Pencil 2d animation software free. As an Open Source two dimension or 2D animation software, it is one of the free animation programs which is completely free to download, and you can use it for commercial projects. It is a very handy software which helps you to create colorful 2D animations with simple tools. Pre-designed Cartoon Characters. Get started from hundreds pre-animated cartoon characters and roles, animiz enables users to create professional cartoon animations with ease. No coding and design skills are needed, you can make a cartoon video easily in drag and drop software interface.

1. Software For Animation
2. Free Animation Programs For Beginners
3. Animation Programs For Mac Free Download
4. Free Animation Programs For Laptop
5. Computer Animation Free Programs For Kids

Animation has come a long way since the days of 'Steamboat Willie,' developing into a precise and scientific art.

Just look at how Pixar has changed the animation game: With 1998’s “Toy Story,” the studio introduced the world to the first-ever computer-animated feature-length film. At the time, it was revolutionary. Beforeanimation software, cartoons were created by hand, drawing or inking thousands of cells against various backgrounds in rapid sequence. Computer animation is cheaper, faster and allows animators for more flexibility.

What are the best free animation software in 2019?

1. KeyShot
2. K-3D
3. PowToon
4. Pencil2D
5. Blender
6. Animaker
7. Synfig Studio
8. Plastic Animation Paper
9. OpenToonz

However, watching “Toy Story” back more than 20 years later, its animation style looks rudimentary. Today, computer animation has become the norm and has vastly improved since the release of “Toy Story.” The improvement is thanks to animation software. Each hair on a character’s head is painstakingly animated. The correct shadowing is meticulously added in each scene to make it as realistic as possible. Animators study movement to ensure their characters are anatomically correct.

What’s more, with the advancement of animation software, those outside the entertainment industry can utilize the technology as well. Marketing teams, product teams and more leverage animation solutions to enhance their websites and content. An animated video is a great supplement for a blog or advertisement; the inclusion of animated content can bring a company’s brand to a whole new level. Take Samsung, who used animation to promote their initiative for an increased use of their technology in schools. Or Johnson & Johnson, who used animation to demonstrate how to use their bubble baby bath and wash in an engaging format.

Whether you are an expert animator or looking for animation software for beginners, there are plenty of solutions available. Best of all is that you don’t necessarily have to pay to hone your animation skills. These free animation tools will help you improve your craft.

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. They may only support one user or one project, but they’re truly free offerings. Scaling, however, will often require full investments.

These products alone have well over 246 validated user reviews on G2 Crowd as of June 13, 2019, and only represent a small portion of the 45-plus animation software offerings listed on our platform. Whenever possible, products are ranked byuser satisfaction score.

1. KeyShot

Image courtesy of KeyShot

KeyShot is a fast and user-friendly 3D rendering software with animation capabilities. This tool allows users to go from a simple model to a stunning visual in minutes. KeyShot is a completely free animation software.

KeyShot has a number of features to support animation and 3D rendering, including but not limited to:

• 2D animation and 3D animation
• HDRI lighting that allows you to light and adjust your scene as needed
• Camera control that enables users to simulate real-world camera behavior
• Dynamic texture mapping to simulate the real-world appearance of a landscape
• Focused caustics to ensure objects are properly lighted

What users like
“It's fast and most of the results come [out] pretty good. And today they can do animation and VR in KeyShot, [which] makes the software even more powerful than ever.”
— Keyshot reviewby a user in higher education

What users dislike
“The animation configuration could be easier and also give more options of possible movements.”
— Keyshot review by Julia C.

Recommendations to others considering the product
“Try it, it is very easy. I do like the animation tool, which you can [use to] make an animation rendering very easy and quick.”
— Keyshot review by Chen W.

2. K-3D

Image courtesy of K-3D

K-3D is an animation and 3D modeling software. It combines plugins with a visualization pipeline architecture to make it a powerful and flexible tool for artists. This free animation software allows users to create unique combinations in their work.

K-3D offers a number of features to make an artist’s work as easy as possible:

• An advanced undo/redo function
• Properties that can be adjusted interactively
• A node-based visualization pipeline

What users like
“This is the tool with the features, speed and stability for you.”
— K-3D review by a user in graphic design

What users dislike
The same K-3D reviewer said, “Great program all around, only complaint, just wish it had some sort of quick getting started guide, considering that's my only complaint, always have this installed on my comp.”

