How about making an animated movie with your voice and some cool customized characters? Animation has grown to the next level, so much so that it has now become the “tech art”.
You can use these animations for short films, adding special effects and such other media contents. You can create professional-grade arts, games, films and all of that from your home’s computer.
Thanks to the increased availability of software that offers you to create class-leading animations.
In this post, we’ve handpicked some of the best free animation software in 2D and 3D for your Windows 10/8/7 PC.
2D ANIMATION SOFTWARE
1. Pencil2D
This software is designed for all the beginners. Let’s check out some of its features below-
- Offers a primary and user-friendly interface to create 2D animations
- You can use this software in all the operating systems including Linux, Mac, OS, and Windows
- It is a pencil app made by Pascal Naidon that use vector/bitmap drawing interface
- Pencil 2D uses Vector and Bitmap graphics to represent the images in computer graphics
Although Pencil 2D isn’t really a feature-rich software but it is the best tool to develop 2D drawings in the best way.
2. Plastic Animation Paper
Plastic Animation is a free 2D animation tool and an excellent option for beginners again. Some of the main features of Plastic animation Paper are-
- It offers instructive tutorials for its features
- Has basic drawing features
- You can zoom and rotate a sheet in this software. ‘
- Layering
- You can arrange your workflow with setup and marketing menus
The Plastic Animation Paper software is the original version of Animation Paper.
Download Plastic Animation Paper here
3. Adobe Animate
Adobe Animate is one of our favorite picks in the 2D animation software. Here’s why-
- It is an excellent tool to develop vector graphics and animation
- Animate helps you to create your own designs for online videos, websites, internet apps, games and TV programs
- It also offers support for audio and video embedding
This tool is effective for both beginners and professionals as it an excellent multimedia authoring program.
4. PowToon
PowToon is a free animation software that is mainly designed for creating short films. Here you can upload your own designs or choose from the PowToons library. Check out some of the main features of PowToon below-
- Offers a decent video resolution
- You can create your videos up to three minutes long
- You choose the aspect of ratios and sizes
- You can export your videos to YouTube, Vimeo or Facebook
PowToon also has a paid version. However, the free version offers some excellent features to create a standard 2D animation file.
5. Stykz
Stykz is another excellent tool for creating 2d animations. This freeware tool offers the following features-
- Offers a primary, yet powerful user interface to generate the best animation from your home desktop
- You can use this software for free in Windows, Linux and Mac OSX
- It is a frame-based program where you can customize on these frames. It also allows you to alter the previous frames with the help of Onionskins
- The best feature of this software is that you can save animations in the .stl format as it is compatible with other animations tools as well
Stykz offers a friendly interface where you can create your unique animations easily.
6. OpenToonz
OpenToonz is free animation software available for all the operating systems. Creators can customize this free software according to meet their preferences.
Thanks to its open-source nature. Go through some of the primary services of OpenToonz below-
- You can create wavy distortion
- Ability to change the picture styles
- Produce affected incident light
- Here you scan four different images within this product- black and white, with or without binarization or colored
You should try OpenToonz if you are looking for creating 2D animation software with some unique tools.
3D ANIMATION TOOLS
7. Blender
Blender surely has to be on the top list of best 3d animation software as it is a super feature-rich software with some excellent tools. Let’s check them out-
- Offers non-linear video and audio editing
- It allows you to create complex animations as Blender supports many tasks and methods
- It is beneficial for both learners and experienced animators which offers a real-time 3D gaming, Edge rendering, 3D wrapping, and collision simulation
You can make changes or add new features to Blender as it an open source tool.
8.Aura 3D Animation Maker
The Aura 3D Animation Maker tool is designed for everyone. It can be a professional filmmaker or a basic animation beginner. It has some high-end features, let’s check them out-
- This software is loaded with some great effects and edits that can help you either to make a simple animated presentation or complex animated creations
- One of the best parts of Aura is that you can add you your logo and watermarks without having to pay a penny
- You can use this tool to create 3D titles and texts as well
- Some of the special effects include- flames, fireworks, movements like twist and bounce and many more
Aura supports many file formats even the GIF. You can create some cool 3D animations using the Aura Animation Maker software.
Download Aura 3D Animation Maker here
9. Anim8or
Anima8or is a lightweight free portable 3D animation application. It has a straightforward user interface making it an excellent tool for the beginners. Some of the best features of anim8or are-
- The user interface is divided into four sections- object editor, sequence editor, scene editor, and figure editor
- 3D object browser feature allows the user to see 3D files in a particular directory
- True type font supports 2D and 3D text
- You can print file directly from the program
Anim8or is entirely open source software allowing you to add extra features to create animations.
10. Autodesk 3ds Max
Autodesk is available for Windows 7 and later versions only. It is more of a professional 3D computer graphics program for making 3D animations, games, images, and models. Let’s go through some main features of Autodesk below-
- It is mainly designed for video game developers, commercial TV, and architectural visualization studios
- Used for movie effects and pre-visualization
- Has some advanced modeling and animation tools such as- dynamic simulation, radiosity, global illumination, new icons, self-scripting language
This one is for all the talented animators out there, and the best part is that you can customize the user interface to meet your needs.
Download Autodesk 3ds Max here
11. Daz Studio
Daz studio has all the features and functionalities you’re expecting from 3D animation software. Daz Studio is perfect for both beginners and professionals as it has a user-friendly yet robust interface. The best features of Daz Studio are-
- Has a vast library of pre-developed components which helps you to create a better animation
- Has some unique and premium features like the NVIDIA Iray, a photoreal render tool to create HDR photo maps
- Some other excellent features include- NVIDIA Iray Uber Shader, NVIDIA Material Definition Language, Draw Settings Pane and many more
It is an ideal choice if you’re looking for a perfect tool to create your professional projects for free.
12. K-3D
K-D3 is a 3D modeling animation software. It’s a powerful tool for professional as it has plugins with visualization pipeline architecture. K-3D offers the following features-
- Properties that can be adjusted
- An advanced feature of undo/redo
- Node-based visualization pipeline
K-3D is feature-rich software which offers high speed and stability.
That’s all! There are thousands of 2D and 3D animation software available in the market. However, these are the best as they don’t offer a trial period and ask you for paid subscriptions further. All the software and link mentioned above are legal and free to use.
Do you have any other 2D or 3D animation software in your mind? Add your suggestions in the comments section below.
See Also:
- 12+ Best Free Video Editing Software Tools (Fresh List November 2018)
- 10 Best Photo Viewer Apps for Windows 10
- 12+ Best Windows 10 Themes/Skin (and How to Install Them)