This site provides free animation software, which can be used to learn the beginning of 3d animation and make your dream works true!. We collect all available software you can download for nothing, including 3dmax, Maya, Blender, C4D, Nuke and more. Now, let’s get started!
To learn animation, you need a combination of creativity, technical skills, and imagination. If you want to master all these three things and build unique and great animations using computer programs and software, here are the steps that you need to consider:
OpenToonz: Best free 2D animation program for anime
Platforms: Windows and Mac
For any animators, beginners or veterans alike, OpenToonz is the perfect 2D software for anyone looking to improve on their skills. A fun fact about OpenToonz is that it has a high level of customization and is often used by Studio Ghibli, the Japanese anime film studio responsible for movies like My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away and Kiki’s Delivery Service.
Not too many other free 2D animation software can claim this level of street cred!
This free animation software has a wide range of keyboarding shortcuts to use for easy access in rendering and animating your projects and has an impressive variety of animation effects including lighting effects and picture styles. Some of the features include onion-skinning and frame-by-frame animation, so you don’t have to redraw your work at every frame.
OpenToonz is free to download for both Windows and Mac. Because OpenToonz is rich in features, it is highly recommended to have a large amount of RAM size on your computer before installing this free animation program.
Pros: Feature-rich, professional software
Cons: Steep learning curve; crashes
What users are saying:
“Opentoonz is another one I’ve used, and it’s pretty tricky to get use to, but it’s got a lot of good features” – @Jarhingeart, Twitter
“Video animated completely using Opentoonz. Its crashed a few times but I love it so far. have a look” – u/DoubLife89, Reddit
Toontastic 3D: Best free 3D animation app for mobile
Platforms: Android
Toontastic 3D is a free animation app developed by Google. It is free to download and allows anyone from beginner to advanced artists create their projects and render them into brilliant 3D cartoons to share with friends and family.
Some of the features of this free animation software include the inclusion of photographic images into 3D models, adding storyboards and customizing music into your projects.
The user-friendly app is great for introducing children to the basics of animation AND storytelling.
Pros: Great for storytelling; kid-friendly
Cons: Limited number of characters you can create; sound issues
What users are saying:
“Toontastic delivers a level of quality rarely seen in free digital animation apps – perfect for engaging learners in the creative writing process.” – @NFLaFave, Twitter
“I’d definitely include Toontastic – brilliant free app for kids to create their own short animated films #homeschooling” – @darynsimon, Twitter
“The app is good but it includes limited scenes and characters.” – Haji fangari, Google Play Store review
Unity
Unity is a fully integrated development game engine that gives functionality to create games and other interactive 3D content. It helps you to assemble art and assets into scenes and environments.
Features:
- You can use it for Windows, Linux, as well as Mac.
- This tool can be used for 2D as well as 3D development.
- It helps you to create user interfaces intuitively and fast.
- You can extend the unity editor with numerous other tools to match your team workflow.
- It enables you to collaborate with others.
Link: https://unity3d.com/unity
Mixamo
Mixamo is a tool that allows developers and artists to customize and create 3D character animations. It has a collection of high-quality 3D ready to use characters.
Features:
- It can automatically set custom characters according to a full human skeleton.
- You can transfer readymade characters into your own characters.
- It allows you to download animations in multiple formats.
Link: https://www.mixamo.com/
Blender
Blender is a 3D computer graphics software application for developing visual effects, animated movies, games, and more. This free 3D animation software allows you to import or export videos in MPEG, QuickTime, and AVI file formats.
Features:
- This tool provides a Python API for scripting and customization.
- You can customize shortcuts.
- It has a path tracer for realistic rendering.
- You can create, transform, sculpt, and edit your models.
- This 3D rendering software offers a real time preview of the 3D scene and tracked footage.
- It helps you to turn still characters into impressive animations.
Link: https://www.blender.org/features/animation/#animation-toolset
Adobe Animate.
Adobe Animate is a vector and 2d animation software that’s designed for web and mobile app development.
You can animate vector graphics, create interactive content, add effects, and more. This software also has built-in templates that you can customize to your liking.
Best for:
Adobe Animate is designed for people who want to either animate vector graphics, create interactive content, add effects, and more. This software also has built-in templates that can be customized to your liking. Adobe Animate is best for people who want to create animations or interactive web pages.
Advanced Features:
- Use Adobe Animate to animate vector graphics.
- Create interactive content with Adobe Animate’s features.
- Create content with simple drag-and-drop actions.
- Add effects to your animations with Adobe Animate’s built-in templates, such as the color and tone effects, the temporal effect for video, and more.
Pros:
- Extensive support for animation of vector graphics
- Built-in templates for simple customizations and interactive content
- Color and tone effects, temporal effect on video, and more.
Pricing:
Here is a simple breakdown of Adobe Animate’s pricing:
Adobe Animate costs $20.99 per month for the personal version.
If you want to get access to all of Adobe’s products you can pay $79.99 per month and get access to all of their tools.
Either way Adobe Animate offers a free trial that you can try 100% risk-free.
Conclusion
Free Animator for Mac is a free, powerful 2D animation software that allows you to create characters, place them in scenes and then “animate” them just like in feature-length, traditional animated films. You can use it to make cartoons, ads or video clips, then post anything to YouTube on your own channel.