Sneak peek of new tool for designing complex interactions and animations

almost 9 years ago from Justin Belcher, Senior Designer at Google

We just posted a sneak peek of Pixate, the new mobile design tool we're building for prototyping complex interactions and animations:

http://www.pixate.com

If you've played with Origami or Framer, we're aiming to build something a lot more capable and easy to use—a visual tool that produces real, full-fidelity native prototypes for both iOS and Android.

We're currently in private beta, but we'll have some invite codes for the DN community soon. In the meantime, any input or feedback would be great to hear.

Lastly, if you're attending http://valiocon.com I'll be giving a demo of Pixate there—hope to see you then.

76 comments

Allan Grinshtein, almost 9 years ago
Holy crap, this is awesome.
35 points
Brennan Smith, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )
I am asking you nicely, shut up and take my money!
17 points
Mattan Ingram, almost 9 years ago
Looks fantastic, but I'm still waiting for a good equivalent for desktop and web app prototyping.
10 points
- Carolann Merchant, almost 9 years ago
  From the interface in the video, it looks like you can set custom dimensions on your prototype. I wonder if it would be possible to just set the dimensions to a standard desktop size.
  0 points
  - Justin Belcher, almost 9 years ago
    You could – with the caveat of needing to preview on an Android or iOS device since our animation engines are built on native iOS and Android frameworks.
    1 point
    - Mattan Ingram, almost 9 years ago
      Good to know.
      Let your team know that designers want interaction prototyping tools for desktop too!
      4 points
- Chad Henderson, almost 9 years ago
  Agreed. I would love a simple workflow for prototyping animations and interfaces on desktop.
  5 points
- Adam T., almost 9 years ago
  I use iPad landscape in Flinto to make webapp protoypes... Actually works pretty well.
  1 point
Nick Tassone, almost 9 years ago
Incredible! Looks so easy to use, especially when compared to Origami/Framer. Looking forward to giving it a spin.
4 points
Noah Tovares, almost 9 years ago
Wow, any idea when you will have beta codes!? Can't wait to try this out
3 points
Juan Arreguin, almost 9 years ago
@Justin I want in! :)
I'll see ya at Valiocon!
2 points
- Justin Belcher, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )
  Hey! It's been a while =). Going to be fun.
  0 points
Sergi Miral, almost 9 years ago
You got my attention!
2 points
joe anderson, almost 9 years ago
This looks pretty awesome, can you explain in a little more detail how the values get translated to native code?
2 points
- Justin Belcher, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )
  Both the iOS and Android mobile apps are running custom animation engines built on top of native frameworks. We think that's important so things "feel right" on device, as they rarely do in webviews or approximated simulations.
  Those engines are driven by the data from the UI. That data is pulled down whenever you publish for now, but soon they'll be updated in real-time as you edit. You can also interact with your prototypes on the mobile app without the UI – which is helpful for demoing or letting developers play with the interaction themselves.
  2 points
  - Drew Shimomura, almost 9 years ago
    This is super sweet. FWIW, if you get to a point where you're trying to decide between releasing and getting the real-time updates working, just release it! I'd rather start playing with it sooner than have the real-time updates, which I'd consider awesome but not need-to-have functionality.
    Thanks, Justin, I'm super stoked to work with this.
    1 point
Vinay Chilukuri, almost 9 years ago
This seems super cool, Justin. Wish there is also an app that takes care of adding interactions as easily to web-based prototypes!
2 points
Christian Calviño, almost 9 years ago
Like keynote but better. Well done.
1 point
Jason Calleiro, almost 9 years ago
Exact tool I have been looking for. Working with framer, but this just brings it back to a medium I'm much faster in. Let me know the address you want me to send my wallet to. Thanks!
1 point
Bardan Gauchan, almost 9 years ago
Holy Shit. I want this so bad! I want in on the beta please!
1 point
Valtteri Karesto, almost 9 years ago
This is exactly what I would need in my current project!
Where can I put my credit card number?
1 point
Matt Smadner, almost 9 years ago
UGH, just what I wanted. You are going to save me 300 hours of aftereffects work a week.
1 point
Chris Slowik, almost 9 years ago
This is amazing. Exactly what we've been looking for =]
1 point
Dan Berko, almost 9 years ago
Really pumped about this. Nice work!
1 point
Jaffar Khorshidi, almost 9 years ago
This looks VERY promising! Currently a big fan and heavy user of Origami and FramerJS. Would love to give this a run soon!
1 point
Daniel Feldt, almost 9 years ago
Aww shit, this could have saved me a lot of After Effects and Framer.js-time the last few months (I'm a n00b in both tools). Can't wait to try it out for future products. If it works half as sweet as the demo video you have a paying customer in me!
Hoping for a chance of getting a beta invite!
1 point
Vaibhav Kanwal, almost 9 years ago
I am sold. Is there an early alpha subscription? Take my money like NOW!
1 point
Aaron S, almost 9 years ago
Holy moly, I've been waiting for something like this, for absolutely ages!
1 point
Daniël van der Winden, almost 9 years ago
I would love an invite to this.
1 point
Frank Moennix, almost 9 years ago
This is so impressive!
1 point
Sorel Arghire, almost 9 years ago
Sweet Hesus
1 point
Amilton L. Paglia, almost 9 years ago
+1
1 point
Braden Hamm, almost 9 years ago
Really wish I was going to Valio Con now. Attendees will probably get access to the beta.
1 point
- Brian Miura, almost 9 years ago
  Is that right? =)
  1 point
  - Braden Hamm, almost 9 years ago
    I can only assume :)
