Spectralis devlog #30
—Hello again proggers—
Following up on the studio redesign from last devlog — actually building inside that new layer system now. Lyric importer, a bezier tool that fought back the whole way, and capsules jumped to full HD.
30 devlogs in and the bezier tool still almost won
Cat or dog? bezier.controlPoint
Okay let’s get into it~
—Yap—
Layers from devlog #29’s redesign got real functionality built on top of them this round, plus a genuinely useful new import path and a resolution bump that should’ve probably happened earlier.
—The Great Suffering—
1 — Layer Fixes
Cleaned up a handful of issues in the new After Effects-style layer system from last devlog — the kind of rough edges that only show up once you’re actually building real content in it instead of just looking at the layout.
2 — Lyric Importer: Auto Vector Layers + Keyframing
New importer that takes lyric timing and automatically generates vector layers, keyframed to match. Turns what used to be manual layer-by-layer, keyframe-by-keyframe setup into an actual import step. Big time save for anything lyric-driven, including future capsules like the demo from devlog #18.
3 — A Few More Bugs, Squashed
Small round of additional fixes alongside the bigger items, nothing individually dramatic.
4 — Capsule Resolution: Bumped To Full HD
Capsules render at full HD now instead of whatever lower resolution they were capped at before. Straightforward upgrade, noticeably better output.
5 — The Bezier Tool (Which Was Hell)
Added a real bezier curve tool to the timeline/layer editing. Genuinely brutal to get right — curve math, control point handling, and making it feel intuitive to actually drag are three different hard problems stacked on top of each other. Worth it, but it fought back the whole way.
bezier curves: simple in theory, a nightmare in an actual editor UI
6 — Timeline And Tool QoL
Assorted quality-of-life improvements across the timeline and tools generally — the small friction-reduction stuff that adds up once you’re using the studio for real work instead of just testing it.
—FAQ (no one asked these but they are here)—
Q: What is a “progger”?
A: A human programmer. You. The one who just fought a bezier tool and mostly won.
Q: Does the lyric importer work with the demo capsule from devlog #18?
A: That one was hand-timed and hand-built before this importer existed — this tool’s for making the next ones faster.
Q: Why was the bezier tool specifically so hard?
A: Curve math, control point interaction, and UI feel all had to work together, and getting any one of them wrong makes the whole tool feel broken.
Q: Is full HD the resolution ceiling now, or is higher coming later?
A: Full HD is what shipped this round. No commitment yet on going higher.
Q: Is the studio redesign from devlog #29 basically done now?
A: Getting real functionality built on it, which is a good sign, but still ongoing.
—This is the end*—
*end for now, control points permitting
PALPABLE!!!