Everybody knows Pokemon, Popeye, Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry, Flintstone, mickey mouse, bugs bunny. All these characters were a part of our childhood. And these characters were made by animation.
The animation is the process of making the illusion of motion and change. Animation can also be defined as an illusion of movement created by showing a series of still pictures in rapid succession. The animation is a process in which many things are integrated into the multimedia and gaming products — processes such as designing, drawing, making layouts and preparation of photographic sequences. Animation means exploiting still images, into something which looks to appear real and moving. The animation is the display of series of frames simultaneously. Animation can be as simple as making a gif to more complex animation like creating a character in a game.
The pencil is easily the best free animation software for windows. Pencil lets you create traditional hand-drawn animation using both bitmap and vector graphics. Pencil2D is one of the simplest 2D hand-drawn animation programs available. Pencil works smoothly on Mac computers making it the best free animation software for Mac. Nov 05, 2019 5 Best Free Animation Software for Windows and Mac Best Animation Software on Mac and Windows The keyframing features will help you make animation effects smooth and precise.
The act of creating new art has been done for centuries such as drawing, painting, sculpting. Animation can be called as Modern Form of creating art. Animation lets artist or animator to explore the infinity of world in motion. This modern art form brings out the emotion and that feeling of existence through movement of a sequence of drawings, images. In animation, two objects are always related to each other.
Why is Animation Important?
Animation Paper is the most popular, free 2D Animation Software tool for Mac and PC. This powerful tool comes with quality lines, format frames, layers, light table, paint, video import option and helps create classic 2D animations with ease. Free Mac 2D Animation Software – Synfig. Rating: 3.5/5 Price: Free Download. What about a good Free Mac 2D Animation software? Well, you can opt for Synfig here which is an open-source vector-based animation software and would be great if you are looking for Flash-animation. It comes with a standard interface so it won’t take much.
Animation exists as something which is truly created by the artist and can be called as an artist-driven art form. Some of the greatest artists of the past hundred years have either worked in animation or have taken inspiration from animated art. An animation is an excellent form of communication. The animation does not have a fixed group of the audience; it is for the kids, it is for the old, it is for young people and also from grown-ups. Animation allows you to bring life to something which doesn’t exist in reality but in the brain. At times it becomes easier to related to animations than one can relate with actual humans. Animation is a powerful tool for sharing and promoting a variety of audiences and global issues. Right from educating young ones to discuss serious global issues like global warming, animations play an important part. Animation helps us in represent reality in a cartoon form, which makes it more impactful. The animation is a mixture of meaning, story, colors, creativity, and imagination.
So, let us get started and know about the software which helps in creating animated images and find which best free animation software available.
1. Pencil2D
Pencil2D is a free open source software that helps you create two dimensional (2D) animation without much struggle. The pencil is easily the best free animation software for windows. Pencil lets you create traditional hand-drawn animation using both bitmap and vector graphics. Pencil2D is one of the simplest 2D hand-drawn animation programs available. Pencil works smoothly on Mac computers making it the best free animation software for Mac. Pencil2D is ideal for beginners, as the commands are easy to understand and use and also the interface of Pencil is simple. Pencil allows the user to make something in a single layer as well as a multilayer. Pencil allows the user to paint and sketch. Pencil allows you to create and manipulate your animations by using its own feature-rich editor. When you use Pencil, you can easily determine the animation frame rate, sounds, image importing and exporting. Pencil allows the user to export your animated work as an FLV video file or an SWF movie.
2. CreaToon
CreaToon is a user-friendly and simple software which allows you to create 2D animations which are in fashion and add several special effects to the same. CreaToon is definitely a great animator tool which is designed for making cartoons in general. The user interface of CreaToon will take you back to 14th century, but it still is able to do complex tasks very easily. CreaToon has two menus on either side of the screen which allows the quick access of the tools which is used by the user for creating an animated character. CreaToon can set custom frame rate, in addition to adjustable heights and width settings.
3. Animation Paper
Animation Paper is one of the best free animation software available to use. Animation Paper is used to making uncomplicated animations. Animation Paper has some powerful tools, which helps the user to create amazing animations even if you don’t know much about animation. Animation Paper’s interface is quite simple and user-friendly. Animation Paper is pretty easy to work with. Animation Paper delivers the best result if it is used on a widescreen monitor. Animation Paper also gives some suggestions while you are animating.
4. Synfig Studio
Synfig Studio is another open source software which works on all platforms – Windows, Mac and Linux. Synfig Studio is quite complicated and needs to be learned thoroughly to be an expert. Once you master its advanced grade feature, it will give amazing results. The interface of Synfig Studio is divided into four parts – tools window, editing window, navigator window, and parameters window. Once you get familiar with all the four parts, you will be able to create amazing and quality cartoons and animations. Synfig Studio is based on the vector and bitmap technique. Synfig Studio allows you to synchronize created animation with any sound of your choice as It has a full-featured audio editor.
