What Animation Software is Best For Beginners in 2020?

25 April 2020 | by Saba Samdani | Video Production, Marketing

Animation software are plenty available, be it paid or free or through trial basis, but finding the ones which best suits your needs that can be for making a simple explainer videos or making videos to post online or to simply learn animation just for editing or just for the sake of knowing things, below I will provide a list of best animation software for beginners in 2020 that will save you a hefty lot of time and being majorly efficient in every field.

When we think of animation software, it can be 2d animation or a 3d animation, basically the major difference between them is 3d takes lots of elements to work before making it or else it won’t work.

Which one to learn first, 2D or 3D?

Generally best animation companies are very dynamic in nature, they don’t focus on making stronghold for 2D as well as 3D but rather on what they are good at, what they enjoy doing most irrespective of time and money and that’s what separates them from the rest, so It really doesn’t matter if you jump for learning 3d animation without learning 2d animation, sure 2d animation is the traditional animation rather than motion graphics and there are certain basics which you must know before going for 3d animation, but then it all depends on the person willingness and desire to learn. Generally avid users are the one who tends on to learn 3d animation before learning the basics of 2danimation,

Anybody could draw but drawing on a professional scale according to client needs, you will be needing lots of experience and good software to go with also 2d Animation injects more soul into their animation as they have to draw frames by frames separately as a continues process unlike 3d Animation which depends solely on software.

2D ANIMATION	3D ANIMATION
Understanding of motion	Understanding of motion is missing because they rely too much on software for movements
While in 3d animation its easier because you don’t have to animate frames separately as its done by the computer	Can be hard because it’s based on your ability to draw
You can start doing 2d animation stuffs on any computer regardless of specs	While in 3d Animation you need to have proper good specs
2D animation is Cheaper and takes less time to learn	While 3d animation is costlier than 2d animation and takes time to learn as it is related to basis of traditional animation
While 2d Animation takes time to produce	3d Animation is quicker as the software does the tweening
Low production cost	Costlier production costs
2D animations might not be appealing	3D Animations are appealing

Here I have selected few handy ones, these software are rich in features and tools that are easy to understand for new ones with their tutorials and it’s for both premium and non-premium users

1

Adobe Animate CC

Adobe Animate CC is a vector based animation software which uses timeline based animation where you can draw different shades different objects as you move the timeline. It uses two types of animation basely one is traditional way where images are kept one after another to produce movement and tweening where computer generates the frames after you provide the start and end point.
Adobe Animate cc is best to start with your basics right under trial period basis so learn try to learn the basics while you are under trial period or you can buy if you like it the most.

Adobe Animate cc is best to start with your basics right under trial period basis so learn try to learn the basics while you are under trial period or you can buy if you like it the most.

FEATURES:

Easy to use and very responsive
Animated scenes have smoother playback
For new users there are many motion presets
It works with bitmap as well as vector graphics
Frame by frame animation options
You can back up your work to adobe cloud

PRICE : 7 Days Trial Period, Adobe Animate Single App – 18.70 $ / monthly billed annually

COMPATIBILITY : Windows and Mac OS

2

Blender

Blender is an open source project which gets updates at a very fast pace with great consistency for a open source project the usability and professional feel of the UI is very impressive. For beginners who are not quite familiar with 3D modelling and others at all this is the best program. The motion tracking feature is comparable to other professional software out there.

Different aspects of blender are 3D Modelling, creating still images, Create Animations, VFX and much more.

FEATURES:

Solely designed for animation, it’s been used in shorts and feature films
Grease pencil object allows you to draw that is used in traditional animation, motion graphics or as storyboard tool
From VFX you can fix camera and object motion tracking to masking and composting
Blender supports different programs for import/export that includes image, video, 3D
Simple video editing tools
It has the ability to customize its UI from simply splitting their viewpoint to fully customizing it
It has supports for vast extensions

PRICE : FREE

COMPATIBILITY :Windows, Linux and Mac OS

3

Pencil 2D

Pencil 2D is an open source animation software that uses both vector and bitmap to create traditional hand drawing animation. Pencil 2D is one of the easiest tool for beginners which will make you feel natural in making hand drawn animation.

