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20+ Best 3D Animation Software For Beginners And Professionals
List Of Best Free And Paid 3D Animation Software
The art of using motion to bring characters, vehicles, props, and many other things to life in TV shows, Movies, Games, or any kind of digital environment is 3D Animation. 3D Animation Software is the platform for the creation of three-dimensional moving images.
Animation is the art of bringing life to your static drawings, making your sketched character or vehicle move or perform any activity. Everybody might remember, back in our childhood, the cartoons, Anime shows we used to watch, the expressions, their movements, the way of talking and many more, all these are animations and they are made using animation software. With time and the advancement of technology, we cannot differentiate between a real character and the one that is 3D modeled or is 3D animated. Nowadays, 3D animation has emerged vastly in the movies, gaming, and VFX industry.
With the adaptation of 3D animations, many 3D animation software has boomed in the community, of which some are paid and some are free to use. Here, we will discuss some of the best 3D animation software, both paid and free, and highlight their pros and cons. And we will also share our thoughts on their aspects for beginners.
Top Free And Paid 3D animation Software
Types Of 3D Animation Software
So, if you’re a beginner, after reading this blog, you’ll be able to figure out which software to start with, and if you’re a professional you’ll be able to sort out which part of your work could be done using which software with more efficiency.
There are several types of animation software, some being specified to certain zones and some have all features for all-round performance and some are specialized to create 3D animations, 2D animations, stop-motion animation, some of them being free and some are fully paid.
Free 3D Animation Software
| Name | Blender |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | 3ds, dae, fbx, dxf, obj, x, lwo, svg, ply, stl, vrml, vrml97, x3d |
| Operating System | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Pricing | Free |
Blender is a free and open-source 3D platform for animation as well as modeling. This free 3D animation software is not only suitable for the needs of beginners but also fulfills almost all the demands required by the professionals to develop visual effects, animated movies, games, short films, and many more.
Blender is one of the best 3D animation software and has a huge fan-base among most of the film industry, VFX artists, game designers, and so on. Focusing on the professional POV, does not, at all lets it lose focus on the User Interface to be intuitive enough to attract students and beginners.
Here are some of the most important features of this free 3D animation software,
- Blender is considered an all-in-one 3d animation software because of its abilities like- 3D modeling, 3D modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, raster graphics editing, rigging, different kinds of simulation, video editing and rendering, and so much more.
- Blender being an open-source program, its python API provides advanced users to customize the program and to create specialized tools, which might feature in future updates of this free 3D animation software.
- It offers a huge arsenal of tools build for keyframe animation, motion-capture, creating an armature for any of your 3D characters, which basically determines the mobility of a 3D character, and many more
- The motion capturing ability of this free 3D animation software is capable enough to detect the markers painted in an actor’s face and capture its motion to create the required visual effect.
- It has a path tracer for realistic and accurate rendering and offers a real-time preview of the scene and tracked footage.
Pros: This free 3D animation software has a path-tracing engine so smooth and accurate that it offers the most out of any 3D scene. Its user interface is very smooth and well-managed that attracts the attention of beginners and students making it a very easy to learn 3D animation software for beginners.
Cons: The bad about Blender is its open-source platform which lets its interface change from time to time, so getting accustomed to its ever-changing UI is one of its biggest flaws.
| Name | Adobe After Effects |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | MPG, MPE, MPA, MPV, MOD, M2P, M2V, M2P, M2A, M2T, MP4, M4V |
| Operating System | Windows, macOS |
| Pricing | 7-Days Free Trial |
Coming from the family of Adobe, this 3D animation software lets you create almost everything including eye-catching title clips, star fire or rain, make the weather of your own choice, animate any logo, industry-level motion graphics, visual effects, and much more.
Here are some of its features,
- This online 3D animation software lets you eliminate mistakes and distractions like cutting boom mics, or cutting irrelevant things from any scene with content-aware fill and skip rotoscoping.
- Let’s create the weather of your own using its advanced tools. For example, it lets you add a stylish lens flare for bright sunshine
- With this free 3D animation software for pc, you do not need to throw any of your wasted and shaky clips rather edit it and make it more happening. With its ability to motion track, you can use the Warp stabilizer VFX to animate your scene and compensate for unrecognized and irrelevant movement.
