ATAP - Animation Tool for Adorable Preschoolers 🥰

What is ATAP?

ATAP (abbr. Animation Tool for Adorable Preschoolers) is a simple, fun, and easy-to-use 2D animation program designed specifically for young kids. With an intuitive interface, minimal complexity, and essential animation tools, ATAP allows children to create frame-by-frame animations effortlessly!

Kids can draw, erase, fill colors, adjust brush sizes, play animations, undo changes, and even save unfinished projects to continue later. ATAP makes animation accessible to everyone! 🎨✨

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Table of Contents

• Motivation
• Installation For Users
• Features
• Installation For Developers
• Usage
• Contribution
• License
• Demo Gif

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Motivation

Most animation tools are too complex for kids or lack a beginner-friendly experience. ATAP was created to provide preschoolers and young kids with an intuitive, fun animation tool that requires no learning curve.

With simple drawing tools, frame-by-frame animation, and an easy export option, ATAP makes creating animations effortless! 🚀🎨

A huge shoutout to the project zide from which I drew few inspirations.

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Installation (For Users)

• Download the executable program from the releases tab.
• After downloading, provide proper permissions to run it.
• Use and enjoy the ATAP application.

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Features

🎨 Simple Freehand Drawing

• Kids can draw, erase, and fill their artwork with simple tools.

🎞️ Frame-by-Frame Animation

• Create animations by adding and managing multiple frames.

✏️ Adjustable Brush & Colors

• Select different brush sizes and colors to enhance creativity.

🔄 Undo & Redo

• Easily revert mistakes with Undo (Ctrl+Z) and Redo (Ctrl+Y) functionality.

🎨 Any Color Selection & Custom Palette

• Choose colors from a full spectrum 🎨
• Create a custom color palette for quick selection.

🌈 Gradient Fill Tool

• Select two colors and fill areas with smooth gradient transitions.
• Choose between linear, radial, or conical gradients.

🖌️ Various Brush Tools & Eraser

• Use pen, eraser, fill tool, and adjustable brush size to customize the drawing experience.

🎥 Play & Preview Animation

• Watch animations come to life instantly using the built-in preview option.

🎬 Set FPS (Frames Per Second)

• Control the speed of animations with adjustable FPS settings.

🔄 Toggle UI Panes

• Show/Hide the Tools & Color Panels to maximize the drawing space.

📏 Change Canvas Size

• Resize the canvas dynamically while preserving existing drawings.
• Choose a custom width and height for projects.

💾 Save & Load Projects

• Save unfinished projects and continue later.
• Files are saved in a custom .atap format that stores all frames.

📤 Export Animation as Video

• Save animations as MP4 video files.
• Share your creations with friends & family! 🎥✨

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Installation (For Developers)

🛠 Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed on your system:

• Git
• Python (3.8 or higher)

📥 Installation Steps

🔹 Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

1. Update package list (Recommended to avoid dependency issues):

   sudo apt update

2. Install system dependencies:

   sudo apt install python3-pyqt5 python3-venv ffmpeg

3. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/arunpranav-at/atap.git
   cd atap

4. Create and activate a virtual environment (Recommended to avoid system Python conflicts):

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate

5. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

6. Run the application:

   python main.py

🔹 macOS

1. Install Homebrew (if not installed):

   /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

2. Install Python and PyQt:

   brew install python3 pyqt ffmpeg

3. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/arunpranav-at/atap.git
   cd atap

4. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate

5. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

6. Run the application:

   python main.py

🔹 Windows

1. Install Python (if not installed):

   • Download from python.org
   • Ensure you check "Add Python to PATH" during installation

2. Install Git (if not installed):

   • Download from git-scm.com

3. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/arunpranav-at/atap.git
   cd atap

4. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python -m venv venv
   venv\Scripts\activate

5. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

6. Run the application:

   python main.py

❗ Troubleshooting

🔸 externally-managed-environment Error (Linux)

If you encounter an error while running pip install -r requirements.txt, try:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-pyqt5

This installs the necessary system dependencies for PyQt5.

🔸 pip or venv Not Found (Linux/macOS)

Ensure Python is installed correctly:

sudo apt install python3 python3-venv python3-pip  # Ubuntu/Debian
brew install python3                                # macOS

🔸 Virtual Environment Activation Issues (Windows)

If venv\Scripts\activate doesn't work, try:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Scope Process
venv\Scripts\activate

This allows running scripts in PowerShell temporarily.

🔸 Video Exporting Issues (Windows)

If video exporting doesn't work, you may need to install ffmpeg manually:

1. Download ffmpeg from https://ffmpeg.org/download.html.
2. Add it to your system PATH following this guide.
3. Restart your terminal and check if it's installed by running:

ffmpeg -version

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Usage

1. Open ATAP
2. Select a brush and start drawing.
3. Add new frames to create an animation.
4. Adjust FPS to control playback speed.
5. Use Undo/Redo if needed.
6. Resize the canvas dynamically.
7. Preview the animation before saving.
8. Export it as a video and share! 🎬

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Contribution

💡 Want to contribute to ATAP?

We welcome bug fixes, feature improvements, and new ideas!

🛠 How to Contribute

1. Fork the repository
   Click on the Fork button at the top right of the repo.
2. Clone your forked repository

   git clone https://github.com/arunpranav-at/atap.git
   cd atap

3. Create a new branch

   git checkout -b feature-name

4. Make your changes
   • Fix a bug 🐞
   • Improve UI/UX 🎨
   • Add a new feature ✨
5. Test your changes
   Ensure everything runs smoothly by testing locally.
6. Commit & Push

   git add .
   git commit -m "Added feature-name"
   git push origin feature-name

7. Create a Pull Request (PR)
   • Go to GitHub → Your Fork → Pull Requests → New PR
   • Select main as the base branch and feature-name as the compare branch.
   • Describe your changes and submit your PR!

✅ Contribution Guidelines

✔ Follow PEP 8 for Python code.
✔ Keep code modular and well-documented.
✔ Submit small, focused PRs for easy review.
✔ Be kind and respectful in discussions.

Your contributions make ATAP better! 🚀

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License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License Version 3 (GPLv3).
You are free to use, modify, and distribute this software under the terms of the GNU GPL v3 License.

For more details, see the LICENSE file

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Demo Gif

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