What you need to know
- Developer and YouTuber Sam Chiet has managed to get Microsoft Paint to support animation.
- The functionality allows users to draw frames of an animation with Paint’s familiar interface.
- Chiet says that support for animation is on the way, as is the option to export creations as GIFs.
Microsoft Paint could soon have a powerful new feature, thanks to a hack from developer and YouTuber Sam Chiet. Thanks to Chiet’s modding efforts, Paint can be used to create animations. Chiet plans to release his hack in the future and is working on new features for it, such as exporting creations as GIFs.
Chiet is no stranger to hacking software. The developer managed to get DOOM to run inside of Notepad last year. He also released Desktop Goose, an app inspired by the infamous Untitled Goose Game. While those projects were entertaining, Chiet’s latest effort may be more practical.
I just hacked MS Paint into a Flipnote-style animation software. pic.twitter.com/uRLojwZGGgApril 15, 2023
The video of the feature in action shows a straightforward interface that allows people to create frames of a video with the normal tools of paint. The resulting animation then appears in a separate pane that can be played or paused. As you scrub through the frames, you can edit any of them individually.
The straightforward interface aligns well with Paint, as it is basic enough for anyone to use but flexible enough for more advanced creations.
this is the first animation ever exported by MS Paint. this is a historic gif. pic.twitter.com/SRnFEoDLsZApril 18, 2023
Chiet recently tweeted out the first animation exported through paint. We’ll have to keep an eye out to see when the developer makes his mod available to anyone who is interested.
Windows Central take
Microsoft Paint has been a staple of Windows for decades. When my wife was a kid, her and her siblings used to take turns sitting at their parent’s desk to draw on the computer. Paint is incredibly easy to jump into but is powerful enough to create beautiful artwork. Our Managing Editor Jez Corden gathered together some incredible pieces created in Paint for an article back in 2021.
Adding support for animation to Paint would allow another generation of kids to learn a new artform. It would also give adults a chance to create animations through an app that’s bundled with Windows. Those with the best drawing tablets would be able to create both still images and animated videos by hand.
Animation is a fun form of art to get into but there can be pricing barriers and learning curves to get started. Microsoft Paint has a familiar interface that many people have at least played with. Support for animation would at least allow people to dabble in animation before spending money or learning to use a new piece of software. Based on some of the artwork we’ve seen in the past that was created with Paint, some people would do more than dabble if the program added support for animation.