Pros: Some of the advantages of using this online 3d animation software for pc is its rendering time being more than good according to the specs of your pc, and has a very fast animation quality, and is capable of reliable and fast renders.
Cons: Sometimes when it comes to a real-time preview of the scene (what you’ve created) even if you have better specs, you will face some lags, and this 3D animation software doesn’t feature a great noise editing tool or noise-canceling tool.
| Name | Mixamo |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | bhv, fbx, obj |
| Operating System | Browser |
| Pricing | Free |
Mixamo is one of the best free 3D animation software that makes the work of any 3D animator easy having the capability of auto-rigging and lets the users choose from a wide library of ready-to-use characters for any purpose.
Here are some of the unique features of this free 3D animation software for beginners,
- Mixamo is considered best by many beginners as this 3D animation software provides an extensive library of innumerable characters ready to use for any of your needs, be it animation movies or your games.
- Its ability to auto-rig any character uploaded by you just by specifying the joints such as elbows, knees, wrists, etc helping you not to go through the painful process of self-rigging by painting each bone.
- It allows you to export the required model or character, ready for use, anywhere and doesn’t make your project heavier.
Pros: One of its biggest pros is, its extensive library of ready-to-use characters which can be exported in almost all types of file format.
Cons: One of the biggest restrictions of this free 3D animation software is its limitation to humanoids.
| Name | Adobe Character Animator |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | mp4, wav, ai, psd |
| Operating System | Windows, macOS |
| Pricing | 7-Days Free Trial |
Another 3D animation software from the Adobe family tree, which lets you create 3D animation in real-time using your face through a webcam. Some of the features of this online 3D animation software are as follows,
- The real-time animation feature using your webcam is the most unique feature of this 3D animation software.
- This is one of the best 3D animation software for beginners because it has the easiest UI to work with and create animation with ease.
- It lets you navigate the timeline more efficiently and accurately.
Pros: The motion capture helps you to quickly animate your character.
Cons: One of the biggest flaws of this online 3D animation software is its dependence on the other software of the Adobe family.
| Name | Wings 3D |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | NDO, 3DS, LDO, LXO |
| Operating System | Windows, macOS |
| Pricing | Free |
Wings 3D is open-source and completely free to use in both personal and commercial projects. Despite possessing a context-sensitive interface, this free-to-use software interface is absurdly intuitive with very easy access to common commands and hotkeys.
Some of the best features of this 3D animation software include,
- It has tools specifically designed to support materials and lights.
- It is one of the very few software to have direct and dedicated tools for Auto-UV mapping.
Pros: It consists of a wide range of tools for perfecting every inch of your animation.
Cons: One of the main disadvantages of using Wings 3D is the limitation of its documentation.
| Name | K3-D |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | 3DS |
| Operating System | macOS, Windows |
| Pricing | Free |
K3-D is one of the best 3D animation software which features different types of plug-ins such as procedural engine plugin for its contents. It is one of the very few 3D animation software that supports polygonal modeling which in this case helps you with animation and consists of a visual pipeline architecture that is combined with flexible plugins that makes this 3D animation software powerful and pretty versatile to handle tool.
Some of its key features include,
- It consists of an intuitive interface to make 3D effects.
- It consists of basic tools for animation, patches, curves, NURVS, etc.
- It has a set of parametric workflow that helps you with the animation.
Pros:-The intuitive interface and the undo operations of this 3D animation software is so operative that it eases the workflow and makes it easy to use for beginners.
Cons:- One of its major drawbacks is that it doesn’t consist of any good starter guide to help understand the tools for beginners.
| Name | Unity 3D |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | 3DS |
| Operating System | macOS, Windows |
| Pricing | Free |
Unity 3D is one of the most versatile 3D animation software which has a fully-integrated game engine that is developed to give you the functionality to create games and their characters, scenery, and so on. It helps you to create and assemble assets into the scenery of the surroundings of the game, or clip.
Some of the important features of this free 3D animation software includes,
- It offers its platform to design 2D animation as well as 3D animation.
- The unity editor could be extended with numerous other tools and plug-ins matching your and your team’s necessity.
- The cloud platform of this 3D animation software for PC lets you collab with highly skilled professionals and helps you gain knowledge.
Pros: Unity is one of the best cross-platform software for
game development, and is vastly known for the flawless quality provided by the games made using Unity 3D.