5. Stykz
Stykz is a free software which you can download and use it to create animations and import into other applications. Stykz works on all leading operating systems – Windows, Linux and Mac. Stykz offers plenty of handy tools which can be used to create wonderful animations. Stykz has a user-friendly interface. However, Stykz is limited to basic animations, when compared to other animation software. Stykz is great for any 2D animations which are simple and uses fewer tools. Stykz is famous for its stick figure animations. Stykz is the first cross-platform stick figure animation software which allows the user to develop, edit and preview your animation. Mac mail app not opening. Stykz allows you to work on each frame which results in perfect finishing.
6. Blender
Blender is an open-source 3D animation creation website. Blender is the best free animation software for 3D animation. Blender is used by many people from different fields for a different purpose. Blender supports 3D pipeline which includes modeling, rigging, animation, simulations, rendering, composition and motion tracking. Mac app update turn off. Blender also offers video editing and game creation. Blender offers animations and VFX features which are better than any other free animation software.
7. Bryce Pro
Bryce is not like your traditional animation software; it is something which will help you to create your own terrestrial model. Bryce is user-friendly 3D landscaping and animation software. Bryce is free of cost and works on all the platform. Bryce allows you to add special features like wildlife, nature, human beings and many such things in your 3D Drawing. Along with this, Bryce also allows the user to make landscapes, stones, mountains, rocks, water, clouds and many more things which will make it more real.
8. Daz 3D Studio
Daz 3d is another powerful 3D animation software which is complete. Daz allows you to create small videos and animations that you want to create. Daz is user-friendly and also offers rich features and functionalities which is of great help when you animate. Daz studio is for amateurs as well as professionals. The design engine in Daz 3D is very fast which helps in getting the desired results very quickly. Daz 3D has a massive library that contains a pre-developed component which will help you to develop animations without any fuss.
9. Clara.io
Clara.io is a full-featured cloud-based 3D modeling, animation and rendering software tool that runs in your web browser. Clara.io does not require any plugins to function. Clara.io also has a great arrangement of polygonal modeling and skeletal animation, which boasts of a user base of over 80,000. Clara.io has a modern interface which allows the user to undo/redo, drag/drop and is responsive workflow. Clara.io is a cross-platform tool which works on almost all the browsers an operating system. Clara.io also allows the editing by multiple users simultaneously.
10. Terragen
Terragen is a free program that you can download on the Windows platform. Terragen is the perfect software which allows you to create 3D animations and environments that you wish to create. Terragen allows you to import real-world data sets and create the most realistic visualizations possible. Terragen allows you to control weather, landscapes, rivers, sun, stars and everything else which you can think of. Terragen allows photo-realistic clouds and ozone simulations. Rendering in the latest version is twice as fast as the previous version of the programs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we would like to say that in the world of computers, graphics software are used to create effects which help to express your imagination via animations. Animation brings fantasies to life. Animation can also be called as one powerful tool which can be used as a platform to share ideas and abstracts. Animation helps to explore and develop ideas to implement them in reality.
In this article, we have mentioned some software which can be used to create 2D / 3D animations on different platforms. We have mentioned some best free animation software that will help you to animate and create videos or games which you have always thought of. There are some very powerful tools with a lot of features which will help in giving the best results. Some of the software is providing a lot of features without asking for any price in return.
Video is a powerful marketing tool.
85 percent of internet users watch video content at least once a month. And people want more.
In fact, 54 percent of folks think brands should be putting more video content out there.
Putting out video content isn’t always easy. Maybe you’re running low on ideas. Or maybe you’re camera shy. Or you don’t have the necessary equipment — not to mention the budget to acquire it.
Luckily, there are some handy free tools you can use.
Yep, you can make animated videos for free (minus your time investment, of course).
Check out some of the best free animation software for beginners and experts, and everyone in between.
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Animaker
Platforms: web browser-based
Animaker is a free animation software for beginners, with easy drag-and-drop functionality and an intuitive interface to match. There are six core types of videos you can make with Animaker:
- 2D
- Infographics
- Handcraft
- Whiteboard
- 2.5D
- Typography
Including full HD support, both horizontal and vertical video layouts, and pre-made graphics to choose from, you can create fun, animated videos in no time.
Audio features include text-to-speech, the option to add background music and sound effects, and voiceover. You can choose from Animaker’s library of sounds or upload your own tunes.
If you want to pay for the pro version, you can also get advanced features: in-app camera, multimove, curves, transition effects, and enter/exit effects. It’s like all those PowerPoint animations except cool and not so cheesy.
