Thursday, May 25th, 2017 Posted by Jim Thacker

Flowbox releases Flowbox 1.4


Originally posted on 17 March 2017. Scroll down for news of the 1.4 update.

Flowbox has released Flowbox 1.3, a sizeable update to its promising new rotoscoping software, adding stablisation for roto shapes, new shape tracking options and the option to export shapes to Nuke.

An intelligent, artist-friendly roto tool
Released in 2016 after several years in alpha, Flowbox was one of last year’s most interesting new products.

Developed by a team including former staff of Poland’s Alvernia Studios, it includes a well-thought-out set of roto drawing and animation tools, and an intelligent ripple editing system.

The software is now in use at studios including broadcast animation firm Awesome, Inc and VFX houses NoLabel and Real Image Production.

New in Flowbox 1.3: stabilisation, better tracking and interpolation
New features in the 1.3 release include automated stabilisation for roto shapes or individual points, with or without camera tracking; and the option to perform a separate track for each shape individually.

Shape animations can now use smooth or linear interpolation, customisable through the software’s dope sheet, and shape lifetime settings are now editable through the timeline.

There is also a new Isolate mode, enabling users to hide and lock everything other than the roto shapes selected, making it easier to focus on the part of a shot currently being worked on.

In addition, both open and closed roto shapes can now be exported to Nuke, either baked or as original keyframes. You can find a complete list of changes via the links at the foot of the story.


Updated 25 May 2017: Flowbox has released Flowbox 1.4, although it isn’t listed on the product website yet.

However, to judge from Flowbox’s email newsletter, it isn’t as significant an update, adding support for scaling of the GUI, and automatic matching of image aspect ratio in the viewer.

Pricing and availability
Flowbox 1.4 is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It is rental-only, with prices starting at $46/month.


Read an overview of the new features in Flowbox 1.3 in Flowbox’s news release

Read a list of smaller updates in the online changelog

Read a full list of new features in Flowbox 1.4 in Flowbox’s email newsletter