Creative tools should be free.Help us keep them that way.
Kinematic is one free app for 3D, pictures, video, simulation, live shows and sound. Now we're gathering the people around it: a community that makes, tests and teaches, and a nonprofit foundation to look after the app for the long run. We could use your help.
People who make things with it, teach it, test it, and say hi to whoever shows up next. That's what turns an app into a place.
02
A foundation
A nonprofit home for Kinematic, with a board, a written mission and open books. We're setting it up now, and it starts with people.
03
The long run
The goal is simple: free today, and free in twenty years. The files you make this year still open. The show you build still runs.
The roles
Pick your part.
Bring what you're good at. You don't have to know Kinematic well to start. Press Count me in on any role and it goes straight onto your form.
01 · Make
Show what it can do.
Artists
What you'd do
Make demos and example scenes people can open and pull apart.
Render stills and cut showreels for the site and for posts.
Turn a good trick into a small graph anyone can start from.
What it's like
You make the kind of thing you'd make anyway. Then it's the first picture someone sees of Kinematic, and the reason they try it.
Designers
What you'd do
Reach out with the spots where the app looks or reads wrong, and how it could be better.
Draw icons, and help shape this site.
Make posters, slides and signs for meetups and workshops.
What it's like
You notice the spacing that's a little off. Here, that eye is exactly what we need.
02 · Test
Find the bugs before a show does.
Testers
What you'd do
Try new builds on macOS, Windows, Linux and Raspberry Pi.
Start from a fresh install, follow the lessons, and note every snag.
Write up what broke, with the steps to make it break again.
What it's like
You try new builds before they go out and break them on purpose. Every bug you catch is one an artist never meets.
Show and studio testers
What you'd do
Run it on real gear: projectors, lighting rigs, video walls, cameras, MIDI controllers and audio interfaces.
Take it through a rehearsal, a gig or a long session.
Reach out with what held up and what didn't.
What it's like
Your theater, club, classroom or home studio becomes the test bench. Nothing finds trouble like a real show.
03 · Teach
Help the next person in.
Teachers and tutorial makers
What you'd do
Make lessons and short videos, from first steps to big projects.
Run workshops at a school, library, makerspace or studio.
Turn the questions people ask into lessons that answer them.
What it's like
You get to see someone's first picture start to move. Then you get to see it again with the next person.
Writers and editors
What you'd do
Write and edit the docs and guides.
Fix the steps that don't match the screen.
Keep every page clear, short and friendly.
What it's like
You're the reason someone gets unstuck at midnight without having to ask anyone.
Translators
What you'd do
Bring the app, the docs and this site into more languages.
Keep the names for things the same everywhere.
Check that a translated lesson still works.
What it's like
The app speaks English today. You could be the reason it speaks yours.
04 · Gather
Bring people together.
Community managers and moderators
What you'd do
Help set up the places where Kinematic people meet, and look after them.
Welcome new people and point them to answers.
Keep things kind, and spot great work worth sharing.
What it's like
You set the tone. A warm first reply is often the reason someone stays.
Event and meetup organizers
What you'd do
Host a meetup, a show-and-tell or a weekend jam where you live.
Run a workshop night, or a table at a festival.
Bring artists, students and show people into the same room.
What it's like
A room full of people making things with the same free app. You make that happen.
Social media and outreach
What you'd do
Share what people make, and credit them.
Tell schools, theaters, museums, venues and libraries that Kinematic exists.
Write posts that sound like a person.
What it's like
Somewhere there's a student who would love this and hasn't heard of it yet. You find them.
05 · The Kinematic Foundation
A home that outlasts any one of us.
Not formed yet. Help wanted.
We want to set up a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to look after Kinematic for the long run. It doesn't exist yet. If you've helped start or run a nonprofit, we'd love your help getting it right from the first day.
Why a foundation
Stewardship
Someone has to look after the app, its name and its files for decades, not for one release. A foundation is built for that job.
Free, in writing
A nonprofit states its purpose in its founding papers. Ours would say it plainly: free to use, open files, open protocols.
Bigger than one person
A board, a written mission and open books mean the app doesn't hang on any one person's time or luck.
In the open
Gifts and grants could pay for what a free app needs, like test hardware, servers and classes, with the books where anyone can read them.
What it takes to set up
01Find the founding people
A first board, and a few advisors who've done this before.
We are here
02Write the mission and bylaws
What the foundation is for, who decides what, and how.
03Incorporate and apply
Form the nonprofit and apply to the IRS for 501(c)(3) status.
04Set up the basics
A bank account, the books, insurance and a routine for paperwork.
05Raise the first funds
Grants and gifts from people and groups who want free creative tools to last.
06Report in the open
Plain yearly reports that anyone can read.
Who we're looking for
Board service
Serve on the first board, or advise it. You've sat on a nonprofit board and know what a good one does.
Governance
Shape the bylaws, the conflict of interest policy and how decisions get made.
Grant writing
Find the arts, education and technology grants that fit, and write strong applications.
Fundraising
Plan how a free app pays for its care: gifts from people, sponsors and campaigns.
Legal
Help with incorporation, the 501(c)(3) application, trademarks and agreements.
Accounting
Set up the books, the budget and the yearly filings a nonprofit owes.
Operations
Keep the everyday work running: bank accounts, insurance, tools, calendars and reports.
