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16 Best Animation Software for 2024 (Free and Paid)

Here's our compiled a list of the best paid and free animation software out there to help you make the right decision for your animation needs!

Computer animation has come a long way since inception in the year 1960. The fundamentals of animation software or animation tool can be traced back to the time when William Fetter, a computer graphics designer made a diagram of a human body inside an airplane cockpit. Although the intention was to maximize the efficiency of Boeing’s cockpits, it paved the way towards more sophisticated process flows and thus, towards animation generated by computers. The credit for the first animation software, however, goes to Ivan Sutherland, an MIT graduate. His program Sketchpad (developed in 1963) drew lines that looked like recognizable figures. Little did he know that his idea would become a multibillion-dollar industry in the years to come.

Slowly and steadily, more progress was made in the field. The movie Tron which was released in the year 1982, was one of the first movies to use computer-generated graphics. Movies like the Terminator, Jurassic Park, Toy Story, the Matrix, and Avatar further refined the process, adding more details and sophistication to computer animation. The animation software industry grew to great heights within this period. 

Fast forward to 2024, we have a plethora of examples to celebrate the genius of CGI or computer-generated imagery. There are a variety of animation software available in the market, widely used by professionals at animation studios. Depending on the medium you choose —hand-drawn or 2D, 3D, or stop-motion and the price range, there are plenty of options to get started. A well-built animation software provides intuitive controls and flexibility that can be easily understood by a beginner but also has vastly superior tools for an experienced user. 

Browse through this list of quality animation software, and select the one that best suits your requirement. We hope it will help you hone your foundation skills, practice animation styles, and help you get professional results.

How we reviewed the list of best animation softwares

In our selection of the best animation software, we emphasize tools that balance ease of use with powerful capabilities, perfect for aspiring animators and seasoned professionals alike. These programs offer intuitive interfaces, extensive animation features, and flexibility across various styles, from traditional frame-by-frame animation to cutting-edge 3D modeling. Our list is continually updated to ensure you're equipped with the latest advancements in animation technology, enabling you to bring your creative visions to life with efficiency and flair.

Here is a list of the best 16 Animation Softwares

Top paid animation softwares.

• Adobe Character Animator
• Toon Boom Harmony
• DigiCel Flipbook
• Cartoon Animator 5
• Stop Motion Studio

Top Open Source & Free Animation Softwares

• Synfig Studio

What are the Best Animation Softwares of 2024?

1.  adobe character animator.

This animation software comes from one of the biggest development companies in the world and serves up to the hyped expectations. One of the recent additions to the Adobe family, this simple animation software uses facial recognition, gesture recognition , etc. to animate cartoon characters. The Character Animator is a real-time animator that uses your facial expressions, hand movements, full-body motion capture, and various other inputs to animate characters. It is extremely smooth and fast and you can live stream your development process to share work with team members or your audience. Just plug in your microphone, web camera and start animating! You can also create a character from your artworks in a few mouse clicks using the built-in Adobe Sensei . 

System Requirements:

To run Adobe Character Animator, you'll need Windows 10 or macOS 11.0 or later, at least 8GB RAM, and a GPU with 2GB VRAM.

Adobe Character Animator is one of the best animation software and is used by many Hollywood film houses. The software offers a huge variety of options for animating. You can also use the built-in puppets to begin animating as soon as you open the software. Animation options include breathing, walking, blinking, behaviors, etc. It is a great animation software for beginners as well as experienced professionals.

The free trial lasts for 7 days after which you can buy the paid versions of this simple software for animation. You can buy all the Adobe applications (creative cloud) for around 54.99 USD per month, billed annually. Adobe has created different packages for individuals, businesses, schools, and professionals. You can check this link out for more information on pricing.

2.  Toon Boom Harmony

Toon Boom by Harmony is a cartoon animation software for beginners as well as for professionals. The software allows the user the flexibility, fluidity, and the smoothness of traditional animation. The learning curve is moderate since the software is meant for newbies as well as for professionals. The software has been used by leading animation studios for more than 25 years.

 GitHub illustrator and animator, Tony Jaramillo writes in his testimonial, “Harmony makes it possible to level up our animation productivity without sacrificing quality...we're big fans”.

Some of the most famous users of Toon Boom are Universal Studios, Fox Studios, Cartoon Network, Ubisoft, and Lucas Film.  

To run Toon Boom Harmony, you'll need Windows 10 or macOS 10.13 or later, 8GB RAM, and a modern OpenGL graphics card.

New features that came with the latest update include a stabilizer for lines, stylus pressure responsiveness, and tilt and angle responsiveness. Standard features include a brush engine, traditional paperless animation, deformers, cut-out animation, 2D/3D integration, export to game engines, and pipeline integration. It is also easily integrable with software such as Adobe Illustrator, and extensions such as PSD, PSB, PDF, and Bitmaps.

Pricing options come in different packages that include this animation software. Harmony Essentials cost 25 USD per month, billed annually. Similarly, Harmony Advanced is 63 USD per month and the Harmony Premium is 115 USD per month . You can use the software for free for 21 days; a duration that is good enough to understand and explore this amazing animation software. 

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3.  digicel flipbook.

This 2D animation software is easy-to-use but don’t let the simplicity fool you. You can do a lot of things with this animation software although it is intended for beginners. Developed by DigiCel, FlipBook runs on both Windows and macOS. You can also call this a frame by frame animation software since the method it employs deals with designing one frame at a time. Since the learning curve is smooth, you can directly dive into animating. The software lets you easily scan your artworks from paper directly onto the software. You can also make stop motion videos if you want. 

To run DigiCel FlipBook, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.10 or later, and a graphics card with 512MB VRAM.

Some of the features of FlipBook include a multiple-frame work desk , lip-sync support , pan, zoom, rotate, blur options, import and export capabilities, and scanning options. The software is efficient and super-smooth. The speed is amazing as well. You can make changes while the animation is running and the changes are visible the next time the loop runs! As aforementioned, the animation software is simple to use. However, some big names have complimented the software and recommended it to their followers. Disney’s Animation Director, Eric Goldberg calls it a great program and praises the draw tool provided by the software.

DigiCel’s Flipbook is priced according to four different packages that are Lite, Studio, and ProHD. If you use the free version of this animation software, all published exports are watermarked. The Lite version is listed at 98 USD but is currently at a sale price of 19 USD! The package offers 2 columns, 300 frames, and 800x600 screen capabilities. As the packages advance, so do their features. A complete pricing list can be seen here .

4.  Moho Debut 13.5

The Moho Debut is an animation software suitable for beginners interested in learning the art of animation. The interface is easy to understand and allows you to animate real fast. The simplicity does not, however, undermine the strength and the robustness of this software. The tools offered by Moho Debut are powerful and can be used to convert your strangest imaginations into an animated story. The software comes with multilingual support and has the capability to handle English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and Japanese.

To run Moho Debut 13.5, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.13 or later, 4GB RAM, and OpenGL 2.0 graphics.

The software runs on both macOS and Windows and offers advanced and sophisticated freehand tools. Features such as bone rigging, pen pressure support for tablets, animated effects for shapes and layers, brushes that can be used to easily edit and animate, PSD support, and keyframe options are available. Advanced masking options and an auto freeze tool are also available. 

The software is priced at 59.99 USD. The free trial can be availed for 30 days.

5.  Movavi

Movavi Video Editor & Animation tool is great software for novice editors and enthusiastic video content creators. It features a simple UI with short tutorial hints to help you get started quickly. It also supports drag and drop, which is perfect for quickly blending multiple video clips into a comprehensive work. You can create everything from gaming videos for YouTube to video tutorials and slideshows.

To run Movavi Video Editor, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.13.6 or later, 2 GB RAM and a 1.5 GHz dual-core Intel, AMD, or compatible processor.

The animation tool offers more than just basic video editing tools. Users can take advantage of advanced tools like panning and zooming, animating an object , creating stop motion , applying slow motion, and tracking moving objects. The program also provides plenty of creative transitions and animated titles, which can be used to create eye-catching videos.

Movavi Video Editor offers a 7-day free trial period, so you can try the software before deciding to commit to it. The paid version is priced at 54.95 USD per year or 79.95 USD for a one-time payment. The bestselling version often comes with a huge discount and includes the video editor plus effect packs including gradients, LUTs, and VHS effects.

6.  Moho Pro 13.5

The Moho Pro is the advanced version of its lighter version, the Moho Debut. The user base is more professional and advanced. The software is costlier but has more features that can be used to create better animations. This 2D animation software includes all the features of Moho Debut. The latest version Moho Pro 13 integrates the best animation technology with the most sophisticated tools. 

To run Moho Pro 13.5, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.13 or later, 4GB RAM, and a modern OpenGL graphics card.

Moho Pro offers a bone rigging system, physics engine, dynamic bones, and smart bones to control complex movements, frame by frame capabilities, vector tools with Bezier handles, accurate SVG, AI, and EPS import, 4K video export, vector export, motion blur, and multilayer and multi-channel control. The newest update adds bitmap frame by frame capabilities, bitmap freehand drawing tools, custom bitmap brush creation, 3D objects light manipulation, 3D objects material properties support.

This animation software is priced at 399.9 USD with a free trial that lasts for 30 days. You can also purchase add-ons to improve the experience. The 100 Brush Pack, for example, is priced at 39 USD. Other add-ons include the Retro Space Pack, School Days Pack, Content Pack, and the Puppets Pack. 

7.  Flipsnack

Flipsnack is a web based flipbook animation software that allows users to create and share publications with a realistic page flip effect. With this tool, you can transform your static documents into all sorts of animated publications such as magazines, catalogs, presentations, portfolios, brochures, you name it, without any effort whatsoever. This software comes equipped with an intuitive drag-and-drop editor and a plethora of fully customizable templates, therefore it is suitable for every type of user, whether you’re tech-savvy or not. Flipsnack is constantly updating and developing new assets but when it comes to interactivity, some of its key features at the moment are the following: photo slide-shows; GIFs; audio and video elements; map embedding, and social media buttons integration.

If you want to share your animated content, there are various ways in which you can do it, be it publicly, unlisted, or private, with Flipsnack you can select and manage your audience according to your needs. Moreover, if you want to track the performance of your animated flipbooks, you can do that using Flipsnack’s integrated option, which offers insights about every impression, view, share, and average reading duration for each publication. However, for a deeper understanding of your audience and content performance, you can also connect your account to Google Analytics.

In terms of pricing options, Flipsnack offers a free trial that allows you to create up to 3 catalogs of 30 pages each, a Starter plan for 14$/month; a Professional 35$/month; a Business plan for 79$/month, a Business plan for 207$/month and an Enterprise plan for 355$/month.

Do check out these topics

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8.  Cartoon Animator 5

Cartoon Animator 5 is a 2D animation software intended for both beginners as well as for professionals. You can design characters and digitally animate them via expressions and lip-sync capabilities. The Cartoon Animator 5 community is a strong one and materials for learning the software are easily available. Much like Adobe’s Character Animator, you can use your facial expressions and your voice to make animations. A few examples of videos made using this animation software are given here; The Curious Child , a TV series by Eon De Bruin , and an Animated comic by Fransesco .

To run Cartoon Animator 5, you'll need Windows 10 or later, 2GB RAM, a modern CPU, and a graphics card with 1GB VRAM.

Key features of this amazing animation software include webcam and iPhone facial mocap, hand tracking and digital puppets, full-body motion capture, sprite-based facial system, audio lip-syncing, precise FK/IK system, smart motion retargeting, stretch animation, and so much more. If you want to explore all the features of this superb software, head to this link for a detailed view. The software also lets you integrate your work with Adobe Photoshop and allows you to use PSD templates for designing. Pipeline features include capabilities to import 3D motions into 2D artworks and to create custom and unique elastic motion libraries. Finally, you can work with a huge number of file extensions without any trouble. It supports up to 4K resolution monitors.

The free trial is for 30 days after which you can buy the pro edition for 149 USD, edition with dynamic character design for 199 USD, or avail special bundle discounts.

9.  Stop Motion Studio

An animation software for beginners, Stop Motion Studio helps to create high-quality stop motion videos. Adopting the frame by frame animation technique, this software can help you make 4k stop motion videos with ease. The software is cross-platform and cross-device and can run on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. Your projects are accessible from all the devices where you have your account.

To run Stop Motion Studio, you'll need Windows 10 or macOS 10.15 or later, 1GB RAM, and a graphics card with 512MB VRAM.

You can use your phone camera to click the single frames or you can even hook up your digital camera to your device. You also have the option to use a second phone to add more perspective to your videos. Editing these images is also easy and just requires a few touches or clicks. You can add audio clips, titles, credits, and filter effects to your videos as you click the frames. There is also the option to add looping to your videos using in and out set points. The software has built-in sound clips that you can use in your videos and you can directly record our voice and apply it on the video as you work your way through the project. Other features include grid and onion skinning options, paint tools, magic eraser, and import of images, audio, video files, etc.

This animation software costs just a dollar and 9.99 USD Windows & macOS. The mobile application costs 5.99 USD

10.  Animaker

Animaker is a browser-based animation software that can be used by beginners, professionals, and animation enthusiasts. It is a great tool for making handcraft videos, whiteboard videos, short marketing bits, animated infographic videos, and educational videos. Used by huge brands such as Amazon, Nokia, Siemens, and Dell, Animaker’s buffed-up client base speaks for itself. With Animaker, you can make 2D and 2.5D videos via a variety of tools and features. You can choose from different plans based on your needs.

To run Animaker, you'll need a modern web browser with WebGL support, 512 MB of RAM and Windows 7 or higher OS.

Animaker supports full HD and both horizontal and vertical layouts. Animaker provides great features for animation such as record, curve, camera in/out, multimove, transition effects, and enter/exit effects. Along with these, the animation software also has a deck feature that allows users to use animations as videos or presentations. The software also has some amazing audio features such as text-to-speech, preloaded background tracks, sound effects, voice recording, etc. You can also use libraries for pre-defined templates.

With the free package, you can download your animations with a watermark. The free package also lets you work with HD support. The basic pack is priced at 10 USD per month supports creation of 5 custom characters & HD quality videos. The starter pack is priced at 19 USD per month and is intended for individuals and startups. Supports full HD and you can download 10 premium animations without the watermarks. The business pack is priced at 49 USD per month and has all the features that this great animation software has to offer.

11.  Powtoon

Another browser animation software that is free to use, Powtoon is intended for beginners but can also be used by more advanced animators. It can be used to make dynamic video presentations. Used by brands such as Microsoft, IBM, Google, Adobe, Coca Cola, eBay, Cisco, and Starbucks, Powtoon is a trusted software that can be used to develop engaging infographic videos and marketing bits. 

The official website describes Powtoon as a platform for visual communicatio n. Hopping on the visual communication description, the animation software is a great means to talent acquisition, change management, internal communications, and marketing. Schools and universities can also use Powtoon to make infographic videos and educational tutorials to teach their students. In fact, during times such as these when the world is fighting against COVID-19, such a tool can come in handy to reach out to colleagues and team members.

With Powtoon’s free version, you can export YouTube videos, Facebook videos, Vimeo videos, and PDFs, and Powerpoints. The version also offers customs styles and you can change the aspect ratio as well as sizes. You can implement image files and animate and make GIFs. Once you get past the beginner level, you can choose from the various packages based on your requirements. Powtoon is one of the best animation software that you can use to learn about animation. You can import themes from Microsoft Powerpoint as well in case you don’t want to start working from scratch.

The three paid packages that come with this animation software are Lite, Pro, and Business. At 15 USD per month, you can buy the Lite package which gives you access to free content and 5 premium exports per month. The Pro is priced at 40 USD per month and gives you access to all PRO templates and Unlimited premium exports. With Business, the cream package, you get all the features of Powtoon with 3rd-party reseller rights at 125 USD per month.

12.  Terragen

Terragen is a free animation software for Windows. You can use it to make CG animation. It is meant for moderate level users but can be used by beginners who are interested in learning animation. The learning curve is moderate and it requires some time to get the hang of it. The newest feature, the ray-traced preview is great for animation. It can be installed on all Windows devices and is an amazing animation software for 3D animation. Developed by Planetside Software, Terragen 4.4, the latest update is feature-rich.

To run Terragen, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.12 or later, 4GB RAM and a 2Ghz Dual Core CPU.

Besides ray-traced preview, some of the other features include photo-real clouds, ozone simulation, faster rendering (almost double), lens effects, and new shaders and enhancements, etc. Terragen Pro comes with FBX, render layers and AOVs, spherical cameras, full 3D motion blur, and stereo cameras. The drawback of this animation software is that its interface looks very complicated. However, with use and understanding, you can work on it effortlessly.

The creative edition starts from $15 per month & professional edition for $38 per month. The complete price list of Terragen can be found here .

Open Source & Free to Use Animation Softwares

1.  pencil 2d  (open source animation software).

This is a great free animation software for people who are into traditional hand-drawn animation. The software allows you to work with both raster as well as with vector graphics. The minimal design of the interface makes it easy and smooth to work with. The clutter-free UI/UX experience is one of the selling points of this free software. 

Pencil2D is a cross-platform software that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. The software is open-source which has allowed a great and helpful community to develop around this product.

To run Pencil 2D, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.12 or later, and ICore-5 (3rd Generation or Above) or comparable CPU. 4GB of RAM

The software has a variety of handy animation tools and options. You can also upload your Pencil 2D project to aid in the development of the software; one of the plus points of being open-source. You can import GIFs and export them as well. The latest version, v0.6.6 released on year 2021 with several new tweaks and adjustments. Bug fixes and patches were also part of the update. 

The biggest disadvantage of using Pencil2D is that the software requires you to fill in your preferences every time you open it.

2.  Synfig Studio  (Open-source 2D Animation Software)

Another open-source 2D animation software that comes free of cost. If you are not comfortable with a frame by frame animation software, this is the perfect tool for you. You can run this free animation software on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Since the software is open-source, you can make changes to the source code and submit enhancements and upgrades.

To run Synfig Studio, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.13 or later, or a Linux system with a modern OpenGL graphics card.

One of the main features of Synfig Studio is vector tweening; you can convert any vector graphic into another form easily . The software offers powerful tools to help you achieve that. Synfig also provides more than 50 layers to make artworks and animations. Some of the layer types are geometric, transformations, gradients, filters, distortions, fractals, etc. The bone system is also full of options and is a powerful tool on its own. The software also provides an additional skeleton distortion layer. Finally, you can connect different layers via mathematical expressions. With the help of this, you can make characters, puppets, and complex dynamic structures. The software has a steeper learning curve for beginners.

3.  Blender  (Free and Open Source 3D creation suite)

Probably the best free animation software on this list and one of the most recommended software for animation by professionals, Blender is an open-source software that runs on different platforms with ease. It is one of the few 3D modeling and animation software that is free of cost, yet it does not lack any power or robustness of its paid counterparts. In fact, it might just have a slight edge over them. This animation software is suitable for beginners as well as for professionals. With the help of Blender, you can develop animations, games, animated models, animated movies,  renders, and other types of 3D prints . It is available on macOS, Linux, and Windows. 

To run Blender, you'll need Windows 8 or later, macOS 10.13 or later, or a Linux distribution, with 8GB RAM and a graphics card that supports OpenGL 4.3 or higher.

Blender is a pretty good animation software when it comes to the features it offers. Blender provides real-time viewport review as well as CPU and GPU rendering. With Blender, you have PBR shaders and HDR lighting support. Other features include VR rendering support, advanced modeling, sculpting, and UV tools, advanced rigging and animation tools, powerful visual effects, auto-tracking, manual tracking, camera reconstruction, drawing in 2D mode оnto the 3D viewport, onion skinning, etc.

Blender is one of the best free animation software that you can use at all levels. Blender has some amazing open projects where you can contribute. Ever since the year 2005, the Blender Foundation has tried to invite developers and animators to contribute to open projects to promote creativity and innovation in Blender. The first such project was called ‘Elephants Dream’, which won the best short film award. Here is the official link to all open projects started by the Blender Foundation. If you are an advanced animator, make sure to check these out. 

Some of the drawbacks are that the learning curve is very steep and it would take beginners a lot of time to learn to use this software. It is also not easy to make image animations since the software aims more at 3D animation.

4.  OpenToonz  (Open Source)

OpenToonz is a free animation software that you can use to make cartoon animations. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. OpenToonz was customized by Studio Ghibli and is in use by the same for many years. It was first used in the making of the famous film, ‘Princess Mononoke’ by Studio Ghibli. Since it is open-source, you can contribute to its source code as well.

To run OpenToonz, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.14 or later, and a 64-bit CPU with at least 4GB RAM.

OpenToonz has all the features required to make a great animated film. Its unique features have been specifically customised to meet those requirements of the production staff. The scanning tool or 'GTS’ for instance, that specializes in animation. OpenToonz also comes with an effects development kit developed by Dwango. The SDK is a plug-in effect for image processing. Other features include digital drawing tools such as vector and bitmap drawing tools, indexed color palettes, animated special effects, and composite scene, scripting, motion tracking, frame-by-frame animation, motion tweening, bones character animation, particle systems for dust, rain, and similar effects, etc.

It can be used free of charge for both commercial and non-commercial videos. In case you face any issues, you can post your query in the developers’ forum or any community blog. The plug-in effects of this animation software are, however, very limited.

5.  TupiTube  (Free animation tool for children and teenagers)

Here’s a treat for Mac users; a free animation software with amazing features and lots of content. The software was developed by animators who wanted to allow people to make and edit videos without having to pay for them. The learning curve of this software is moderate and you can create quality 2D videos once you get the hang of it. You can contribute to the Tupi source code as well and tweak it in case you require specific customizations or would like to help the community.