Cons: The documentation of several files are outdated and in some cases is fully non-existent, putting its certification into question.
| Name | Daz 3D |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | obj, fbx, dae, daz |
| Operating System | Windows, macOS |
| Pricing | FREE |
This free 3D animation software, primarily designed to meet the needs of beginners and hobbyists because of its simple and easy to use user interface. It is one of the best 3D posing and animation software that lets you assign different poses to your model from the timeline, and this 3D animation software is so smart and capable to automatically generate movements in between them.
Here are some of the unique features of this free 3D animation software,
- The most important feature of this 3D animation software is that it has the ability to create 3D motion pictures, posing, and animation.
- The models which you create could be hand-painted with minute detailing and accuracy, by the wide range of toolset provided by Daz 3D
- It enables you to import your work into other 3D animation software such as Maya, Mudbox, 3DS Max.
Pros: Some of the major benefits of using this free 3D animation software are its capability to create realistic characters and to animate them, model, render, and lets you create 3D elements and being able to give life and motion to the characters created.
Cons: Some of the major setbacks of this free 3D animation software is its poor customer support and its poor trouble-shooting qualities.
| Name | SmartBody |
| Application | Motion Capture |
| File Format | af, bvh, dae, fbx, sk, xml |
| Operating System | Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS |
| Pricing | FREE |
SmartBody is one the major free 3D animation software which is especially based on the ability to create 3D animation for 3D characters and are provided with the toolset of comprehensive 3D animation, and has the capability of letting to take a real-time preview. Apart from this free 3D animation software comes with a 3D scanning tool which gives it the upper hand to create many complex 3D models required for generating them into 3D characters.
Some of its major features are as follows,
- Keyframe animation and motion-capture both are accepted as input sources.
- One of the major stand-out features of this free 3D animation software is its auto-rigging tool which allows you to rig 3D scans and lets you put them into your 3D animation automatically.
- The database it uses for body shaping gives the morphs a genuine and natural appearance.
- It has a wide arsenal of reshaping tools to let you shape your model skinnier, fatter, taller, shorter, and many more parameters to watch out for.
Pros: One of the best things about SmartBody is its 3D scanning ability, which indeed is followed by a real-time preview of the created character and the animation.
Cons: It requires a lot of skill to perfectly create a 3D character, beginners will not get fruitful results from this software, and is not one of the ideal 3D animation software to start with.
| Name | Clara.io |
| Application | Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | 3dm, 3ds, cd, dae, dgn, gf, gdf, gts, igs, kmz, lwo, rws, obj, off, ply, pm, sat, scn, skp, slc, sldprt, stp, stl, x3dv, xaml, vda, vrml, x_t, x, xgl, zpr |
| Operating System | Browser |
| Pricing | FREE |
Clara.io is one of the best online 3D animation software and comes for free. It consists of several basic modeling techniques such as extrusion, bevelling, slicing, cutting, looping, etc. it also has the capabilities of sub diving modeling. Its cloud-based 3D animation software provides the perfect tool to collab with teammates for better productivity.
Some of the major features of this online 3D animation software for PC are as follows,
- It features the basic keyframe animation and is considered by many professionals as one of the best and easiest 3D animation software to create an animated movie.
- As a browser-based application it exceeds its expectations on 3D animations and rendering, as such, it is used in pre-visualizing of major feature films.
- The coolest feature that exploits many beginners is its ability to embed the 3D models or 3d animations created by you into websites.
Pros: The collaborative mode, of this online 3D animation software, comes with a full-fledged User’s Right Management System, giving the users the required rights and giving them a safe and secure cloud platform.
Cons: Some of the drawbacks that this online 3D animation software has is a not so good design of the user interface and persists lack of responsiveness in some tools in some cases.
| Name | Houdini Apprentice |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | bgeo, clip, fbx, geo, hip |
| Operating System | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Pricing | Free (with limitations) |
Since being a node-based workflow it has all the capabilities to do, simple to complex types of works using procedural geometric parameters(nodes) for precision. This free 3D animation software definitely requires high skills to master the aspects of geometric parameters, so if you are a beginner, you might stumble a bit to create a precise animation for yourself.
Here are some of the important features of this free 3D animation software for PC,
- Houdini consists of an arsenal of tools that helps you to create complex models very precisely like environments and cityscapes using geometric parameters.
