behaviour and ideas only, no code (ENGINEERING.md)
godot_moho_importer (jpdurigan/godot_moho_importer) MIT (LICENSE) Yes, with attribution Format facts used with attribution (see Sources 9)
moho-file-analyzer (sinahojati/moho-file-analyzer) No LICENSE file No (no permission to copy) Behaviour only, no code
fla-decoder (eddiemoore/fla-decoder, binary FLA notes and a Python decoder) MIT (LICENSE, Copyright 2026 Ed Moore; NOTICE repeats MIT) Yes, with the notice kept Its format notes inform the clean-room bounded layer reader; no decoder code is ported (see FLASH-FORMATS.md)
fla-viewer (lifeart/fla-viewer, TypeScript binary FLA viewer) ISC per package.json and the README badge; no LICENSE file in the repository Probably yes, but not confirmed from a licence file Facts and behaviour only, no code. Its fixtures are used locally, not committed
Ruffle (third_party/ruffle, including swf and the test movies under tests/ and swf/tests/swfs) MIT OR Apache-2.0 (LICENSE-MIT, LICENSE-APACHE in swf/) Yes, with notices The swf crate is a dependency; test movies are read in place, not copied
Flashbang (cure53/Flashbang, Shumway test and example FLAs, XFL folders, SWFs) MPL-2.0 (LICENSE) Yes for test data, file-level copyleft for code Used as read-only test inputs; nothing copied
OStimNG (VersuchDrei/OStimNG) and CrazyFlashNight (FlashNightModReborn/CrazyFlashNight) GNU GPL (LICENSE; version not recorded) No for code Read-only XFL test inputs, used locally, never committed
JPEXS Free Flash Decompiler GPLv3 (not fetched in this session) No Facts only, if ever; no code
eisai-anime-interpolator (ShuhongChen/eisai-anime-interpolator) AGPL-3.0 (license.txt) No: copyleft, not permissive Behaviour and ideas only, no code; its neural weights are not used (ENGINEERING.md)
flipnote.js (jaames/flipnote.js, Flipnote Studio parsers, test samples) MIT (LICENSE, Copyright (c) 2018 James Daniel) Yes, with the notice kept Port allowed with attribution: the PPM parser was followed in crates/io/flare-import/src/flipnote/ (ENGINEERING.md). Its KWZ parser is not used yet
Flipnote Collective flipnote-studio-docs (wiki, Flipnote Studio PPM) GPL-2.0 (LICENSE text fetched from the repository page) No: GPL Facts only; no text or code copied
Flipnote Collective flipnote-studio-3d-docs (KWZ format wiki) CC BY-SA 4.0 (LICENSE) No: share-alike does not fit a BSD-3 code base Facts only; no text copied
Hatenatools (pbsds/Hatenatools, Flipnote Hatena and Studio tools) AGPL-3.0 (README) No: copyleft Not read for code; nothing used
Ugomemo.NET (purifetchi/Ugomemo.NET, a different format, Ugomemo) MIT (repository licence) Yes Not used: not a Flipnote format
sudomemo-utils (Sudomemo/sudomemo-utils) and flipnote-id (pummelator/flipnote-id) MIT (repository licence) Yes Not read for code; listed as leads for the KWZ and FSID work

Policy the work packages follow. ARCHITECTURE.md already marks flare-tween as clean-room ("the code follows the feature descriptions and standard easing formulas"), and ENGINEERING.md says reference projects are not committed. So the default for every package below is behaviour-only, written fresh: read the reference to learn what the feature does, then write Flare's own code. A package may port a file from a permissive source (MIT, Apache or BSD) only when the maintainer records that decision in docs/decisions/ with the source, its licence and the changes. This is a recommendation for the maintainer to confirm.

Sources

1. Flare-RustBase: AnimationCraft (/home/user/flare-animate/rustconversion-animatecraft)

The Rust implementation of the Animate authoring model that Flare absorbed (original/docs/ANIMATIONCRAFT_ABSORPTION.md calls it "AnimationCraft"; its README title is "Flare (Rust)"). The largest feature source here. Its README, the part read in this session, lists:

