Springboard 1.01

Springboard is a light Windows application for creating simple storyboards. You should be able to use it to sketch ideas, to write down story outlines, or to mark camera movements. Although at first it seems to be an application for kids, it isn't. In my opinion this application is a quite good replacement for a pencil and a piece of paper.

When I first started the program, my first impression was that it resembles an animation software. The new storyboards that you create contain one or more frames. Each frame can be edited, using an interface which resembles Window Paint. However, the frame editor supports frames and layers. This is an extra feature which comes in handy when drawing. Also, you can add a kind of cliparts to any frame. Three of these cliparts are arrows, while the fourth depicts two linked rectangles. The two rectangles are supposed to indicate a zoom or reframe.

It's possible to import images into the program and use them as frames. You can save the finished storyboard using the File - Save menu.

Pluses: The program also supports exporting the animation using formats like AVI, animated GIF, sequential BMP, sequential JPG, or TGA. When exporting, you can set the resolution, the color depth, and the file numbering (where applicable).

Drawbacks / flaws:

In conclusion: I don't recommend throwing the old-school tools for creating a storyboard yet, but you just might after trying this program.

version reviewed: 0.94