Mantra

Mantra for Kage

by Mj Mendoza IV

True to the tagline: Kage is a simple vector-based 2D animation Software , you only use Kage if your goal is to create 2D Animation.

What is the Kage Mantra?

Kage IS NOT 3D Animation Software

We have Blender for that. It's already explicitly written in the tagline. Kage will only be for 2D Animation.

Kage IS NOT Audio Editor

We have Audacity for that. Importing audio is still not being considered despite the need to have that in an animation software but audio-editing will be kept with Audio-editing software like Audacity.

Kage IS NOT Raster Editor

We have GIMP for that. Kage support importing of Image, but editing will be kept with Raster-editing software like GIMP or Krita.

Kage IS NOT Video Editor

We have OpenShot for that. Kage will support importing video but editing the video will be kept with Video-editing software like OpenShot.

Kage IS NOT Vector Editor

We have Inkscape for that. Weird as it sounds: Yes, you can edit vector inside Kage so you can have something to animate, but if you are aiming for heavy editing like layer blending, color mixing, for the purpose of beautifully crafted art asset for animation? -- it's still best to work with Inkscape, instead then import the art asset to Kage as Image.

Kage IS NOT Publishing Software

Again, we have Inkscape for that. Scaling of pixels to Printed materials, Color Management for Printing, and the likes will never be part of Kage.

Kage IS NOT Game Engine

Actually, Kage's original name is KAGE Ain't Game Engine, where KAGE stands for KAGE Alternative Game Engine. To put it simply, Kage is not a Game Engine, but the KonsolScript project is -- well, kind of.
Somewhere down the line, Scripting will be supported but that won't probably happen in the next 10years.
So, if you are looking for a Game Engine, better use Godot. Haven't really used it but it looks promising.

When to use Kage?

I see Kage User's workflow like this:
1. Create art asset (characters/background) in Kage (or GIMP or Inkscape)
2. Animate the scene in Kage
3. Render the scene in Kage to a video file
4. Optionally, post-edit the video in Blender/OpenShot with color grading, etc.
5. Repeat steps 1 to 3 (or upto 4) for all scenes
6. Using OpenShot, compile all the rendered scenes in one final video file with sounds, scene transition, and all.
7. Enjoy your animation!

That is what I envision for the first Stable Release of Kage in the hands of animation studios around the world. :)

Conclusion

All Feature Requests (currently not in Roadmap ) should consider this Mantra first.

Note

Of course, all other software indicated above is for your consideration. These are just suggestions since they are pretty much reliable even for paid projects and are completely free with tons of tutorials (even video tutorials) on the web.