  • Tools: Free Transform with skew, Distort and Envelope; 3D Rotation and Translation; Bone with inverse kinematics; Asset Warp; Width; Magic Wand and Break Apart; Paint Brush modes; Fluid Brush; Gradient Transform; Camera and a free camera (VCam) that follows a named object.
  • Files: .acx (a ZIP of JSON parts and PNG), XFL and .fla import and export with custom eases, PNG, SVG, animated GIF, PNG sequence, video through ffmpeg, Publish Settings, HTML5 Canvas, sprite sheets (PNG with JSON hash, JSON array or Starling XML), animated SVG (SMIL), Lottie, Photoshop (PSD) import, XDTS timing sheet import and export, SVG import, images (PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, TGA, TIFF, WebP, OpenEXR), numbered image sequences.
  • Effects: Motion Blur along real movement; about 200 EffectCraft effects; Trace Bitmap with a centerline mode; Shift and Trace.
  • From OpenToonz: stroke styles (Herringbone, Chain, Rope, and more), deformers (Magnet, Pinch, Pump, Bender, Iron), drawing assistants (line, vanishing point, ellipse, perspective, fisheye, replicators, jitter), 25 MyPaint raster brushes, IK with joint constraints, particle emitter.
  • Motion Editor with expressions, eases, motion tweens, shape hints, reverse frames, onion skin, layer parenting, scenes, buttons (Up, Over, Down, Hit), instance names, sound and lip sync.
  • Scripting: frame scripts in JavaScript (sandboxed), a Script Console (JavaScript, Python, Node.js or Ruby over a JSON protocol) and JSFL compatibility. Crates: ac-core, ac-render (with effectcraft.rs), ac-script, ac-xfl, ac-audio, ac-package, ac-app, ac-cli.

2. ArtCraft (storytold/artcraft, found by git ls-remote)

A generative-media creation app: image (16 models), video (25), music (5), 3D mesh (11) and Gaussian-splat (5) providers, with crates desktop, api_clients, lib, schema. Its EffectCraft, PhotoCraft (photocraft-psd) and VectorCraft crates are the parts AnimationCraft uses (original/LOGIC-ATLAS.md). Only its README headings were read here. Issue #207 on Flare asks to share its UI modules. The AI generation features are out of scope for Flare.

3. nflare (Flare-Animate/nflare, found by git ls-remote)

A fork of nanofl: a Haxe engine (engine/nanofl, with FilterDef.hx, Ease.hx, TextureAtlasTools.hx, MaskTools.hx) and a TypeScript IDE (ide, modules/). Its README lists: edges, polygons and boolean operations; png, jpeg and svg rasters; masks, classic tweens and motion guides; blur, drop shadow, glow, tint and brightness; linear, radial and bitmap gradient fills; canvas text with web fonts; HTML5 output on EaselJS; 3D through three.js with glTF and Blender conversion. Licence GPLv3: behaviour only.

4. Next2Flash (SSF2-Mods-Official/Next2Flash, Windows)

An Electron and Python editor for Flash and AIR projects. It imports a SWF to an editable .n2d project or a folder of PNG, WAV and AS files, and exports a SWF back. Other features: a timeline, layers, library, transform and colour tools, filters; AS3 decompile and recompile with a bundled Flex lite SDK (mxmlc, compc, asconfigc); SWF to CS6 FLA export; in-place SWF patching through FFDec; the n2f command line (n2f.py, server.py). Its editor is in app/src and app/electron. Licence: the MIT parts are portable; the FFDec worker is GPLv3.

5. minnamate (mirvoxtm/minnamate)

A clean-room Rust editor for Animate .fla files, with crates core (minnamate-core), apps/cli and apps/editor (egui). It reads and saves FLA and XFL, keeping unknown attributes in Extra. It draws with tiny-skia, publishes SWF through Ruffle's swf crate, writes HTML5 Canvas and renders GIF, PNG and video (ffmpeg). Its model covers folders, masks, guides and parenting, motion and shape tweens (motion.rs, shape_tween.rs), buttons (button.rs), gradients, bitmaps, filters and blend modes (filters.rs), sound (sound.rs), layer tree (layer_tree.rs), and a frame-script subset (script.rs: stop, play, goto, next and previous frame, trace, navigateToURL). Not yet, by its README: bones, 3D, Asset Warp, input text, several documents, custom workspaces. Its layout follows Animate 2024's Essentials workspace.