To run TupiTube, you'll need Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.9 or later, or Ubuntu 18.04, and OpenGL 2.0 compatible graphics.

Features of TupiTube include support for vector illustrations, adding shapes, filling areas, import raster images, export all your finished images into different file formats, support for tweeting positions, etc. You can also make lip-sync animations using TupiTube. The software also supports vector illustrations and different file formats. The official website contains lots of resources for animators of all levels. It features an extensive resource base of examples and tutorials. One of the drawbacks of Tupi is that it cannot be used to make 3D videos.   

Although the list of animation software is exhaustive, we have tried to put together the best intuitive software programs, and we hope it'll give you a good start.

You might want to check out our list of the best graphic design software . For Tech-savvy creatives read our review on the best drawing and art apps .

As you get creative with your animation portfolios, do remember to create your portfolio website to showcase your work. Your design portfolio represents a window for the world to view your work and judge your talent, skills, and experience. 

So, if you haven’t built a website to showcase your design portfolio, start today with Pixpa. Here are some great examples of graphic design portfolios created on Pixpa for your inspiration. Explore all features that make Pixpa the perfect choice for creative professionals. Get ready to express yourself in stunning new ways and create awesome animation clips with ease and efficiency!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. where can i animate for free.

You can use open source or free to use software like Pencil 2D, Synfig Studio, Blender or OpenToonz to animate for free. Of these Blender is a highly recommended free to use software while OpenToonz is an open source program developed by Studio Ghibli.

2. What is an example of an animation software?

Adobe Character Animator is an example of a popular animation software used to create computer based animations. 

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30 Best Animation Software for Beginners in 2024 [Free & Paid]

Written by: Mahnoor Sheikh

Animated visuals are a lot more engaging than plain, static images. In fact, they generate the highest number of shares on social media compared to other forms of visual content.

Some of the best animation software in the market are Visme, Adobe Animate, Adobe Character Animator, Pencil2D, Biteable and Animaker.

In this guide for beginners, we’re going to explore these options and more to help you find the best animation software for your needs.

So, if you’re (seriously) interested in animation, you’ll need this guide.

Let’s get started.

30 Best Animation Software for 2024

• Adobe Animate
• Adobe Character Animator
• Autodesk Maya
• Moho Animation Software
• SideFX (Houdini)
• VistaCreate
• Adobe Creative Cloud Express
• PosterMyWall
• Animatron Studio
• Clip Studio Paint
• CelAction2D
• Synfig Studio
• Linearity Move

Quick Comparison Guide

Made with Visme Infographic Maker

Software #1: Visme

Visme is a cloud-based, online design tool that lets anyone create animated social media images, infographics , presentations, ads, banners and other visuals.

It comes packed with animation and interactivity features to help you create eye-catching designs that do much more than just static images.

Visme’s animation software lets you access thousands of premade templates, a library of free stock photos and videos, customizable pre-animated characters, illustrations and gestures, and much more.

• Friendly and intuitive drag-and-drop editor.
• Thousands of animated templates in various categories.
• Customizable pre-animated assets: Characters, illustrations and gestures
• 20+ customizable pre-designed animated characters, including poses, body style, gender, skin tone, and more.
• 3D character creator for building customizable 3D characters
• Animation timeline feature to customize scenes and sync audio.
• 14+ different types of animated graphs, charts and maps.
• Advanced custom animation that can be applied to any object.
• Interactive links, call-to-action buttons and hover effects.
• Searchable libraries of free stock photos, videos, icons and shapes.
• Wide range of AI-powered tools including AI image generator , AI writer and AI image edit and touchup tools .
• Import your own images, videos and fonts.
• Embed videos and other online content into your designs.
• Team collaboration features: Share your projects.
• Brand kit : Save your brand colors, fonts and logos for later use.
• Insightful analytics: Access graphs and statistics for project views.
• Offline animated download formats: GIF, MP4 video and HTML5.
• Publish and share online : Use a link or generate an embed code.

Pricing: Free plan with limited features. Paid plans start at $12.25/month per user, billed annually.

Pros: All-in-one design tool packed with animation and interactivity features, great for both non-designers and designers, millions of free graphic assets inside the editor.

Cons: A variety of design and customizability options can lead to a slightly steep learning curve.

Ideal for: Marketers, corporate teams, teachers, trainers, personal use.

Spice up your designs with animated illustrations

• Animated gestures to bring your designs to life
• Add animations into any content, from presentations to infographics and more
• Customize illustrations to match your brand colors

Sign up. It’s free.

Software #2: Adobe Animate

Adobe Animate is a new and improved version of Adobe Flash Professional. The software lets you create interactive vector graphics and 2D animations for videos, ads, games, television and more. With Adobe animation software, you can animate characters, avatars, shapes and other assets using timeline controls.

• Vector brushes with size, smoothness, pressure and velocity settings.
• Intuitive timeline controls with advanced animation settings.
• Virtual camera feature that lets you add pan, zoom and other effects.
• Synchronize audio with your animations and create audio loops.
• Typekit integration gives you access to premium web fonts.
• Export in Flash, HTML5 Canvas, WebGL, SVG and more.

Pricing: Starts from $22.99/month.

Pros: Extensive export and sharing options to publish your animations in virtually any format for any platform.

Cons: Just like any other Adobe software, Animate has a steep learning curve, especially for beginners.

Ideal for: Game designers, YouTubers, cartoon makers.

Software #3: Adobe Character Animator

Adobe Character Animator is another one of Adobe’s animation software stack. But unlike Adobe Animate, Character Animator lets you use motion capture to create live animations of your 2D characters. For example, you can create a character in Illustrator or Photoshop , import it into Character Animator, set it up with tags and then animate it using your own facial movements using your webcam.

• Real-time motion capture and automatic facial tracking.
• Download characters from Creative Cloud Market.
• Integration with Photoshop and Illustrator.
• Move the character’s limbs with your mouse.
• Timeline panel for recording and editing scenes.

Pricing: Included in the Creative Cloud All-Apps Plan that costs $59.99/month.

Pros: Easy to replicate real-life movements and expressions with facial tracking. Plenty of import and export options.

Cons: This software is available as part of the all apps pack, not as a standalone product. Also, you need to have a webcam and microphone to use the motion capture feature.

Ideal for: Bloggers, marketers, entertainers, educators.

Software #4: Blender

Blender is an open-source video editing software that lets you have total control over your animations. The tool offers advanced command line and programming features for rendering, modeling and creating 3D animations. It works across different operating systems, so you can use it on Linux, Windows and Mac.

• Powerful rendering, modeling and sculpting tools.
• Advanced animation and rigging tools.
• Draw and edit in 3D mode.
• Video editing and VFX, including motion tracking, masking and compositing.
• Powerful and realistic simulation tools.
• Extensive Python API for scripting and customization.
• Customizable user interface, window layout and shortcuts.

Pricing: Free.

Pros: It doesn’t cost anything to use Blender. Also, advanced animation and rendering tools make it fit for both beginners and expert users.

Cons: Blender has a very steep learning curve as it’s packed with so many features. Beginners will be overwhelmed and might need to spend hours on tutorials before getting it right.

Ideal for: Animators, engineers, scientists, artists, students.

Software #5: Autodesk Maya

Autodesk Maya is one of the best software for making animations. It’s a robust 3D animation, modeling, rendering and simulation tool for creating expansive and immersive worlds, realistic characters and sensational effects. The graphics animation software shines due to its top-notch and complete 3D production package and models.

• Ability to create physically accurate simulations in a single visual programming environment
• Construct 3D models based on vertices, edges, faces, geometric primitives and drawn curves
• Accelerate performance with interactive workflows
• Create, view, and edit animation curves using a graphical representation of scene animation.
• Work directly with data using native tools and quickly load and modify large datasets.
• Use Integrated Arnold renderer to view scene changes in real time, including lighting, materials, and cameras.

Pricing. Maya's subscription plan starts at $235 per month. The Flex plan starts at $300 for Minimum, $1500 - Popular and the Custom plan.

Pros. This professional animated tool offers a wide range of tools and features for 3D animation and visual effects. User-friendly interface. Adaptable and scaleable for the most complex worlds, characters and workflows. Ability to iterate faster and accelerate workflows.

Cons. The tool is pricey for smaller startups and creators. It has a steep learning curve for beginners.

Ideal for: Creative designers and artist

Software #6: Cinema 4D

When it comes to animated tools for motion graphics, Cinema 4D is an industry-standard and powerful software for visual creators at all levels. The software is perfect for 3D computer animation, modeling, simulation and rendering.

As a complete program for animation, you’ll find features for motion graphics, design, VFX, AR/MR/VR, game development and all kinds of visualization.

• Quickly turn a series of images into a 3D model
• Emit smoke, fire and explosion from any Spline or object
• Comprehensive color management for stunning cinematic results
• Supports advanced features like symbols annd gradient filled shapes
• Import vector art from PDF, SVG, Illustrator into your 3D scenes
• Supports polygonal, volume, parametric modelling and character animation
• Abillity to realistic-looking and multi-threaded simulations
• Cinema 4D is available in 12 different languages
• Compatible with Windows, macOS and Linux operating systems

Pricing : Cinema 4D costs $81.91 per month, billed annually.

Pros: Cinema 4D is one of the easiest 3D packages to learn and use. Has a robust knowledgebase and other support options. Equipped with lots of amazing animation and modelling-friendly features.

Cons. The tool is super expensive for starters. The interface can be overwhelming without proper guidance.

Software #7: OpenToonz

If you’re looking for a professional animation tool without breaking the bank, OpenToonz is a great fit. Although it’s free and open-source, the software has lots of features for creating multiple animation styles . Whether you’re a beginner or expert, you can bring static objects and characters to life using 2D animation capabilities.

OpenToonz has applications in different animation projects, including amateur and professional production, commercial use, school education and more.

• Ability to create cutting-edge animation with multiple effects using the SDK plugins
• Automatic changing picture styles using the deep learning technology
• Produces affected incident light and wavy distortion effects
• Compatible with 4 types of image scanning (black & white, colored, with or without binarization)
• Compatible with Windows and macOS

Pricing. OpenToonz is free.

Pros. The tool is open-source and can be used free of charge for both commercial and non-commercial projects.

Cons. Unaesthetic and antique interface. Steep learning curve with little or no resources for learning.

Software #8: Moho Animation Software

Moho Pro is a powerful, professional-grade animation software that can perform almost any task related to 2D vector animation. It’s a perfect work tool for amateur and expert animators, hobbyists and digital artists Unlike other animated tools, Moho blends robust animation technology and state-of-the-art animation tools.

• Includes language support for six languages (English, Spanish, French, Russian, German and Japanese)
• Comprehensive content library full of characters, props and backgrounds.
• Powerful vector drawing tools
• Complete rigging system to enable users to create easy to animate 2D puppets timeline, audio recording and sound effects
• Advanced timeline with graph mode and editable interpolation
• Photoshop’s PSD file integration
• Create personalized meshes to animate vectors and images
• Automate animation using power features like particles, gravity, dynamics and wind

Pricing: Moho Debut 14 starts at $59.99, while Moho Pro costs $399.99.

Pros: Moho is feature-rich and versatile. There are lots of tutorials, guidance and excellent resources to help users get started. Supports file import and integration with Adobe Photoshop

Cons: Steep learning curve for beginners. Most features available in Pro version.

Software #9: Unity

Unity is a 3D animation, CGI and cinematics tool for film, television and gaming. The animated tool comes in handy for collaborative iteration in real-time, rather than hours and days of rendering. Unity enables faster production with features like shared composition, accelerated rendering and multiple options to automate non-creative tasks.

• Integrate with Digital Content Creation tools of your choice
• High-definition render pipeline to render beautiful visuals and cinematic shots
• Animate and edit your project with familiar toolsets
• Orchestrate timing, angles, movements, and cues in real-time using editing and sequencing tools
• Access lightning-fast recording to speed up projects and shorten review cycles
• Unity is available in nine languages

Pricing: Unity’s student and personal plans are free. The Pro plan is $185 per seat per month, the Industry plan starts at $450 per month, billed annually, and the enterprise plan has custom pricing.

Pro: The tool is intuitive, easy to use and has a user-friendly interface. Rich library of asset for creating multiple projects

Cons: The free plan has limited features.

Ideal for: Creatives, designers and artists

Software #10. SideFX (Houdini)

Houdini is a 3D animation tool for rigging, modeling, VFX, animation, lighting, look development and rendering in gaming, film, TV and advertising. Its intuitive, user-friendly features enable artists and creators to create multiple iterations and easily share workflows with co-creators.

• Realistic, fire, smoke, fluids, particles and solid simulations that are faster and easier to set up
• Procedural modeling techniques for maintaining a robust construction history and creating complex models like cityscapes, environments and more
• Provides a complete suite of features for rigging and animating characters and creatures
• Offers layout, development and lighting tools that enable creators to make USD-based scene graphs
• Ability to integrate visual effects into live-action shots to produce high-quality results.

Pricing: Houdini has a free plan for the learning edition. The paid plans starts at $269 (1-year rental)

Pros: This animated software offers robust rendering and modeling capabilities The procedural workflow saves time by allowing changes to be made quickly in the pipeline. Offer fluid, solid, particle and other powerful simulation capabiities.

Cons: For a program for animation, SideFX has a steep learning curve and requires a lot of practice for beginners to get the hang of it.

Software #11: VistaCreate

More than just your basic animation software, VistaCreate features an extensive library of animated templates and thousands of pre-animated objects and characters. The tool lets you create animated ads, square videos and even Facebook covers with no design skills.

You can also combine videos and animated GIFs with your images, such as a moving background, to create short and eye-catching video posts for social media.

• Thousands of animated templates to use and customize.
• Access to over 50 million stock photos.
• Library of videos and animations to use in designs.
• Upload your own fonts, graphics and animations.
• Download in MP4 video format.
• Share your animated video directly to social media.

Pricing: Free plan with limited features. Pro plan starts from $10/month, billed annually.

Pros: Create animated video artworks in various formats; stories, presentations, social media. Has a mobile app to create designs on the go.

Cons: The free version gives you access to limited storage and creative assets.

Ideal for: Marketers, small business owners, freelancers.

Software #12: Adobe Creative Cloud Express

If you’re looking for a very basic animation software to create video posts for social media, Adobe Creative Cloud Express can help you do that right from your phone.

Use the Adobe Creative Cloud Express iOS app to create short videos with animated text and photos by choosing a template, and customizing it using one of the few animation styles available. As of now, you can only access the animation feature on mobile, not on the desktop app.

• Access customizable templates in various formats.
• Sync your designs across multiple devices.
• Create animated posts on the go with the iOS app.
• Thousands of free images and icons.
• Download as an MP4 video or share online.

Pricing: Adobe Creative Cloud Express has a free plan. Paid plans start at $9.99/month.

Pros: Create animated social media posts on the go with the iOS mobile app. Simple, easy-to-use interface. Sign in with your Adobe account.

Cons: Lack of advanced animation features. Animations only available in the iOS app, not in Android or Web version.

Ideal for: Freelancers, marketers, bloggers.

Software #13: PosterMyWall

This animated software is straightforward and incredibly easy to use. You don’t even need to sign up to start editing a template. PosterMyWall lets you design promotional posters, graphics and videos using a large library of templates and stock videos.

What makes PosterMyWall stand out among other tools is that it lets you download your designs as high-quality videos, including 4K and Full HD. You can also send them off for printing if you’re living in the US.

• Large collection of animated video templates.
• Thousands of stock videos to use in your designs.
• Bulk printing for your designs on various materials.
• Download your videos in 4K and Full HD quality.
• Save as high-quality MP4 and GIF files.
• Share your designs with a link or embed online.

Pricing: Free plan with free social media downloads. Premium plans start from $9.95/month.

Pros: Create animated videos in high quality; 4K and Full HD. Start editing a template in your browser without signing up.

Cons: Download options are limited in the free plan. Limited animation features.

Ideal for: Individuals, businesses.

Create engaging animated content with Visme

• Add animated icons and illustrations
• Increase interest and engagement through your design
• Add enter and exit effects to create fully animated content

Software #14: PixTeller

PixTeller’s animation software is great for both business and personal use. It’s a good alternative for a full-featured video editing tool if you’re looking for something more basic.

You can create short animated videos in PixTeller by setting frame-by-frame motions, and then editing the attributes of each frame, such as colors, rotation, opacity and more.

• Hundreds of pre-animated templates to customize.
• Customize a frame by frame timeline.
• Unique text effects to make your animations pop.
• 100,000+ shapes to add to your animated videos.
• Share the URL of your video to specific people.
• Download in MP4 video and GIF formats.

Pricing: Their basic paid plan doesn't come with animation capabilities. The paid plan with animation features starts from $12/month, billed annually.

Pros: Create animated posts and banners by editing a frame by frame timeline.

Cons: Lack of advanced animation features. Option to download as MP4 or GIF only available in the paid plan.

Ideal for: Marketers, freelancers, bloggers.

Software #15: Animatron Studio

This a great option if you’re looking for a feature-rich animation tool. Animatron Studio offers a huge gallery of pre-animated elements and templates to help you create explainer videos, HTML5 banners, ads and more.

The customization options are near endless—you can even customize the expressions of the characters. If you’re looking for a less robust version, you can also check out Animatron Lite.

• Thousands of pre-animated objects, characters and more.
• Extensive customizability options.
• Import, place and edit your own graphics.
• Built-in voiceover features to add narration.
• Real-time collaboration and comments.
• Export to HTML5, MP4, SVG and GIF formats.
• Share online with a link or use an embed code.

Pricing : Animatron has a free plan with limited features. Paid plans start from $15/month, billed annually.

Pros: Advanced customization options for all pre-animated characters and objects. Download your designs in several popular formats.

Cons: Interface can be glitchy, no free stock videos available inside the software.

Ideal for: Marketers, corporate teams, educators, freelancers.

Software #16: Biteable

If you want to create bite-sized, animated videos like promos, ads and social media videos, Biteable is a good option. This video animation software lets you share and download animated videos by editing one of their premade templates.

You can also look through thousands of stock footage clips and scenes to put together an entirely customized video. Biteable also lets you share your project with teammates with its collaboration features.

• Browse hundreds of professional video templates.
• Access thousands of stock footage clips and animations.
• Add audio tracks using a huge library or upload your own.
• Share your video project with other team members.
• Publish your video on Biteable with privacy controls.
• Download your designs in Full HD MP4 video format.
• Share directly to social media, or use a link or embed code.

Pricing : Free plan with limited features. Paid plans start from $49/month, billed annually.

Pros: Make all kinds of marketing videos, including explainers and demos. Access thousands of stock footage clips to create something unique.

Cons: You can only download in MP4 video format. Free plan exports come with a watermark.

Ideal for: Marketers, trainers, educators.

Software #17: Animaker

Animaker is ideal for businesses and educators who want to create interactive presentations and videos. This animation software comes with a large library of templates and pre-animated elements, including illustrations, characters and gestures.

• Large collection of animated templates and assets.
• Six unique video styles to edit and remix.
• Pro-level animation features like Curve, Camera In and Out.
• 200+ music tracks and sound effects to add to your videos.
• Enterprise and team management features.
• Upload directly to YouTube and Facebook or share URL.

Pricing: Free plan with limited features. Paid plans start from $12.50/month, billed annually.

Pros: Create animated videos for all kinds of business or personal uses. A variety of video styles, including several for whiteboard videos.

Cons: Only 5 watermarked downloads in the free plan. Only good for creating videos, not animated images.

Ideal for: Marketers, presenters, freelancers.

Software #18: Canva

Canva is a popular online design tool that has recently introduced a few basic animation features. It lets you download your graphic designs as a GIF or video by choosing one of the six animation styles available in the app.

• Thousands of editable templates in various categories.
• Millions of free and paid photos, icons and other assets.
• Six different animation styles to choose from.
• Invite team members and share your brand elements.
• Organize your designs into folders.
• Download your animated designs in GIF and MP4 video formats.

Pricing : Canva has a free plan with limited features. Paid plans start from $15/month.

Pros: Pay-per-use graphic assets. Good for adding basic animation to images.

Cons: No custom animation capabilities. Limited animation features in the free plan.

Ideal for: Marketers, bloggers and small business owners.

Software #19: Easil

Easil is another web-based design tool that also supports GIF downloads. However, the only way to make an animated GIF in Easil is by duplicating an image frame several times and making edits to each frame.

• Brand kit feature to save your brand colors, colors and logos.
• Creative text effects like drop shadow and masks.
• Resize templates and designs for social media or print.
• Create color schemes with the color palette generator.
• Team and sub-team sharing features.
• Download animated GIFs.

Pricing: Starts from $7.50/month per user, billed annually.

Pros: Plenty of features for team sharing and enhancing your visual brand.

Cons: The only way to create an animated GIF is to duplicate an image several times and make changes to each “frame”. No GIF download option available in the free plan.

Ideal for: Brand managers, marketers, bloggers.

Software #20: Pencil2D

Pencil2D is an open-source 2D animation software that lets you create 2D animated characters using vector drawing tools and traditional animation workflows. It works on all the popular platforms, including Windows, MacOS and Linux.

• Simplified user interface that’s easy to use for beginners.
• Customizable toolbar to fit your own creative process.
• Layers panel for bitmap, sound, camera and vector layers.
• Timeline and keyframes to add, subtract and duplicate frames.
• Versatile drawing tools to help you create vector drawings.
• Various export formats: GIF, MP4, AVI, WEBM and more.