It might lack lots of painting tools and drawing which are found in various other application, but then if you are in need of a platform to start your animation then this minimalist software is your answer.

FEATURES:

Pencil 2D has the simplest interface, simple and easy to use and it has all the necessary tools used to make animations
It allows you to sketch ink and paint on the go thus giving you the ability to switch between raster and vector workflows.
It’s an open source and free to use
It has the easiest brush tool to use for beginners

PRICE : FREE

COMPATIBILITY :Windows, Linux and Mac OS

4

Synfig Studio

Synfig Studio is one of the best 2d Animation applications to try. It is also open souced and uses vector solution which provides tweening and filters to create animation and artwork. It will come under one of the minimalistic animations which is best for small drawings or short animations which is ideal for a solo artist or for a small animation team.

once you learn you can start synfig from very basic concepts(waypoints) to critical advanced(keyframes) techniques and thus controlling every single element of your animation.

FEATURES:

Gives powerfull tools for full control of vector artwork
Supports artwork and animations of any complexity
Bone system allows you to create cutout animation using bitmap images
You can link your voice for narration or to add music to the video

PRICE : FREE

COMPATIBILITY :Windows, Linux and Mac OS

5

Keyshots

To start off keyshots gives free trial to actually see if the features in the programs are beneficial to you or not. Keyshot Animation is easy to use where you can create all sorts of characters and visuals, it also has rendering software.. over the years its quality has been increasing thus giving users more features and offerings.

FEATURES:

Easy to use and learn
Has solid photo rendering capabilities
Has widest 3D file format support
Provides highest quality visuals
Has the options to choose from using CPU or GPU in order to scale unmatched
Advanced capabilities for simple shots

PRICE : Starts with free trial then the starting price goes to 995$

COMPATIBILITY :Windows and Mac OS

6

Open toonz (2D)

Opentoonz is an 2D animation application that anybody can use and its free to download. The opportunity to learn is very stiff and little complex but it’s definitely worth it if you want to be an animator. The workflow is smooth customizable with all kinds of brushes .

You can do cut-out animations, frame by frame animations, flash in flash animations Earlier known as toonz, toonz animation was famous for making character designs and animation among 2d Animation studios like studio ghibli, it’s one of the best animation production companies in japan. Toonz is also famous for design and animation of TV shows like Steven Universe and futurama that uses open toonz.

FEATURES:

Compatible with black, white, coloured and with or without binarization scan
The settings for scanning’s can be saved for future use
GTS scanning program
Different types of brushes
Scanning at an sequence is conducted efficiently

PRICE : Free

COMPATIBILITY :Windows and Mac OS

7

Maefloresta(2D)

Maefloresta is an open source 2D animation software focuses on kids, teenagers and amateurs. It’s easy to use simple application tool which helps amateurs in developing planning, creativity, storytelling and most importantly being discipline.

You can do cut-out animations, frame by frame animations, flash in flash animations Earlier known as toonz, toonz animation was famous for making character designs and animation among 2d Animation studios like studio ghibli, it’s one of the best animation production companies in japan. Toonz is also famous for design and animation of TV shows like Steven Universe and futurama that uses open toonz.

FEATURES:

Supports basic tools for vector illustration
Animations can be exported once completed to various file formats
Basic support for colour, twinning
Can reuse media assets
Raster images can be imported

PRICE : Free

COMPATIBILITY :IPhone and Android

Conclusion

These are one of the 7 best applications you can get as a beginner, whether you are hoping to make traditional animation from by frame or motion graphic animations, these applications will give you the right boost which would be needed to start an animation, And if you are looking for 2d Animation services , you can check out Best Animation Studios, it offers wide range of 2d animation videos with 100% customized and budget friendly features.