6. OpenToonz (opentoonz/opentoonz)

The C++ base of Flare's old code (about 105 tool sources in toonz/sources/tnztools/). Relevant areas: magnettool.cpp, irontool.cpp, pinch, pump and bender tools; assistant.cpp and assistants/ (line, ellipse, perspective, vanishing point, fisheye); shifttracetool.cpp; mypainttoonzbrush.cpp with its brush library in stuff/library/mypaint brushes/; stopmotion; tcleanupper (cleanup); toonz/sources/toonzqt/ (widgets); stuff/profiles/layouts/fxs/ (about 160 FX definitions) and stuff/library/shaders/. Flare's flare-profile already reads room layouts (ROADMAP, OpenToonz feature areas).

7. Tahoma2D (tahoma2d/tahoma2d)

An OpenToonz fork with the same tool layout. Only its licence and README sections were read in this session; its animation-specific changes are not catalogued here. Treat it as a second copy of the OpenToonz tool sources to compare when a package is started.

8. Old Flare C++ (original/, in this repo)

Per original/FEATURE_STATUS.md: Moho projects (structure and rig read, no rig rendering); a FlipaClip layout profile; the Next2Flash sidecar (AS3 decompile, constant-string patch, compile through the Flex SDK); a game-creation scaffold (common/tgame, an ECS with 7 systems); a Rust backend behind a C ABI; an Android scaffold; an NSIS installer. original/docs/FLASH_CC_GAPS.md and original/docs/animatecraft/FUNCTION-SOURCES.md list more. Read only.

9. Flipnote Studio formats (PPM, KWZ)

The reference list for docs/FLIPNOTE.md. Each source's licence is in the table above.

  • flipnote.js (MIT): src/parsers/PpmParser.ts and KwzParser.ts. The PPM and KWZ readers are ported with attribution. The seven real .ppm and eight .kwz files in its test/samples/ were used as verification data outside the repository (FLARE_FLIPNOTE_SAMPLES); they are not committed.
  • Flipnote Collective flipnote-studio-docs (GPL-2.0): the PPM wiki, read for layout facts.
  • Flipnote Collective flipnote-studio-3d-docs (CC BY-SA 4.0): the KWZ wiki, read for layout facts.
  • Hatenatools (AGPL-3.0) and Ugomemo.NET (MIT): the second is a different format and not used.
  • No .fpbm format was found in the search. .kwc files are KFH sections like KWZ; the sample comment.kwc is refused with the KWZ message.
  • Open work: the KWZ and PPM sound (ADPCM decodes exist, no document layer), the thumbnails, the KWZ layer depths and draw order, and an oracle comparison of decoded pixels with flipnote.js (refused in this run).

10. Moho and Anime Studio (flare-moho)

Source Licence (file read) Use
jpdurigan/godot_moho_importer (godot_moho_importer) MIT (LICENSE, 2022 João Pedro Durigan) Format facts (layer type names, mesh and bone key names, track names) with attribution in ROADMAP; its CharWalk.moho and CharWalk.mohoproj used as real samples, outside the repo (not committed)
sinahojati/moho-file-analyzer No LICENSE file (README and .ps1 only) Behaviour only, no code; not a source of format facts that are copied
SimplSam/moho-bvh-bones CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Behaviour only (ENGINEERING.md); no code
Web search (Moho Lost Marble Project.mohoproj) Not applicable: only file-extension directories and a forum thread; no open-source parser or JSON schema found Nothing taken

The real Moho 13 files and their layout are recorded in MOHO.md. Samples are not committed; the tests use synthetic files written to match the layout.

Replicraft: not found

Tried: gh search repos replicraft (HTTP 502 from the GitHub search API, same for nflare and artcraft); git ls-remote on storytold/replicraft, storytold/Replicraft, Replicraft/Replicraft, replicraft/replicraft; the same names under ArtCraft/, artcraft-ai/ and Flare-Animate/; a grep of docs/, original/, README.md and PORTING_TRACKER.md for "replicraft" (no match). Next step: the maintainer gives the URL.

Gap list against main

Status: Built (in the code, tested), Partial (a library or part exists), Gap (not found), Not planned (ROADMAP or PARITY says so).