Pros: It’s free to use and cross-platform, so it can work on any operating system. Simple and minimalistic editor to help you create traditional, hand-drawn animations.

Cons: Pencil2D is great for simple drawing animation, but lacks advanced animation and character building tools. It’s not ideal for complex or modern-style animations.

Ideal for: Digital artists, cartoon makers, game designers, basic animators.

Software #21: Powtoon

Powtoon is an online animation software that lets you create fun, interactive videos with animated characters and premade graphic assets. It’s a great tool for making video presentations, explainer videos and whiteboard animations.

• Dozens of premade templates spread across five categories.
• Thousands of built-in graphics, animated characters and more.
• Advanced animation controls and character customization.
• Choose from built-in audio, record audio or upload audio files.
• Screen and webcam recording to create tutorials and video presentations.
• Import and edit Photoshop and PowerPoint files.
• Download in various formats or share directly to social media.

Pricing : Paid plans start from $15/month, billed annually.

Pros: Easy to use tool for beginners. Plenty of built-in graphic assets. Advanced character customization.

Cons: Limited options for built-in music. Advanced features and removing the watermark are locked for free users. Working on heavy projects can slow down Powtoon’s editor.

Ideal for: Marketers, presenters, educators, trainers.

Software #22: Procreate

Procreate is one of the most powerful and intuitive animated tools that uses frame-by-frame animation techniques. It gives users all the benefits of working digitally while recreating the familiar experience of pencils, pens and paint on paper. Thus, making it an excellent tool for beginners. 

If you already have an iPad and an Apple pencil, download the app from Apple Store and start creating animations. 

• Get the perfect shape every time with the QuickShape feature.
• ColorDrop feature to quickly pick any color you want. 
• Extra special FX to add gorgeous finishing touches to your work. 
• Gaussian, motion and perspective blur. 
• Complete font control to add gorgeous typography to your design. 
• Paint with filters to add perfect finishing touches to your artwork. 

Pricing: Procreate comes with one-time pricing of $12.99 exclusively from the Apple Store. No subscription.

Pros: Simple and easy-to-use interface. Wide range of brushes and an option to import Photoshop (.abr) brushes into your app. 120hz performance to take full advantage of Apple’s ProMotion technology. 

Cons: Only works with iPad and Apple pencil. It works in pixels, so you can’t create vectors. Difficult adjustment layers. 

Ideal for: Beginners, freelancers and hobbyists.

Software #23: Clip Studio Paint

Clip Studio Paint is an all-in-one animation solution that lets you create comics, general illustration and 2D animation. The software is compatible with macOS, Windows, iOS, iPad, Android and Chrome OS. 

Thus, if you can manage to use its slightly confusing user interface, then Clip Studio Paint can be one of the best animation tools for you. 

• Adjustable pen pressure to recreate the natural, high-quality lines of pen and paper. 
• Automatically taper the beginning and end of brush strokes and reduce shaky and wavering lines. 
• Use 3D references for accurate compositions. 
• Light table function for free reference specific keyframes while inbetweening. 
• Drawing frames between keyframes

Pricing : Free trial up to 6 months. Clip Studio Paint Pro costs $54 while Clip Studio Paint EX costs $237.

Pros: Multiple export options and advanced vector toolkit. AI technology, 3D Capability, Bundles of brush options, drawing flexibility. 

Cons: Stifling Pro or Ex prices. Lack of audio support. Slightly confusing UI. No rigging tools. 

Ideal for: Beginners, hobbyists and professionals. 

Software #24: CelAction2D

CelAction 2D is another powerful animation tool that gives you all the quality of hand-crafted animation. With four editions available — Studio, Professional, Animator and Educational — the animation software has something for everyone. The tool interoperates well with other software, helping you to choose the best tools for your production pipeline. 

Furthermore, you can import 3D CGI models in CelAction2D and position them anywhere in a fully 3dimensional space. 

• The software features a dockable tool panel that allows you to work on multiple monitors and increase productivity. 
• More than 60 special effects to make your animation visually rich with minimal effort and time. Moreover, you can create special effects and save them in the library for reuse. 
• Advanced Inverse Kinematic Tool that helps you pose your character and model. 
• You can import drawing assets from other software such as Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, GIMP and others. 
• The 2D animation can be rendered in NTSC, PAL and HDTV format and at any resolution. 

Pricing: The monthly rental cost for this tool starts at $70/ month paid annually .

Pros: Supports large teams. Import your scanned sketches, photos or even 3D CGI and animate them quickly.

Cons: No cross-platform support; works only with Windows. No drawing tools. 

Ideal for: Digital artists, cartoon makers, animators. 

Software #25: Synfig Studio

Synfig Studio is a more robust tool than the other open-source and free animation software in the market. It gives you advanced controls that help you create high-quality animation exceptionally quickly. It’s a tweeness animation system designed to speed up the animation process by using sprites and digital tweening. 

If you want to experiment with newer features, Synfig Studio is best for you. Also, it’s a great alternative to Adobe Animate. 

• Transform any vector shape into another with the Vector tweening feature. Thus, eliminating the need for manual tweening. 
• 50+ layers and filters to create complex animation. 
• Additional Skeleton Distortion layer to apply complex deformations to bitmap artwork. 
• Vector animation with Lottie export. 
• Built-in feature to upgrade the animation output using automatic friction effects. 
• Supported on Mac, Windows and Linux. 
• Provides advanced controls like link parameters for various layers.

Pricing : Free and open to use by anyone. 

Pros : Free and open-source. Yet, you will get advanced animation tools that are fit for both beginners and experienced animation enthusiasts. Free video tutorials for an in-depth understanding of the software. 

Cons: Software sometimes crashes. Steep learning curve. The user interface is not very intuitive. 

Ideal for: Beginners, solo artists and experts. 

Software #26: KeyShot

KeyShot is an easy-to-use, advanced, simplified animation software that helps users create photorealistic, scientifically accurate animations. The tool is well-known for its high-quality 2D and 3D animations without an additional graphics card. 

Additionally, it supports 30+ types for rendering 3D animation and comes with interactive labeling, texture mapping, physical lighting, and more. 

• 750+ templates to help you differently style your animation.
• Real-time 3D image rendering workflow. 
• More than 30 3D file formats.
• Adjust and light your scene as per your requirement with its HDRI lighting. 
• Create interactive, touch-enabled visuals for mobile and web. 
• Still image animations, interactive web content and mobile content. 

Pricing: Plans start from $99/month billed annually. 

Pros: Works with both Mac and Windows. Import and export a wide range of model formats. Detailing, accuracy and realism in visualization are unmatched.

Cons: Not a friendly user interface for beginners. Framing, sizing and resizing the window sometimes get complicated. 3D animation is difficult to grasp for a novice. 

Software #27: Linearity Move

Linearity Move is a user-friendly, cloud-based animation software that simplifies the creation of high-quality vector animations.

It is ideal for both beginners and professionals, and offers seamless integration with Linearity Curve and other graphic design tools like Figma and Adobe Illustrator.

• Auto Animate for easy, one-click animations.
• Real-time collaboration (coming soon).
• Supports 8K resolution exports.
• Free templates and animation presets.
• Compatible with MacOS and iOS, with Apple Pencil support.
• Upload your brand elements and assets.

Pricing : Linearity offers a free plan with limited features. Paid plans start from $14.99/month billed annually.

Pros: Affordable, works in your browser, cross-platform compatible, integrates well with Linearity Curve and other vector design software, easy to use for beginners.

Cons: Limited advanced features for professional animators, primarily used for simpler animations like social media graphics and videos.

Software #28: Toon Boom Harmony

Toon Boom Harmony is a professional-grade animation software widely used in the TV and film industry. It offers a range of tools for end-to-end 2D animation, including rigging, compositing and special effects.

Harmony is known for its powerful capabilities and high-quality output, which makes it a top choice for professional animators.

• Advanced rigging and deformers for character animation.
• Comprehensive compositing tools.
• Support for bitmap and vector graphics.
• Integration with Storyboard Pro for seamless storytelling.
• Extensive export options including various video formats and image sequences.
• Specialized tools for cut-out animation, paperless animation and traditional animation.

Pricing: Plans start at $28.50/month. You can take advantage of a free trial to check out the software before you buy.

Pros: Versatile animation software for various types of animation styles and purposes, professional-grade tools.

Cons: Unintuitive interface, steep learning curve, expensive, requires powerful hardware.

Software #29: Krita

Krita is a free, open-source digital painting and animation software. It is known for its wide range of painting tools and capabilities for creating frame-by-frame 2D animations.

The platform is used widely in the digital VFX industry and is a favorite of illustrators, comic book and concept artists.

• Extensive brush engine with customizable brushes.
• Support for frame-by-frame 2D animation.
• Onion skinning for smooth transitions between frames.
• Animation timeline for precise control.
• Export in various video formats and image sequences.
• Layer management and blending modes for complex animations.

Pricing: Free

Pros: Free and open-source, powerful painting tools, suitable for both beginners and professionals.

Cons: Limited support for complex animations, requires a good understanding of digital painting and art skills.

Software #30: Steve AI

Steve AI is an easy-to-use online animation software for making videos—specifically text-to-animation and voice-to-animation videos for social media and marketing purposes.

It’s a very simple software and ideal for those looking for a straightforward tool for creating animations for websites and social platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

• AI-driven video creation with minimal effort.
• Large library of pre-made templates and assets.
• Support for both 2D and 3D animations.
• Real-time collaboration for team projects.
• Export in various video formats and GIFs.
• Customizable character animations and voiceover integration.

Pricing: Steve AI has a free plan with limited features. Paid plans start from $15/month.

Pros: Easy to use, affordable, AI-powered video creation.

Cons: Limited advanced features for professional animators, lack of customization.

Animation Software FAQs

Q. which software is best for animation.

Visme stands out as an all-in-one visual content creation platform that empowers users to create stunning and engaging animations, animated presentations, infographics, documents and more. With Visme’s intuitive interface and robust features, anyone—beginner or professional—can make captivating animations in a matter of minutes.

Visme has a rich library of assets, templates, graphics, images, icons and animations. You can animate each of these design elements to provide an immersive experience for your audience.

Access a wide range of animation options, including entrance, emphasis, exit, and motion path animations, animated icons, illustrations and special effects. Enhance audience engagement with interactive elements such as clickable buttons, links, hotspots, pop-ups, and hover effects.

Q. Do you need coding for animation?

No, you do not necessarily need coding skills to create animations, especially with the advent of user-friendly animation software and tools available today. Many animation platforms, like Visme, Adobe Animate, Toon Boom Harmony, and others, offer intuitive interfaces and drag-and-drop functionality that allow users to create animations without writing a single line of code.

These platforms provide pre-built assets, templates, and animation effects that users can customize and combine to create engaging animations. The process typically involves arranging visual elements on a timeline, adjusting their properties, and specifying how they move and interact with each other.

Q. Is there a free animation software?

Yes, there are several animation software options available for free. These software for creating animation provide basic features and are excellent for beginners, students, or individuals looking to explore animation without investing in expensive software.

Animation companies like Visme, Blender, OpenToonz, and Synfig Studio provide free access to animation tools. However, you need to purchase or upgrade to a paid version of the software to access advanced features and additional assets.

Q. What animation software should beginners use?

When searching for animation tools for beginners, it's crucial to start with user-friendly software that offers a gentle learning curve. Visme stands out as an excellent choice for beginners due to beginner-friendly features like

• Intuitive drag-and-drop interface. Beginners can easily navigate the platform, add elements, and create animations without getting overwhelmed by complex menus or tools.
• Vast selection of pre-designed templates suitable for various animation purposes. These templates serve as a starting point, allowing beginners to customize and personalize their animations without starting from scratch.
• Visme supports various formats, including animated presentations, videos, GIFs, and social media posts. This versatility enables beginners to explore different types of animations and choose the format that best suits their projects.
• A diverse library of graphics, icons, characters, and animations: This extensive library simplifies the process of finding the right visuals for their projects.
• Animation Presets. Visme includes animation presets and effects that beginners can apply to their elements with a single click
• Interactive Tutorials and Support. Visme offers interactive tutorials and guides that help beginners learn the basics of animation. Additionally, the platform provides excellent customer support, ensuring beginners can seek assistance whenever they encounter challenges.

Visme’s shallow learning curve allows aspiring animators to dive into the world of animation without feeling overwhelmed. The tool makes the creative process enjoyable and rewarding for beginners.

Q. How to make an animation with Visme

Creating interactive content doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

Whether you're creating presentations, marketing materials, or educational content, Visme empowers users to bring their ideas to life with captivating and professional animations. Follow these steps to create animations with Visme:

1. Find a template you love or start with a blank canvas. Fully customize the template or canvas to include your branding and messaging using the design features in Visme

2. Incorporate animations and interactive elements. 

• Create a clickable menu, table of contents or navigation bar to easily navigate between pages.
• Link slides, pages or content blocks to objects to make them actionable and create an interactive experience.
• Make your content come alive with interactive hover effects and pop-ups that offer your audience a deeper and more engaging experience.
• Incorporate animated enter and exit effects into your design elements to turn your content into a dynamic masterpiece that grabs the attention of your audience from start to finish.
• Create personalized interactive content by embedding YouTube videos, Loom recordings, surveys, polls, quizzes and more.
• Animate your design elements so they pop off the page and create a more dynamic look and feel for your content.
• Connect with third-party integrations like GIPHY, Typeform, Loom, Google Maps and more to create more dynamic and personalized content.

3. Download and share your animation: Share your interactive content with your audience by sharing an online link, downloading it as a GIF, MP4 or HTML5 file, or embedding it on a web page.

What is the Best Animation Software?

Choosing the best animation software can be confusing, especially if you’re a beginner and you’re looking for an easy, affordable option that scales with your needs.

For beginners who want to create animated content for marketing and internal communication purposes, we recommend Visme.

With Visme, you can create animated GIFs, marketing videos , explainers, animated charts and graphs, interactive documents with live data and more.

The best part? You don’t need to be a designer or animation expert to use Visme — the drag-and-drop editor works in your browser and makes animation a breeze!

If you’re ready to create animated and interactive content of your own, sign up for a free Visme account and test it out for yourself.

Create beautiful and interactive visual content with Visme

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About the Author

Mahnoor Sheikh is the content marketing manager at Visme. She has years of experience in content strategy and execution, SEO copywriting and graphic design. She is also the founder of MASH Content and is passionate about tea, kittens and traveling with her husband. Get in touch with her on LinkedIn .

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55+ Best Animation Software: Online, 2D, 3D, and More

Renderforest Staff

14 Jun 2023

18 min read  

Unleash your creative genius and bring your imagination to life with the power of animation! If you’ve ever dreamed of making characters dance across the screen, telling captivating stories, or creating stunning visual effects, you’re in for a treat. Animation software has revolutionized how we communicate, entertain, and engage with audiences of all ages.

According to recent research, video marketers claim that 66% of consumers prefer watching a video to reading about a product. 

Animated videos are everywhere. We use them for different purposes, from explainer videos for business to animated video greetings and everything in between. Yet to reach the desired results, putting quality over quantity has got to be your top priority.

But with so many online animation software solutions available, finding the perfect tool to meet your specific needs can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack.

But fret not! We’ve done the legwork for you and compiled a comprehensive list of the 55+ best animation software tools . So, whether you’re an aspiring filmmaker, a marketing guru, or a student eager to make a splash with your presentations, we are about to dive in together and turn your dreams into reality!

Top 55+ Animation Software: Suitable for Pros and Beginners

When it comes to video animation software , a plethora of options are available, catering to individuals with varying skill levels and preferences. From user-friendly programs designed for beginners to sophisticated tools equipped with advanced features, the market offers a diverse range of choices. However, it is important to note that certain animation software solutions may present a steep learning curve for novice users, while others may pose budgetary constraints.

Thus, it is crucial to assess your own proficiency and requirements before selecting the most suitable animation software. Beginners may find solace in intuitive platforms that prioritize ease of use, allowing them to grasp the fundamental concepts of animation quickly. On the other hand, experienced animators may seek software that offers a robust suite of tools, enabling them to delve into intricate details and push the boundaries of their creative endeavors.

With these tools, you can create 2D and 3D animation , stop motion animation, whiteboard animation , and more.  

Let’s see which one will be your favorite!

Online Animation Tools

One of the best things about online animation tools is that you don’t have to download these tools on your device to start working. All you need to do is upload your files to the editor and start editing your animated video. Here are some great online animation software solutions to make your job easier.

Renderforest

Operating system: Website

Description:

Renderforest shines as a remarkable cloud-based platform, offering many features to transform your creative ideas into visually stunning masterpieces. With its focus on ready-made templates, the software has hundreds of thousands of explainer animations , cartoon videos , and more! 

It opens up a world of possibilities, catering to a diverse range of needs, including tools for kinetic typography, product or service promotional videos, music visualizations , logo animation templates , wedding or travel slideshows, mobile app promotions, event invitations, corporate presentations, infographics, and lot more. 

What makes Renderforest truly remarkable is its accessibility. You can create videos in minutes, see how each scene looks in real-time, and render and export them in SD 360 quality with watermarks. If you want the final result to be without watermarks and in HD quality, you need to subscribe to one of the plans or pay for a one-time export . The platform also offers a text animation video maker for combining text with motion and a free cartoon maker —along with cartoon templates —for cartoon creations. And did we mention the free AI animation generator ?

As one of the best animation apps , Renderforest serves as an invaluable solution for both individuals and businesses alike. It caters to those seeking professional-grade results and broadcast quality without the burden of technical expertise required to build a product from scratch. By harnessing the power of Renderforest, users can confidently present their products or ideas with a polished and captivating touch, leaving a lasting impression on their audience. 

Animatron is a web-based animation software that empowers users to create and modify animated videos and interactive content with ease. Established in 2011 as a corporate spin-off from JetBrains, the company has garnered recognition for its innovative offerings. Central to Animatron’s capabilities is its HTML5 animation tool, which seamlessly displays created animations on various mobile and desktop web pages. 

Animatron also offers a collaborative environment, allowing teams to work seamlessly together on projects. By enabling real-time collaboration and providing tools for version control, Animatron enhances productivity and streamlines the creative workflow. Whether you’re working on a solo project or collaborating with a team spread across different locations, Animatron ensures a smooth and efficient production process.

With Moovly’s intuitive platform, users can seamlessly create captivating animated videos, engaging video presentations, dynamic animated infographics, and various other video content that incorporates a harmonious blend of animation and motion graphics.

Moovly’s cloud-based platform ensures accessibility and flexibility, allowing users to work on their projects anytime, anywhere, and from any device with an internet connection. This seamless integration enables a smooth and collaborative workflow, facilitating teamwork and enabling users to bring their collective ideas to fruition.

Animaker is an easy-to-use animated video creation tool. Create an account to begin your video and choose a template to customize. Be sure to watch the tutorials before starting to learn all of the features included with Animaker. When complete, download a video to your computer or directly to YouTube or Facebook. The free version of the tool allows animated videos up to 2 minutes in length and five exports per month. The tutorials reside on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class “on a stick” to share.

Description: PowToon is a web-based animation software that allows users to create animated presentations by manipulating pre-created objects, imported images, provided music, and user-created voice-overs. Powtoon uses an Apache Flex engine to generate an XML file that can be played in the Powtoon online viewer, exported to YouTube, or downloaded as an MP4 file. PowToon is also available in the Google Chrome Store and has an application on Edmodo.com.

With this web-based tool you can create 3D animations without any prior knowledge. You can see animated characters moving instantly. Get high-quality animations that are automatically retargeted to your 3D character and ready to bring into your project. No need to reanimate a walk cycle for each character. Search the Store for the right animation and get instant feedback on timing. 

Description: Wideo is designed to help its users create, edit, and   share videos very easily . With its user-friendly interface, you can bring your ideas to life in a matter of moments. Simply drag and drop elements or upload your own images; with just a few clicks, you’ll be animating your content.

Whether you’re a seasoned animator or a beginner taking your first steps into the world of video creation, Wideo provides a seamless and intuitive experience. The process is as simple as can be—just select the desired elements, arrange them as you please, and watch your creations come to life.

This is an online tool to create visual aids for your story. It can be used to create infographics, presentations, and other visual content in a time-saving manner. Whether you are looking for a cost-effective solution or seeking additional advanced features, Visme has something to offer. If you want to animate for free , the software has both free and paid versions.

MakeWebVideo

If you need a business video advertisement or a product video to promote your company, website, or an upcoming event – you’ve come to the right spot! This website has developed an online video animation maker that lets you make a professional video for your website and will help increase your business sales.

Vyond is an online tool that lets you create your own animated videos. Create your own characters, choose the one that fits your needs with the specific description. Audio is automatically lip-synced to the characters in real time, so it looks professional. This platform has a free trial available for 14 days.

The software stands as a dynamic and innovative animation software solution for making a video presentation . Unlike traditional slide-based approaches, Prezi takes storytelling to new heights by enabling users to create captivating and fluid visual narratives.

Concentrated on digital animations, Prezi offers a unique zooming canvas that allows presenters to seamlessly transition between different visual elements, creating a smooth and engaging flow of information.

Recommended Reading

• What is 3D Animation? Everything You Should Know
• What is an NFT Video, and How to Earn With it?
• Engagement Booster! 9 Video Presentation Tools to Try Today!

2D Animation Software

2D animation is one of the most popular animation styles. From captivating feature films to engaging advertisements, 2D animation has found its place in various industries, and its popularity continues to surge. 