    There will be a lot of design celebrities there to tweet about it.
    0 points
Ugur Kaner, almost 9 years ago
Hey Justin, let me know when codes are available, would be glad to post this on Product Hunt and get feedback
1 point
Tony Gines, almost 9 years ago
Great work, guys. Can't wait to try it out!
1 point
c kizer, almost 9 years ago
Looks fantastic. I want a invite code!
1 point
Maxime Renaudin, almost 9 years ago
This look really really cool ! Can't wait to try this out !
1 point
Oliver Johnston, almost 9 years ago
Far out!!!
1 point
Jim Silverman, almost 9 years ago
holy crap it's web-based
1 point
Maciej Zadykowicz, almost 9 years ago
Wow, looks like you guys have the killer combo of visual and code input. Dare I say from the demo, you nailed it.
1 point
Clark Wimberly, almost 9 years ago
Are you the same group that was on Kickstarter a few years back? The name sounds familiar.
1 point
- Justin Belcher, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )
  Yup that's us Clark. We built an open-source framework called Freestyle for styling and animating native Android and iOS UI components with CSS. You can check that out here: http://www.freestyle.org/
  A lot of our design tool is built on that foundation, and ultimately we're interested in the entire workflow –from prototyping, to handoff, to how those designs evolve over time as things are built.
  3 points
  - Clark Wimberly, almost 9 years ago
    Aha! Awesome to see you guys still going strong. Can't wait to check this out.
    2 points
César Migueláñez, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )
Mind=blown.
1 point
Jared Hardy, almost 9 years ago
This looks awesome, I think this pivot is a great move for pixate.
1 point
Brian A., almost 9 years ago
That's seriously cool. Looking forward to trying this.
1 point
Cesare Rocchi, almost 9 years ago
Wow, I am very impressed. Do you (plan to) support multiple touches?
0 points
Shane McCleery, almost 9 years ago
Can't wait to try this out.
0 points
Tom Reinert, almost 9 years ago
That is just perfect.
I've been trying to catch up to quartz, origami, framer etc. but I always thought: "Somewhere, someone brilliant is building a graphic editor for mobile interaction design. Just wait…"
Wait is almost over, I reckon. Thanks for building this!
0 points
Mike Heitzke, almost 9 years ago
Any chance we (Asurion) could get in on this private beta? Pretty pretty please? We'd really love to get a chance to utilize this and would really help with app mockups.
Looks very promising, I've been preparing a talk on the current landscape of mobile prototyping, and now I have to add you guys to it.
0 points
Ben Regali, almost 9 years ago
I'd love to beta test the sh*t out of it. Pixate looks really promising!
Also I love the idea of outputting specs/code for devs, that really adds extra value. Also makes it much easier to have consistent animations! Great stuff, guys.
0 points
Hash Milhan, almost 9 years ago
oops, the site doesn't work. have we given it the hug of death? :-/
0 points
- Andrew Holt, almost 9 years ago
  Hey Hash, try again? Shouldn't be having issues.
  0 points
  - Hash Milhan, almost 9 years ago
    oh awesome! yeah works now - amazing!
    0 points
Collin Hartigan, almost 9 years ago
Awesome work Justin. Any idea as to when we will be able to get our hands on the product?
0 points
- Justin Belcher, almost 9 years ago
  The plan is to start sending out beta codes over the next few weeks and launch much sooner than later =).
  2 points
  - Adam T., almost 9 years ago
    Glad to hear it! This looks awesome.
    0 points
  - Mathieu Mayer, almost 9 years ago
    Looks like a super slick tool.
    Would be glad to be part of the beta program. Actually, would make more sense if we could have a team beta invite so we can try this out within our current workflow at my studio. We can then give you full feedback, as a team too.
    We're looking for a quicker way to prototype interactions. Right now, it's either After Effects or Framer.js but only 2 of us are familiar with JS... And AE is only time based... Well, you know what the problem is right :D
    Anyways, keep up the good work! Thanks for addressing this problem :p
    1 point
Philip Tribe, almost 9 years ago
This looks great. Happy to beta test it ;)
0 points
Matthew Deutsch, almost 9 years ago
this looks amazing.. can't wait to play with it!
0 points
Asher Simonds, almost 9 years ago
This looks awesome - we've been exploring good ways to prototype interactions on Android and this would be great to try!
0 points
Jeffrey Kam, almost 9 years ago
This looks incredible.
0 points
Daniel Golden, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )
*
0 points
Brian Miura, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )
Lastly, if you're attending http://valiocon.com I'll be giving a demo of Pixate there—hope to see you then.
Awesome. Could you tell me which date & time you will be giving a demo by any chance?
0 points
- Justin Belcher, almost 9 years ago
  Drew has us slated for 4pm on Saturday. I'll try to remember to update this thread if that changes between now and then.
  0 points
  - Brian Miura, almost 9 years ago
    Thank you for your reply Justin. Looking forward to it!
    0 points
Lasse Eriksen, almost 9 years ago
Wauv-sa!
0 points
Braden Hamm, almost 9 years ago
Can this be used for multi-screen, clickable prototypes? Or is it more animation and interaction focused?
0 points
- Justin Belcher, almost 9 years ago
  For now we are more focused on the interaction and continuous animation piece, but we do support Tap gestures and multi-screen transitions/navigation is planned as well.
  2 points
  - Braden Hamm, almost 9 years ago
    Awesome! It's difficult (for me anyway) to do more than single interactions with Origami and Framerjs as well. The new Pixate looks to be a big improvement. Can't wait!
    0 points
Vitor Fernandes, almost 9 years ago
wow!
0 points
Diego Lafuente, almost 9 years ago (edited almost 9 years ago )
Got it.
0 points

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