Troubleshooting

Installing and launching

macOS says the app can't be opened or "is damaged"

The app isn't notarized by Apple yet. Right-click it in Applications and choose Open. If it says "damaged", run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Zoetrope.app in Terminal and try again.

Windows SmartScreen blocks the installer

Click More info → Run anyway. The installer isn't code-signed yet.

The Linux AppImage doesn't start

Make it executable (chmod +x) and install FUSE 2 (sudo apt install libfuse2 on Ubuntu). If you see WebKit errors, your distribution may be older than WebKitGTK 4.1 needs. Use the .deb/.rpm on a supported release, or the web editor.

Working

I lost unsaved work

Zoetrope autosaves unsaved changes every 30 seconds (adjustable in ⚙ Preferences). After a crash or quit without saving, the next launch asks Recover unsaved work?. Choose Recover, then save. Autosaves are kept here:

macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/app.zoetrope.editor/`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\app.zoetrope.editor\`
Linux	`~/.local/share/app.zoetrope.editor/`
Web editor	The browser's storage for this site; clearing site data removes it.

The editor shows "Zoetrope hit an unexpected error"

Click Restart editor; your work up to the last autosave is offered back. Please report the problem with the details from the developer console, if you can.

Arrow keys don't move my objects while previewing

That's on purpose: during ▶ preview the keyboard belongs to your movie, so games can use it. Press Esc to stop the preview.

My script doesn't do anything

Open Output in the status bar: errors show their location and line number.
Check the instance names in Properties; scripts use those, not symbol names.
Did you Apply the script (⌘↵)? The timeline shows an a on keyframes with a script.
Scripts run only in ▶ preview and in exports, not while you edit.

Exports

My exported page has no sound

Browsers block audio until the viewer interacts with the page. Sound starts at the first click or key press, or export with Start on click.

The folder export shows "loads its assets from a separate file"

Folder exports must be served over http(s). Upload the folder to a web host, or test locally with python3 -m http.server in that folder. For a file that works from disk, export as a Single HTML file.

Keyboard doesn't work in an embedded movie

Click the movie first so it has keyboard focus.

Still stuck?

Search or open an issue on GitHub. Include your OS and Zoetrope version and, if possible, a small .zoe file that shows the problem.