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Animation Software

Animation Software in Google brings up countless results for various programs.  Unfortunately, for someone looking to get started in animation, the entry barriers of both steep learning curves and the cost of many programs may seem a bit daunting.  Even for the free software, it can be frustrating due to them feeling clunky, outdated, underdeveloped, or badly optimized.  Despite all of this, there are several free programs that, in my opinion, stand above the rest in both functionality and ease of use, namely Synfig studio, Pencil2D, Blender, and Source Filmmaker.  Each has its strengths and weaknesses, but the following paragraphs should highlight why these answer the question: what are the best free tools available to an aspiring animator?

Animation Software

Free Animation Software

The first free animation software of note is Pencil2D. Pencil2D is a 2D frame-by-frame animation software that, while not the most polished, is by far the easiest to use and get started with(“Zeke”).  Let’s begin by looking at the upsides of this software.  Firstly, all the tools, the timeline, and the color pallet are displayed on the sides and bottom of the canvas. Everything is very intuitive and easy to find(“Chang”).  One of the problems with a lot of animation software is that many key features are hidden in different menus or take time to find.  Not so with Pencil, it tries its hardest to keep everything as simple as possible.  Another perk is the ease of setup(“Chang”). There is no need to install other runtime environments like Java or Flash.  From download, opening up Pencil2D brings you to a blank canvas with several default layers already set up for you.

Simplicity with Pencil2D

Lastly, animation with this program is very simple. You draw your objects, create a new keyframe by selecting a frame, click the new keyframe button, then redraw the objects in their new positions.  This perk can also be seen as a downside to some, it can feel a bit tedious to animate by drawing things over and over, especially if you are not all that artistically inclined.  One more thing to mention, and what I consider this program’s main drawback, is that sometimes things don’t work exactly how they should.  One example is that you sometimes have to click a few times to get the drawing radius to change after adjusting it.  These are just slightly irritating things that will likely be patched soon.  However, compared to the Pencil competition, programs such as Tupi works very well.  If frame-by-frame isn’t your style, you could always look at the next program on the list, Synfig.

Synfig

Synfig Studio is my preferred option for 2D animation.  It is a consistently updated program created by Robert Quattlebaum(“overview”).  He wanted to create animation software that would be able to produce high-quality products quickly.  Its animation process works very similarly to tweening in other animation software, except that Synfig does it all automatically.  For example, say you drew a circle in frame 1, if you switch to frame 12 and move the circle to a new position, Synfig will calculate all the positions in-between for each frame and update the animation accordingly.  Most tools and filters you can use in Synfig are designed with vector graphics, but some can be used with bitmaps (“overview”).  When compared with Paint2D, Synfig appears a lot more complex.

Complexity and Functionality

With this complexity comes functionality.  For example, you can add a “bone structure” and joints to a character in your animation using the link objects function, encapsulation, and rotation tools.  Doing this allows you to quickly model more realistic movements for your character instead of drawing them out one frame at a time.  If you are going for a more cartoony or anime-style animation, Synfig should be your go-to program.  As proof of its functionality, the people behind the Morevna project have been using synfig to create a high-quality anime movie(“Morevna Project”).  Nonetheless, as with almost all free software, there are a few downsides to Synfig.

Audio in Synfig

The biggest is that it does not yet natively support audio.  While sound support is expected to be added sometime in the future, if you want sound, you have to combine it with an external program such as windows movie maker.  The other downside is that it can seem a bit confusing to use for the first time, fortunately, linked on the Synfig website is a well-made text tutorial series and some links to YouTube guides(“overview”).  It works very well in 2D animation, but if you wish to make 3D movies, you should look for Blender or Source Filmmaker.

Filmmaker

The first one to consider is Source Filmmaker.  This software was used by the company Valve to create promos and animations for their games and was later released as freeware for public use.  This software is very easy to use if you have any previous experience playing 3D sandbox games like Gary’s mod or, to a lesser extent, Minecraft.  Adding, manipulating, and deleting objects is easy (“SFM Team”).  Because it uses the Source engine to load objects, you can use all of the resources from games that use the Source engine, such as Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Half-Life 2(“SFM Team”).  Using these pre-made resources is the topmost benefit of using Source Filmmaker for someone new to 3D animation.  Not being required to create your objects, maps, walk/run animations, etc., significantly speeds up the production process.

Recording via FIlmmaker

Another feature that makes things a tad faster is that you can record yourself playing games that use the Source engine and edit those scenes how you like.  A very handy tool when you are just getting started with 3D animation.  With all that said, this software is for those more concerned with the story of the animation rather than how good it looks.  Most of the resources from the games mentioned above are cartoony looking and made using graphics several years old.  Not only that, but it is also rather hard to make money from an animation you make using characters from Valve’s games without getting some lawyers thrown at you.  If you are considering making some 3D animation movies or shorts, Blender might be closer to what you should use.

Blender – 3D Animation

Blender is an open-source 3D animation software.  This software is good enough to rival some commercial 3D software(“Zeke”).   It has been used to make several professional production-quality animations such as Elephants Dream, Big Buck Bunny, and Sintel(“Blender Ref…”).   With Blender, you can either import models created by others or create your own from within the program. Because of how long it has been around and the variety of supported formats, there are tens of thousands of free resources you can download and use for your animations.

Blender can be complex.

The problem with Blender is that it is very, very complex.  It takes a long time to learn how to use it, even with a good guide or video series.  This program is for those who want to get into 3D animation seriously.  As well as being rather complex to learn, it would be best if you also had a decent computer to use Blender at a decent capacity.  The recommended specifications are a 64-bit quad-core CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and a video card with 2 GB of dedicated video RAM(“Blender ref…”).  If you are using a laptop or have a computer more than 4 or 5 years old, you may not have the required specifications to use this program.  Blender is a powerful piece of software, especially for free, but be sure you want to dedicate the time and resources to learn it if you plan on doing a lot of animation with it.

Animation Software Summary

In conclusion, all of these are functional free animation software, the biggest deciding factors are how you want to make it and what you want to produce.  If you want something easy to use, you can go to Pencil2D for 2D animation or Source Filmmaker for 3D.  You should use Synfig for 2D and Blender for 3D to make a higher-quality animation. Free and functional, a great way to get going with animation.

 

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