3. PowToon

Image courtesy of PowToon

This free animation software is intended for making short videos and presentations. Users can upload their own content or choose from PowToon’s library of royalty-free content. Animators can customize the existing templates to ensure they fit their needs.

PowToon offers paid options, but its free plan offers the following features:

• Standard video resolution
• Access to some of PowToon’s video content library
• The ability to create videos up to three minutes long
• Export to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo and more
• The choice of aspect ratios and sizes

What users like
“I think that what I mostly like is that creating an animation with PowToon is ridiculously easy. First, I get to pick out one from many templates. After a template is selected, I like that it’s even easier to add moving characters to every slide I have for the animation.”
— PowToon reviewby Esmeralda D.

What users dislike
“I don’t really like that PowToon characters are really simplistic; if they were a bit more complex, this would also be a great tool for making quality animations.”
— PowToon review by Alicia Sarah V.

Recommendations to others considering the product
“This tool provides a lots of attractive templates, which helps users to design their slides and making their presentation better. So, this tool helps me a lot and I recommend this tool for people who usually deal with presentations.”
— PowToon review by Raj M.

4. Pencil2D

Image courtesy of Pencil2D

This 2D animation software allows users to create more traditional, hand-drawn scenes. This is accomplished using bitmap and vector graphics. Not only is Pencil2D free, but it is an open-source animation software.

Pencil2D offers a number of features to make animation easy, including but not limited to:

• A lightweight and easy design interface
• The ability to seamlessly switch between raster and vector files
• Cross-platform functionality to facilitate operation on Mac, Windows and Linux

What users like
“I enjoy how easy it is to understand this right off the bat. I was able to start animating immediately! Another extreme plus is the ability to use layers.”
— Pencil2D reviewby Sara C.

What users dislike
“You'll have to redo your setting preferences because the program resets to default whenever you open it up. This is especially true for if you want to use the pen tool, or if you want to use different colors to connote different parts of your animation.”
— Pencil2D review by Sabrina B.

Recommendations to others considering the product
“Recommended 100 percent for the general public and people who want an efficient app.”
—Pencil2D reviewby Grey P.

5. Blender

Image courtesy of Blender

Blender is a free and open-source animation software that also has capabilities for 3D modeling, game creation, motion tracking and more. This tool enables artists to turn stills into 3D animation. Blender also offers a fast rigging tool that allows users to turn 3D models into animated characters.

The following animation features are included in Blender:

• Automated walk-cycles along paths
• An editor for character animation poses
• Non-linear animation for independent character movements
• Mirror functionality

What users like
“Blender is a free animation software, but do not let that deter you from trying it. It is a really powerful software that I use to make 3D designs. Another thing that I like about Blender is that you can easily import outside objects like textures and animations. The lighting and shadow functions also look really professional.”
— Blender review by Beth A.

What users dislike
“Image-based animation becomes difficult to perform. For me personally, I tried to get an image hand created and perform animation. It kept getting difficult to animate the image.”
— Blender review by Ankit A.

Recommendations to others considering the product
“Blender is so powerful and has so many features it's overwhelming. Approach with discipline. Decide what aspect you want to tackle first (modelling, animation, lighting, compositing, etc.), then work through a lot of Youtube tutorials.”
—Blender reviewby Michael M.

6. Animaker

Image courtesy of Animaker

Animaker is a drag and drop, online animation and video making platform. This platform is free to register for, and is less technical than many other animation solutions. Animaker is targeted towards a content marketer persona, and includes templates for making different types of animations including infographics, motion typography, whiteboards, and 2D cartoons.

Some of the major benefits of Animaker are:

• Large library of animated pre-created templates and characters
• Drag and drop editing style with 6 types of animation video styles
• Whiteboard video creation
• Simple infographic creator
• More advanced features for technical creations

What users like
“I really like the drag and drop interface, it really helps building animations on the go and within no time. A very helpful tool when you are in hurry but need a effective and productive presentation. It takes presentations to another level by giving more visual effect.”
— Animaker reviewby Harsh P.

What users dislike
“There is free pack, but it won't allow you to create long presentations and also limits the number of such presentations you can create.”
— Animaker review by Purav A.

Recommendations to others considering the product
“Using the templates provided by Animaker would reduce most of your work. Only make some minor changes as per your requirement an you are all set.”
—Animaker reviewby Rayan V.