Feature Found in Status on main Evidence
Merge drawing (planar map, shapes cut and merge) AnimationCraft Gap ROADMAP high priority; only a drawing-mode switch in flare-animate panels/drawing_mode.rs
Motion Editor and custom eases AnimationCraft (motion.rs, tween_edit.rs), minnamate motion tweens Partial Segment editor built (flare_tween::edit, Motion Editor panel); per-property graphs left (ROADMAP, SURFACES)
Bones and inverse kinematics AnimationCraft (rig.rs, ik.rs), OpenToonz skeleton Partial flare-rig has bones, keyed poses, forward kinematics and bounded two-bone/CCD IK; weighted meshes, constraints and master controllers are still open (ROADMAP, SURFACES)
Trace Bitmap, centerline AnimationCraft (trace.rs, centerline.rs) Gap only a stub in flare-tools/src/not_yet.rs
Shift and Trace AnimationCraft, OpenToonz shifttracetool.cpp Gap listed in not_yet.rs, not implemented
Deformers: Magnet, Pinch, Pump, Bender, Iron AnimationCraft (deform.rs), OpenToonz Gap listed in not_yet.rs
Stroke styles (Herringbone, Rope, Zigzag, and Animate's Dashed, Dotted, Ragged, Stipple, Hatched) AnimationCraft (strokes.rs), OpenToonz Partly StrokeStyle (solid, dashed, dotted, stipple, hatched, ragged, herringbone, rope, zigzag) is on every stroke, drawn by flare-render (the geometric ones in pattern.rs), saved in .flare, set in Properties and the tool options, and by draw-rect --stroke-style and draw_rect's stroke_style. Deformers are still open
Drawing assistants, perspective, vanishing point AnimationCraft (assist.rs), OpenToonz assistants/ Gap "Assistant tool" and "Edit assistant tool" in not_yet.rs; flare-animate/src/workspace/assist.rs exists and was not read, so check it first
Raster (MyPaint) brushes, art brushes AnimationCraft, OpenToonz Gap "MyPaint Toonz brush tool" in not_yet.rs; ROADMAP lower priority
Particles AnimationCraft (particles.rs) Gap only an i18n string matches
Drop shadow, glow, blur, motion blur, colour filters AnimationCraft (fx.rs), nflare, minnamate (filters.rs) Gap "drop shadow", "glow", "motion blur" match nothing
EffectCraft effects (about 200) AnimationCraft (effectcraft.rs) Gap none found; a git dependency on ArtCraft crates would be needed
Import SVG AnimationCraft Gap "svg" appears only in icon build code and the HTML5 publisher; ROADMAP high priority
Import Photoshop PSD AnimationCraft, ArtCraft (photocraft-psd) Gap no match; ROADMAP high priority ("artwork from Photoshop")
Import WebP, TIFF, TGA, OpenEXR AnimationCraft Gap no match
XDTS timing sheet import and export AnimationCraft (xdts.rs) Gap no match
Sprite sheets (JSON hash, array, Starling XML) AnimationCraft Gap no match; ROADMAP lower priority (sprite export)
Animated SVG (SMIL) and Lottie JSON AnimationCraft Gap no match
Editable keyboard shortcuts and shortcut sets AnimationCraft (keyboard section), OpenToonz shortcuts/*.ini Partial ShortcutMap (flare-menubar/src/shortcuts/) holds four sets, conflict checks and a validated file; the Keyboard Shortcuts window edits it, tool letters follow it; Ctrl/Alt chords are still fixed key handling in furniture.rs and the macOS native menu
Scripting: sandboxed frame scripts, Script Console, JSFL AnimationCraft (ac-script), minnamate frame-script subset Gap not built; ROADMAP lists ActionScript 3 as lower priority
Lip sync (mouth-shape workflow) AnimationCraft Gap no match; ROADMAP lower priority
Shape hints AnimationCraft Partial flare-eval/src/morph.rs mentions shape hints; ROADMAP says not done
Free Transform Distort and Envelope AnimationCraft Gap no match for Distort or Envelope in the code
Gradient Transform tool AnimationCraft, nflare Partial gradient fills exist (50 files); the tool is ROADMAP lower priority
Find and Replace AnimationCraft (not checked), ROADMAP lower priority Gap dock pane Pane::FindReplace (flare-dock/src/lib.rs) and an empty find_replace_panel stub (flare-animate/src/workspace/panels/info.rs); no behaviour
Stop motion camera capture OpenToonz stopmotion, flare-stopmotion Partial NoCamera refuses by name (SURFACES)
Toonz import (.tnz, .pli, .tlv) OpenToonz Partial flare-toonz reads headers; levels not decoded (ROADMAP)
Moho import original/, Flare flare-moho Partial parse and conversion done, image layers included; bone-bound layers keep their own placement, actions not converted (MOHO.md)
Xsheet, FX schematic, Plastic, cleanup, render farm OpenToonz, Tahoma2D Not planned or P2/P3 ROADMAP OpenToonz feature areas
Camera, VCam, layer parenting, masks, onion skin, buttons AnimationCraft, minnamate Built (buttons: Up state only, ROADMAP item 2) ROADMAP, SURFACES
3D rotation and translation, glTF AnimationCraft, nflare Not planned out of scope in ROADMAP for now

Work packages

Each package is independent: it can be a branch of its own. Sizes are rough: S under a week of focused work, M one or two weeks, L several weeks, XL a milestone. Priority combines value to an Animate user (ROADMAP's rule: how much a person animating with Flare misses it) with effort. The list is in the order to start.

