12 Best Animation Software For Beginners & Pros In 2021

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Animation software can bring your thoughts to life. Whether you’re working on a video game or personal project, animation software can assist you to achieve your goals. Animated visuals are much more appealing than plain images. 

They produce the largest number of shares on social media compared to different forms of visual content. Looking for the best animation software for beginners? 

Check out this collection of animation software including some of the most preferred products on the market.

How has animation affected communication? 

Communication is essential in any modern city. Without being able to talk to each other, exchange information, we would be living in complete isolation. 

Animation is a technique of storytelling by communicating emotions and ideas in a way that anyone can understand. Animation has connected more young people all around the world in a way that writing could not. 

An animated video can even convert the most boring message to a fun and engaging one. Bright colors and simple figures are appealing to the eye, which makes it simpler to express information than listening to it directly. 

Your message is crucial in any form of video production, but with animation, the message is less important in favor of how it’s expressed.

People prefer visual content. It is entertaining and can never get boring. Animated videos are becoming popular day by day, especially among millennials. The videos are everywhere carrying messages on literally everything you can think of. 

What are the benefits of animation software ?

• Interactive animation grasps the audience’s attention. The use of audio, graphics, and animation makes it engaging.
• It provides flexibility. 
• Animation makes learning fun and motivates one to search for more information to learn.
• When you build an animated video that addresses the things that are most relevant to your customers, you can increase your credibility.
• Studies show that animated films have a great impact on society, especially kids. However, they are watched by every kind of audience because they have jokes for children and adults too.
• If you are learning animated storytelling you can try and include it in your marketing strategy, you can deliver uniqueness and a great style performed in an exciting narrative experience.

Here’s a list of 12 Best Animation Software for Beginners

1. Cartoon Animator 4

From smart IK motion editing to full-body motion capture, Cartoon Animator has it all. It is the best 3D animation software for beginners and professionals who want to make animations of high quality. 

The software enables you to create custom 2D characters, select characters from the huge database, and import PSD character templates. You can effortlessly make any static image move by employing different motion templates provided in the library.

Features

• Library of pre-made character and motion templates.
• Tools for animating characters like facial free form deformation, audio lip-syncing, and many more.
• Tools for generating talking heads and employing them on any desired character.
• Live facial motion capture from any angle.
• Supports many popular images and video formats.

Pricing

• CTA Facial Mocap Bundle – $299
• CTA-4 Animated Video Maker Bundle – $299
• 2D and 3D Animation Suite – 30 days

There is a Free Trial for 30 days.

2. Animaker

Animaker is ideal for businesses that want to produce interactive presentations and videos. This animation software comes with a huge library of templates and pre-animated elements, including characters, illustrations, and gestures.

Features

• Six styles of videos.
• Horizontal and vertical video layouts.
• Animated infographic maker with more than 100 charts, 1000 icons, and 3000 maps.
• Advanced features for animation such as record, curve, camera in and out, transition effects, etc.
• Audio features: text-to-speech, background music tracks, sound effects, voice recording, etc.
• A library of pre-designed templates.

Pricing 

• Free Plan
• Basic – $10/month billed annually
• Starter – $19/month billed annually
• Pro – $49/month billed annually

3. Adobe Character Animator

Adobe Character Animator is an animated tool you can make use of to efficiently animate your 2D characters. It can create animated videos and has all kinds of features right from lip-syncing to motion capture technology. 

With its Photoshop and Illustrator file integration, you can design your characters using your favorite tools and then bring them to life.

Features

• Real-time motion capture with automatic facial tracking.
• You can download characters from Creative Cloud Market.
• Streamline recording and editing.
• Scene snapshots which appear like onion-skinning.
• Replays, magnets, and many more functions.
• Timeline panel for recording and editing scenes.

Pricing 

• Free trial – 7 days
• Creative Cloud – $79.99/month billed annually
• Students and teachers – $19.99/month billed annually

There are various plans for schools and universities too.

4. Stop Motion Studio

This is one of the best animation software for beginners. Stop Motion Studio will help you build amazing 4K stop-motion animations that can be mixed with different 2D style drawings painted straight onto the image. 

By using the frame-by-frame editor enhanced with super handy features, you have a powerful app for your device. 

Features

• 4K ultra HD videos.
• Manual or automatic control of the focus, exposure, ISO, white balance.
• Equipped with DSLR camera support.
• Green screen option with background library.
• Import of images, audio, video files;
• Paint tools, sound effects, magic eraser, and many more useful tools.

Pricing

• iOS and Android – $4.99
• Mac and Windows – $9.99

5. Final Cut Pro X

Final Cut Pro is a professional-level, non-destructive video editing software. It is useful for improved playback, rendering, as well as transcoding. It is used for filmmaking and in TV, Film, and streaming media. 

You should definitely have this if you wish to learn filmmaking and editing. The clips can be trimmed and reordered without any collisions. Users can quickly create 2D and 3D titles, apply filters and a built-in chroma key for blue- and green-screen effects.

Features

• Seamless video editing.
• Provides the means to create spectacular VR videos for immersive experiences.
• Offers users the ability to organize their assets like video and audio. 
• Motion graphics templates, video filters, and video effects that users can use to enhance their storytelling.
• Built-in tools for eliminating background noise and optimizing sound levels. 
• Fast delivery.

Pricing

• $299/one-time payment.