- Users can choose from a wide range of polygons and subdivision surface modeling tools for creating a crowd simulation.
- Another important feature of this online 3D animation software is its ability to generate fluids and particles to impact the realism of your animation.
- Both dual and quadrupled 3D characters can be set up for any sort of animation as it has the superpower to auto-rig and helps you by not letting you do it manually.
Pros: One of the best things about Houdini Apprentice is that it has a better and efficient way to create buildings, sculptures, and its ability to render clouds.
Cons: The new and improved version will require a lot more time to master and the ongoing shift from local variables to the attributes will definitely cause some major issues.
| Name | Make Human |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | dae, fbx, obj, STL |
| Operating System | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Pricing | FREE |
MakeHuman is a free character creation tool that came into existence as a plugin for Blender and now has hoped into the race of being one of the best free 3D animation software. It has a wide library of tools that lets you create realistic 3D models of humanoid characters using controllable general properties like age, gender, and weight, known as sliders. The developers of this free 3D animation software had to make years and years of research in body topology that resulted in them creating the base mesh so accurately.
Here are some of the major features of this free 3D animation software for PC,
- This free 3D animation software lets you chose from a library of characters and enables you to create your own 3D characters from a base mesh.
- Apart from this free 3D animation software for pc comes with some of the best rigging tools for you to have a smooth and enhanced work experience.
- One of the basic but major features of this 3D animation software for PC is its ability to animate and render the 3D character directly within the program by using a series of pre-recorded motion capture files. These files can be found on the shelves or could be imported externally by users.
Pros: The best part of this free 3D animation software for pc is the ability to stitch together separate motion capture files into a single movement.
Cons: The robots installed at the workplace do require manual labor, as they are not smart enough to think or improvise apart from doing what they are programmed for.
Muvizu being one of the free 3D animation software for pc possesses a special ability of drag and drop which makes it very easy to work with. The toolset that comes with this free 3D animation software enhances your workflow and enables you to create a 3D animation and describe using animated effects.
Some of the major features of this free 3D animation software for pc are as follows,
- It has one of the widest range of Characters to customize from.
- The synchronizing lipsing to any of your hand-made characters.
- This free 3D animation software for pc provides the facility of special effects and offers a wide range of tools for virtual lighting if required.
- This free 3D animation software for pc lets you color any character with textures present in the presets, and can also be created using the color palettes.
Pros: One of the best advantages of using this free 3D animation software for pc is its ability to create high-quality images efficiently and effortlessly.
Cons: One of the major concerns about this software is that it does not contain any sorts of drawing tools.
Paid 3D Animation Software For Pc
| Name | Maya |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | ai, aiff, dae, dxf, dwg, eps, fbx, maya, mel, obj, stl |
| Operating System | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Pricing | $1700 per year |
Maya is one of the most favorite 3D animation software that is used by many professional animators. it was used to make several commercial movies and TV series such as Transformers, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and many more. This is most popular for its customizable user interface and being a node-based program it has the ability to do complex animation in a blink of an eye with specialized shortcut keys.
Some of its important features are discussed below,
- It is one of the best 3D animation software that comes with an intuitive CG compositing program that lets users combine 3D rendered elements with motion data as recorded on set by tracking the camera’s movement.
- It also consists of a large variety of tools for complex modifications of objects like fur, hair, clothing, fluids, particles, etc.
- This online 3D animation software comes with an enhanced auto-rig tool which is pretty easy to use and lets you ease the effort of manually rigging your character
Pros: The simple and pretty intuitive designed user interface makes it an easy 3D animation software for beginners, and its customizable nature lets the professionals make the most out of the software.
Cons: The node-editor tool of this 3D animation software is quite difficult to master and has a very steep curve making this tool too hard to use perfectly.
| Name | iClone |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | 3ds, bvh, fbx, obj, vns, skp |
| Operating System | Windows |
| Pricing | $149 per Year |
iClone is preferred by the majority of professionals for its real-time preview of animated scenes. This tool helps developers to make animation for feature films, games, education, content development, etc. This 3D animation software for PC enhances your productivity by enabling you to use its tools to create hassle-free realistic and stylized animations for your needs.
Following are the major features of this online 3D animation software,
- Its user interface is so intuitive and simplified that it lets you control the texture by assigning and managing materials.