Surfaces follow SURFACES.md: a feature is not done until desktop, browser, flare (CLI) and flare-mcp have it, or the gap is written down there with its reason. "Test approach" names the library tests (with failure paths) and the wiring tests the rule needs.

WP-1 Editable keyboard shortcuts (S, high)

  • Goal: the shortcut table can be edited and saved, with named sets (flare, animate, opentoonz, which profiles name).
  • Read in reference: AnimationCraft README "Keyboard" section; OpenToonz stuff/config/shortcuts/ (the .ini set format, BSD).
  • Target: flare-input (foundation: key parsing and maps) and flare-menubar (presentation: the table), with settings stored in flare-recent's neighbour config, whichever fits.
  • Surfaces: desktop yes, browser yes (same workspace); CLI and MCP n/a (no keys).
  • Test approach: map round trip, conflict detection, a rejected duplicate leaves the map unchanged, a corrupt file falls back to the default set with a message.
  • Licence: OpenToonz format and AnimationCraft behaviour are portable; write the parser fresh.

WP-2 Motion Editor and tween curves (M, high)

  • Goal: per-property graphs, custom ease curves and a Motion Editor panel, driven by commands.
  • Read in reference: AnimationCraft README "Animation" section and ac-core/src/motion.rs, tween_edit.rs; minnamate motion.rs for XFL custom eases.
  • Target: flare-tween (foundation, built), new commands in flare-commands (editing: SetKeyframeInterpolation, CreateInbetweens, both one undo step each, as ROADMAP's tween section lists), the editor panel in flare-animate (presentation).
  • Surfaces: desktop and browser (the panel); CLI flare tween list|eval; MCP tween_eval with the same calls, so SURFACES rows change to yes.
  • Test approach: command tests with rejected batches, undo back to the exact document, flare-tween curve tests (exist), a surface test for the CLI and MCP wiring.
  • Licence: clean-room (ARCHITECTURE: flare-tween is clean-room). Standard easing formulas are public.

WP-3 Trace Bitmap and Shift and Trace (M, high)

  • Goal: turn a bitmap into merge-shape fills (colour threshold, minimum area, curve fit, corner threshold) and a centerline mode; ghost keyframes that slide under the drawing.
  • Read in reference: AnimationCraft ac-core/src/trace.rs, centerline.rs; OpenToonz shifttracetool.cpp.
  • Target: a new module in flare-core (foundation: the image work) and flare-tools (editing: the command that places the shapes as one undo step); the ghost display in flare-animate and flare-render.
  • Surfaces: desktop and browser; CLI flare trace-bitmap and MCP trace_bitmap with the parameters; Shift and Trace is desktop and browser only (n/a for CLI and MCP, with a reason).
  • Test approach: golden tests on small synthetic bitmaps (a square, a ring, line art), a bound on the number of points, a failing bitmap (empty, huge) refused with an error.
  • Licence: AnimationCraft's trace is MIT/Apache; behaviour first, port only with a decision.

WP-4 Import SVG, Photoshop and more image formats (L, high)

  • Status: SVG done (flare-import svg.rs, usvg 0.45 without its text feature; MIT/Apache). Bitmap content kind, PNG and animated GIF import, and import_image_sequence are done. Left: JPEG/WebP (decoder dependency), PSD, a CLI/MCP/desktop entry for sequences, bitmap blend modes, SWF/XFL export of bitmaps.

  • Goal: SVG as editable shapes, PSD as one bitmap layer per Photoshop layer (in place), WebP, TIFF, TGA and OpenEXR bitmaps, animated GIF as frames, XDTS timing sheets.

  • Read in reference: AnimationCraft ac-core/src/xdts.rs, ac-render/src/formats.rs, its README "Import" paragraphs; ArtCraft photocraft-psd crate (MIT/Apache) for the PSD reader.

