1. Best Animation Software 2020
2. Best Animation Software For Beginners
3. Best Animation Software
4. Best Animation Software 2021
5. Best Animation Software For Beginners

Here are 3 of the best, free, easy to use 2D animation programs for beginners. This free drawing and animation software is ideal for students, children,. The best free animation software The list we’ve outlined here includes any animation solution with an available free offering. It should be noted that this does not include products that are only free on a temporary basis, such as limited trial versions for new users. The 10+ Best Whiteboard Animation Software 2021 Are you looking for some of the best whiteboard animation software? Creating eye-catching presentations with the newest techniques to get the message across to your audience correctly is a challenging job. May 14, 2020 Let’s look at the best FREE animation software that you can download and start using today. Featuring 10+ software options! Anyone interested in diving into animation may be shocked to see just how many free software options are available these days. Adobe Character Animator is one of the best animation software and is used by many Hollywood film houses. The software offers a huge variety of options for animating. You can also use the built-in puppets to begin animating as soon as you open the software.

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Let’s look at the best FREE animation software that you can download and start using today. Featuring 10+ software options!

Anyone interested in diving into animation may be shocked to see just how many free software options are available these days. And these aren’t cookie-cutter programs — many of these free applications are frequently used by animation-industry pros!

SketchBook’s free animation program is easy to use, even without the tutorial. Image via SketchBook.

Let’s look at the selling points of each free animation program, where to download them, and where to find some beginner tutorials.

Pencil2D

Pencil2D is a simple, user-friendly 2D animation app, widely considered to be a perfect starter program for beginners and ideal for frame-by-frame animations.

Pencil2D is a free, open-source animation program — even for commercial use. It supports both bitmap and vector graphics, and has features like onion-skinning.

Onion-skinning allows you to keep track of each frame in the drawing process. Image via Blender.

FYI, onion-skinning refers to the ability to see previous frames of your animation while you create the next frame. Check out the Pencil2D Tutorials page to get started.

Krita

Krita is probably one of the most highly-regarded free animation applications. Ideal for hand-drawn animation, Krita includes over 100 pre-loaded brushes, each with a wide variety of effects.

Krita is great for hand-drawn animations, has built-in brush stabilizers, and a wide variety of effects. Image via Krita.

Krita also has built-in brush stabilizers that can smooth out the effects of shaky hands, making it great for tablet use. Really, this is just the tip of the iceberg of what Krita has to offer. Want to learn more? Check out this amazing starter tutorial from kdsketch!

SketchBook

SketchBook was previously a paid animation app from Autodesk, but now it’s completely free! Similar to Pencil2D, SketchBook is a perfect starter program. It has a beautiful user interface that’s easy to pick up and understand — even without a tutorial. The brushes also feel really natural when you’re drawing on the canvas.

SketchBook’s user interface has a wonderful layout and is user-friendly. Image via SketchBook.

SketchBook was the first free animation app I tried out, and I wasn’t disappointed. As a filmmaker, I could see myself using it to create write-on text or animation arrows. It also has features like onion-skinning and allows you to rearrange the UI to suit your needs. Check out Autodesk’s Sketckbook Starter Tutorial playlist to learn more.

Blender

Blender’s recently overhauled drawing tool — known as Grease Pencil — allows you to draw in a 3D environment. It’s perfect for creating traditional 2D animation, cut-out animation, and hand-drawn motion graphics.

This tool allows you to draw in a 3D environment, create hand-drawn motion graphics, as well as traditional 2D animation. Image via Blender.

If you’re already familiar with Blender’s 3D tool set, then you should be able to dive right in. If you’re totally new to Blender, check out this beginner Grease Pencil tutorial by Dedouze.

OpenToonz

OpenToonz is another popular 2D animation application, and it’s widely accepted as a free substitute for apps like Adobe Animate. It may have more of a learning curve than other beginner apps, but it has a host of professional features — onion-skinning, bone rigging, node-based editing options, and more. OpenToonz also supports bitmap and vector images.