In fact, the global 2D animation software market is predicted to grow at +10% CAGR through the years 2023 to 2030 . 

The allure of 2D animation lies in its ability to blend creativity and nostalgia, evoking a sense of wonder and imagination. With the advent of advanced technology, 2D animation software has experienced a remarkable resurgence, offering artists a wide array of tools and techniques to bring their visions to life.

The main types of 2D animation software include but don’t limit to the following:

• Traditional animation software
• Vector-based animation software
• Motion graphics software
• Rigging and animation software

With each stroke and movement, 2D animation software is forging new frontiers in the art of storytelling, weaving tales that touch the hearts and minds of viewers. 

Let’s furtherly explore some key market players to help you create your next animated video for business or any other purpose.

Operating system:  Website

Designed for traditional 2D animation, Toon Boom inspires artists and animators to bring their creative visions to life. Users can unleash their artistic talents through hand-drawn animation techniques, utilizing the software’s intuitive drawing tools, frame-by-frame animation capabilities, and onion-skinning functionality. These features allow precise control over each frame, ensuring smooth and fluid movements that breathe life into characters and objects.

Another powerful feature of Toon Boom is its robust rigging system. Artists can design and rig complex character structures, allowing for efficient and consistent animation. The software’s bone and deformation tools provide flexibility and control, enabling animators to achieve various movements and expressions.

Moho (Animion Software)

Operating system: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X

Moho is a proprietary vector-based 2D animation software for animators. Moho has two different versions: Moho Debut and Moho Pro. The first one doesn’t have all the functions that the Pro version has, plus the Debut version is a bit more restricted in terms of possible length and image size. 

The features include drawing tools, smart bones, Photoshop files import, quad meshes, full 3D space and camera, lip-sync tools, and more. 

Moho’s standout feature lies in its exceptional ease of use, allowing users to effortlessly create reusable 2D rigs while maintaining a high level of control. This unique combination makes it an ideal choice for various applications, including TV shows, web series, and even video game animation.

Synfig Studio

Operating system: Linux, Mac OS X, Windows

Synfig Studio is a feature-rich, open-source computer animation program that operates on a timeline-based, 2D vector graphics framework. 

What sets Synfig Studio apart is its unique architecture, consisting of both a front-end and back-end application. This distinctive setup allows users to create animations seamlessly in the intuitive front-end interface. Later, they can render their creations in the back end, even on a separate computer, without needing a graphical display connection.

As an open-source software, Synfig Studio is freely available, granting access to its comprehensive suite of animation tools and features without any cost. Yet, it requires certain levels of professionalism to bring your ideas to life.

Adobe Animate

Operating system: Windows, OS X

Developed by Adobe Systems, Adobe Animate is one of the best animation software and multimedia authoring programs available today. If you aim to create captivating vector graphics and animations, Animate is the ideal tool to bring your vision to life. 

The versatility of Adobe Animate extends across various platforms and mediums. Once you’ve crafted your animations, you can seamlessly incorporate them into websites, online videos, rich internet applications, video games, and television programs. This broad range of applications allows you to showcase your creations to a wide and diverse audience.

Additionally, the software supports rich text and raster graphics, offering flexibility and creative freedom in your designs.

Operating system: Linux, OS X, Microsoft Windows

Pencil 2D is an open-source and free animation software for creating digital animations. You can easily produce simple 2D drawings and graphics, and create a hand-drawn animation by using the bitmap/vector drawing interface of the application. It started as a simple “pencil test” at first and developed into professional animation software.

Operating system: Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows

OpenToonz, an esteemed open-source 2D animation software, offers a wide array of creative tools and features. As part of the same family, Toonz Premium is a professional-grade product providing advanced capabilities for animation production.

OpenToonz’s open-source nature fosters a collaborative and supportive community, driving ongoing development and innovation. Artists and developers can contribute to the software’s improvement, ensuring that it remains up-to-date and relevant in the ever-evolving field of animation.

DigiCel FlipBook

DigiCel FlipBook embraces the essence of the traditional animation process. Inspired by the likes of Toon Boom Harmony and TVPaint, FlipBook aims to replicate the traditional hand-drawn animation experience. As such, it does not support skeletal animation, focusing on individual frame creation and onion skinning for inbetweening.

By emphasizing frame-by-frame creation and onion skinning, FlipBook allows animators to craft each individual frame with precision and care meticulously. This approach offers full control over the animation process, lending a traditional touch to the final product.

Retas Studio

Operating system: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS

RETAS (Revolutionary Engineering Total Animation System) is an exceptional 2D animation software bundle created and distributed by Celsys. Available for both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, RETAS offers a comprehensive solution for the entire animation production process.

Notably, RETAS has earned a prominent position in Japan’s anime industry, being regarded as a leader in the field. Its robust features, reliability, and advanced capabilities have made it a preferred choice among professionals in the Japanese animation community.

Animation Paper

Operating system: Linux, Windows, macOS

Animation Paper, developed by Krogh Mortensen Animation, is an exceptional software package designed specifically for hand-drawn 2D animation. With its intuitive interface and innovative features, Animation Paper revolutionizes the animation workflow, allowing animators to draw directly on the screen without the need for traditional line tests.

This free animation program caters to beginners, providing a user-friendly platform to explore the art of animation. It offers a seamless and intuitive drawing experience, empowering aspiring animators to unleash their creativity and bring their ideas to life.

CelAction 2D

Operating system: Windows

CelAction2D is a professional 2D animation software specialized in films, TV series, and commercials. Using vector graphics and bitmaps, character models and their movements can be edited. Over 60 effects and many audio samples are available in order to make scenes more dynamic. The animation will be previewed in low resolution but can be rendered out in any resolution you wish up to 4K. The program has no drawing tools, so your sketches or photos have to be imported from different software (such as Photoshop, Illustrator, or Flash).

Maefloresta

Operating system: Unix-like, Windows, macOS

Maefloresta is a Colombian startup providing products and services to create animated content. Their main product is TupiTube, a simple animation software that kids and teenagers use to create animations. It was developed by two young Colombians to encourage young people throughout Latin America to animate. 

TupiTube is free and open-source software, compatible with phones, tablets, and PCs. It offers features like basic tools for vector illustration, support for tweening of positions and colors, a library panel to organize files, and different formats for exporting. The goal is to reach a professional level for more advanced users eventually.

More Templates

3D Animation Software

Unlike 2D animation, which is flat, 3D animation is the art of placing objects and characters in a 3-dimensional space and giving them a more realistic feel. Check out our list of the best 3D animation software and learn how to make 3D animation with some free resources.

Autodesk 3ds Max

Operating system: Windows 7 or later

Description: Autodesk 3ds Max, formerly 3D Studio, then 3D Studio Max is a professional 3D animation software for making 3D animations, models, games, and images. It’s developed and produced by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. It has modeling capabilities and a flexible plugin architecture and can be used on the Microsoft Windows platform.

It is frequently used by video game developers, many TV commercial studios, and architectural visualization studios. Autodesk is also used for movie effects and movie pre-visualization. For its modeling and animation tools, the latest version of 3ds Max also features shaders (such as ambient occlusion and subsurface scattering), dynamic simulation, particle systems, radiosity, normal map creation and rendering, global illumination, a customizable intuitive interface, new icons, and its own scripting language.

Maxon Cinema 4D

Operating system: AmigaOS, MacOS, Microsoft Windows

Description: CINEMA 4D is a 3D modeling, animation, motion graphics , and rendering application developed by MAXON Computer GmbH in Germany. It is one of the best animation software available, and is capable of procedural and polygonal/SubD modeling, animating, lighting, texturing, rendering, visual effects, video editing and compositing, and common features found in 3D modeling applications. Four variants are currently available from MAXON: a core CINEMA 4D ‘Prime’ application, a ‘Broadcast’ version with additional motion-graphics features, ‘Visualize’ which adds functions for architectural design, and ‘Studio’, which includes all modules.

Initially, CINEMA 4D was developed for Amiga computers in the early 1990s, and the first three versions of the program were available exclusively for that platform. With v4, however, MAXON began to develop CINEMA 4D for Windows and Macintosh computers as well, citing the wish to reach a wider audience and the growing instability of the Amiga market following Commodore’s bankruptcy.

Operating system: Windows, MacOS, Linux

Description: Houdini is one of the best animation software, and was developed by Side Effects Software based in Toronto. Side Effects adapted Houdini from the PRISMS suite of procedural generation software tools. Its exclusive attention to procedural generation distinguishes it from other 3D animation software open-source solutions.

Houdini is an advanced motion graphics tool, and has been used in various feature animation productions, including Disney’s feature films Frozen and Zootopia; the Blue Sky Studios film Rio, and DNA Productions’ Ant Bully.

Side Effects also publishes a partially limited version called Houdini Apprentice, which is free of charge for non-commercial use.

Description: Poser is a 3D computer graphics program optimized for modeling human figures. The program has gained popularity due to allowing beginners to produce basic animations and digital images and the extensive availability of third-party digital models. Poser is a 3D rendering software package for the posing, animating, and rendering of 3D polymesh human and animal figures. Akin to a virtual photography studio, Poser allows users to load figures, props, lighting, and cameras for still and animated renderings.

Using a subset of the Alias object (OBJ) file format and a text-based markup for content files, Poser comes with a large library of pre-rigged human, animal, robotic, and cartoon figures. The package includes poses, hairpieces, props, textures, hand gestures, and facial expressions. As Poser itself does not allow for the original modeling of objects, a large community market of artists emerged, creating and selling Poser content using third-party software like Modo, ZBrush, Blender, or Autodesk 3ds Max.

Description: iClone is a real-time 3D animation and rendering software program that enables users to make 3D animated films. Real-time playback is enabled by using a 3D video game engine for instant on-screen rendering.

Other functionality includes full facial and skeletal animation of human and animal figures, lip-syncing, import of standard 3D file types including FBX, a timeline for editing and merging motions, a scripting language (Lua) for character interaction, application of standard motion-capture files, the ability to control an animated scene in the same manner as playing a video game, and the import of models from Google 3D Warehouse, among many other features that make animation easy. iClone is also notable for offering users royalty-free usage of all content that they create with the software, even when using Reallusion’s own assets library.

Operating system: AmigaOS, Mac OS X, iPad, Linux, AROS, MorphOS, Windows

Description: Aladdin4D is a computer program for modeling and rendering three-dimensional graphics and animations, currently running on AmigaOS and Mac OS X platforms. A-Eon Technology Ltd owns the rights and develops current and future versions of Aladdin4D for AmigaOS, MorphOS & AROS. All other platforms including OS X, iOS, Windows & Linux are developed by DiscreetFX. Nova Design added many modern features and made it easier to create animated videos with the software. It was one of the first 3D animation software on any platform to employ volumetrics, which were primarily used to create volumetric gas. However, unlike the majority of Amiga 3D programs, it used scanline rendering instead of the more photo-realistic ray-tracing technique. Scanline rendering is similar to the rendering technique used in most Pixar movies.  

Autodesk Maya

Operating system: Windows 7 or later OS X 10.8 or later RHEL/CentOS 6.2 or later

Maya is an application used to generate 3D assets for use in film, television, game development, and architecture. The software is also one of the best animation software for character animation and is used by major studios around the world. It was initially released for the IRIX operating system. However, this support was discontinued in August 2006.

Users who are students, teachers (or veterans or unemployed in USA markets) can download a full educational version from the Autodesk Education community for free. The versions available at the community are only licensed for non-commercial use (once activated with the product license) and some products create watermarks on output renders. The software comes with a full 36-month license. Once it expires, users can log into the community to request a new 36 months license and download the latest Autodesk product.

Operating system: Windows, Mac OS, Linux

Description: Blender is professional and free animation software. Its 3D computer graphics software toolset is used for creating animated films, visual effects, art, 3D printed models, interactive 3D applications, and video games.   Blender’s features include UV unwrapping, texturing, raster graphics editing, rigging and skinning, fluid and smoke simulation, particle simulation, soft body simulation, sculpting, animating, match moving, camera tracking, rendering, video editing, compositing, motion graphics, and character animation. It further features an integrated game engine that makes animation easy.

Operating system: Windows, Linux

Description: Cascadeur is a professional 3D graphics software for physics-based action animation. The software offers a wealth of tools you can use to achieve the most realistic look for your animation. The software comes with editable mockups and tools to create an animation from scratch. The AI tools help to adjust the timing and trajectories so that users can concentrate on the animation process. Cascadeur is compatible with other animation software, such as Maya, Unity, Autodesk 3DS Max, Cinema4D, and others.

LightWave 3D

Operating system: AmigaOS, Windows, macOS

Description: LightWave is a software package used for rendering 3D images, both animated and static. It includes a fast rendering engine that supports such advanced features as realistic reflection, radiosity, caustics, and 999 render nodes. The 3D modeling component supports both polygon modeling and subdivision surfaces. The animation component has features such as reverse and forward kinematics for character animation, particle systems, and dynamics. Programmers can expand LightWave’s capabilities using an included SDK, which offers Python, LScript (a proprietary scripting language) scripting, and C language interfaces.

Autodesk MotionBuilder

Description: MotionBuilder is a professional 3D character animation software produced by Autodesk. It is used for virtual production, motion capture, character animation, and traditional keyframe animation. It was originally named Filmbox when it was first created by Canadian company Kaydara, later acquired by Alias and renamed MotionBuilder. Alias, in turn, was acquired by Autodesk.

It is primarily used in film, games, television production, as well as other multimedia projects. Mainstream examples include Assassin’s Creed, Killzone 2, and Avatar.

At SIGGRAPH 2012, Autodesk announced a partnership with Weta Digital and Lightstorm Entertainment to develop the next generation of technology.

Description: Daz Productions, Inc., commonly known as Daz 3D, is a 3D content and software company specializing in providing rigged 3D human models, associated accessory content, and software to the prosumer market. It was originally part of Zygote Media Group, a general-purpose, application-agnostic 3D content broker, and split off as “Digital Art Zone” in 2000 to focus on supplying content for the Poser market.

After acquiring other modeling tools, DAZ 3D created their own 3D posing/animation package, DAZ Studio, while still continuing to make the content compatible with Poser for several years. DAZ 3D also sells third-party applications usable with their products.

Operating system: Windows, macOS

Description: Bryce, an impressive 3D modeling, rendering, and animation program, is renowned for its specialization in crafting breathtaking fractal landscapes. Drawing inspiration from the awe-inspiring beauty of Bryce Canyon, known for its rugged and striking scenery, the software replicates and simulates these captivating landscapes with remarkable precision.

The roots of the original Bryce software lie in the exploration of fractal geometry to generate realistic computer images of mountain ranges and coastlines. By harnessing the power of fractals, Bryce enables artists and designers to create stunningly realistic and immersive environments that evoke the majesty of nature

Operating system: Windows, Linux, macOS

Description: Modo (stylized as MODO, originally modo) is a polygon and subdivision surface modeling, sculpting, 3D painting, animation, and rendering package developed by Luxology, LLC, which is now merged with and known as Foundry. The program incorporates features such as n-gons and edge weighting and runs on Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS platforms. 

Modo’s workflow differs from many other notable 3D applications. It is often viewed as the fastest modelling app on the market that has a well-developed interoperability with other applications (CAD and 3D). 

Modo was used in the production of feature films such as Stealth, Ant Bully, Iron Man, and Wall*E.

Operating system: Windows, macOS, Linux, Free BSD

Description: K-3D is a free 3D animation software solution with modeling capabilities. It features a plug-in-oriented procedural engine for all of its content. K-3D supports polygonal modeling, and it includes basic tools for NURBS, patches, curves, and animation. Despite its name, it is not a KDE application; it uses the GTK+ toolkit via gtkmm. 

K-3D features procedural and parametric workflows. Properties can be adjusted interactively and results appear immediately. The node-based visualization pipeline allows more possibilities than traditional modifier stacks or histories. Selection flows from one modifier to the next. Standards form the foundation on which K-3D builds – including native RenderMan support that integrates tightly with the K-3D user interface. K-3D supports a node-based visualization pipeline, thus allowing the connection of multiple bodies. Work on one side of a model, show the other side mirrored, and see the end result welded together as a subdivision surface in real time. Go back, modify the beginning of a workflow, and watch as changes propagate automatically to the end.

Description: Anim8or is a freeware OpenGL-based 3D and character animation program by R. Steven Glanville, a software engineer at NVidia. It is a compact program with several tools which would normally be expected in high-end, paid software.

Users have the flexibility to customize the interface theme, including the option to switch to a dark gray background color mode. This feature enhances visibility, ensuring that the designed models or characters are easily discernible on the viewport window screen. Moreover, Anim8or offers anti-aliasing capabilities in the 3D view, provided you have a capable graphics chip. This anti-aliasing functionality grants users fine control over the thickness of lines within their models. By smoothing out jagged edges and enhancing the overall visual quality, anti-aliasing contributes to the creation of polished and refined models.

Description: Moviestorm is a real-time 3D animation software published by Moviestorm Ltd. The motion graphics software is available to and used by people of all age groups and appeals to those with a diverse range of backgrounds and interests, from amateur and professional filmmakers, through to businesses and education, as well as people just looking to simply tell stories or create messages to share using video. Moviestorm enables the user to create animated movies using machinima technology. It takes the user from the initial concept to finished, distributed movies . Sets and characters can be created and customized, and scenes can be filmed using multiple cameras.

Moviestorm is being used predominantly in education by students of film and media studies as a means to develop their skills and expand their portfolio, as well as a collaborative cross-curricular creative tool in education sectors from elementary to high school.

Messiah Studio

Operating system: Windows 2000 and later

Description:   Messiah Studio is a 3D animation and rendering application developed by PMG Worldwide. It runs on the Win32 and Win64 platforms. It is marketed to run on Mac OS X and Linux via Wine. Messiah’s fourth version, Messiah Studio was released in April 2009, and version 5.5b as Messiah Animate was released in November 2006. Messiah Studio6 was released in April 2013.

Hash Animation: Master

Operating system:  Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X

Description: Hash Animation: Master is a 3D character animation application offered by Hash, Inc. that includes tools for modeling, rigging, animation, texturing, lighting, and rendering. Although this software was developed for and is targeted towards independent artists, with a workflow optimized to enable one artist to create a rendered animated piece from start to finish, the workflow also presents economic advantages for larger workgroups.

The software uses a proprietary spline mesh technology to perform modeling and animation, and it is different in this sense from polygon mesh or NURBS-based programs. The system used is called patch-based modeling. It uses multiple intersecting splines to create surfaces called patches. Patches present efficiency in that one patch can describe a complex curved surface that would require many facets to approximate in flat polygons.

Aside from the typical 4-sided patches common in many spline modeling environments, Animation: Master can also create 3 and 5-sided patches that enable mesh topologies not possible in other applications.

Operating system: Windows XP and later OS X 10.6 and later

Description: CrazyTalk is Reallusion’s brand name for its 3D animation software. The product series includes CrazyTalk, a 3D facial animation software tool, and CrazyTalk, a face and a body 3D animation suite.

CrazyTalk, the 3D facial animation software, is a real-time animation software that enables users to make 3D animated cartoons. It is a facial animation tool that uses voice and text to vividly animate facial images. It has an auto motion engine that allows animators to use the intensity of their voice to drive their animations in real time. 

CrazyTalk is developed and marketed by Reallusion, a company that has a software and digital content development base in Taiwan with offices and training centers in the U.S. and Germany.

Explore Animated Explainer Video Templates

Description: KeyShot is a real-time 3D rendering software. It aims to deliver results instantly, reducing the time it takes to load and create shots. KeyShot allows users to elevate visuals creating a lifelike animation. It offers features such as CPU rendering, HDRI lighting, physical lighting, denoise, camera control, KeyShot cloud, etc.

KeyShot was introduced by Luxion, which specializes in advanced 3D rendering, animation, and lighting technology. Luxion developed KeyShot based on scientific research on material representation and global illumination.

Toontastic 3D

Description: Toontastic 3D is a creative storytelling tool available for tablets, phones, and Chromebooks. It works both for iOS and Android. Toontastic allows you to draw, animate, and narrate your own animated cartoons. You can choose from existing characters, draw your own, or add your face to characters. 

The app doesn’t require a login or password and works offline. Exporting and downloading your files is easy and free. Because of its interactive and simple interface, Toontastic has gained popularity among kids and students.

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Other Animation Software

There are also some other animation tools that we think you should know about.

Wondershare FilmoraPro

Operating system: Microsoft Windows (64-bit), Mac OS X 10.13 or later

Description: Wondershare FilmoraPro is a powerful and straightforward video editor for all levels, from middle to advanced. Its flexible keyframing, advanced tools, smoothing effects, and motion blur will help you create a high-quality animation video. And the auto color correction and audio mixer will upscale your 2D animation video to a new level. If you are looking for greater productivity, better control, and more ways to customize your animation video, FilmoraPro is the right choice.

Adobe After Effects

Operating system: Microsoft Windows, macOS

Description: Adobe After Effects is a digital visual effect, motion graphics, and compositing application developed by Adobe Systems and used in the post-production process of filmmaking, video editing, and television production. Among other things, After Effects can be used for keying, tracking, compositing, and animation. It also functions as a very basic non-linear editor, audio editor, media transcoder and is one of the best animation software for motion graphics lovers.

Pivot Animator

Description: Pivot Animator (formerly Pivot Stickfigure Animator and usually shortened to Pivot) is a freeware application that allows users to create stick-figure and sprite animations and save them in the animated GIF format for use on web pages and the AVI format (in Pivot Animator 3 and later).

