Time to talk about the current state of the NEW SP-Studio! I did not do this earlier because I wanted to wait until the important parts actually work. I already noticed a decline in donations, because of course you want to SEE that I am working on something. So I am very happy to tell you: We have a beta version!
Before I go into more detail I want to thank Kai Wegner who is helping me with the development. Luckily for me he is an absolute pro when it comes to the things the SP-Studio needs, like doing magic with svg files. Kai is coding the base for the SP-Studio remake in Angular2 and helps me to understand as much as possible for being able to edit it by myself. Since I am no actual coder there was no way for me to manage this without help, because building it in Flash was completely different.
The current beta version looks great so far and the basics are working smoothly. It will also offer new features in the future, but I want to stick to my plan to not reveal anything I am not sure about yet. So here comes a closer look at the current state.

What’s already working:

• The design you see here is optimized for mobile devices because I felt it’s easier to start with this. The design is not final.
• Yes, the beta version works on smartphones and tablets. No need for extra plugins anymore.
• The user interface was improved, the buttons match and the categories are reorganized with fresh new icons.
• All categories and subcategories are prepared and already hold some items for testing.
• The most basic feature works perfectly: You can click on a thumbnail of an item to add it to the picture! 🙂
• Certain items replace each other while others don’t, depending on what makes sense for the category.
• You can delete an item from your picture.
• Individual info boxes for each category are possible.
• There is a new button for “locking” an item. This way you can combine multiple items from one category. This function replaces the “freestyle” clothes and will work for every item.
• Partly working: Color changing, moving and rotating of items in your picture.

First look: The beta version of the new SP-Studio (optimized for mobile)

Overview: The newly organized categories with better drawn icons

The next big steps:

• Every item has to be changed. They might look the same for you in the end, but the image files work differently when you use .svg instead of .swf. I am not sure yet how long this will take me to finish but it is a ton of work to change and improve every drawing. Unfortunately it’s not possible to just say “copy – paste”. So for me this is by far the biggest amount of work.
• Regarding the coding an option to export image files seems to be the most essential one.
• The implementation of layers to position the items correctly is another important part.
• I hope for being able to build a respsonsive design to make it super comfortable for you to use the SP-Studio on mobile devices AND big screens.

Of course there is more to be done, but I think those are the most important things. The survey helps a lot! For example I learned from it that the text tool is the less important part for the SP-Studio visitors. I will remember your feedback when we work on the new version.

When will it be finished?

Even though the important parts of the SP-Studio remake work it will take me several more months until I have changed all the items to make them work with the new version. I feel like this will even take longer as the coding and don’t want to set a deadline I cannot meet. But as soon as I can tell you about a launch date I will announce it here.
We plan to let the Patreon supporters test the beta version as soon as possible. If you have supported the SP-Studio in other ways please drop me a quick note if you want to be a beta tester as well.

What about the money?

The first month after I announced the SP-Studio support campaign was amazing, but the donations dropped a lot after that. I guess that’s natural after the first buzz. But I hope new people decide to help now since I can show what we already achieved for the new SP-Studio. I can also tell you more about what exactly your money is used for:

• The main purpose of the Patreon + PayPal campaign is to buy me time from my regular job as a freelancer. This way I can afford to spend more time on the SP-Studio without worrying about my rent or food. For example if I’d earn about 500 € per month with the SP-Studio I could even work on it on a daily base. This would mean more updates and the remake would be finished way quicker. It’s an utopian wish right now, but it worked in January and this was a huge help already.
• I have to use a new version of Adobe Animate now, which costs 23,79 € per month. My old version was not able to save my drawings as .svg files, which are essential for the SP-Studio remake.
• I also need additional software for coding in Angular. Right now I am testing the JavaScript IDE WebStorm (129,00 € for the first year), which was recommended to me by several developers.
• I also use the money to pay coders who are willing to help me with the development of what I cannot do on my own. Even if they offer their help for free, like Kai did, I want to give something back because I believe this is fair.

A BIG THANK YOU to everybody who supported the new SP-Studio so far!

Your help is very important for me, no matter if it’s actual money, sharing my situation or offering help with the coding. You save SP-Studio.de. And of course a special thank you to Kai who not only does this amazing job with the coding but also is a very patient Angular teacher.
If you want to support the SP-Studio you can visit Patreon or donate via PayPal.