For a closer look, check out this beginner OpenToonz tutorial by NobleFrugal Studio.

Synfig Studio

Synfig Studio is an animation app similar in depth to OpenToonz and Adobe Animate. While the user interface looks a bit sterile and comes with a bit of a learning curve, it does have many advanced features.

One of those advanced features is vector tweening, which allows layers to automatically transform into other shapes. The software also includes layers, filters, and bone-rigging, and it supports both bitmap and vector images.

Other Free Software

There are a few other free software apps that may be helpful in your animation journey. Take Inkscape, for example, which is an open-source illustration application. It allows you to create vector graphics, which can be ideal for animated character designs.

Inkscape is a perfect tool when creating character designs for animation. Image via Inkscape.

Want a more advanced video editor that lets you cut animation clips together or add post-effects? Check out DaVinci Resolve and HitFilm Express. Both of these free video editing apps include a plethora of effects.

Cover image via Krita.

Pro animators, students, film makers and game developers will love the ease and speed working in Animation Paper for PC, Mac and Linux.

Best Animation Software 2020

Quickly test ideas - or train your skills. Work rough - then clean up.
This awesome app will feel effortless, while super efficient and powerful. And so much fun!

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Software for Hand Drawn Animation

Most important part of your animation production pipeline.

Super responsive interface - prompt and realtime workflow.

Quickly gets you in the zone. Non intrusive and cleverly built.

The way 'traditional' animation is supposed to be done today.

Uncluttered, intuitive - and what the pro needs. No more. No less.

Video Tour

Watch the original concept for Animation Paper - a tour of the early interface design.

Recommend watching in full screen and HD

Best Animation Software For Beginners

• Super fast responsiveness – while drawing, while flipping, while everything
• High quality lines – no degradation when transformed or resolution is changed
• Small to large format frames
• Realtime smooth rotation and zooming of the view
• Light table (onion skinning – advanced and customizable)
• X-Sheet – easy, yet powerful timing and reuse (also scribbled notes and sound wave display)
• Layers (each layer colorcoded black, blue, red, green or custom)
• Lasso (easily reposition/rotate/scale drawings or parts of drawings)
• Clean up (stabilised lines)
• Paint (efficient coloring and post paint changes)
• Many alternative ways of flipping (keys, wheel, return flip, etc)
• Customizable Tool Bar and Speed Dial for reaching favorite functions with a flick
• Realtime full frame reference on 2nd monitor
• Import video or frame-stacks for rotoscoping etc
• Export mp4, mov or frame-stacks as png, svg, etc - including alpha and X-Sheet timing data
• For Windows PC, Mac OS and Linux (Android & iPad Pro with Pencil planned)

Best Animation Software

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Dear Animators,
My name is Niels Krogh Mortensen - I'm the creator of Animation Paper.
For the past 30 years I have worked as a character animator, graphic artist, creative software developer, game designer, animation producer and animation director.
2 decades ago I founded the predecessor, Plastic Animation Paper (PAP), which became an acclaimed and very popular 2D animation tool, that helped many take the leap from good old analogue into digital.
Today, however, PAP is outdated. I'm especially embarrassed about its GUI! - though it amazingly still runs reasonably well on modern computers.
But no doubt, it needs a serious overhaul! Re-thought from scratch and built on our proven core values - and including brilliant ideas from you, our community - Animation Paper is now brought to life!
I am humbled and grateful for all your support and encouragement. Now, the world's most awesome software for hand drawn animation is coming your way!

Good luck wishes from the one and only Bill Plympton!

hand drawn animation - reborn.

the fun and ease are back!

Best Animation Software 2021

Go to the blog section for more detail, the thoughts behind Animation Paper and the latest news. Make sure to post your comments or questions too.

Best Animation Software For Beginners

FREE! Download the original old version of Animation Paper (PAP:Pro4 for Windows) and get animating right away. No strings attached. Enjoy!