Pivot provides a simple, easy-to-use interface with a few features. It uses fixed-length ‘sticks’ to ensure size consistency during the animation.

Microsoft PowerPoint

Operating system: Microsoft Windows  

Description: Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program currently developed by Microsoft, for use on both Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh operating systems. PowerPoint, initially named “Presenter”, was created by Forethought Inc. Microsoft’s version of PowerPoint was officially launched on May 22, 1990, as a part of the Microsoft Office suite. PowerPoint is useful for helping develop the slide-based presentation format and is currently one of the most commonly used slide-based presentation programs available. Microsoft has also released the PowerPoint mobile application for Apple and Android mobile operating systems.

Operating system: Linux, macOS, Windows

Description: Unity is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies, which is primarily used to develop video games and simulations for computers, consoles, and mobile devices.

Unity is marketed to be an all-purpose engine, and as a result, supports both 2D and 3D graphics, drag and drop functionality, and scripting through its 3 custom languages. The engine targets the following APIs: Direct3D and Vulkan on Windows and Xbox 360; OpenGL on Mac, Linux, and Windows; OpenGL ES on Android and iOS; and proprietary APIs on video game consoles.

Unity is the default software development kit (SDK) for Nintendo’s Wii U video game console platform, with a free copy included by Nintendo with each Wii U developer license. Unity Technologies calls this bundling of a third-party SDK an “industry first”.

Stop Motion Studio

Operating system: macOS, Windows

Description: Stop Motion Studio helps to create stop-action movies. It was created by Cateater LLC, a South Carolina-based development studio. Features include 4K Ultra HD, frame-by-frame editing, overlay mode, built-in movies gallery, and sound effects. It supports digital cameras and allows the use of a second device as a remote camera. Stop Motion Studio is available on various devices, including iPhone, iPad, macOS, as well as Android, and Windows. It has been honored with numerous awards and is one of the best software for creating stop-motion animations.

Operating system: Unix-like system, Windows, OS X

Description: Krita stands as a remarkable animation software and painting program that caters to both professionals and enthusiasts. Created by artists with a passion for making art tools accessible to all, Krita offers a powerful and free platform for unleashing your creative potential.

With Krita, artists can explore a multitude of artistic endeavors. Whether you’re creating concept art, texture and matte paintings, illustrations, or even comics, this versatile software provides the tools and features needed to bring your ideas to life.

Operating system: Linux, Windows, OS X

Description: Stykz is one of those free animation programs that have no hidden costs, license, or permission required to use Stykz to its fullest. This makes Stykz one of the best free animation software available on the market.

If you’ve ever used Pivot StickFigure Animator, you’ll feel right at home working with Stykz. Stykz is the first multi-platform stick figure animation program in the world (as far as we know), so you’ll be able to use Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux* to create, edit and preview your animations. (*Linux is in internal beta but will be available soon.)

Adobe Character Animator

Description: Adobe Character Animator is desktop application software that combines live motion capture with a multi-track recording system to control layered 2D puppets drawn in Photoshop or Illustrator. It can be used to produce both live and non-live animation.

Adobe Character Animator imports layered Photoshop & Illustrator documents into puppets that have behaviors applied to them. The puppets are then placed into a scene, which can be viewed in the Scene panel and Timeline panel. Rigging is set up in the Puppet panel, though basic rigging is fully automatic based on specific layer names like Right Eyebrow and Smile. The final output of a scene can be exported to a sequence of PNG files and a WAV file, or any video format supported by Adobe Media Encoder. Live output can be sent to other applications running on the same machine via the Syphon protocol (Mac only) or Adobe Mercury Transmit on both Mac and Windows. Scenes can also be dropped directly into After Effects and Premiere Pro, using Dynamic Link to avoid rendering.

Clip Studio Paint

Operating system:  Windows, macOS

Clip Studio Paint is an illustration/manga/animation production software. Its high-performing rendering engine makes it possible to draw with natural and realistic brush strokes and multi-core CPU support handles high resolution and multiple layers. Since its launch in 2012, more than 3 million people worldwide have used this software.

The software is widely used in the professional field as well, including many manga artists and animation studios. Not only the software itself, but Celsys also provides various services for its users, including CLIP STUDIO ASSETS for downloading materials and CLIP STUDIO TIPS for tutorials and drawing techniques. Currently, the software is supported in 7 different languages. A free version is available to try on PC and iPad.

Dragonframe

Operating system: Windows, macOS, Linux

Description: Dragonframe is one of the best animation software for stop-motion videos. It allows you to do feature-level, performance-based animation in any format. The software permits users to manipulate the camera and the scene and then combine the frames into a stop-motion video. A 30-day free trial is available.

Dragonframe was developed by brothers Jamie and Dyami Caliri when they were working on a commercial called “The Dragon.” Later, they formed DZED Systems LLC to develop Dragon Stop Motion for the public. Dragonframe has since been used to create Disney’s Frankenweenie, Laika’s Coraline, The Boxtrolls, and ParaNorman, as well as the holochess scene in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, in the realm of animation software, the choice ultimately depends on your specific needs and skills. So, there is no one answer to which is the best animation software. 

With the extensive list of animation tools provided, you have a wealth of options to explore and find the perfect fit for your creative journey. Whether you’re delving into 2D or 3D animation, these software options offer the tools and features necessary to craft captivating animations and explainer videos .

As you embark on your animation-making endeavors, don’t forget to consider Renderforest as a comprehensive solution that encompasses a vast array of tools and resources to elevate your creations. From animation to beyond, Renderforest provides a platform to unleash your creativity and bring your ideas to life.

Take the leap, explore the possibilities, and create the most compelling animations with the help of Renderforest. Start your animation journey today!

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How to Make Animated Presentations [Use Cases +7 Animation Tools]

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Creating videos can be a great way to share your knowledge with the world, but it’s important to make sure they’re engaging and interesting. Animated presentations can help you do just that, by adding some visual stimulation to your content.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss how to make animated presentations, and share some tips on how to make them effective.

Let’s get started.

The Power of Animation

A well-designed animation can convey complex information in an easy way.

Animation in video can be used to tell stories, convey messages, and even promote products. A customer of Vyond reported a 38% boost in video sharing on social media platforms just by using animated videos.

Perhaps the most important use of animation is to educate. By its very nature, animation is extremely versatile. It can be used to explain complex concepts in a simple and engaging way.

This makes it an ideal tool for teaching difficult topics such as science and history in school. In fact, a Google 2020 report showed that younger generations seek out short tutorials and video clips like animations to help them learn and for entertainment.

In addition, animation can also be used to teach adults about new technologies and ideas.

Animated Presentations are Great for Your Business

Animated presentations offer a great way to make your business more engaging and exciting. By using animation, you can add visual interest to your presentation and make it more enjoyable for your audience.

By using animation to break down information into manageable chunks, you can help your audience understand and retain the information you are presenting.

In addition, animated presentations are a great way to add personality to your business. By infusing your presentation with your company’s unique voice and style, you can create a presentation that is truly memorable.

Tell a Visual Story to Create Engaging Presentations

You’re in a meeting, and the presentations are droning on. You’ve seen the same three slides for what feels like hours, but wait…is that a gif? And is it .. .moving? Suddenly, you’re riveted to the screen as the presenter brings their data to life with moving visuals. This is the power of animation.

By adding movement to otherwise static images, you can create engaging presentations that capture your audience’s attention and help them better understand complex concepts. Whether you’re using simple animations to highlight key points or creating richly detailed visual stories, animation can help you take your presentations to the next level.

Animation Keeps Attention

Animation offers a great way to keep your viewers’ attention. When used sparingly, it can add interest to an otherwise static image. Animation can also be used to highlight important information or to direct the viewer’s gaze to a particular area of the screen. However, it is important that you don’t go overboard with animation, as too much can be overwhelming and distracting.

Animations are Great Tools to Explain Complicated Concepts in a Simple Way

With animations, you can break down complex ideas into manageable chunks and explain them step by step.

This makes animations an ideal tool for teaching difficult concepts to students of all ages. In addition, animations can be a fun and engaging way to learn. They can help to hold attention and interest, and they can be used to review key points later on. Whether you’re trying to explain the laws of physics or the inner workings of the human body, animations are a great tool to have in your arsenal.

Animated Videos are Very Affordable and Easy to Make

Animated videos are very affordable and easy to make, and they can help you reach a wide audience. They also offer a unique way to tell your story and explain your products or services in an engaging and visually appealing way.

Animated Videos Impress and Convert

Animated videos grab attention and get your message across. They’re also highly effective at converting viewers into customers or clients.

The reason they’re so successful is that they’re able to engage viewers on an emotional level while also providing information in an easily digestible format. Animated videos are also highly shareable, meaning they have the potential to reach a wide audience.

Uses for Animated Videos

Awesome explainer videos.

If you’re looking for an engaging and effective way to explain your product or service, animated videos are a great option. You can create animated videos without coding skills or expensive software.

In addition, you can easily create professional animations with just a couple of clicks.

Whiteboard Animation

If you’re looking for a creative and engaging way to create videos, whiteboard animation is a great option.

Using simple illustrations and captivating narration, whiteboard animations can bring your ideas to life in a truly unique way. Plus, the medium is extremely versatile – it can be used for everything from educational videos to marketing campaigns.

Visualize Your Data

Animations offer a unique means for visualizing your data. By animating your data, you can see patterns and relationships that would otherwise be hidden. Animations can also help you to understand complex processes. For example, by watching an animation of a chemical reaction, you can see how the reactants interact with each other to form the products.

Instructional Videos

Animations can help bring instructional videos to life. By adding visuals, you can provide a more engaging and exciting experience for your viewers.

Animations can help to break up the monotony of a talking head vide o, and they can also be used to illustrate complex concepts. In addition, animations can add a touch of humor to your videos, making them more enjoyable to watch.

Best Animation Presentation Software

Presentations are a staple of the modern workplace. Whether you’re pitching a new product to potential clients or presenting your findings to your boss, being able to deliver an engaging and effective presentation is essential.

While there are a variety of software programs that can help you create a great presentation, not all of them are equally well-suited for animation. If you’re looking for the best animation presentation software, here are the top programs to take a look at.

1. Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint is the most popular presentation tool, with over 90 million downloads per month.

And a Microsoft 365 family subscription is very affordable. In fact, it costs less than $10 per person per month.

While PowerPoint is not typically known for its animation capabilities, with a little creativity and imagination, it can be used to create simple or complex animations.

To create an animation in PowerPoint, you will need to add images, shapes, or text to a slide and then use the software’s built-in tools to animate them.

• You can use the “Motion Paths” tool to make objects move along a predetermined path.
• Or, you can use the “Timeline” tool to control the order and timing of your animations.

By leveraging the powerful features of Microsoft PowerPoint, you can create impressive animations that will captivate your audience.

Prezi is a web-based platform that allows you to create stunning visual presentations.

It’s a great tool for creating animated presentations and Prezi’s interface is simple and intuitive.

Unlike traditional presentation software, which relies on slides, Prezi uses a zooming interface to allow you to zoom in and out of your content. This makes it easy to add animation and movement to your presentations, and it’s also great for presenting complex information in an engaging way.

Plus, Prezi is really easy to use – even if you have no experience, you’ll be able to create a beautiful presentation with Prezi in no time.

3. Google Slides

Google Slides is a free tool that allows people to easily make and share presentations.

It’s a great tool for creating simple animations. By adding multiple images to a single slide and then changing the image order, you can create the illusion of movement.

This technique is often used to create GIFs, which can be used to add visual interest to presentations or simply to share fun moments with friends.

To create an animation in Google Slides, start by adding the images that you want to use. Then, select the slide that you want to animate and click “Insert.” Lastly, select “Animation” from the menu and choose the animation that you want to use. With just a few clicks, you can add some excitement to your Google Slides presentation.

4. Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck is a great tool for creating slideshows and presentations.

It’s very easy to use, even for beginners.

Haiku Deck offers a wide range of templates, so users can create their presentations from scratch or choose from a selection of pre-made templates. The app also supports a wide range of media types, so users can include photos, videos, and audio in their presentations.

PowToon allows you to create presentations without having any coding knowledge.

It’s a tool that allows users to create animations, which can be used for a variety of purposes, such as creating video lessons or explainer videos. The interface is user-friendly and the results can be quite professional.

Powtoon is a great option for those who want to create animations without spending a lot of money on professional software.

Vyond offers you a point-and-click way to create professional-looking videos, slideshows, infographics, and animated GIFs.

It’s simple to use and has a wide range of features, making it perfect for both beginners and experienced animators.

With Vyond, you can create both 2D and 3D animations, and the software supports a variety of different file formats. You can also add audio tracks and special effects to your animations, which really helps to bring them to life.

Visme is easy to use and has a variety of features that make it perfect for creating high-quality animations. One of the best things about Visme is that their Basic plan is free.

You can create an account and start animating right away.

Visme also offers a wide range of templates and illustrations that you can use to create your animation. If you’re not an artist, don’t worry – Visme’s drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create animations without any prior experience. Simply select the elements you want to use and drag them into place. Visme also offers a wide range of different exporting options, so you can easily share your animation with others.

FAQ on Making Animated Presentations

What are the 4 types of animation.

There are four main types of animation: 2D, 3D, stop-motion, and vector. Here is a quick run-down of each:

• 2D animation is drawn on a flat surface, often using software like Adobe Flash or Toon Boom Harmony.
• 3D animation is created using computer graphics, and objects are given a three-dimensional appearance.
• Stop-motion animation involves taking photographs of physical objects that have been slightly adjusted between each frame.
• Vector animation uses mathematical curves to create movement and is often used for video games or explainer videos.

What makes a good animation?

Some people might prefer the more traditional hand-drawn style of animation while others might prefer the aesthetic of CGI.

A good animation should be able to transport you into its world and make you care about its characters. It should be visually stimulating and make clever use of its medium to tell its story.

How do you make animated cartoon presentations?

When it comes to making animated cartoon presentations, there are a few different software options that can help you get the job done. One popular option is Adobe After Effects .

After Effects is a powerful tool that can be used to create sophisticated animations. However, it can also be used to create simpler animations, making it a good option for those who are just getting started with animation.

Another popular option is Toon Boom Harmony . Toon Boom Harmony is a professional-grade animation software that is used by animators all over the world. It offers a wide range of features and is capable of creating high-quality animations. However, it can also be quite expensive.

For those on a budget, there are also free options such as Pencil2 D and Synfig Studio . While they may not be as feature-rich as professional software, they can still be used to create basic animations.

How do you make animated educational videos and presentations?

Some common choices include Adobe After Effects , Powtoon , and Vyond . Each has its own set of features and capabilities, so it’s important to choose the right one for your project.

• After Effects is a powerful tool that can create complex animations, but it can also be used for simple tasks like creating text animations.
• Powtoon is a great option for creating cartoon-style videos.
• GoAnimate is ideal for creating educational videos with a more serious tone.

What online tool is used in creating whiteboard animations?

There are a number of online tools that can be used for creating whiteboard animations . Some of the most popular options include Animaker , Vyond , and Doodly .

These tools allow users to create animated videos by adding text , images, and other graphical elements to a virtual whiteboard. The videos can then be exported as MP4 files or shared online. Whiteboard animations are an effective way to communicate ideas and information, and they can be used for a variety of purposes, including marketing, training, and education.

What are the 4 types animation of in PowerPoint?

There are 4 types of animation of PowerPoint: 1. Entrance; 2. Emphasis; 3. Exit; 4. Path.

The entrance animations bring your slide content in, and the exit animations take it away again. Entrance and exit animations can be set to occur automatically when the slide appears or is advanced, or they can be set to occur in response to a mouse click. Emphasis animations draw attention to specific elements on a slide, such as bullet points or charts.

Path animations allow you to create complex motion paths for your slide objects. For example, you could have an object travel across the screen, bounce up and down, or spin around before coming to rest in its final position.

When used sparingly, animation can help to highlight important information and make your presentation more engaging. However, too much animation can be distracting, so use it sparingly and only when it genuinely adds value to your presentation.

What is the best free animation software?

There are a number of free animation software programs available, and the best one for you will depend on your needs and preferences. If you’re looking for something that’s easy to use and doesn’t require a lot of experience, then using GIMP for simple animations might be a good option. It offers a wide range of features and is fairly user-friendly.

For something that’s more versatile and geared towards professionals, Blender is worth checking out. It has a steep learning curve but is packed with powerful tools. And if you’re after something specifically for 2D animation, then Pencil2D could be what you’re after. It’s open-source and relatively straightforward to use.

Bottom Line: Make Animated Presentations

Animated presentations are an engaging and powerful way to communicate your ideas.

They can help you stand out from the competition, make a complex topic easier to understand and keep your audience engaged from start to finish.

If you’re not using animated presentations in your video strategy yet, now is the time to start.

Lisa Parmley

Lisa Parmley is the founder of coursemethod.com. After gaining a Master's degree, she worked in research for about seven years. She started a training company in 2001, offering a course helping people pass a professional exam. That course has earned multiple 7 figures. She created SEO and authority site building training around 2007 which went on to earn well into the 6-figure mark.

She has 22+ years of experience in the trenches creating and selling online courses. Get help starting and growing your online course business here .

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The Top 5 Animated Presentation Software for 2022

Presentation software with animation is one of the most important components of modern-day business. Various kinds of presentations make it easier for people to learn. The best presentation software can also help you store your information in digital form or convert it into various formats. PowerPoint presentation design ideas to help you increase conversions and impress your clients. This article will help you choose the top 5 animated presentation software for 2022.

PowerPoint is the most popular presentation software on the market today. Microsoft acquired PowerPoint in 1987, and every new version has added dozens of new features for business and personal users. The current version, PowerPoint 2019, can be purchased as a standalone product or as part of the Microsoft Office suite.

PowerPoint was designed to work with other Office products; you can easily import content from Word or Excel into your presentation. It also has more templates and animations than any other office suite—which means you get all the creative tools you need to create a beautiful slideshow, no matter what industry you’re in.

It’s not just about creating beautiful slides—with PowerPoint; it’s easy to share your presentations with others through social media or email (or print them out if that’s more your style). And if you want to collaborate on projects remotely but don’t have access to a shared computer screen? No problem! With PowerPoint’s live collaboration capability, multiple people can edit a presentation simultaneously while on separate devices (or even in different countries). Use these PowerPoint presentation design ideas to take your business to the next level.

Prezi is cloud-based. Presentations can be done on a tablet or laptop, but the software has an app available for Android phones and iPhones, so you can present from wherever you are.

Prezi’s big picture and zoom feature help your audience understand your message better by focusing their attention on what you’re saying while providing context to keep them oriented as they navigate your presentation. Its conversational style engages with what’s being said since it feels more like a conversation than a monologue directed toward an audience.

You may have heard of Prezi before because its creators were the first to adopt this type of visual storytelling on such a large scale with their presentations, which helped popularize this idea worldwide. In other words: if you use Prezi today (or tomorrow!), then the chances are good that others will too!

Why should you use Emaze? Because it’s fast, intuitive, and easy to learn—three things that are hard to come by in the presentation software with animation space. But don’t let the intuitive nature fool you—Emaze comes with a whole host of powerful features that make it stand out from its competitors.

Whether you’re looking to create animations, 3D objects, or just presentations that aren’t boring, Emaze has your back. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy for anyone to create professional multimedia presentations promptly; if you’ve got a cool idea for an interactive element but aren’t sure how to implement it, no problem! You can embed videos directly into your presentation and even upload videos directly from YouTube or Google Drive. These elements combine to make Emaze one of the best-animated presentation software options on the market today!

• Animated charts and graphs
• Animated infographics
• A library of animated templates
• Support for animated images, illustrations, icons, and text
• A full suite of animated data widgets like progress bars, counters, timelines, and more
• Animated maps Visme also allows you to export your animated presentations as a video or an animated GIF file.

SlideDog offers a unique take on presenting. It allows you to combine different types of content, including files from Google Drive, Dropbox, and PowerPoint, with live web content and video in one presentation to create an intuitive, engaging experience for your audience.

• SlideDog also has a built-in video player and web browser, allowing you to play or stream videos as part of your presentation. It’s also a cloud-based service, so you won’t need to worry about emailing files or updating presentations on the go when there are last-minute changes—edit them online!
• Suppose you’re presenting offline at a conference or business meeting where it may not be possible to rely solely on WIFI connectivity. In that case, SlideDog can be used for live presentations via a USB drive or even downloaded and installed locally on your computer. As well as being able to present offline, it is possible to present remotely from anywhere using their remote desktop sharing feature.

Final words

One thing is for certain: the world of presentation software is constantly evolving, so it’s important to stay updated on the latest and greatest offerings. The presentation programs listed above are all-powerful, and anyone will help you create engaging animated presentations. However, by 2022 we may have an even grander selection of presentation options.

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A presentation that works like a website

Engage your audience with interactive slides that they can click on and explore. Add music, video, hotspots, popup windows, quiz games and interactive data visualizations in a couple of clicks. No coding required!

NO-CODE ANIMATION

Make your slides pop with animation

Bring a touch of movie magic to the screen with incredible visual effects and animated page transitions. Add click-trigger and timed animations to make any topic easy to understand and captivating to watch.

INTEGRATIONS

Live from the world wide web

Embed online content directly in your slides for a media-rich interactive experience. From YouTube and Spotify to Google Maps and Sheets, Genially works seamlessly with over 100 popular apps and websites.

TEMPLATES & TOOLKIT

Genius design tools

With Genially, anyone can create a polished and professional presentation. Choose from over 2000 pre-built templates, or create your own design using the drag-and-drop resources, color palettes, icons, maps and vector graphics.