7. Synfig

Image courtesy of Synfig

Synfig Studio is a free and open-source 2D animation software for Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems. While it offers many technical and advanced features, the open-source community has created a large library of documentation and video courses in multiple languages to help novice animators become professionals. The platform is also always improving, and users have a choice between downloading the stable version or a new development version.

Synfig offers many technical animation features, including:

• Vector tweening
• Layers and filtering
• Bone system for complex editing of bitmap images
• Many advanced technical features for expert animators

What users like
“I like it a lot because it is an open source software. It is accessible to all audiences. It is not necessary to be a mirror or have a step by step to perform all the activities that can be done with it. Your presentations in 2D are made using few resources and tools - since it has so many useful tools that with only one you can do many things. Your presentations are made in a way for metric. And the best thing is that if there is a change in resolution, this does not affect your results”
— Synfig Studio reviewby Genesis M

What users dislike
“I dislike a little the idea that has some imperfections the program, in question of the interface. Since it tends to close itself and tends to get a little slow to use it. In the same way it has a problem when installing it since it does not accept being installed in some 32-bit programs, as it was my case. I had many problems to install it.”
— Synfig Studio review by Victor M.

Recommendations to others considering the product
“I recommend this software to all those people who have small companies and are in charge of the design area - since even though it is not more innovative, it fulfills all the necessary functions to make a good animation and its tools give you the opportunity to do a lot and in a short time.”
—Synfig Studio review byVictor M.

8. Plastic Animation Paper

Image courtesy of Plastic Animation Paper

Plastic Animation is the free and original version of Animation Paper. This option is a great animation software for beginners, as the product offers tutorials on how to use the software. The tutorials in this free 2D animation tool allow users to work at their own speed.

Plastic Animation Paper offers tutorials on many of its features, including but not limited to:

• Basic drawing tools
• The ability to organize a workflow with a setup and marking menus
• Layering
• How to do a walk cycle, which includes timing with clones, a light table and working in passes
• Zooming and rotating a sheet

Be the first to leave a Plastic Animation Paper review!

9. OpenToonz

Image courtesy of OpenToonz

This free (and open-source) animation software enables users to produce 2D animation. Thanks to its open-source nature, developers can modify this free animation software to fit their needs.

Using OpenToonz, users have the ability to:

• Produce affected incident light
• Change picture styles
• Create wavy distortion
• Scan four different types of images within the product — black and white, colored or with or without binarization

Next steps for selecting the best free animation software

Decide which features are important to you in a product. For example, it is important to decide whether you need open-source animation software or animation software for beginners. The features in the product you pick should allow you to effectively reach your end goal, such as educating your audience or promoting your brand in an exciting new way. Once you have chosen, read through some more verified user reviews to allow you to make the best decision for your business.

Are you ready to for your animations to go viral? Learn how to make a YouTube channel to host your best creations. If you're curious about these companies, learn more about American Software Companies.

* Please note: Reviews may have been edited for spelling and grammar.

Animation involves the manipulation of still images to appear as moving images are used extensively in short films, special effects, video games and other media that are fanatical to displaying the moving images.While the traditional animation involved the painting by hand on transparent sheets like cells that were later exhibited in the films, present-day animation has moved to CGI or Computer Generated Imagery.

Small companies and individual freelance artists can now produce a professional grade featured films, arts, and games, all from their home computers using animation software. Thanks to the increased availability of CGI software and computer network speeds that have contributed to creating class-leading animations.

Moreover, independent video games (indie games ) are on the high rise and the close association of animation industry with gaming industry has only given rise to immense demand on CGI software. The software like CGI helps the small term animators in generating these indie games that are created by small teams without significant financial support.

Computer animations can be a 3D computer animation or 2D animation. If you are planning to create animation by yourself, you may be looking for proper animation software. Earlier we have seen a free Pencil animation and cartoon software for Windows, that is a good tool for beginners who are planning to learn animation. In this post now I am going to discuss some of the best free 2D and 3D animation software for Windows 10/8/7.

Free Animation Software for Windows PC

As we all know, commercial applications like Adobe Flash comes with loads of features folded together. Most of the features available are never used by anyone – and may not even know that they even exist. So I’d recommend using these applications if you are a beginner – just to get a brief overview of the animation.

