What if I told you that you could produce beautiful, intricate animations without paying a dime? This can be done using free animation software for beginners Mac. The only thing that you need to do is learn how to use them. Below are six free animation software that you can use. You might even find yourself capable of creating your own animations in no time. Just make sure not to compete with any Pixar films!
If you are a beginner and in search of free animation software for Mac, this article will guide you and help in getting the right software. Since most of us use only the functional features only, we tend to overlook some really good features available in our tools.
Terragen
- SoftwareTerragen
- ApplicationKeyframe Animation
- OSWindows, macOS, Linux
- Price$349/year
- Formatschan, clip, exr, fbx, geo, lwo, mov, obj, ter
Terragen is a program developed for one thing only, designing and rendering photorealistic landscapes. Using a powerful procedural nodes system, the user has full control of his creation. The terrain is generated using a powerful shader system that enables sophisticated texturing and surface manipulation. Comprehensive controls of volumetric clouds, fog, sky, the sun, and stars, make your landscape come to life. In addition, this 3D animation software allows you to populate the scene with a wide array of preset trees, rocks, and other props to enhance the overall realism.
Terragen is not only a powerful 3D modeling software, but it can also be used to animate and render complex scenes directly. Apart from basic features like motion blur and camera motion, almost any parameter can be animated. Parameters for everything from the sun, planets, clouds, and other atmospheric phenomena can be set in keyframes. In addition, the terrain displacement can be modified along the timeline, allowing for spectacular time-lapse effects that show mountains growing and eroding, rivers forming and drying, etc. Fly-throughs can be previewed in real-time.
The camera system in this 3D animation software is physical camera attributes, like aperture and focal length, creating realistic effects in all your renders. Also, the many alternate camera modes make possible use in VR environments and stereo 3D movies. If you prefer another software to render, Terragen lets you export in various common formats.
The latest version – Terragen 4.5 – brings a whole host of updates, with upgrades applied to shaders, rendering, and atmospheres and lighting headlining the changes. Terragen 4 itself is actually available as a free download, though a number of pricing options exist for this product and what you end up paying can vary.
Website: planetside.co.uk
Dragonframe
- SoftwareDragonframe
- ApplicationStop Motion
- OSWindows, macOS, Linux
- Price$295
- Formatsavi, mov, mpg
Dragonframe is an industrial-grade stop motion animation software. If you have seen the stop-motion movie Coraline, then you have witnessed a product of Dragonframe’s power.
Dragonframe works by planning your animation with drawing tools that outline motion paths. You keep track of your progress using the X-sheet in the side panel, viewing reminders, notes, and adjusting timing and reference videos to the screen and use them as a guide in your animation by either adjusting the opacity, using chromakey or selecting elements of interest.
What’s more, this 3D animation software puts you in charge of the camera by comprehensive settings such as shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, as well as support for motion-controlled camera movements. You also get full control over the environment by controlling the lights on up to 512 channels, allowing you to focus on the hands-on animation. A vital feature of this 3D animation software is onion skinning; the frame recorded last is shining through the live feed displayed on the monitor. This allows you to move your characters and props in the increments.
The viewport can be overlayed with various grids to aid you in compositing balanced shots. This animation software supports a host of cameras from known manufacturers like Canon, Nikon, Sony, and more. For production purposes, the animation software features multi-audio track editing. To help with the challenges of animating facial movement, you can import face sets as multi-layered Photoshop files as reference material into Dragonframe. Another tell-tale sign of a professional tool is the support for recording and adjusting stereoscopic 3D movies. For those who want to use Dragonframe regularly, the publisher offers its wireless control device that will clear your stage from cluttered cables.
Website: dragonframe.com
Synfig.
Also known as Synfig Studio, Synfig is one of the newest animation tools on the market. It is a free animation software for 2D animation and character animation. Moreover, it specializes in vector graphics solutions.
Best for:
Synfig is beneficial for creating cartoons for television, publicity campaigns, or a marketing initiative. You can use it for educational purposes as well.
Key Features:
- Supported on Mac, Windows, and Linux
- Provides two versions with different attributes for a different set of people (stable version and development version)
- Provides vector tweening and thus eliminates the need for manual tweening
- Offers a plethora of layers and filters to choose from (over 50 layers to create artwork and animation)
- Stores its own files in XML file format
- Supports animated graphic formats like GIF and MNG
- Provides advanced controls (link parameters of various layers either directly or mathematically)
- Incorporates HDRI (High Dynamic Range Imaging)
Pros:
- Free and open-source
- Free video training for an in-depth understanding of the software in four languages, including English, French, and Dutch
- Animation features include a bone system for cut-out animation using bitmap images or control vector artwork and a Skeleton Distortion Layer for bitmap artwork
Cons:
- Difficult to grasp at first
- Takes a lot of time to wrap your head around its functionings
- The user-interface is not very intuitive
- There have been complaints regarding the bugs in the software in the past
Pricing:
Synfig Studio is open-source, free, and open to use by anyone. It mainly relies on donations from patrons to provide quality solutions.
Toon Boom Harmony
Use on: Windows, Mac OS, Linux
Best for: Everyone, beginner to pro
Toon Boom Harmony is an industry-leading 2D animation software. You can use it for frame-by-frame animation or rig animation. In fact, if you’re used to hand-drawing your animations, this software offers unique and robust tools for scanning and cleaning up your drawings.
While this software is appropriate for beginners, it’s not limited to those just starting out. Major studios have used Toon Boom Harmony to create shows such as “Rick and Morty,” “Family Guy,” and “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
Animators can choose between three different levels of the software, which each offer different features and price points. The most basic package starts at $25 per month.
Conclusion
Why don’t you start with free animation software? You can do much better than purchasing expensive commercial programs. Blender is for completely open source 3D creation which means it’s mainly in the hands of its users. The users have created a lot of useful tools that are available via plugins.