Blender
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux
Use Blender if you’re looking for the best video animation software for pro editors and creators. The free open-source 3D animation tool supports the “modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, video editing, and 2D animation pipeline.” The platform is a public project, and creatives from all over the world contribute to its ongoing maintenance.
Let’s talk features.
- Rendering: Cycles is Blender’s ray-trace based production render engine, FreeStyle is an edge- and line-based non-photorealistic (NPR) rendering engine, and real-time feedback speeds up the editing process.
- Modeling: Blender’s modeling tools include sculpting, retopology, modeling, curves, and more to help with editing models.
- Sculpting: Digital sculpting tools flexible for each stage of the digital production pipeline.
- Animation and rigging: These tools include a character animation pose editor, Non Linear Animation (NLA) for independent movements, IK forward/inverse kinematics for fast poses, and sound synchronization.
- Grease pencil: Draw directly in 3D and combine 2D/3D art.
- VFX: From camera and object motion tracking to masking and compositing, there are lots of fixes you can make in post-prod.
- Simulation: Create simulations for fog, smoke, rain, fire, liquid, and more.
- Pipeline:Choose from a long list of import/export options.
- Video editing: A built-in video editor allows for basic actions like video cuts and splicing and more complex tasks like video masking or color grading.
Yeah, that’s a lot. Blender is a comprehensive tool. And it’s all free.
Editor’s note:We also review Blender, along with 21 other video-editing tools, in this review.
K-3D
Platforms: Windows, Linux
K-3D is a free 3D animation software specializing in polygonal modeling, an approach to digital graphics that represents and approximates object surfaces using polygons. Designed for artists, the software combines plugins with a visualization pipeline architecture — it adapts to the look and feel of the tools you integrate it with.
Get started with their Wiki tutorials, showing you how to master features like texturing, shadows, and symmetric modeling.
One of its best features? Easy undo/redo functionality, so you can quickly fix a mistake. Most programs only offer the option to undo an action.
With both procedural and parametric workflows, you can make adjustments and see the change immediately. A node-based visualization pipeline means editors can create connections and combinations for different elements within the video. You can work on one side of a model and mirror the other side to see what it looks like welded together.
K-3D is an advanced tool for true creatives.
OpenToonz
Platforms: Windows, Mac, and Linux
OpenToonz is one of the top free animation software for 2D videos. The open-source software is free for both commercial and non-commercial use, so you can use it to create marketing videos for your brand.
It’s also packed with features, such as:
- Digital drawing tools: vector and bitmap drawing tools
- Indexed color palettes: quick paint and color changing
- Effects and compositing: animated special effects and composite scenes — choose from blurs, lighting, keys, masks, warps, and more than 100 other effects
- Scripting: automations via ECMA-compatible scripting engine
- Motion tracking: combine your animation with video footage
- Scan and cleanup: create vectors from paper drawings
- Frame-by-frame animation: with configurable onionskin
- Motion tweening: link objects or use motion paths to execute complex movements
- Bones character animation: with IK support and mesh deformations
- Particle systems: for rain, dust, and similar effects
You can make some pretty advanced animations with this tool.
COULD MAYBE EMBED AN EXAMPLE HERE https://twitter.com/hashtag/opentoonz some ideas:
If you run into issues using the free animation software, you can always turn to the user community or developer forum.
Pencil2D Animation
Platforms: Windows, Mac, and Linux
Pencil2D is a simple animation software you can use to create hand-drawn 2D videos. The open-source software is free for both personal and commercial use, so you can use it just for fun or to create videos to promote your products.
The interface is simple and easy to use. That, along with tons of tutorials on the website and forums you can join, makes it a great option to start with.
Other features:
- Image and audio import
- Switch between raster and vector workflows so you can sketch, ink, and paint
- Adjust frame rate
- Add distortion and lighting effects
- Onion skinning
- Toolbar customizations
- Pressure sensitivity
- Multiple export formats
Plastic Animation Paper
Platforms: Windows, Mac, and Linux
Plastic Animation Paper (PAP) is a free animation software for PC, Mac, and Linux. Though its interface is outdated, the software is completely free to download and use. Beggars can’t be choosers, right?
With PAP, you can create hand-drawn 2D animations, while seeing your edits in real time. The editing experience itself can be clunky, but it’s easy for beginners to learn and become familiar with. It’s a sufficient tool for basic animated videos.
Feature highlights include basic drawing tools, zoom, rotation, cutouts, layers, and more.
Soon, PAP’s creator will release a new, more advanced program for $79, Animation Paper.
