Best 2D animation Sofware

[Ya_Mi]

Hi guys.

What is the best software to create a 2D animation similar to the animation in Techquickie videos?

 

Could you guys give me some recommendation Free or Paid it doesn't matter as long its easy to use and worth the money.

Thanks in advance

[minibois]

I don't know which is the best, as that will depend on what you will use it for.. Some different programs I can name to look into though are:

- Opentoonz

- Harmony Toonboom

- Adobe Flash/Animate (Animate is newer, but last I looked into it, it was kind of buggy which is why people liked the older Flash more) After Effects from Adobe could also be an option depending on what you do

- Pencil2D (simpler software). 

 

These are the main used ones. The first and last listed ones are free, the others paid (payment model may differ between them).

[Ya_Mi]

6 minutes ago, Minibois said:

I don't know which is the best, as that will depend on what you will use it for.. Some different programs I can name to look into though are:

- Opentoonz

- Harmony Toonboom

- Adobe Flash/Animate (Animate is newer, but last I looked into it, it was kind of buggy which is why people liked the older Flash more) After Effects from Adobe could also be an option depending on what you do

- Pencil2D (simpler software). 

 

These are the main used ones. The first and last listed ones are free, the others paid (payment model may differ between them).

Thanks Boi, From your own opinion which is the best among those 4?

[minibois]

5 minutes ago, Ya_Mi said:

Thanks Boi, From your own opinion which is the best among those 4?

Keep in mind a program is just a tool for an artist to create something, which means everyone will have a personal preference between what program they want to use.

 

Anyways, it's kinda unfair to compare Pencil2D to these other programs, since it's much simpler. Adobe After Effects is in another league too, as it's a lot more feature rich in video 'stuff' (thinking motion tracking, effects, etc.).

Opentoonz used to be closed source (actually there still is a closed source version of it) and was used by Studio Ghibli (from 'My Neightbor Totoro' and 'Spirited Away', among more) which shows it is a program that can create beautiful stuff. Unfortunately I don't have too much information with that after that.

Harmony Toonboom and Adobe Flash/Animate could be compared directly with each other as they are both very powerful 2D animation programs with some animators liking one of the other.

One thing some people might like is the way you could one time pay for Toonboom, while Adobe programs have to be a subscription, but just check out the pricing for yourself to get an idea of it: https://www.toonboom.com/products/harmony/pricing

 

There are tons of video comparing one animation program to another, from qualified professional animators who will do a much better job than me showing the features, advantages and disadvantages of all programs though.

Personally I like this YouTuber, they make good well thought out videos:

 

There are 2D animations features in Blender and Krita too, but Blender is less 'meant' for 2D animation and Krita's animation option is supposedly kind of clunky.

[Ya_Mi]

3 hours ago, Minibois said:

Keep in mind a program is just a tool for an artist to create something, which means everyone will have a personal preference between what program they want to use.

 

Anyways, it's kinda unfair to compare Pencil2D to these other programs, since it's much simpler. Adobe After Effects is in another league too, as it's a lot more feature rich in video 'stuff' (thinking motion tracking, effects, etc.).

Opentoonz used to be closed source (actually there still is a closed source version of it) and was used by Studio Ghibli (from 'My Neightbor Totoro' and 'Spirited Away', among more) which shows it is a program that can create beautiful stuff. Unfortunately I don't have too much information with that after that.

Harmony Toonboom and Adobe Flash/Animate could be compared directly with each other as they are both very powerful 2D animation programs with some animators liking one of the other.

One thing some people might like is the way you could one time pay for Toonboom, while Adobe programs have to be a subscription, but just check out the pricing for yourself to get an idea of it: https://www.toonboom.com/products/harmony/pricing

 

There are tons of video comparing one animation program to another, from qualified professional animators who will do a much better job than me showing the features, advantages and disadvantages of all programs though.

Personally I like this YouTuber, they make good well thought out videos:

 

There are 2D animations features in Blender and Krita too, but Blender is less 'meant' for 2D animation and Krita's animation option is supposedly kind of clunky.

Thanks Boi...time to learn.

[Guest]

I use TVPaint, not the best but I like it.