- It has a dedicated tool to give animation to the face and body of your character instantly
- This online 3D animation software has the capability to provide ready-to-animate motions, characters, and accessories.
Pros: Some of the major advantages of using this online 3D animation software are it has the tools to convert a normal 3D scene into a photo-realistic world and the most amazing feature is that you can extend the reaches of iClone by using Python API for your needs.
Cons:
| Name | Poser Pro |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | bvh, cr2, obj, pz2 |
| Operating System | Windows, macOS |
| Pricing | $249.95 |
Poser Pro is a good 3D animation software created by Bondware. This online 3D animation software enables you with all the tools it has in its inventory to perfectly assemble a 3D character and lets you the facility to auto-rig them and apply texture, clothing, hairing, lighting to quick-start any project.
Some of its best features are discussed below.
- The toolset comprises all the unique tools for you to create animation and art with 3D characters.
- It is one of the very few online 3D animation software that helps you to create a human for illustration, art, animation, comic books, and many more.
- It has access to numerous third-party digital content which would definitely benefit the needs and ideas of a 3D animator.
Pros: If you are a beginner this is the best software to start with, as it has all the basic tools and utilities for letting you learn from scratch.
Cons: Compared to other online 3D animation software it lacks a lot in forms of toolset, features, and export options, so it is not much favored by professionals.
| Name | MotionBuilder |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | asf, amc, bvh, c3d, fbx, htr, tr3 |
| Operating System | Windows |
| Pricing | $1950 Per Year |
This 3D animation software is one of the best software designers by Autodesk. which lets its users enjoy their intuitive and easy-to-customize user interface. This software is favored by most users because of the utility for motion capture, virtual cinematography, and traditional keyframe animation, it provides to all the users which lets your spending fruitful and lets you create heaven on your screen.
Some of the unique features of this online 3D animation software are as follows,
- This 3D animation software provides you with tools that help you to capture, edit, and playback your character animation.
- It comes with an arsenal of tools that won’t let you down if you insist on manipulating any motion capture data.
- This online 3D animation software enables you to connect and share data between other animation software such as Maya, 3DS Max, etc.
Pros: This online 3D animation software consists of one of the best tools to assist you with the creation of realistic character movement.
Cons: The major drawbacks of this online 3D animation software, is its very poor saving speed and slow loading time which is accompanied with occasional crashes.
| Name | Cinema 4D |
| Application | Motion Capture, Keyframe Animation |
| File Format | 3ds, dae, dem, dxf, dwg, x, fbx, iges, lwf, rib, skp, stl, wrl, obj |
| Operating System | Windows, macOS |
| Pricing | $719 Per Year |
Cinema 4D is one of the most famous 3D animation software that is powered by OpenGL, a real-time viewport. The user interface of Cinema 4D is very intuitive to pick up by beginners making it a preferable 3D animation software for beginners. Cinema 4D makes the relation between the creator and the client by letting you export preview renders so you can submit them to clients for their approval. The Bodypaint tool is now also supported by the real-time viewport, meaning that you get to see the real-time footage of the changes to the textures as you make them.
The major features of this online 3D animation software are discussed below,
- It has all the tools required to make and animate your character from character building to visual effects.
- Its rigging tools are very simple enough to create muscle movements with dedicated kinematics.
- With its latest update, it has improved the weight painting workflow.
Pros: With Cinema 4D it is easier to integrate live footage seamlessly with 3D animated objects.
Cons: One of its biggest flaws is it is paid and is pretty expensive to buy.
Best Stop Motion Animation Software
| Name | Boats Animator |
| Application | Stop Motion |
| File Format | avi, mov, mpg |
| Operating System | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Pricing | FREE |
Boats Animator is one of the very few free and open source stop motion animation software. The user interface of this software is pretty intuitive enough to attract beginners but is too comprehensive to appeal to experienced animators. This helps you create smooth animations as you can accurately move your model in position for the next frame.
Here are the most important features of this software,
- It consists of one of the quickest workflows.
- Consists of a real-time viewer.
- This 3D animation software has the onion skinning feature.
Pros: The major benefit of this software are that it is free to use, so the toolset is pretty decent enough for being free.
