• Good animation programs
    15 replies, posted
Like above. What are some good programs to use? I'm hoping to learn 2D animation. I've already found some okay programs, but are there any that you just can't live without?
I'm also learning 2D animation through Adobe Flash and TvPaint Animation Pro. First one is an vector animation program while the second one is more like animating on paper. I heard ToonBoom was also nice, but I haven't tried it yet.
I'll list the ones I know: [url=http://www.superfundungeonrun.com/easytoon/]EasyToon[/url], if you're into making quick straight-ahead animation. Has GIF exporting. [url=http://www.pencil-animation.org/]Pencil[/url], vector based and has a timeline. It has SWF exporting, but no GIF support. [url=http://www.aseprite.org/]AEsprite[/url], haven't used this enough to make a judgement, but it appears useful for sprite animation. [url=http://plasticanimationpaper.dk/]Plastic Animation Paper[/url], haven't tried this yet to make a judgement at all. If you're into refinement, [url=http://lazynezumi.com/]Lazy Nezumi[/url] is a pen stabilizer that can improve your lines in any program. Probably useful in Flash.
I use Photoshop CS6 Extended, it's got a basic video timeline feature but apparently it's quite limited compared to other animation programs. I just use it because of familiarity with the tools/program and being able to use my custom brushes and whatnot.
Thanks guys. Okay, EasyToon404'd, Pencil looks nice, Flash will have to wait until I open my PayPal, and I haven't checked the others.
[QUOTE=PaperBurrito;44402553]Thanks guys. Okay, EasyToon404'd, Pencil looks nice, Flash will have to wait until I open my PayPal, and I haven't checked the others.[/QUOTE] Ah, uploaded it somewhere else: [url=https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/44178450/easytoon.zip]EasyToon[/url]
TVpaint is pretty great and user-friendly.
Pivot. [img]http://i.imgur.com/dENWr9e.gif[/img] Simple as hell to use, it's a great introduction to animation. I personally love the thing. (I made that~)
I used to love pivot (see username for proof) but it gets really restricting once you want to move on to bigger things. I'd say the best learning tool would be Easytoon because it's more free-form and it'll teach you all the same basics that you would learn from using pivot. Cool little story actually, [URL="http://bahijd.tumblr.com/tagged/animation"]this Australian guy[/URL] started by making animations in easytoon and eventually wound up with a job at studio Bones, working on anime like Space Dandy and Kids on the Slope.
well pencil only uploads swf so download now [URL="http://www.mediafire.com/download/rv3dhhdht5t2rx3/abstractshite.swf"]no i mean NOW[/URL] of course this is without any practice or a drawing tablet
TVPaint is my personal favorite, but there are animating capabilities in Photoshop. Alex Grigg does his stuff in PS, but ToonBoom Harmony is also pretty big. Disney used it for Princess and the Frog. [editline]6th April 2014[/editline] I'm currently being assigned to an animation internship, and I can say that program knowledge isn't the priority; it's whether you can animate or not. Working with pencil and paper then scanning in for pencil tests is a skill that is admired. What good are the tools if you don't know how to use them? Animator's Survival Kit an Disney's Illusion of Life are a good place to start.
Of course. When I say I'm looking for a program, I mean something I can practice on, not something to learn the ins and outs of. Ultimately it's about me learning.
If you already have photoshop, I honestly recommend that. Its illustration focus means you get to experiment with all sorts of potential work flows. Also, that pen stabalisation program looks awesome. Thanks.
pretty much everyone has listed all of the decent animation software out there. but adobe edge animate is pretty interesting, it's like flash but uses html and jquery for most of it, meaning it will work on iOS and other devices that don't have flash. i've done some stuff with it, and the UI and timeline features are fab, but it's definitely not at a level where you could make short films with it - there's no way to port your stuff to a video file to work with either. hopefully in the future they will make it better for all types of animation, not just web. [URL="http://midorea.com/v3/playground/lr/lr_midorea.html"]a thing i did with it really quickly[/URL]
easytoon and pivot are good for simple animations, from what I remember, easytoon is only black and white. I did use it like five years ago. I use Flash and ToonBoom animate.
Toonboom is selling for $20, see if you could get a key. [url]http://www.macheist.com[/url]
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