Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 17, 2026

FLIC (file format)

The FLIC file formats most known in the extension .FLI and .FLC, used to store animation files. It is similar to animated GIF. The FLIC animation format was originally developed by Autodesk for use with Autodesk Animator (FLI) and Autodesk Animator Pro (FLC). In 1993 Jim Kent had a Dr. Dobbs article with a source code listing, introducing the FLIC format to the public.

Last revised
Jun 17, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
268 w
Citations
9
Source
FLIC
Filename extension
.fli, .flc
Uniform Type Identifier (UTI)public.flc-animation
Developed byAutodesk
Initial release1989 (1989)
Type of formatcomputer animation

The FLIC file formats most known in the extension .FLI and .FLC, used to store animation files. It is similar to animated GIF. The FLIC animation format was originally developed by Autodesk for use with Autodesk Animator (FLI) and Autodesk Animator Pro (FLC).12 In 1993 Jim Kent had a Dr. Dobbs article with a source code listing, introducing the FLIC format to the public.3

The format uses pixel-wise differential encoding between frames (like GIF) to reduce file size.45

In the 1990s video game developers used the format for intros and other animated sequences in their games, for instance UFO: Enemy Unknown6 (1994) by MicroProse.

Autodesk released a Freeware software called AAPlay to play FLI/FLC files on the PC.7 After the end of development and support by Autodesk, the community wrote substitutes themselves, for instance free and open source libraries for writing and reading FLI/FLC.89

References

References

  1. "The FLI/FLC Animation Format". USGS. 2008-01-23. Archived from the original on 2008-01-23. Retrieved 2023-05-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. "The FLIC file format". CompuPhase. 2020. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  3. Kent, Jim (March 1, 1993). "The Flic File Format". Dr. Dobb's. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  4. Hollasch, Steve (June 7, 1995). "Flic Files Format Description". steve.hollasch.net. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  5. Haaland, Mike (2019-03-04). "Flic Files (.FLI) Format description". PC-GPE on the Web. Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2023-05-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. "UFOINTRO". UFOpaedia. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  7. Autodesk (1992), AAPlay - Autodesk Animation Player, retrieved 2023-05-17
  8. Aseprite FLIC Library, Aseprite, 2023-01-03, retrieved 2023-05-17
  9. wangds (2020-04-11), LibFLIC, retrieved 2023-05-17