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Build your own lightweight SVG animation tool like a mini Flash

He hand-coded a basic SVG animation tool, then used AI to fix and grow it feature by feature until it's about 90% AI-written. It's a niche tool for his own use making animated assets far smaller than GIFs.

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Source

illwrks on Hacker News · 2026-10-20

Written in our own words. Credit to the original author. Link checked 2026-10-23.

What they did

He hand-coded a basic SVG animation tool, then used AI to fix and grow it feature by feature until it's about 90% AI-written. It's a niche tool for his own use making animated assets far smaller than GIFs.

Result (as claimed)

Next he plans an Illustrator plug-in to export prepared artwork into the animator.

Tools they used

AI coding agentAdobe IllustratorSVG

Cost: Pricing depends on the tools you pick; check each official pricing page.

Set it up

  1. Collect your inputs

    List what goes in (raw footage, script, topic list or audio) and the exact output you want, for example 5 vertical clips under 45 seconds. Put inputs in one folder.

  2. Set up the tools

    Open AI coding agent, Adobe Illustrator, SVG. Connect accounts only where needed and note any per-minute or per-credit limits on the free plan before you start.

  3. Run one piece end to end

    Make a single output first. Check pacing, captions, voice and framing by watching it on a phone.

  4. Turn it into a repeatable recipe

    Save the prompts and settings that worked as a template so the next run takes minutes, then batch.

  5. Review before you post

    Watch every output before publishing. Check rights for music, likeness and footage, and label AI content where the platform requires it.

Copy the full setup prompt

Paste into your agent and it will walk you through the setup, asking before anything that sends, posts or spends.

You are helping me set up this AI use case end to end in Claude Code.

Goal: Build your own lightweight SVG animation tool like a mini Flash
What the original author did: He hand-coded a basic SVG animation tool, then used AI to fix and grow it feature by feature until it's about 90% AI-written. It's a niche tool for his own use making animated assets far smaller than GIFs.
Reported result (as claimed by the author): Next he plans an Illustrator plug-in to export prepared artwork into the animator.
Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50163042
Tools they used: AI coding agent, Adobe Illustrator, SVG
Category: Creators & video

Please:
1. Ask me 3 short questions about my situation (accounts I have, budget, what I want the output to look like).
2. Propose a step-by-step plan using these tools or cheaper alternatives, with the time and cost of each step. Use official pricing pages; say "check pricing" if unsure.
3. Then do the setup with me one step at a time, waiting for my OK before anything that sends messages, posts publicly, spends money or deletes data.
4. Finish with a checklist to run it again next time.

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