Best Animation Software for Beginners

 Maya

Maya is one among the leading 3D animation, simulation, modeling and rendering software application empowered with exceptional toolset. You can use it to make animation, motion graphics, environments, character creation, as well as virtual reality to name a few.

Key Features:

•  Arnold RenderView integrated with Maya enables you to experience real-time changes in scenes that include lighting, camera, or materials.
•  The Motion Graphics toolset uses instanced objects and instantly creates complex procedural effects and animations.
•  Using the MASH toolset you can add new nodes consisting of signal, curve, world, placer, etc. along with existing node updates.

Support: Win, Mac, Linux.

2. Photoshop

Because of its influential drawing efficiencies Photoshop has been considered as a mighty tool for creating animations. It renders Disney-style animation due to its frame by frame animation techniques. You can utilize the onion skinning process for incredible animation experience using the ‘Timeline’ feature (with frame by frame approach).

Key Features:

•  It supports a varied range of QuickTime video formats, image sequence formats, and color mode and bit depth for animation.
•  With the help of the Timeline panel, you can make animation frames, where the configuration of layers is represented by a single frame.
•  In Photoshop the opacity, styles, position represents the layer properties and a gradual change in them gives you the feeling of transformation or movement in animations.  It results in automatic modification and addition of multiple frames in a series among two existing frames.

Support: Win, Mac.

3. Adobe Animate

Adobe Animate is a brilliant tool to make animations with interactive vectors that you can use in games, web as well as on apps and make banners and cartoons movable. Infographics and tutorials become lively with this tool and you can share them on numerous platforms as well using mobile, computer or TV.

Key Features:

•  Use the tilt and pressure sensitive vector brushes to draw and sketch characters and with frame by frame animation make them talk, walk and blink.
•  Design and develop interfaces, start screens, game environment and player sprites to get the best interactive web-based content.
•  You can export your work to WebGL, HTML5 Canvas, Flash/Adobe AIRetc.

Support: Win, Mac.

4. Moho

Moho is a complete animation tool dedicated to digital artists and professionals which was used to make movies like Song of the Sea and The Breadwinner (both were nominated for OSCAR).

Key Features:

•  Having smart warp, this tool enables you to shape, bend, animate, and twist assets including vectors and images and is compatible with Smart Bones.
•  Using the realistic motion blur feature you can manage the number of frames and how they blend to moving objects or characters for creating amazing results.
•  The vector Bezier handles allow you to have more control on designing and make exceptional line bends having minimal points and perfectly optimized to sync with animation.

Support: Win, Mac.