Free 2D Animation Software

1] Plastic Animation Paper

Plastic Animation Paper(PAP) is a powerful software animation package for hand-drawn animation. It is efficient and offers a super responsive interface that is extremely easy for the real-time workflow. PAP provides an easy interface taking all the advantages of the computer thus helping the traditional animators to draw completely on the computer. In this way, users can save a major chunk of time. Additionally, the Plastic Animation Paper will also let users save the finished projects in various formats like PNG, AVI, GIF, and others.

The software is useful for everyone be it professional animator or even an independent team; it offers an easy interface to create animation from the home system. The software is available for free download on Mac OS X, iOS, and Windows PC. Download it here.

2] Stykz

Stykz is a freeware tool for generating 2D animations. It is available for free download for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows. The software offers an easy and powerful interface that aids in generating animations all from your home desktop. Stykz is a frame based software that allows you to customize on individual frames and also lets you alter the previous frames using Onionskins. The Stykz is a tool that will assist in sketching the characters and the landscape before actually moving on the next steps. The interface is user-friendly and also intuitive at its best.The software allows you to save the files in .stl format which is compatible with other animation tools as well. Download it here.

3] Pencil2D

Pencil2D is a freeware animation software that offers a user-friendly interface to generate the 2D animation. It is an open source tool that can be used in Linux, Mac OS, and Windows. It is basically a Pencil application created by Pascal Naidon that uses bitmap/ vector drawing interface. While it offers fewer features compared to other tools, this is extensively used if you want to generate 2D drawings in a comprehensive manner. The software uses Vector and bitmap graphics to represent the images in computer graphics. Download it here.

4] Victorian Giotto

Giotto comes packed with more than 50 great animated effects that can be applied to both shapes and text, without any coding at all! Play with Flash effects through the effect editor, and see the amazing animations immediately on the screen. It is a light-weight application having an interface similar to Adobe Flash. Giotto requires no coding or any animation script to make effects and can be used to make attractive effects to your website by integrating flash effects. Download Victorian Giotto here.

Read: Create interesting 2D animations with OpenToonz, a free animation software.

Free 3D Animation Software

Software For Animation

1] Aurora 3D Animation Maker

Aurora 3D Animation maker is free animation software that offers templates to add graphics assets to create animations. This tool is for everyone be it a professional filmmaker or an individual and provides high-end templates to develop animations. The software offers extensive preloaded effects and features that can be used to create complex animation and also a simple presentation. Auro lets users add their own logo and watermark to the images.Aurora 3D Animation Maker is also used for creating 3D video titles and texts as well. Additionally, features like duration and the playback rate helps Users to make cool animations. Other captivating effects include fireworks, flames, and movements like bounce and twist.Moreover, the software also supports a ton of file formats including GIF. Download it here.

2] Blender

Blender has a relatively small installation size and runs on several popular computing platforms. It has a large feature collection providing high-level tools for 3D modeling, Animation, Effects and much more. Its features include basic non-linear video/audio editing. Blender’s animations system supports a variety of techniques and tasks, allowing the creation of complex animations.

It is good for 3D animation and post-processing tool which offers a plethora of features. It is excellent for learners and also experienced animators and offers real-time 3D/game creation, 3Dwrapping, Edge rendering and collision simulation. The software is an open source tool that lets users make changes and even add new features. It is available for free download here.

TIP: Take a loot at Express Animate too.

3] Clara.IO

Unlike other animation tools, Clara.IO is a cloud-based fully functional animation software. The software runs directly in your browser without any downloads and configuration setup. The software offers free plans for 3D enthusiasts and offers polygonal modeling along with the skeletal animation. The tool is available in different browsers including Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari. Clara.IO permits editing by multiple users through simultaneous collaboration and versioning. It offers easy sharing, VRay cloud rendering, modern interface and offers a user-friendly multiplatform. Additionally, The tool also allows users to export and import files from other formats like Blender, Babylons, STL, FBX and more. Download it here.

4] Anim8or

Free Animation Programs For Beginners

Anim8or is a lightweight portable application for 3D animation. Anim8or is very simple to install and run. It is composed of a single executable file that can be put anywhere on your disk.

Anim8or’s interface is separated into four sections, each with its own toolset:

• Object editor
• Figure editor
• Sequence editor
• Scene editor.

Animation Programs For Mac Free Download

Anim8or is completely open-source and can be downloaded as a zip file here. Itools 4 free download for windows 10.

Free Animation Programs For Laptop

If you want to recommend any other freeware animation maker, please share in the comments.

Read next: Pencil Animation and Cartoon Software for Windows.

Computer Animation Free Programs For Kids

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