Where can I find some examples of playing 2D Animation like at the start of games where it shows the logo's? I have a bunch of individual images that I want to animate. I saw something animating a rect but doesn't seem like it's what I want given my external images to animate.

We have the ImageAtlas example that shows two things:

• How to use a ResourceDictionary generated with our exporter for TexturePacker (to store a set of sprite images in a single Image Atlas).
• And how to create an sprite animation using a Storyboard with ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames.

Maybe this is what you need.

Man that's pretty verbose.

So your exporter for TexturePacker (which I've never used before) generates all that xaml in your example? I just have to copy and paste it into my xaml I assume?

The Storyboard looks like a ton of text. Is there anything that makes making that easier and more manageable?

TexturePacker is just a tool for packing several images into one big image, so you can benefit from rendering from the same texture, which translates to less draw calls and better performance.

Our TexturePacker exporter generates a xaml file that defines a ResourceDictionary with one ImageBrush for each subimage packed in the big texture, just that. You have to merge that dictionary into your xaml file if you want to use it: Then, you can use these ImageBrush resources in your own xaml file to fill a Rectangle and draw one of your images.

This image atlas step is totally optional, because you can directly draw your image using an Image element, or a Rectangle with an ImageBrush.

To create the animation it is better to edit your xaml in Microsoft Expression Blend so you can use the typical animation tool where you can set keyframes, values, easing functions... and play to see the results. Coding the animation manually would require some experience on xaml, but can be done for small animations.

Am I right in my exploring that there is no express (free) version of Blend? I can't seem to find one. Do I have to buy VS Pro just to get blend? I hope not as I don't have that kind of cash . If so any other options besides manual editing xaml?

No, you can download download Visual Studio Community for free. Information just here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=107

Wow, I never heard of this VS Community package. Installing now. Thanks, this looks great!

Is there a specific project type I should use for Blend? They have Store Apps or WPF and in Store Apps they have Universal Apps, Windows Apps, Windows Phone Apps. Does it matter at all? I assume I'm just taking the xaml and moving it to my Noesis app? Not sure if some of the controls aren't "imported" or something with certain app types or if that even matters?

Is Noesis 100% compatible with all MS xaml controls? Any gotchas I should watch for between the 2?

We are compatible with WPF and Silverlight. The recommended project type is WPF. All this is detailed in the Blend Integration Tutorial. Although it is yet not updated to v1.2 I think it will give you a good overview about the compatibilities.