ONLINE PLATFORM

Safe and sound in the cloud

Because Genially is online, you can relax knowing that your slides are always up-to-date. There’s no risk of forgetting to save changes or accessing the wrong file. Log in from anywhere, collaborate with your team, and make edits in real time.

All-in-one interactive presentation maker

Real-time collaboration

Co-edit slide decks with others in real time and organize all of your team projects in shared spaces.

Multi format

Present live, share the link, or download as an interactive PDF, MP4 video, JPG, HTML, or SCORM package.

Engagement Analytics

See how many people have viewed and clicked on your slides and keep tabs on learner progress with User Tracking.

Import from PPTX

Give your old decks a new lease of life by importing PowerPoint slides and transforming them with a little Genially magic.

Keep content on-brand with your logo, fonts, colors, brand assets, and team templates at your fingertips.

Quiz & Survey Builder

Use the Interactive Questions feature to add a fun quiz to your slides or gather feedback from your audience.

Beautiful templates

Make your next deck in a flash with Genially’s ready-to-use slides.

Okr shapes presentation

School notebook presentation

Animated sketch presentation

Minimal presentation

Land of magic presentation

Onboarding presentation

Visual presentation

Animated chalkboard presentation

Online Education Guide

Terrazzo presentation

Startup pitch

Historical presentation

THEMES FOR EVERYONE

Interactive presentation ideas

From classroom materials to business pitches, make an impact every day with Genially.

Education presentations

Pitch decks

Business presentations

Thesis defense

Why the world loves Genially presentations

Share anywhere

Present live

From the front of the room or behind a screen, you’ll wow your audience with Genially. Heading off grid? Download in HTML to present dynamic slides without WiFi.

Share the link

Every Genially slide deck has its own unique url, just like a website! Share the link so that others can explore at their own pace, or download an MP4 video slideshow or PDF.

Post online

Embed the slides on your website or post them on social media. Upload to Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom, Moodle or any other platform.

The benefits of interactive slides

🗣️ Active participation An interactive slide deck gives your audience cool things to click on and discover, boosting learning and engagement.

👂 Multi-sensory experience Audio, video, animations, and mouse interactions make your content immersive, entertaining and accessible.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People-friendly format Pop-ups and embeds condense more material into fewer slides so you can break information down into digestible chunks.


🎮 Gamification Games, quizzes and puzzles make information more memorable and enable you to gather feedback and check understanding.

How to make an interactive presentation

With Genially’s easy-to-use presentation platform, anyone can make incredible visual content in moments.

Choose a template or a blank canvas

Get stunning results in less time with a ready-made template. Feeling creative? Design your own slides from scratch.

Customize the design

Add animations and interactions

Resources to become a pro presentation creator

VIDEO TUTORIAL

How to create an interactive presentation: Get started in Genially.

EXPERT TIPS

How to present data without sending your audience to sleep.

MICRO COURSE

No-code animation: Bring your slides to life with cinematic visual effects.

PRESENTATION IDEAS

The art of digital storytelling: Engage and thrill on screen.

Genially in a nutshell

How do I make a presentation interactive and how does Genially work? Find the answers to all of your slide-related questions here!

What’s an interactive presentation?

Interactive slides contain clickable hotspots, links, buttons, and animations that are activated at the touch of a button. Instead of reading or watching passively, your audience can actively interact with the content.  

Genially’s interaction presentation software allows you to combine text, photos, video clips, audio and other content in one deck. It’s a great way to condense more information into fewer slides. 

If you’re a teacher, you can share multiple materials in one single learning resource. Students can create their own projects using digital media and online maps. For business or training, try embedding spreadsheet data, PDFs, and online content directly in your slides. 

An interactive slide deck is more user-friendly than a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation or Google Slides document. That’s because you can break information down into chunks with pop-ups, labels, voiceovers and annotated infographics.  

The other benefit of interactive content is increased engagement. It’s easier to keep your audience’s attention when they’re actively participating. Try Genially’s presentation software and free slideshow maker to see how it’s better than other presentation websites. You won’t go back to standard presentation apps!

How do you make a clickable slide?

The best way to make slides clickable is to use Genially’s free interactive presentation program. Design your slide then apply an interaction. In a couple of clicks, you can add popup windows, hyperlinks, close-up images, games, animations, multimedia and other content. 

Choose from the library of hotspot buttons and icons to show people what to click on. Go to Presenter View to get a preview and see how your content will appear to your audience.

How do I create presentations that look professional?

You’ve got a deadline looming and you’re staring at the screen with a blank presentation. We’ve all been there! Starting a presentation design from scratch is tricky, especially if you’re short on time. 

Genially’s free online presentation maker has over 2000 ready-to-use templates for professional slide presentations, photos slideshows, and more. Each slide design has been created by our team of top graphic designers. No need to worry about fonts, centering images, or designing a matching color scheme. It’s all done for you. 

Start by browsing our layouts and themes for education, business and then customize with your own text and images.

How do I share or download my slides?

Because Genially is a cloud based presentation software, you can simply share the link to your slides. Like other online presentation tools, there are no files to download or store on your computer. Everything is saved online.  

When you publish your slide deck, it gets its own unique url, just like a website. Share the link with others to let them explore the content in their own time. If you’re presenting live, just click the Present button. 

You can also embed your presentation on your website, company wiki, or social media. Genially is compatible with WordPress, Moodle, Google Classroom, and other platforms. If you use an LMS, you can also download your interactive design slides in SCORM format.

For slideshow videos and slideshows with music, share online or download as an MP4 video. Check out our free slideshow templates for ideas.

Can I make a free presentation in Genially?

You bet! Genially is an easy-to-use slide maker, with a free version and paid plans. The free plan allows you to create unlimited slides with interactions and animations. Subscribe to one of our paid plans for more advanced features.

Discover a world of interactive content

Join the 25 million people designing incredible interactive experiences with Genially.

Ready to get started?

Create video presentations that demand attention.

Trusted by 9+ million people and over 10,000 companies

Create video presentations that demand attention with the Biteable video presentation maker. Deliver critical information with pitch-perfect video templates, one-click branding, and a seamless video creation experience for your best presentation yet.

How to make animated videos in minutes, start a free 7-day trial of biteable., pick an animated video template or build your own with pre-made animated scenes., customize your video: add or remove scenes , include animated text, upload your own pictures and video clips. you can even add a voice over, download your masterpiece or share it far and wide with a single,  trackable link ., a video presentation maker that rises above the rest, on-point templates.

Get started with brandable templates, ready-made scenes, and best-in-class animations.

Smart editing

A done-for-you editing experience takes the hard work out of the equation.

Branding made easy

Automatically apply your company colors and logo to your entire presentation.

Getting started

Mark video presentation off your to-do list with biteable.

If you can make a PowerPoint, you can make a video presentation with Biteable.

Choose from a full library of brandable templates and scenes, all designed with a professional audience in mind. Build out your video presentation with animated text, characters, and icons — all with the click of a button. Polish it off with a premium music track.

Need to add your own media? No problem. Seamlessly add video clips and pictures for a polished look in minutes. Better yet, record new footage, add a voice-over, or capture your screen without leaving the app.

Biteable’s all-in-one video presentation maker does the hard work for you. All you have to do is go be the star of the meeting.

Create videos that drive action

Activate your audience with impactful, on-brand videos. Create them simply and collaboratively with Biteable.

Make a video presentation for

Asynchronous meetings.

Create video presentations and send them to your team with a single link.

Live meetings

Whether you meet on Zoom or in person, a video presentation beats a PowerPoint any day.

Video reports

A performance report is boring, but a video presentation report is bold and memorable.

Making a video presentation: FAQs

Your answers to the most frequently asked questions about making a video presentation.

How do I make a video presentation for free?

It’s hard to make a video presentation for free, because free video makers have limited features that usually aren’t geared toward professional presentations. Your best bet is making a presentation during a free trial with a leading video presentation maker. Most people quickly realize purchasing a subscription is worth the money.

How do I make a video out of a presentation?

Not all online video makers are geared toward making a video out of a presentation, so it’s important to use one that focuses on making videos for a professional setting. Look for features like: templates and scenes geared toward the business world; video branding capabilities; an easy-to-use workflow.

How do I make a narration video presentation?

There are three ways to make a narration video presentation.

• Record narration separately and sync it to your presentation.
• Upload first-person video footage. Merge it with your presentation.
• Use a video presentation maker with in-app voice-over and recording features. (This is the easiest way to make a narration video presentation.)

How do I make an animated presentation?

Making an animated presentation from scratch is difficult unless you have advanced skills. Your best bet is to find a video presentation maker with a library of animations you can add to your presentation. Look for an online video maker that offers unique animations geared toward a professional setting.

“Biteable gives us the speed and quality to create videos that allows our 3-person team to play at the level of a 60-person team.”

• Tara Aiken, Regis Corporation

4 must-have tips for making video presentations

Creating a video presentation is easy with Biteable. And it’s even easier if you follow these best practices.

Have a goal in mind

Every great video presentation starts with a goal. What are you trying to accomplish? Maybe you want to share a new idea with your colleagues. Maybe you want to report on important company metrics. Or maybe you want to do something else entirely.

It’s incredibly difficult to make a video presentation that moves the needle until you define exactly what your presentation aims to achieve. Figure that part out and the rest becomes much easier.

Choose a proven template

Now that you know what your presentation aims to achieve you can pick a template that fits. You can create your video presentation from scratch, but using a template as a starting point gives you guide rails for tempo and pacing, plus a proven structure designed by pros.

Biteable video presentation maker has plenty of template options geared toward a professional setting, plus hundreds of extra video scenes and animations to build out your video presentation as much or as little as you like.

Use animations that underscore your message

One of the biggest advantages of video presentations over something static like a PowerPoint is the presence of motion. Without even realizing it, your audience will remember the information better simply because video is a multimedia experience that combines movement, sound, and visuals. To make the most impact, choose your animations wisely and use movement in a way that underscores your key points.

Are you presenting on the massive growth your marketing team achieved? Use a graph showing upward movement to drive the point home. Do you have one key point you’re trying to make? Use animation to circle your text or arrows that point at your most important information.

(All of this is easy to do with the video scenes available in Biteable.)

Keep it short and sweet

The length of your video presentation matters. Too short and you won’t be able to convey enough information. Too long and your audience will tune out.

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to video presentation length. But in general, 1-2 minutes is the sweet spot for making a video presentation that holds attention while still getting all the important information across.

You’d be surprised how many details you can share in this amount of time. A 15-minute live presentation can easily be condensed into one or two minutes if you hone your message to focus on the key details.

Brand your video

This is probably one of the most important — and most overlooked — parts of creating a successful video presentation. You’d never create a PowerPoint with erratic, off-brand colors. Making a video presentation is no different.

It’s a subtle change, but it gives off a big signal that you are polished and professional, and that you and your video presentation mean business.

Take advantage of the unique branding feature in the Biteable video presentation maker to easily apply your colors and logo to your entire presentation.

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Create animated presentations that impress every time

Save hours on creating video presentations that you’re actually proud of. No skills needed.

Loved by 30 million people

Jumpstart your ideas

Choose from 100s of ready-to-use presentation templates for quick creation on your next project.

Customizable design

Customizable animation

Maintain brand consistency

Have access to the right font, color, and logo every time. Easy-to-use without losing control of your brand needs.

Custom fonts & colors

Shared slides

Logo uploader

One presentation, thousands of designs

Transform any presentation – in any style – to repurpose your work and complete your vision.

Custom layouts

1M+ Royalty-free images

Shareable folders

Simplify teamwork

Get in sync with your team by simultaneously editing, adjusting, and giving feedback on presentations.

Manage user permissions

Present from anywhere

Easily record your screen and camera to share your presentation – whether you’re in the office or remote.

Screen & camera recording

Enhance with animation

Share to any channel

Being a graphic designer, I use this for animated videos & presentations almost every day. Powtoon has so many templates & animation effects which make it very useful to make quick videos. Clean interface. Colors and design are very user-friendly. I would recommend this product to everyone who wants to make animated videos & presentations.

Deepika S. (Graphic Designer)

The best part of Powtoon is that you can create presentations that look clean and professional. There are many templates so it is really easy to create presentations – even with zero experience.

Eni H. (Software Engineer)

I've used Powtoon as an instructional designer and instructor for the past 6 years. I've maintained a Pro account because of all of the amazing features. I use it to develop presentations, tutorials, and some screen recordings that keep audiences engaged. The design canvas is easy to use and the characters, videos, and music make it really easy to tell compelling stories.

Craig E. (Instructional Designer)

Powtoon is user-friendly and fun to use. I'm able to have creative freedom and options to complete my projects. Powtoon gives me the opportunity to create presentations quickly and keep them interesting and professional for our staff to enjoy.

Mitzie D. (Learning and Development Specialist)

Powtoon is a fun product to use and it really allows you to be quite creative in your presentations. They have an outstanding library of tools and elements you can use to really create outstanding video presentations. They have excellent templates to start with so you don't have to start with just a blank design canvas. Their support team is outstanding – definitely one of the best that I've dealt with.

Tara A. (Online Business Manager)

One-click animation.

There is nothing easier than this. With just one click, your animated presentation will come to life.

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Loop control

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Build your own characters by customizing hair, clothing, facial expressions, and animated gestures.

Hair & face customization

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Timeline Control

Choose how and when your graphics should enter and exit your video presentation.

Visual editor

Custom timing

Transition effects

Share anywhere

Export your presentation to PowerPoint, Hubspot, LinkedIn, Email, Slack, and more!

Shareable link

Made for any device

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Choose from an unlimited collection of high-quality stock images, footage, and soundtracks.

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Every video template choice saves time while resulting in a strong design.

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14 Best Animation Software in 2024 (Free and Paid) — Sep Update

• Adobe Deals

We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process . If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.

When looking for the best animation software , the number of software choices out there can feel overwhelming.

Especially for up-and-coming animators who want the best tools .

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So, where do you even start?

For the most part, the best animation software is based entirely on the features it comes with and the type of animation you hope to work on, i.e. 2D animation or 3D .

Other than that, other factors come into play, like budget, the preferred scope, and even your general art style.

If you’re relatively experienced, you’ll likely have a fair idea of what you’re looking for, but regardless, in this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know to pick the best animation software for you.

Also, see our blogs on the best Adobe Animate alternatives , and the best game design software .

The Best Animation Software in 2024 (Free and Paid)

• Adobe Animate — Best animation software overall   (Editor’s Choice) – Get a 65% discount or a Free 7 Day Trial
• Canva Animator — The best  free, easy-to-use web-based animation software, perfect for the basics & beginners ! (Editor’s Choice)
• Mango Animate — Best digital animation software provider
• Autodesk Maya — Best 3D animation software
• Adobe Character Animator — Best animation software for character animation – Get 65% discount or a Free 7 Day Trial
• Blender — Best free animation software (great for 3D)
• Moho Pro — Best 2D animation software for productions
• Houdini — Best industry-standard animation software
• Cinema 4D — One of the best all-around animation tools
• Pencil 2D — Best frame-by-frame software for 2D animation
• CelAction 2D — A powerful software for 2D animation
• Cartoon Animator 4 — One of the best software for cartoon animation
• Visme — The best animation software for basic infographics
• Crello — The best animator for social media graphics

You may also be interested in our features on the:

• Best animation courses online
• The best laptops for animation
• The best drawing tablets for animation
• The best software for AR & VR design

What is the Best Animation Software overall?

When it comes to the best software for animation, we’ve chosen Adobe Animate as our top pick.

This impressive animation program allows users to create animation for websites, tv shows, and video games and is great for cross-platform work as well.

And although there is a lot more high-end 3D animation software on the market, we’ve picked Adobe Animate for its affordable price point. If interested in trying it out for free, you should check out our ‘ Download Adobe Animate for free ‘ guide.

However, for those that are curious, we have a comparison table of some other great software listed below.

Animation Software Comparison Guide

Best Animation Software Buying Guide 

System Specifications

Quite an important factor while choosing animation software, the specification of your system plays a vital role in indicating what kind of software would suit you best. This depends entirely on your graphics card, RAM, processor, and hard disk space.

For most users, a RAM of 16GB is what we would recommend for smooth functioning along with a 4GB graphics card. Other than this, it’s important to pick one that’s compatible with your operating system.

When it comes to features, it depends entirely on the type of animation you’re opting for. For the most part, 3D animation relies more on sculpting, lighting, textures, and the type of material you’re using.

2D animation, however, is a lot less demanding and can make use of a skeleton or bone rig. In some cases, they still use the more old-fashioned frame-by-frame animation.

Generally speaking, though, you’ll know what your specific niche is over time. That said, a good feature to look for would be a component library.

When it comes to 2D animation software, a lot of it comes down to how much you are willing to spend. For more of the higher-end, film industry-standard software, you’ll likely have to spend more than 500 dollars a year, but for students, a lot of these come with educational versions, which are free or more affordable.

If you’re not willing to spend a lot, however, there are still quite a few solid options out there that are capable of powerful 2D and 3D animation systems.

14 Best Animation Software in 2024

1. adobe animate   (editor’s choice).

Platform: Windows, macOS

Pricing: Free 7-Day Trial / US $19.99/mo

When it comes to vector-based animation software that is great for beginners yet convenient for cross-platform projects, Adobe Animate is the best animation software to pick. This program has raster support, audio-video embedding, rich text, and even action 3.0 scripting.

Preceded by Adobe Flash, which is an application no longer available, Animate is capable of creating animations for video games, television shows, websites, applications, and several other animation platforms.

Animate has a wide range of export formats, like SVG, HTML5, SWF, Adobe Air, and WEBGL, and can also be extended to Android, Windows, macOS, and iOS operating systems.

Adobe Animate is quite affordable at only $20.99 a month, but it can also be purchased along with the Adobe CC ‘All Apps’ pack, which has 20+ applications (including Photoshop and Illustrator) at only $52.99.

Overall, given the price range and functionality, we’ve picked Adobe Animate as the best animation software overall.

2. Canva Animator   (Editor’s Choice)

Best free, easy-to-use web-based animation software

Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux

Pricing: Free 30-Day Trial / US $119/year(Pro) / US $149(for teams)

If you are a beginner looking for easy-to-use animation software, then you can choose to work on Canva . This animation tool is free to download and easy to use on phones, PC, tablets, and laptops. You can create any type of video, export, schedule, and publish it anywhere.

Features of Canva Animator:

• Magic Resize: With Canva, you can magically animate your designs with just one click. You can instantly add animation to social media posts, presentations, or anywhere else you need to make a stunning visual impression. All you have to do is click once to automate and then download it as a GIF or video.
• Add Text, Transitions, Graphic Elements, and More: Get creative by adding more graphic elements and colorful texts to your movie or video as add-ons.
• Music and Sound Effects: Music and voiceovers look more impressive when it comes to making videos so you can top them off with some sound effects to finish them.

Canva is 100% free however they do offer a Pro plan which gives you access to premium content & features. Get 30 Days Free of Canva Pro .

3. Mango Animate  

Best digital animation software provider

Platform: Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista/XP

Pricing: Free Trial / US $49/lifetime (Professional) / US $199/lifetime (Enterprise)

Mango Animate is well-known for providing digital animation software for global users to make explainer videos, promo videos, training videos, whiteboard videos, character videos, presentation videos, etc.

Features of Mango AM Animation Software :

• Various & High-level Assets: Mango AM provides users with libraries of animation templates, scenes, and characters to make stunning animation videos. You can not only use hundreds of professionally-designed images, SVGs, animation widgets, effects, SWFs, symbols, shapes, and charts offered but also upload your own assets to enrich your animation videos.
• Professionally-made Dynamic Roles: To meet the multiple needs of diverse industries, Mango AM’s built-in over 60 types of roles cover various industries, including teachers, businessmen, doctors, waiters, students, police, tour guides, workers, customers, etc.
• Customizable Characters: Mango AM empowers users to upload an image to the role list as a new customized role, click it to add motions, and customize motion, emotion, body, etc., of it to match animation video ideas, crafting engaging, unique animation videos.
• Text to Speech: Mango AM users will enjoy high-quality text-to-speech support for up to 200,000 characters. Use this feature to vividly explain key points, type subtitles or subtitles for emphasis, and leave a lasting impression on your audience.
• High-definition Video Sharing & Export: Easily publish your animation videos online or share videos with a global audience via popular social platforms using Mango AM. Also, it’s simple to export animation videos offline in video or GIF format as Mango AM supports 4K video export.

Mango AM is currently available for PCs and is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, and 11, and it offers two paid options Professional and Enterprise which give you access to Pro & Ent features.

4. Autodesk Maya  

Best 3D animation software

Pricing: Free 30-Day Trial / US $215/mo

Used to create video games, movies, television shows, and visual effects, Maya is a professional animation and 3D rendition software that meets the industry’s highest standards.

We observed that Maya uses Node graph architecture that can be used to customize individual elements on objects and in scenes, which ensures versatility in animation.

Used in several popular films, like Lord of the Rings, Spiderman, and Ice Age, Maya is capable of powerful and detail-oriented animation.

Although, in our experience, Maya comes with a bit of a learning curve, this Autodesk animation software is best for anyone looking to get started on animation and VFX design.

Maya is expensive when compared to the alternatives in the industry, but Maya is the best high-end software in the industry.

5. Adobe Character Animator  

Pricing: Free 7-Day Trial / US $52.999/mo

When it comes to character design and animation, Adobe Character Animator is one of the best animation software in terms of features. To operate Character Animator you import layered files onto puppets, which are used for animation through applied behavior or virtual cues.

