Kite Compositor Animation & Prototyping tool for Mac and iOS

Kite Compositor Animation & Prototyping tool for Mac and iOS

Imagine you are a mobile app developer and a client approaches you to develop an app for his business. It is likely that the client has no idea about the components of an app. You jot down the requirements, yet it seems vague. You doubt the client is unable to state his requirements clearly.

And that’s when you think of designing a prototype first, before moving on to the development phase. And when it comes to prototyping, Kite Compositor is one of the favorite tools of developers. 

Illustration of web design

Prototypes are the sample version of a mobile app. These are designed to give stakeholders an idea about the final product, so both parties can agree on UX/UI and functionalities before the development process begins. 

What is Kite Compositor?

Kite Compositor is an animation and prototyping tool developed by Joe Rhodes, former software engineer at Apple. It is built on Apple’s Core Animation framework, providing a plethora of options to create beautiful interface animations.

The tool features numerous basic building blocks like layers, animations,and actions to let its users assemble their interfaces interactively. 

If you’re someone with a technical background, you might use JavaScript scripting engine to further enhance your design. Developers use it to create prototypes, which is different from creating traditional animations yet similar skills are required.

#What are the Core Features of kite Compositor?

Talking from a mobile app developer’s perspective, kite Compositor simplifies the prototyping process. All due to the freedom and resources to create perfect sample versions.

##Draggable Elements

The tool features draggable elements, so you don’t have to design them from scratch. Instead, you can drag and drop the element you want to embed in your prototype.

Draggable Animations

Even animations are draggable. When required, you can drag them in the timeline or to a different layer to reparent them.

Tree Structure

You can expand or collapse a sub-tree. This option comes handy when you are trying to hide or show a bunch of items at once.

Feature-Rich Menu

There are so many options available in the menu bar, one can easily utilize the relevant option to implement his idea.

Demo View

Kite allows you to display your design in demo playback mode in your preferred size. Also, you can change the look and feel of the background color to experiment with new color combinations.

Real-Time Rendering

Many animation and prototyping tools lack this feature. Kite allows you to render graphics in real time, this is possible due to its Core Animation compositing engine.

Writing Script

Programmers with expertise in JavaScript can add logic to their animations. This includes editing the animation in real time, like adding new layers, changing properties, etc.

Code Generation

You can also generate code for your document and later perform changes in the auto-generated code as per your requirements. This is a real time-saving feature for developers who prefer modifying existing codes over creating from scratch.

Multi-Page Design

You can also divide the design into multiple pages with each page having its own timeline. This makes the prototyping process simple and clear.

Inspector

It features a powerful object checker through which you can edit the properties of all layers with just a few clicks. Like colors, animation curves, image filters, etc.

Reusable Layer Hierarchy

If you have designed something similar before, you don’t need to redesign it. Instead, you can drag and drop from the library in which you had saved it.

And the list doesn’t end here. I have only mentioned the most important ones. Once you start using this amazing tool yourself, you will understand the luxury and convenient it brings to your app designing process.

Kite Compositor with Other Tools

And it’s not just Kite’s features that add convenience to your job, you can Integrate it with other tools and import your work from there.

Integrate with Adobe XD CC

In case you have a design or prototype ready in Adobe XD, you can import it into your Kite to polish your work further. Kite’s unique features like layer modification, text properties, shadows, etc., are worth using over existing designs.

Import from Sketch

Furthermore, Kite lets you import Sketch’s design using its native import feature. You can keep editable Bezier paths and text by importing sketch layers as native kite layers.

Is it Only for Developers/Tech People?

To some extent the answer is yes, because non-technical people might not grasp the tool as well as technical people. However, at the same time, with adequate practice, anyone can learn to create prototypes and animations on it. 

The bottom line is you don’t need to code, or to be a coder, if you want to create animations or prototypes on it. Though if you are, you will have the luxury to modify existing designs and create better ones.

Some Use Cases of Kite Other Than Prototyping

Due to increased demand for visuals, we can’t think of Kite as just a prototyping tool. Here are some of the other uses of Kite Compositor:

  • For designing social media creatives
  • Website animation samples
  • Illustrations for entertainment
  • Creating GIFs
  • Graphics for branding

With that being said, one can understand the broad use of Kite. Anyone who is well-versed with its features can utilize them in an efficient way to create animations, prototypes, graphics, and aesthetic visuals.

Summary

  • Kite Compositor is a tool used by developers to create prototypes for apps.
  • The tool is only for Apple and Mac users.
  • It’s not just a prototyping tool, one can also create animations with it for varying purposes.
  • You can import your design from Sketch to Kite Compositor to further polish them.
  • You can also integrate it with Adobe XD CC and import your designs from it.

P.S. We’re an android app development and web development company in Dubai that uses Kite Compositor to create prototypes for its clients’ mobile and web applications. If you need a customized app for your business, feel free to contact us.

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