6. DigiCel FlipBook

Recognized as one of the easiest and efficient 2D software animations on the market, DigiCel FlipBook enables you to create traditional frame-by-frame animation. 

You will be able to draw directly onto the software or scan your paper drawings. The software also lets you build stop motion animations.

Features

• Shoot and scan your drawings or draw directly into the software.
• Lipsync support.
• Work on one or several frames at a time.
• Pan, zoom, rotate, blur, dissolve.
• Import/export functions.
• Runs on both macOS and Windows.

Pricing

• FlipBook Lite – $19.99
• FlipBook Studio – $49.99
• FlipBook ProHD – $99.99

7. Autodesk Maya

Autodesk’s Maya is surely one of the best animator software if you are a professional looking for a strong 3D animation tool. Autodesk Maya enables you to design photo illustrations and mockups that draw clients. 

You get it all: modeling, animation, visual effects, and many more. As if that wasn’t good enough, this animated tool has one of the best physics engines and rendering systems on the market. 

Features

• Faster dynamics for hair and cloth.
• High-speed loading of files.
• Open multi projects on the same session at the same time.
• Multiple animation tasks that are almost impossible to construct by hand are easily created with robust tools.
• Enabling artists to work in an environment that matches the final output.
• Maximizes productivity and helps to streamline your design experience.

Pricing

• Free trial for 30 days
• $4,590 every 3 years
• $1,700 annually
• $215 monthly

8. Blender

Blender is a free and open-source video editing software that lets you have complete control over your animations. 

The tool extends advanced command lines as well as programming features for rendering, modeling, and building 3D animations. It is the best animation software for youtube videos.

Features

• Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• Built-in path-tracer engine that has a real-time viewport preview, PBR shaders & HDR lighting support, CPU & GPU rendering, VR rendering support.
• Reconstruction, real-time preview of all your tracked footage, and more.
• Complete animation support including onion skinning, layers and colors for the stroke and fill, and more.

Pricing

• Free software

9. Powtoon

Powtoon is an online animation software that will help you create fun, interactive videos using animated characters and graphic assets.

It’s an excellent tool for producing animated commercials, video presentations, screenplays, explainer videos as well as whiteboard animations.

Features

• A number of pre-made templates are spread over five categories.
• Various built-in graphics, animated characters, and many more.
• Advanced animation controls as well as character customization.
• Choose from a collection of built-in audio, record audio, or upload audio files.
• Screen and webcam recording to generate tutorials and video presentations.
• Ability to import and edit Photoshop and PowerPoint files.
• Download in different formats or share directly to social media.

Pricing

• Free plan with 100MB of storage and access to all free content.
• Pro – $89/month or $228/year
• Pro+ – $197/month or $708/year
• Agency – $1188/year 
• Business plan pricing is available on request.

10. Vyond

Vyond Studio offers an online tool to make animations that are suitable for people of all skill levels. You can create professional animations including explainer videos, whiteboard videos, and other types of animated videos. 

If you are learning to write scripts you can use this software for writing scripts too. It is also a great tool for screenwriting. Vyond presents libraries containing several assets, including characters, actions, backgrounds, music tracks, and sound effects. 

Features

• Convenient drag-and-drop tool.
• A vibrant library with pre-built templates and assets.
• Import images and MP4s.
• A collection of entering and exit effects for static images.
• Automatic lip-syncing.
• Library of characters for full customization.
• Camera tool – pan zooms and camera angles.

Pricing

• Free trial – 14 days
• Personal – $299/year
• Business – $649/year
• Enterprise – $999/year

11. Visme

Visme is an infographic animation software that is cloud-based and helps in creating animated social media images, infographics, presentations, ads, banners, and several other visuals. 

It is one of the best animation software for beginners you can use to get access to a collection of pre-made templates, a collection of free stock photos and videos, customizable pre-animated characters, illustrations and gestures, and many more.

Features 

• Intuitive drag-and-drop editor.
• Animated templates in various categories.
• Customizable pre-animated assets.
• Animation timeline feature available to customize scenes and sync audio.
• More than 14 different types of animated charts, graphs, and maps.
• Advanced custom animation that you can apply to any object.
• Interactive links, call-to-action buttons as well as hover effects.

Pricing

• Free Version up to 5 projects
• Standard – $25/month or $15/year
• Business – $39/month or $25/year
• Enterprise plan pricing is available on request.

12. Pencil2D

A more conventional 2D animation software, Pencil2D lets users create hand-drawn, animated scenes. Pencil2D is an open-source platform, so various users can contribute to its abilities and features. 

As a result, it is one of the best free animation software options out there. With its minimal UI design, you can focus on the essential part that is animation. 

Features

• Operates on Windows, Mac OSX, Linux & Free BSD.
• Supports both raster and vector images.
• Includes several handy tools.
• Equipped with distortion and light effects.
• Import/export as a GIF option is available.

Pricing

• Free software

Conclusion

Whatever your experience level or goals may be, there are several animation software choices to choose from. These tools can bring your ideas to life—and you will also have fun along the way. 

Creating an animation video is a whole lot easier when you have the best software available to you. Each business is different, and every individual has their own requirements. 

It is important to establish the specific nature and objective of your work when selecting your software. You need to determine what you aim to achieve with your animation. 

Once you have a script and a storyline in mind, you can realize your vision in unique ways.