Adobe Character Animator has also been updated to make use of body tracking software and transcript-based lip-sync to make the animation process easier and in sync with the voice actor.

With Adobe Animator you can also rig the characters by using the puppet panel, which lets users animate the characters with behavior using prompts and use your webcam for face tracking.

Adobe Character Animator is available with the Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps package, which costs users around $52.99.

That said, the pack will also include Adobe Animate, Photoshop , and Illustrator along with 20+ other applications. That said, Adobe Character Animator is likely the most suitable software for animating characters.

6. Blender  

Best free animation software

Pricing: Free

When it comes to animation for beginners, Blender is an impressive 3D modeling and animation software to work with.

Most likely the best free animation software out there, Blender is capable of impressive 3D modeling, texturing, raster graphics editing, animating, soft body simulation, composting, and even motion graphics.

Blender is a powerful open-source tool capable of delivering impressive results to users familiar with it.

When it comes to animation, Blender makes use of tools like shape animations, vertex weighting, armature, and inverse kinematics, along with so many others to allow intricate, detail-oriented animation.

Blender is also a great software for beginners to start with due to it being available free of charge and has an easy-to-navigate user interface.

That said, if you’re looking to get started on 3D rendering or animation on a limited budget, Blender is a great animation software to work with.

7. Moho Pro  

Best 2D animation software for productions

Pricing: US $399

In our expert opinion, Moho Pro is one of the few animation software with a great combination of art tools and animation technology. With a fast and intuitive rigging system, Moho Pro is likely the best 2D animation software.

This powerful animation tool has helped create animation in productions that have gone on to win golden globes. Although it does have a confusing UI, in our experience, this software can help create smooth and complex animation.

This software’s rigging system, along with the smart bones feature, ensures that characters have natural facial expressions and actions. Other than this, Moho Pro comes with an extensive library that can be used for animation assets.

So if you’re looking into animation software, we’d strongly recommend Moho Pro for appealing 2D animation.

8. Houdini  

Best industry-standard animation software

Pricing: Free 30-Day Trial / US $1,995 annually

Created by a Toronto-based company, SideFX , Houdini is a 3D animation software that’s famous for being used in animation productions like Zootopia, Frozen, and Rio, along with many others.

Houdini allows users to model and render 3D animation, as well as create particles, dynamics, and lighting in their visual projects.

Well-known in the industry, Houdini has been used by major Hollywood animation studios, like Walt Disney Animation Studios, Dreamworks, and Pixar.

This impressive motion graphics software is remarkably well known for its ability to render intrinsic details, like complex reflections and particles.

That said, this software is recommended for only those who are serious — as Houdini costs $1995 annually for commercial purposes. Although it does come with a heavy price tag, Houdini is undoubtedly the best premium animation software on the market now, besides Maya.

9. Cinema 4D  

Best all-around animation tools

Pricing: CAD $79.91

Cinema 4D is a versatile 3D modeling and animation software created by Maxon, a German company.

Cinema 4D is capable of managing workflow in one location, meaning if you’re creating a video that requires motion graphics, animation, and any VFX Cinema 4D is a one-stop shop for promotional videos, movies, and games development.

This remarkable software comes with Mograph, which ensures designers can make complex sequences and animations a whole lot easier than with traditional animation software.

For newbies, Cinema 4D is surprisingly easy to pick up and does not have as much of a learning curve when compared to some of the various animation software out there.

The software costs around $99.91 per month and is powerful and practical as it allows users many features in one single multi-purpose software.

10. Pencil 2D  

Best frame-by-frame software for 2D animation

Platform: Windows,  macOS,  Linux

When it comes to the best free-to-use 2D animation software, Pencil 2D could be the one.

Originally created by Patrick Corrieri and Pascal Naidon in 2005, this software can be used for making drawings, using the more old-fashioned and traditional medium of drawings.

This GNU software is practical and best suited for beginners looking to get acquainted with the world of animation. However, this software does come with versatile file export formats, including AVI, MP4, WebM, GIF, or APNG.

Capable of running on all operating systems (Windows, Linux, and Mac OS), this software is light and easy to run on most systems.

That said, the main drawback of pencil2d animation software is the fact that frame-by-frame animation takes a while. Other than this, this animation software is good for all things 2D.

11. CelAction 2D  

A powerful software for 2D animation

Platform: Windows

Pricing: US $71

A powerful 2D animation software, CelAction 2D , has been used by several commercially successful and award-winning productions. In our experience, the software bitmaps and vectors are rigged onto a skeleton frame so the animation can be altered and reused without much effort.

We’ve found that CelAnimation gives users the quality of hand-drawn animation without difficulty. You can also design textures and models for your animation and import assets from other third-party applications.

What makes CelAction great is that, in the case of bigger projects, work can be divided so that designers who are skilled in drawing can handle the modeling process while those with more animation-centric can work on the stop motion and movement.

This software costs around $759 for a perpetual professional license.

12. Cartoon Animator 4  

Best software for cartoon animation

Pricing: US $159

Great for creating anything animated in 2D, be it a full movie or a short ad, Cartoon Animator is one of the best 2D animation software in its price range. Created by Realallusion, Cartoon Animator has an outstanding user interface and allows easily customizable animation.

Cartoon Animator 4 comes with a variety of different features like 3D Head creation, motion retargeting, keyframe animation, smart inverse kinematics, and bone rigging systems for more natural and fluid animation.

This software comes with a library of pre-designed free animated characters and animations to choose from, but it can also create customized designs and animations within a reasonable amount of time.

Cartoon Animator comes with a learning curve, which isn’t much of a hassle considering the software’s features. This software comes priced at $159 but this does not include add-ons.

13. Visme  

Best animation software for basic infographics

Platform: Windows, Linus, macOS (Operates Online)

Pricing: US $29.00 per user/year

Although not the most conventional software for animation software, Visme is a program that helps users create visual content, like infographics, edit images, make data visualizations, stream presentations, and, yes, even create animations.

Although positioned as an animation software at times, Visme is only capable of minimalistic animation to visuals. What does this mean? It means you can create more engaging data visualization, animated icons, and graphics to include on your video presentations, slideshows, and websites.

Visme is not the best go-to software for longer, more traditional forms of animation, so if you’re looking for a versatile yet easy-to-learn program to create custom animations and graphics for your video presentations or website, Visme is a great option to pick.

Best animator for social media graphics

Platform: Windows,  macOS

Pricing: US $10/month

Are you searching for software that helps you create motion graphics and eye-catching posts, and stories for social media? Crello is the best suitable animation software for your requirements. It comes with 8,000+ predesigned animations, templates, objects, elements, and backgrounds.

This software helps you create animations that include moving objects, ads, logos, and banners.

These preloaded design elements help you create sharable animations.

This platform is beginner-friendly and possesses a platform that makes it easy to resize, trim, and edit videos which lets you not worry about any additional extra work. It also includes effects like zoom-in, fly-in, and fade-in.

This animation software is best for freelancers and marketers who focus more on social media. The software is free to start with and allows you to download up to five designs. The pro plan costs $7.99/month and allows for unlimited projects and royalty-free downloads.

What Makes Animation Software Significant for Use?

The essential features of top-quality animation software to consider are as follows:

The best software has preloaded templates that include libraries of characters, templates, backgrounds, graphics, and many more to speed up the creative and designing process. It will also help you if you are new to animation.

Animation software should possess all the necessary tools for the drawing and designing process. These tools include paintbrushes and blending tools, which help give life to your creations.  You must also use these tools to optimize, import, and export brushes which are helpful for creating ultra-specific designs

The software includes audio and video editing platforms that enable you to edit directly from the software, which decreases your load of exporting it to other platforms for editing.

The software should have import and export features to help import files in a specific format. It also helps you export in whichever format you want, depending on your saving and sharing requirements.

This animation software is compatible with almost all devices. Among the many options available, there are some that have mobile apps for on-the-go editing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best animation software for hollywood standard 3d animation.

When it comes to 3D modeling software that meets Hollywood’s standards, Houdini and Maya are likely the best software on the list for animation.

What is the best 2D animation software?

When it comes to budget and features, the best 3D software on the list is easily Adobe Animate. That said, for higher functionality and more advanced features, Moho Pro is a great 2D animation software to work with.

What is skeleton or bone rigging in animation?

In animation, skeleton, or bone rigging, refers to a feature that allows animators to draft a humanoid skeleton which they can use to animate 3D actions, which can be customized or even come pre-made with the software. Bone rigging in animation can save a lot of time in the creation process.

Best Animation Software Summary

Animation can be tricky, especially if you are a newbie looking to get into it. However, it is relatively simple once you know what to look for based on your style and budget.

While there are several animation software, a select few can completely cater to your requirements. Hence, we created a list comprising various choices for different kinds of artists’ needs. Now that we’ve gone through them, you may now have a better idea of which animation software will fit you best.

Do you agree with this list? Which software do you feel was left out? Let us know below!

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About Jacob Cass

Jacob Cass is a brand designer & strategist, educator , podcaster , business coach and the founder of JUST Creative, an award-winning branding & design consultancy that doubles as an industry-leading blog. Get in touch .

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Top 10 Presentation Software for 2023

Keerthana Haresh - April 1, 2022 - Leave your thoughts. 13 min read

online presentation maker , online presentation software , ppt alternative , Presentation Software

Introduction: 

If you want to create a high-quality presentation for your personal needs, business, or anything else - you’ll need top-notch presentation software that’s got the right features that you need! We’re going to showcase the best presentation software available on the market today, and compare their features like their template options, the availability of graphic assets, real-time collaboration, and more! 

So if you’re looking for a great alternative to the presentation software you’re currently using, look no further than this comprehensive guide! Some of the software we’re going to be looking at include Animaker Deck, Prezi, Visme, and more. 

When selecting the right presentation software, there are a number of factors to consider: 

• Is it beginner-friendly and easy to use?
• Does it suit your budget?
• Does it have a wide variety of templates to choose from?
• Can you add audio to your presentations?
• Can you embed content, add videos or GIFs?
• Can you animate the elements in the presentation?
• Does it include Brand Kit features?
• Does it have a large built-in asset library?
• Does the presentation software include analytics?
• Does the software provide real-time collaboration?
• Can the finished presentation be shared to your friends and colleagues easily?
• Finally, does it contain a great balance of features?

Let’s take a look at the 10 best presentation software available today:

• Animaker Deck
• Google Slides
• Beautiful.ai

1. Animaker Deck

Animaker Deck is one of the most feature-packed, innovative, modern and complete presentation software available online. 

Not only is it easy to use, it contains one-of-a-kind features such as a built-in character builder where the user can create animated avatars to include in their presentation. It also comes equipped with tons of template characters which can be used right from the software. 

You can use Animaker Deck to create all sorts of presentations - whether they’re for birthday wishes, a sales proposal, annual reports, family albums, and more. Let’s look at the various advantages offered by Animaker Deck:

Character Builder:

Animaker Deck contains a Character builder where users can create unique avatars to use in their presentation. No other presentation software offers such a wide variety of creative customizations such as Deck. The builder is a breeze to use and can be learnt by anyone!

You can create both male and female characters of all types - whether you’re looking to create a snazzy football coach for your coaching classes, or a fun-loving partygoer for spring break, there are tons of preset outfits and customization options to create any character you desire. You can even create an avatar of yourself or your favorite celebrities!

Template Options:

Animaker Deck comes equipped with tons of pre-built templates that can make a user’s work easier. There are templates for employee onboarding, performance appraisals, internal sales presentations, business proposals, and lots more!

You can also start with a blank template or add new slides to existing templates, and save slides later to use as your own templates.

Graphic Assets Library:

Animaker Deck comes equipped with a massive stock asset library that contains over 80M+ Stock assets. It contains a partnership with both Getty and GIPHY, which means you’ll get access to thousands of stock images and videos that can be used however you choose. You can also use icons, animated backgrounds and even animate the objects that you choose to include in the presentation!

Real-Time Collaboration:

You can easily collaborate with your colleagues with Animaker Deck’s real time collaboration features. Creative teams can exchange ideas, work on a project together, and make updates in real-time, all from the comfort of their couch!

Slides Pro: 10$/Month

Animaker Pro: $49/Month

Enterprise: Custom Pricing

Prezi is another great presentation software that offers an alternative to traditional presentations with their intuitive interface that allows you to create a fluid flow with topics and subtopics that can be zoomed in on. While their interface is not exceptionally beginner-friendly, it’s a great option to add an innovative touch to your presentations.

Easy-to-Use:

Prezi definitely has a learning curve, but it is user-friendly after you get the hang of it. The interface is different and can be hard to navigate initially.

Prezi offers tons of templates, and you can also use a blank template from scratch. The templates can be customized as you choose, and their concept of zooming in to presentations is present in all of them.

Stock Asset Library:

The graphic asset library has usual elements like images, videos, and icons. The premium plan offers access to over 80,000 icons and 500,000 images.

Videos and Gifs:

There is an option to upload or embed videos from YouTube. Embedded videos are not viewable in offline mode. There are currently no GIFs available in Prezi.

Real-time Collaboration:

There is a feature called Prezi for teams which is available and has a Slack integration.

You can access Brand Kits with Prezi’s team plans, and your brand can be customized with your choice of color and available fonts.

Sharing to Social Media:

Prezi presentations can be shared to social media via a share button at the top-right corner of the Prezi page. The presentations can be shared to LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Plus: 12$/Month

Premium: $16/Month

Teams: Custom Pricing

Visme is an easy-to-use presentation software with plenty of features and customization options. You can create infographics, interactive charts and reports with Visme too.

There are tons of customizable options available in Visme. You can choose from fully designed presentations or even create your own templates using their mix-and-match by choosing a presentation theme.

You can also start with a blank canvas, add new blank slides to existing presentation templates.

There are tons of assets available in Visme’s library - including icons, illustrations, stock photos, videos and 3D graphics, audio clips, charts, and graphs to include in your presentations.

Animations and Transitions:

Elements inside Visme can be animated, and there are also slide transitions that smoothen the transition between slides with style. There are also custom animations available for animating elements even further.

Collaborations:

Visme has features for colleagues and teams to collaborate with each other in real-time, and leave comments with edits and feedback. You can also easily share your projects with other people and move the project along.

Visme has a brand design tool to keep all your content on-brand. You can upload all of your branding assets - which includes logo, fonts and colors to Visme with their Brand Wizard. You can also easily access thousands of templates and input your brand fonts and colors.

Once the presentation is complete, it can be shared to multiple social media channels easily.

When a presentation is finished, it can be easily shared via a link, and analyzed for sharing.

Personal - $15/month annually

Business - $29/month annually

Enterprise: Custom pricing

4. Google Slides

Google Slides is Google’s presentation software that can be assessed via your Google account. You can easily create presentations with Google Slides. It is similar to Powerpoint and there is an advanced version called G Suite, which includes storage and management capabilities.

Google Slides is very user friendly and is similar to Google Docs and Google Sheets.

There are tons of templates to choose from, and presentations can also be created from scratch.

The stock assets are very simple to add. There are both classic and generic shapes available. Images can also be uploaded from your desktop, Google Drive or a URL.

Collaboration:

Real-time collaboration is offered on Google Slides.

Videos and GIFs:

Videos can be uploaded with a YouTube link or from a Google Drive.

Animations:

Elements inside Google Slides can be animated and transitions can be added as well.

Share to Social Media:

Presentations can be shared via email or link.

Google Slides is free for anyone with a Google account.

There are also plans that start from 6$/month and go upto 18$/month.

Keynote is the presentation software offered by Apple. The Keynote editor can be used by anyone with an Apple ID.

It is similar in usage to Powerpoint and Google Slides, which makes it very simple to use.

There are a limited number of templates to choose from, and Templates can also be uploaded into the software.

There are tons of classic icons and symbols to choose from, and they are also customizable in terms of color and font. Images can also be uploaded from your computer.

Colleagues and team members can work on a project at the same time via a link or an email.

You can not embed videos in Keynote Slides, and GIFs can be added as .gif images.

You can animate slides and objects and also add effects.

You cannot share to Social Media on Keynote.

There is no Brand Kit features available on Keynote.

Keynote is totally free to use, and is available on the App Store.

Slides is a presentation software that contains a built-in grid to help with composition. Slides is totally free to use, with paid plans available too.

Slides is pretty beginner-friendly, the editing board has a simple interface which is easy to learn.

There are very few templates to use, so presentations have to be built from a blank template.

There are graphics available such as icons and shapes that are available. Photos have to be imported from a URL.

Paid plans contain features for collaboration. Teammates can leave comments and feedback to help with making edits.

Videos and GIFs are available to use and pretty easy to add to your presentation. Videos can be uploaded and GIFs can be uploaded as .mp4 as video.

You cannot add audio with Slides.

Animations can be added to all elements and features. The length of the duration can also be customized.

Slides support sharing to various social media platforms.

The paid plan offers analytics.

The paid plans start at $5/month and go upto $20/month for features like unlimited collaborations and Google Analytics.

Slidebean is a simple presentation software that contains quite a few templates and customizations.

Slidebean also uses artificial intelligence to help you use the best possible slide layouts and configurations. Check out this product review  here .

Slidebean is very easy to use. Adding content is simple and there are templates available to use. You can also start from a blank template.

There are 2 modes for editing - outline or design mode. There are tons of choice for how you can move the content blocks around.

There are tons of templates available to use. They are neatly organized and there are sections available by brands as well.

There are lots of icons and images to choose from.

Real-time collaboration features are available in the paid plans.

Slidebean contains GIPHY integration which means that GIFs can be added. The paid plan offers a feature to add videos.

Audio features are not available.

Animations can be added to the elements and content blocks.

You can share presentations to social media in the paid plans.

Analytic features are available in the paid plans.

There’s a free plan and it has limited capabilities.

There are 3 price levels from $8/month, $19/month, and $149/month.

8. Beautiful.ai

Beautiful.ai is a presentation software that helps you create good-looking slides with the help of AI (artificial intelligence).

Beautiful.ai is fairly simple to use. All you have to do is add smart slides, add your content and choose from different layouts. This makes Beautiful.ai a nice software that beginners and those who are not familiar with graphic design.

There are basic templates available that can be used to create unique presentations.

Graphic Asset Library:

The stock asset options are fairly limited, and there are free stock photos and icons to choose from.

Your teammates can collaborate on your projects for viewing or editing.

Both videos and GIFs can be uploaded from your computer. Videos can also be imported from YouTube.

Preset animation styles can be added to each slide, but their customizability is limited.

There are no brand kit features available, but there are customizable themes and they can be saved to use later.

You can easily share your presentations to social media. You can send email invites, share a public or private link, or share directly to social media platforms.

Beautiful.ai currently offers a Pro plan at $12/month and a Team plan at $40/month.

9. Powerpoint

Microsoft Powerpoint is the most popular and well-known presentation software on this list. It is familiar, reliable and easy to use.

The traditional interface of Powerpoint makes Powerpoint fairly easy to use. All types of users - students, professionals and businesses can learn Powerpoint and make presentations easily.

There are lots of templates that come equipped with Powerpoint, and they are all customizable.

You can browse stock images, icons and stickers by searching for relevant keywords in Powerpoint’s graphic library.

You can share your presentation with specific people.

Your computer can be used to upload both videos and GIFs. Videos can also be embedded from YouTube.

Audio files can be uploaded from your computer.

There are lots of animation and transition options available in Powerpoint.

Brand Kits are not available, but custom themes can be saved.

Presentations cannot be shared to social media platforms.

There are no analytic features available in Powerpoint.

There are different plans for businesses that start from $5/month and go upto $20/month.

10. Genially

Genially is a presentation software that’s known for its creativity. This software is known for presentations and video presentations.

Genially is fairly simple to use, and comes equipped with tons of choices. Any change can be applied to all slides with the simple click of a button.

There are tons of template options, with both free and paid options available.

There are tons of graphic assets available. Images can be uploaded or found on their integration with Pixabay.

Genially’s professional plan allows collaboration upto 5 team members.

GIFs can be imported with the GIPHY integration and videos can be added with YouTube links.

Audio files can be uploaded from your computer, via SoundCloud and a few other integrations.

Third-Party Content:

Genially contains a nice feature where you can add third party content with Genially integrations.

Brand Kit features are available in the premium plans.

All completed presentations can be shared to various social media platforms.

Genially’s premium plans contain analytic features.

Genially contains a free plan, which gives you access to unlimited presentations but a limited pool of resources.

There are two types of paid plans. The education plan starts at $1.25/month and go upto $20.82/month, billed annually. The professional plan starts at $7.49/month and goes upto $79.15/month, billed annually.

In conclusion, there are plenty of great presentation software available on the market that can help you create the perfect presentation that you desire. Depending on your choice of features, suitability, and price, you can select these software and have a great experience creating your presentation of choice.

If you have any questions or comments, leave them in the comments section below!

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Home Blog PowerPoint Tutorials PowerPoint Animations: Animate Text, Objects, and Slides in Your Presentations

PowerPoint Animations: Animate Text, Objects, and Slides in Your Presentations

Working with graphic assets can bring a degree of expectancy when delivering a presentation, such as in the case of PowerPoint animations. They can help add emphasis to slide content and reveal parts of the slide gradually to help presenters discuss topics sequentially. 

As a presenting software, PowerPoint provides all kinds of animations for emphasis, entrance, exit, and to create a set motion. Join us today to learn all about animations in PowerPoint and unleash your creative potential.