  • Target: flare-import (io) for the readers, flare-core for the decoders where a crate is the right tool; each format behind a bound on size and pixel count (ROADMAP: input is untrusted).

  • Surfaces: desktop and browser (File > Import); CLI flare import extended; MCP import_project.

  • Test approach: fixtures for each format; corrupt and truncated files refused, never a panic; size limits tested at the bound and one past it.

  • Licence: photocraft-psd and the image crates are MIT/Apache; check each dependency's licence before adding it, and record it in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.

WP-5 Export: sprite sheets, animated SVG, Lottie, XDTS (M, medium)

  • Status: sprite sheet (PNG grid plus JSON hash atlas) done in flare-runtime sprites.rs, CLI and MCP; left: desktop and browser entries, trimming and duplicate sharing, animated SVG, Lottie, XDTS.

  • Goal: the game and web outputs of the references: sprite sheets (PNG plus JSON hash, JSON array or Starling XML, trimmed, duplicates shared), animated SVG with SMIL, Lottie JSON, XDTS out.

  • Read in reference: AnimationCraft export section and ac-render/src/formats.rs; nflare's TextureAtlasTools.hx for the atlas packing idea (behaviour only, GPLv3).

  • Target: flare-export (io) and flare-publish (io), with the frame data from flare-eval.

  • Surfaces: desktop (Publish dialog), browser (download), CLI flare export --format ..., MCP export_* tools.

  • Test approach: golden output files for each format (a file a viewer loads), a frame range test at both ends, failure paths for an empty document and an over-limit atlas.

  • Licence: all formats are public specs (Starling XML, Lottie JSON, SMIL); write fresh.

WP-6 Deformers and stroke styles (M, medium)

  • Goal: Magnet, Pinch, Pump, Bender and Iron deformers on drawing objects and merge shapes; OpenToonz's extra stroke styles (Herringbone, Chain, Rope, Zigzag, Wave, Curl and the rest).
  • Read in reference: AnimationCraft ac-core/src/deform.rs, strokes.rs; OpenToonz magnettool.cpp, irontool.cpp, and the stroke style sources in toonz/sources/.
  • Target: flare-tools (editing: the operations, as ops:: functions and commands) and flare-render (the stroke pattern).
  • Surfaces: desktop and browser; CLI and MCP partly (a deform command over a shape id; stroke styles desktop and browser only, with the reason in SURFACES).
  • Test approach: operation tests with radius and strength bounds, undo, rejected empty selection, a stroke pattern golden image at fixed parameters.
  • Licence: OpenToonz is BSD-3: porting is allowed with the notice; the default is still behaviour-only.

WP-7 Drawing assistants and perspective guides (M, medium)

  • Goal: straight-line, ellipse, perspective (one, two and three point), vanishing point and fisheye assistants that straighten strokes; replicators (mirror, star, grid, affine); jitter.
  • Read in reference: AnimationCraft ac-core/src/assist.rs; OpenToonz tnztools/assistants/ and modifiers/modifierassistants.cpp.
  • Target: flare-tools (the geometry, pure functions), flare-animate (the assist panel; first read flare-animate/src/workspace/assist.rs, which exists).
  • Surfaces: desktop and browser; CLI and MCP n/a for live drawing, with a reason.
  • Test approach: geometry tests on known inputs (a line snaps to the given vanishing point), a degenerate guide (zero length, coincident points) refused, the overlay never enters the export.
  • Licence: geometry is public; write fresh.

WP-8 Filters and effects (L, medium)

  • Goal: an ordered effect stack for objects and groups: drop shadow, glow, blur, colour adjust, motion blur along real movement, and then the EffectCraft set (about 200 effects).
  • Read in reference: AnimationCraft ac-core/src/fx.rs, ac-render/src/effectcraft.rs; minnamate filters.rs (kept in the element's Extra); nflare's FilterDef.hx (behaviour).
  • Target: flare-document (the stack, as data), flare-core (pixel work), flare-render (draw), flare-publish (SWF PlaceObject3 and HTML5, where the format can hold it, else a warning).
  • Surfaces: desktop, browser, CLI (flare filter add|list), MCP (add_filter).
  • Test approach: golden images for each filter at fixed parameters; a bound on radius and sample count; a stack with a cycle or unknown filter refused; undo.
  • Licence: EffectCraft is MIT/Apache and a git dependency today; adopting it needs a decision on the dependency (size, build time, WebAssembly). The rest is clean-room.