Best suited for skilled animators, Animation Paper will help animators create 2D graphics from hand-drawn illustrations, along with a long list of features:
- Small and large format frames
- Real-time, smooth rotation and zoom, along with multiple options for flipping
- Advanced and customizable onion skinning
- Layers and lasso
- High-quality lines and stabilization
- Coloring and paint
- Real-time full frame reference on a second monitor for quick editing
When you’re done creating your animated video, export options include .mp4, .mov, and .png or .svg frame stacks.
Powtoon
Platforms: web browser-based
The next video animation software that’s free is Powtoon, meant for dynamic video presentations. While there are paid options with advanced features, Powtoon also has a stripped-down free tool for videos up to three minutes long.
In addition to what’s listed above, Powtoon’s free software also has:
2d Animation Software For Mac Free
- Custom styles
- Change aspect ratios and sizes
- YouTube, Facebook, Wistia, Vimeo, PowerPoint, and PDF export
- Full video, animation, GIF, and image file implementation
It’s a great tool for beginners, with several professional-looking templates to choose from, including animated explainer and infographic-style videos, as well as templates built specifically for product promotion. You can also start from scratch or import a theme from PowerPoint.
Stykz
Platforms: Windows, Mac, and Linux
Stykz is one of the easiest animation software to use. With it, you can make basic 2D stick figure animated videos, like this one:
And this one:
Pretty basic, but totally free. Amazon music mac os x app.
Stykz is frame-based, meaning you work on one individual frame at a time. It uses onionskins so you can see the previous frame and how to two flow together.
All edits are done within the “Stage” — in other words, you make your edits and view your changes within the same window. No toggling between views needed.
Edit one or multiple stick objects, fill shapes, and import your own stick figures. Everything will auto-save as you go, so you don’t need to worry about losing all your hard work.
Synfig Studio
Platforms: Windows, Mac, and Linux
Pencil 2d Animation software, free download Mac
The next free video animation online is Synfig Studio, an open-source platform for creating 2D animated videos. With it, you use vector graphics to create timeline-based animations.
Like OpenToonz, it offers a bone system for animation controls so you can create natural movements. Create cutout animation using bitmap images or control your vector artwork, and use the additional Skeleton Distortion layer for complex deformations to bitmap artwork.
Advanced features include linking parameters for layers, allowing you to build character puppets and other advanced dynamic structures. It’s certainly not made for beginners, so turn to an easier option to get started before upgrading to Synfig’s advanced feature set. There are plenty of video tutorials to help you get used to the program.
Here’s an example of a fun animated short created with Synfig Studio:
Toontastic 3D
Platforms: Android, iOS
Google’s own free animation software for Android, Toontastic 3D is meant for kids, but brands can also use it to make animated 3D videos. Ideal for storytelling, you get started with Toontastic by creating your own characters, either from scratch or based off an uploaded photo. Then it’s time to insert your characters into a story.
Toontastic is meant to encourage budding storytellers to get create with their narratives, and brands can do the same. Plan your storyline, animate, add narration and music, and then export it to share it with the world.
Your storyline is based on Toontastic templates, each with a different number of scenes. Toontastic also has premade scenes to choose from, so the only “drawing” you need to do is when it comes to the characters.
If it sounds like a lot of steps, Google says you can create a one-minute video with up to six scenes in just a minute — though that doesn’t include the time it takes to create your characters upfront. It also works offline so you can create videos on your daily commute or when the WiFi’s out.
If you’re looking for more control and creative flexibility, Toontastic isn’t the best option. It’s best-suited for those who are very new to the world of animated videos. Soon you’ll graduate to one of the others on this list!
Honorable Mentions
- DigiCel FlipBook (note that the free version includes watermark)
Summary
The best free animation software really depends on your skill level, your hardware, and the types of videos you want to make. In sum:
- Animaker: simple, browser-based animation software for beginners, with paid upgrades available
- Blender: advanced open-source 3D animation software for people with video experience
- K-3D: 3D animation software with polygonal modeling
- OpenToonz: 2D animation software with a long list of features for proficient or expert video folks
- Pencil2D: hand-drawn, 2D animated videos with a simple interface that’s beginner-friendly but loaded with features
- Plastic Animation Paper: helpful for incorporating hand-drawn characters into 2D animated videos
- Powtoon: great for creating simple, three-minute explainer or infographic videos in presentation-style format
- Stykz: beginner-friendly, stick-figured based 2D animation software
- Synfig Studio: robust software for creating vector-based animated videos with advanced character control
- Toontastic 3D: for people who are very new to creating animated videos; meant for kids but can create simple, storytelling- and character-based videos for brands as well
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Alexandra is a B2B copywriter and content strategist whose work has earned awards from the Content Marketing Institute and Custom Content Council. She writes about retail, ecommerce and business for brands like Shopify, Wave, and Vend POS.