Cons: It lacks quality and takes a lot of time to produce a good 3D scene.
| Name | DragonFrame |
| Application | Stop Motion |
| File Format | avi, mov, mpg |
| Operating System | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Pricing | $95 To $295 |
Dragon Frame is an industry-based professional stop motion software used to create loads of new animated movies. It consists of an antique range of tools that allows your ideas to come to reality. It consists of the tools that enable you the support for recording and adjusting stereoscopic 3D movies.
Some of the features of this 3D animation software are as follows,
- This animation software supports several hosts of cameras such as Canon, Nikon, Sony, and many more.
- It gives you full control over the environment by controlling the lights on up to 512 channels approximately.
- It consists of specified tools for you to move your characters and props in the increments.
Pros: One of the best features of any stop-motion animation software is to provide onion skin function which helps you to overlay a transparent version of your previous shot over the shot you are framing up next.
Cons: If you use a lot of data, the program tends to slow down the processing speed.
Premiere Pro is software that comes from the Adobe family and is one of the best software that is solely specified to stop motion animation. It is considered as a great choice for people who have basic knowledge of film creation and want to create video content at a professional level.
Some of the features of this online 3d animation software are discussed below,
- This 3D animation software has professional non-linear video editing programs which in turn increases productivity and enables you to create eye-catching scenery.
- One of the special features of this online 3D animation software is its high-quality video and audio editing.
- Adobe Premiere Pro allows you to have access to tools that help you do more than just video editing and lets you turn unprocessed shots into full-fledged cinematographic products.
Pros: One of the major advantages of using Abode Premiere Pro is its video content editing in real-time.
Cons: One of the major drawbacks of this 3d animation software is its quite resource-intensive system requirements. It requires a highly enhanced PC setup.
Stop Motion Pro is one of the top stop-motion software used in the world for making animated films of all types. It consists of a great and easy-to-use user interface that attracts mostly beginners and professionals who love the integrated setup of tools and their varieties. There are certain features that make it one of the toughest competitors in the stop-motion animation software scenario.
Here are the major highlights of this online 3D animation software,
- It is one of the easiest software to connect with your webcam or digital camera.
- It has one of the best web-readers for the lips syncing capability.
- And it also consists of a multi-tracker editor for adding music and voices.
Pros: It has an easy-to-use tool that helps beginners to cope up, making it one of the best online 3D animation software for beginners.
Cons: The cloud community, is a bit disconnected. There are connection gaps in the cloud platform of this 3D animation software.
2D Animation Software
Reallusion Cartoon animator, formerly known as CrazyTalk Animator is designed in such a way that it attracts starters as well as professionals. The user interface is so smoothly designed that it does not concern the beginners to start from scratch, and also allows the professionals to use all the advanced tools to create and develop 2D animation for movies or games.
Here are a few of its major features to look out for,
- It allows you to control characters with your expressions, using your webcam or any digital camera.
- It is one of the few software which allows you to generate lip-sync animation from audio.
- It lets you produce 2D visual effects and lets you to access content resources.
Pros: This 2D animation software can accomplish 3D parallax scenes.
Cons: One of the biggest drawbacks is that it’s animation requires a lot of effort and time to create.
| Name | Pencil2D |
| Application | 2D Animation |
| File Format | gif, png, pcl, pclx, xml, avi, mov, mpg, mp4 |
| Operating System | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Pricing | Free |
Pencil2D is a free and open-source 2D animation software used for making traditional hand-drawn animation. There are two basic formats to choose from- Bitmap and Vector graphics. This software lets you draw each and every frame of your sketch. So, imagine you are just drawing in digitally with the help of a digital pen and a digital pad. After you complete your sketch then comes the animation part.
Here are some of the special features that make this animation software, one of the best, are as follows,
- Pencil 2d has a workflow consisting of onion skinning, meaning that you could see two layers at a time as an overlay.
- It consists of tools that let you create 2D animation movies or GIFs.
Pros: One of the biggest advantages of using this 2D animation software is it allows you to create looped 2D animations for 2D video games.
Cons: One of the main disadvantages of using Pencil 2D is that it does not support tweening, meaning you have to complete your sketch manually.
Conclusion
In this advancing world of technology, 3D animation is growing vastly and to cope up with the demands of animated films, VFX, loads of new games, the platform of 3D animation software is in huge demand. Some of the 3D animation software is advancing in all the fields of animation while some are restricting to certain fields of animation but improving way faster than others. Above is the list of 3D animation software for you to choose from, some are paid while some are free to use.
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