WP-9 Bones and inverse kinematics (XL, high)

  • Goal: bones on shapes and symbols, IK chains posed with the Selection tool, poses as keyframes, joint limits and pins (ROADMAP's rigging section sets the larger goal).
  • Read in reference: AnimationCraft ac-core/src/rig.rs, ik.rs; OpenToonz skeleton and tnztools skeleton sources (BSD); flare-moho for the Moho bone model.
  • Target: flare-document (bones in the model, with a version bump and an upgrade test), flare-commands, flare-eval (the solver), flare-animate (the Bone tool). Decision first in docs/decisions/RIGGING.md, because ROADMAP asks for a rig that is Flare's own.
  • Surfaces: desktop and browser; CLI and MCP add_bone, pose_bone; Spine- and DragonBones-style formats stay out.
  • Test approach: solver tests on known chains (two-bone reach, unreachable target leaves the chain at its limit), random edit sequences keep the document valid, undo exact.
  • Licence: IK solvers are public algorithms; write fresh. OpenToonz and AnimationCraft behaviour only.

WP-10 Timeline and symbol extras (M, medium)

  • Goal: Find and Replace across text, fonts, colours and symbols; shape hints on shape tweens (their evaluation is partly there in flare-eval/src/morph.rs); a visual frame picker for a graphic's first frame; Convert to Frame-by-Frame; Gradient Transform (F).
  • Read in reference: AnimationCraft README "Animation" and "Objects"; minnamate shape_tween.rs for hints.
  • Target: flare-commands and flare-document (the operations), flare-animate (dialogs).
  • Surfaces: desktop and browser; CLI flare replace and MCP find_replace for the text and symbol parts; the gradient tool and frame picker are desktop and browser only.
  • Test approach: replace on a document with no match changes nothing; a replace that breaks a symbol name is refused; shape hints with two points and with an unmatched count fail with an error; undo.
  • Licence: clean-room; behaviour from the references.

WP-11 Raster brush engine (L, medium)

  • Goal: pixel brushes on a keyframe's bitmap, with MyPaint-style brush presets (pencil, ink, charcoal, airbrush, watercolour, smudge, erasers).
  • Read in reference: AnimationCraft raster brush code and its 25 presets; OpenToonz mypainttoonzbrush.cpp. Check each brush file's licence in stuff/library/mypaint brushes/ (OpenToonz Licenses.txt) before using any preset.
  • Target: flare-core (the brush stamping, bounded by brush size and dab count), flare-tools (the tool), flare-animate (presets panel).
  • Surfaces: desktop and browser; CLI flare paint-raster and MCP as a draw call (partly).
  • Test approach: golden images at fixed stroke input, a stroke's dab count bounded, an unreadable preset file refused, and a performance measurement against PERFORMANCE.md (not a timing claim without numbers).
  • Licence: brush presets are the blocker: each preset file needs its own check. Engine written fresh.

WP-12 Scripting (XL, lower, decision first)

  • Goal: frame scripts run in a sandbox during playback, a Script Console and a JSFL compatibility layer, as AnimationCraft has them; or a decision that ActionScript 3 (ROADMAP's lower-priority item) is the only scripting Flare offers.
  • Read in reference: AnimationCraft ac-script/src/lib.rs, jsfl.js, its SCRIPTING.md (the API and the safety model); minnamate script.rs (the frame-script subset).
  • Target: a new crate only when it has code and tests (AGENTS): likely flare-script (services layer, with a JavaScript engine as an adapter). The decision goes first in docs/decisions/SCRIPTING.md: sandbox, resource limits, what a script may change (commands only, one undo step per run).
  • Surfaces: desktop and browser (Script Console); CLI flare script run and MCP run_script, which must refuse anything outside the sandbox.
  • Test approach: the sandbox refuses file and network access by test, a runaway loop hits the limit, a script that writes through commands is one undo step, a failed script changes nothing.
  • Licence: AnimationCraft's API and safety model are MIT/Apache, so a port is allowed; the engine choice must have a licence that fits BSD-3.

Not in this backlog

  • Moho rendering, 3D, the Spine and DragonBones formats, Android features beyond what SURFACES.md lists: out of scope per ROADMAP's "Not planned" section.
  • Tahoma2D-specific features beyond OpenToonz's tool set were not catalogued (see Sources, 7).
  • Replicraft, until its URL is known.