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Migrating from Scratch

Bilup is Scratch with more on top. Everything you know from Scratch works the same way, so migrating is mostly a matter of opening your project and noticing what is new.

Bringing a project over​

Bilup uses the same .sb3 project format as Scratch.

  1. In Scratch, use File then Save to your computer to download your project as an .sb3 file.
  2. In Bilup, use File then Load from your computer and pick that file.

Your sprites, costumes, sounds, variables, and scripts come across intact. You can also save from Bilup back to .sb3 and open it again in Scratch, as long as you did not use blocks that only exist in Bilup.

What stays the same​

  • The blocks, categories, sprites, costumes, sounds, and stage all behave as they do in Scratch. See Blocks overview.
  • The standard Scratch sprite and backdrop libraries are still there.
  • The paint editor and sound editor work the same. See Costumes and Sounds.

What is different​

  • Projects run faster. Bilup compiles your blocks to JavaScript. Most projects just run quicker; a few that relied on Scratch's exact timing may behave slightly differently. See Disable compiler if you need to check behavior against the interpreter.
  • You are not limited to 30 FPS or a 480x360 stage. See Custom FPS and Custom stage size.
  • There are more blocks and extensions, including ones for the pen, video and face sensing, hardware, and more. See Extensions overview.
  • You can customize the editor with addons and themes. See Addons and Themes.
  • There are developer tools: a debugger, restore points, git, and collaboration. See Debugger, Restore points, Git, and Collaboration.

Accounts and sharing​

Scratch accounts and Bilup accounts are separate. Bilup has its own community platform; you sign in with a Bilup Accounts account to publish projects, follow people, and comment. You do not need an account to build, run, or save projects to your computer. See Project management for saving and sharing.

A note on cloud variables​

Bilup supports cloud variables, but they are not linked to Scratch's cloud. A project that used Scratch cloud variables will still load; the cloud data itself does not transfer. See Cloud variables.

See also​