Table of Contents

How PowerPoint Animations Can Benefit Presentation Design

Understanding powerpoint animation basics, types of animations in powerpoint, how to animate text on powerpoint, animating objects for visual impact, crafting seamless slide transitions in powerpoint, mastering advanced animation techniques in powerpoint, dos and don’ts of powerpoint animations, real-world use cases of animated presentation slides, recommended animated powerpoint templates, enhanced engagement and understanding through animations.

Dynamic presentations can have many benefits. The importance of such animations is often only realized by people familiar with PowerPoint. As we’ve seen in our guide on visual communication , graphical elements can make concepts more understandable. In the case of animations, we can use the transitions between slides or elements to split concepts and make them clearer.

Audience engagement is another factor, as eye-catching slides often include surprise elements hidden behind animations. These elements attract the audience’s interest and increase retention rate. In this case, animations serve as powerful presentation aids for the speaker.

Capturing Audience Attention

PowerPoint animations are more likely to capture the audience’s attention than static slides. The moving objects on-screen are the type of visuals people are likely to find attention-grabbing instead of trying to read through static slides or looking at static images. On this behalf, storytelling techniques boost their efficacy in connecting with the audience by implementing animations and transitions rather than sticking to static slides. 

Emphasizing Relationships Between Elements

Whenever we work with contrasting values, like pros and cons slides , animations help the presenter highlight areas of interest or disclose the opposite values section by section. This, in turn, structures the speech for real-time interaction with the graphical assets rather than having the audience read the slide and lose focus on the speech. 

Interactive Presentations

As mentioned before, presenters can craft compelling stories through the careful use of animations in PPT. What is often overlooked is the link between interactive presentations and animations. For instance, a speaker can deliver different outcomes of the presentation by selecting one path whose outcome is revealed through an animation. This “wow” factor induces surprise and creatively presents case scenarios.

Another option is when introducing your team in presentations. Rather than using static slides, incorporating animations gives more rhythm to the presentation and invites the public to interact with the speaker.

Getting Started with Animation in PowerPoint

To start with animations in PowerPoint, select an object you wish to animate and go to the Animations tab to choose an animation to add to the slide element. When adding animations to multiple objects in a slide, you should consider the sequence you wish to use to animate objects.

Accessing Animation Features

When accessing animation features, you will come across various animation types. By expanding the Animations menu, you can select animations for entrance, exit, emphasis, and motion paths to create a path for your animated sequence. You can also click to instantly preview an animation for the selected object or switch to slideshow mode to see how the animation will appear.

Adding Animations to Text and Objects

Once an animation is added to a text or object, a number is assigned. This number shows the sequence in which the object will be presented. For example, the object will be the first to be animated on screen, followed by two, three, and so on.

You can adjust the sequence of animations, triggers, and other settings from the Animation Pane in PowerPoint.

Timing and Sequence in Animations

The Timing menu in the Animations pane provides options to set the duration of the animation, the time to delay the animation on the screen (if necessary), and to assess if the animation starts on click, with the previous or after the last animation. How you select these animations will help you adjust the time and sequence of the animations. For example, you can use ‘ with previous’ option to show two animated objects simultaneously.

Entrance, Exit, and Emphasis Animations

Some of the most commonly used animation types fall under three categories: entrance, exit, and emphasis animations.

Entrance Animations

The Entrance Animations are meant to start or introduce objects. You can explore all entrance-related animations by going to Animations -> Animation (menu) -> More Entrance Effects . This will reveal all entrance animations you can click to preview for a selected object. These often consist of basic animations with effects like appear, fly-in, float-in, strips, wheel, circle, box, dissolve-in, split, wedge, wipe, plus, diamond, checkerboard, blinds, etc. The animations can be divided into three categories: basic, subtle, and moderate. These categories help identify the type of effects in each category according to how prominent they might be on screen.

Exit Animations

The Exit Animations are meant to help exit a slide or animated sequence to close a topic or subtopic, or to conclude the on-screen animations for a slide. These animations are similar to the Entrance Animations with the same effects. You can use these animation types for an exit sequence using effects like blinds, circles, checkerboard, box, plus, split, wedge, wipe, diamond, dissolve out, contract, swivel, fade, zoom, basic zoom, collapse, float up, etc.

Like the Entrance Animations, you can go to  Animations -> Animation (menu) -> More Exit Effects to preview the animations and to see the three categories for basic, subtle, or moderate animations.

Emphasis Animations

Other than basic, subtle, and moderate, the Emphasis Animations come with an additional category, ‘exciting.’ Emphasis animations in PowerPoint provide visual aids for emphasizing content within slides. The effects for these animation types in PowerPoint are also quite different from the entrance and exit-themed effects. Effects like fill color, grow/shrink, transparency, line color, teeter, color pulse, object color, desaturate, darken, lighten, blink, wave, and others can help emphasize an object within a slide to make it pop out before the audience.

Exploring Motion Path Animations

If primary effects aren’t what you want, it’s time to switch to Motion Paths . These are animated effects in PowerPoint that showcase objects across a specific path. In other words, these are elaborate animations that drag objects on the screen based on a particular shape or path, such as a 4,5, 6, or 8-point star, crescent moon, circle, diamond, football, heart, octagon, pentagon, square, trapezoid, teardrop, right triangle, arc (down, right, left, up), curvy right, bounce right, etc.

Motion Paths are divided into four categories. The basic effects consist of shapes, whereas, Line Curves provide lines and curves to animated objects. Similarly, the special category contains more elaborate effects such as inverted square, loop de loop, peanut, bean, curved square, etc.

Choosing Appropriate Animation Styles

When choosing animation styles, picking a style that best resonates with your presentation slides is important. The animations’ names and categories can help you identify what might work for you. Furthermore, after adding an animation, you can go to Effect Options to view the various directions and options used to refine the animation to build your sequence further. Depending on the animation type, you can pick variations of the animation, directions, colors, transparency, points to edit or lock, or other options for selected effects. The image below shows the variations for the Wheel animation in PowerPoint via Effect Options .

Similarly, if you select Transparency from Emphasis Effects, you can choose how transparent the object will appear on the screen. Likewise, many color-themed effects enable picking a custom color to animate an object.

Since Motion Paths are unique, you will get options to edit points, lock paths, reverse the direction of the default animated sequence, etc.

Now that you know how to animate in PowerPoint, it’s time to explore making written content more interesting using animations.

Start by opening a blank PPT file and adding a placeholder text. The idea is to learn how text interacts with animation effects without working with complex graphic layouts.

Select the text and switch to the Animations tab. In there, pick an animation effect of your preference. You will get a preview of the effect applied – which will show the number of the animation order once completed.

Animations for text, like any other animation, can be controlled in terms of behavior by accessing the panel at the right-most section of the Ribbon.

Additionally, we can expand the animations panel to select from the different effects offered by PowerPoint.

Animating Text Elements on PPT Templates

Animating text elements to highlight key aspects of your slides can be a great way to create engaging presentations. The Animated 3D 4 Steps & Core PowerPoint Template shown below are among the Animated PowerPoint templates at SlideModel that animate objects and text elements for emphasis while retaining a clear layout.

As visible from the animated sequence from the Animation Pane in the image below, the slide deck uses animated text boxes with a mix of other slide elements to create a sequence where a four-step diagram is highlighted with supported text to help elaborate each part of the diagram in an animated sequence. We can add, remove, or modify the included effects via the Animation Pane.

Balancing Text Animations for Impact

By balancing text animations, you can have maximum impact when highlighting content for your slides. The animations can be triggered to start simultaneously to reveal all the text after a sequence of objects, before objects appear, or one by one to reveal the diagram contents gradually.

Animating Images, Shapes, and Charts

When animating shapes and images, you can use a variety of animation types for entrance, exit, and emphasis, and to make the content pop out. However, charts require subtle animations, and it’s best to use basic effects to reveal charts, such as Appear and Disappear .

The Animated Network Diagram PowerPoint Template is an example of how to animate shapes.

The template’s title slide reveals shapes and icons in the form of a diagram in an animated sequence.

You can also include images in such a template to customize the given diagram and animate it to reveal the image simultaneously or after a set of objects has already been revealed.

If you are including a chart in your slide that is to be animated, make sure the animation corresponds to other elements that might also be animated. For example, you can trigger the chart to be revealed after the slide title with a simple Appear effect. In such a case, the chart can be displayed altogether or gradually, in animated form.

Applying Object Animations Strategically

When placing slide objects, you must apply the animations strategically to avoid revealing information out of sequence. Furthermore, it is also worth considering how your effects appear. For example, in the image of the diagram below, would you prefer the diagram to appear floating upward or downward? Such considerations and other vital elements, such as your branding needs, are important to ponder when setting your animated sequence.

Enhancing Presentation Flow with Transitions

While Animations for PowerPoint are one way of making your slides engaging, PowerPoint Transitions is another. You can access them via the Transitions tab in PowerPoint and apply transitions between slides.

While many legacy transitions provide basic effects when switching between slides, some of the more recent additions to this menu, such as Morph Transition , enable the creation of elaborate animations by using Transitions to animate your slides. The below example shows a slide with the Morph transition, giving an animated effect to the diagram.

Maintaining Coherence Between Slides

When applying Transitions, it is essential to maintain coherence between slides by ensuring they don’t overlap with any added Animations. To do this, you should preview your slide deck to see how it might appear once all the animated effects have been included in your slides. Like PowerPoint Animations, you can also use Effect Options for Transitions to set a sequence or direction that best suits your needs.

Layering for Complex Animation Effects

Using layers of multiple objects and slides can easily create advanced animation effects. This can be done using not only PowerPoint animations but also transitions. The Animated Pendulum Swing PowerPoint Templates from the SlideModel archive of animated templates use Transitions like Morph to create animated sequences. The below example shows a swinging pendulum created using Morph.

Combining and Triggering Animations

Depending on the number of elements within a slide and the animations used, you can use triggers to customize and set sequences for slide elements to animate. The example below shows the selected pendulum’s various linking options for the on-click trigger. By placing your slide objects to be connected and triggered with different parts of your slide, you can create and customize animated sequences that can be pretty attention-grabbing. 

PowerPoint Animation Painter

If you thought you had to start from scratch to animate each slide of your presentation, you are sorely mistaken. Much like the Format Painter option in PowerPoint, we can find Animation Painter , which is accessible via the Ribbon under the Advanced Animation control options.

This tool helps us duplicate animations between elements of the same slide or copy animation effects from one slide to another. As a format copying tool, it requires at least one animation effect to be placed otherwise the option is grayed out.

Creative Experimentation

Experimenting with Animations in PowerPoint can be pretty helpful to avoid making monotonous presentations. Experimentation does not necessarily require making slides from scratch, but you can also use ready-made templates such as the 3D animation PowerPoint Templates at SlideModel. Alternatively, some slide deck templates offer a considerable range of animation effects intended for maximum audience engagement, which users can quickly customize by editing placeholder areas for text, images, and logos.

Below is a list of do’s and don’ts of PowerPoint Animations for making presentations that best use animated effects.

Maintain Animation Moderation

It is essential to maintain moderation when using animations, as the use of too many animations on a single slide or presentation can make the content confusing.

Use of Appropriate Animations

Try to use appropriate animations for slide objects. The animation should suitably show if the object is to enter, exit, be emphasized, or be highlighted using a motion path.

Avoid Animation Overload

Avoid flashy animated sequences unless your presentation is meant for an audience that might find engaging, such as children in a classroom session.

Subtle can be Just as Engaging

Sometimes, subtle animations can be just as engaging as an animation with an elaborate effect. This can, in fact, be a better option than using animations that might be visually overpowering or difficult to follow due to elaborate effects.

Ensure Visual Consistency

As discussed earlier, it is vital to maintain consistency in using animated effects. Be it Animations or Transitions, using flashy effects or too many diverse effects can hurt how the audience perceives your content, as it might become confusing, visually overpowering, or unprofessional. In such a case, the audience might quickly lose interest in the presentation, leading to Death by PowerPoint.

Less is More

The design language of visual designs over the past decade or more has been intended to use fewer effects and graphical elements with ample space to make the interface look clean. Be it Modern UI or Material design apps, this design language has been evident across desktop and mobile UIs. Using the same concept, you can design your slides with fewer animations and graphical elements to make your content more visually appealing.

Turning PowerPoints into Millions

Courtney Allen, a professional PowerPoint designer who came out of a BFA in graphic design from Boise State University, had all but PowerPoint as a part of her portfolio. She started her freelancing career via Upwork, making over a thousand PowerPoints for clients, bringing in as many as $2 million. She suggests using simple designs and animations to make the most out of PowerPoint presentations. 

Guy Kawasaki Pitch Deck

Guy Kawasaki, a former Apple employee, whose famous 10-slide pitch deck has inspired a variety of PowerPoint templates. This rule was designed for startups and business presentations, focusing on pitching a concept to investors. While this isn’t directly related to using animations in presentations, it is an example of making the best use of minimalist content in a few slides. You can learn more about the Guy Kawasaki pitch deck from our article about the 10/20/30 rule for PowerPoint presentations .

How not to use an Animated PowerPoint Presentation in Court! 

Presentations with animations aren’t always a great idea. In 2014, a court in the United States criticized a PowerPoint presentation by the prosecutor, which led to the court throwing the case out. The presentation was made with sound effects and animations, with flashy elements like the bullseye. Some of the significant mistakes made by the prosecutor included ‘visual advocacy,’ where the defendant was marked with the word ‘guilt’ in the slide deck. Not to mention, the animated presentation seemed to be aimed at influencing the court using visual aids. Something that did not sit well with the court.

Use of PowerPoint by the US Military

The US Military has often been accused of Death by PowerPoint for preparing what some call the worst PowerPoint slides ever created. The issue became so profound that in 2011, it was revealed that an executive communications manager at Microsoft, Dave Karle, was tasked with ensuring that the US military could finally start using the software properly. After discussions with top military officials, an updated military presentation method was created, consisting of a number of presentation templates, tips, and graphics and more than 6000 map symbols. 

In this section, you can check some ready-made templates that can be easily customized for your presentation’s purposes. All these templates feature professionally made animation effects with native PowerPoint tools.

1. Multi-Purpose Animated PowerPoint Slide Deck

Those looking for how to animate in PowerPoint now have a ready-made solution to create mind-blowing presentations in a couple of minutes. This slide deck contains 26 slides in a broad selection of topics. We can present facts, introduce our team, our company, display charts with animated effects, and so much more. Check it out now!

Use This Template

2. Animated 8-Step Social Media Carousel PowerPoint Template

Bring dynamism to your social media posts by implementing this vivid social media carousel template. With eye-catching animated effects, this template emulates the typical carousel posts we can find on platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram.

3. Problem Solving Animated PowerPoint Template

Bring professional graphics to troubleshooting sessions with your team. This template, filled with PowerPoint animations, offers a user-friendly approach to conventional problem-solving situations in which the team has to observe the Issue Matrix, suggest possible solutions, and prepare an implementation plan and its corresponding process flow diagram. Thanks to its high-quality animation effects, the speaker can introduce the facts individually, without diverting attention from the speech.

4. Animated Company Profile Presentation Template for PowerPoint

We’ve seen this template as one of the examples of animations for PowerPoint. It is a 21-slide solution offering all the tools required for a corporate-styled company profile presentation, specifically tailored for service businesses.

5. Corporate Company Profile Animated PowerPoint Template

An alternative option for company profile presentations, featuring a minimalistic graphic layout with a broad variety of animation effects. Check these 12 slides and customize them with information relevant to your organization – we bring complex animation effects in a ready-made format. Colors and placeholder images can also be replaced.

6. Animated Roadmap PowerPoint Template

Bring more action to any planning meeting using this animated PowerPoint roadmap template. After a clear path overview, each milestone slide contains animation effects to introduce relevant information to the topic. It is a new take on traditional roadmap presentations that allows the speaker to pace themselves regarding how to disclose the information about the strategy to embark on.

7. Animated Pros & Cons Comparison Slide Template for PowerPoint

We mentioned the advantages of using PowerPoint animations to discuss contrasting values of a situation. Well, this animated Pros & Cons slide is the ideal tool for that purpose, offering a generalist view, then two accompanying slides for Pros & Cons, respectively, with animated effects to introduce additional information per point.

Using animations to make visually appealing and engaging presentations requires ensuring that your content corresponds with your added animated effects. It is always best to use animations in moderation and to keep your slides minimalist while unleashing your creativity as a presenter. Using ready-made PowerPoint templates can also help give you a good starting point to begin experimenting with animations and effects. This can also be useful for people new to PowerPoint Animations to explore what is doable with an animated slide deck, using animated sequences tailored for customization. 

Whether you’re using an animated template or making one from scratch, a preview in slideshow mode can save you a lot of trouble with potential issues tied to animated effects. Last but not least, using animations in PowerPoint isn’t always necessary, and you can even go for a simple slide deck with a handful of slides. What matters is that you should be aware of the information being presented, and the visual aids should be just to aid your slides and not meant to be the whole package on their own.

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12 Best Animation Software for Beginners (Premium, Free, and Online)

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By Iveta Pavlova

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Updated: May 13, 2022

Investigating which is the best animation software for beginners? Check out this selection of animation software including some of the most popular and preferred products on the market , as well as less-known but still very good animation tools available today.

In this post about the best animation software for beginners, you will find premium, free and open-source products, as well as online tools for animating. No matter if you are just making your first steps in animating , search for an alternative to the software you are using right now or want to experiment with a completely different type of animation (e.g. traditional frame-by-frame, Flash-style animations, stop motions, 2D and 3D animations, etc.), this post will help you sort out your options. Let’s begin!

Article overview: – Premium animation software for beginners – Open-source & Free animation software – Easy online video animation tools

Premium animation software for beginners… Who aim big!

A selection of the best animation software available on the market right now and preferred by all levels of users. These products are armed with rich arrays of functions and tools that will allow you to create powerful animation projects. Each of these software products come with subscription plans or as one-time purchases with free trials or free versions included. If you are a complete beginner, don’t worry – all of these programs come with tons of tutorials to start with!

1.  Adobe Character Animator

Animate in real-time. really..

• automatic lipsyncing and animation of facial features like mouth, eyes, and eyebrows;
• support of real-time animation and live streaming;
• in-app template puppets;
• streamline recording and editing;
• scene snapshots which act like onion-skinning;
• walk cycles, behaviors, breathing, blinking, and other animation options;
• replays, magnets, and more functions.
• Perfect for online education, game streaming, live chat and more.

Pricing plans:

• Free trial – 7 days
• Creative Cloud All Apps – $52.99/month billed annually
• Students and teachers – $19.99/month billed annually
• Business – from $33.99/month billed annually

If you are interested in the software, check out these  16 Tutorials to Learn Adobe Character Animator . And if you are ready to go with the software – grab these free Character Animator Puppets .

2. Cartoon Animator 4 (formerly CrazyTalk Animator 3)

Professional 2d creativity and animation design.

Cartoon Animator 4 is software for all levels of users – suitable for beginners as well as professionals who want to create engaging high-quality animations.

The software allows you to create custom 2D characters, choose characters from the huge database, and import PSD character templates.  You can easily make any static image move by applying different motion templates provided in the library, even 3D motions.

The software also comes with a bone rigging tool, and supports audio lip-syncing, facial detection, and many more simple and advanced features, depending on the edition you are using. Pretty much, Cartoon Animator 4 allows you to have full control over your 2D characters and create professional animation.

• 4K video support;
• library of pre-made character templates and motion templates;
• tools for creating 2D characters including rigging and bone tools;
• tools for animating characters including elastic and bouncy curve editing, facial free form deformation, audio lip-syncing;
• tools for creating talking heads and employing them on any character;
• easy to import PSD files as character templates, and export them to PSD for graphic editing;
• live facial motion capture – from any angle;
• head driven body movements;
• up to 360 degrees head-turning;
• supports many popular images and video formats;
• plus many more advanced animation features.
• Pro Edition – $99 (+80 motions), discount available
• Pipeline Edition – $248 (+80 motions), discount available
• Special bundle discounts
• Free trial – 30 days

3. Stop Motion Studio

Stop-motion animation software for beginners.

An app perfect for beginners in video making. Stop Motion Studio will help you create amazing 4K stop-motion animations that can easily be mixed with 2D style drawings painted directly onto the image.

With the frame-by-frame editor enriched with super handy features, you have a powerful and affordable app for your device. Stop Motion Studio can be installed on iPhone, iPad, macOS, Android, and Windows , and you can easily open the same project on different devices.

• 4K ultra HD videos;
• runs on iPhone, iPad, macOS, Android, and Windows;
• manual or automatic control of the focus, exposure, ISO, white balance
• DSLR camera support;
• green screen option and background library;
• import of images, audio, video files;
• frame-by-frame view and easy editing;
• grid and onion skinning options;
• connect a remote camera as a second device;
• paint tools, sound effects, magic eraser, and more handy tools.
• for iOS – $4.99
• for Mac – $9.99
• for Android – $4.99
• for Windows – $9.99

4. DigiCel FlipBook

Easy to use and powerful enough to create great 2d animations.

Considered as one of the easiest 2D animation software on the market , DigiCel FlipBook allows you to create traditional frame-by-frame animation. You can draw directly onto the software or scan your paper drawings – it’s completely up to your personal preferences! The software also allows you to create stop motion animations if that’s the type of animation you are looking for. Boosted with very useful features, DigiCel FlipBook is a powerful and easy-to-understand tool for traditional 2D animation.

• shoot and scan your drawings or draw right into the software;
• lipsync support;
• work on one or multiple frames at a time;
• pan, zoom, rotate, blur, dissolve;
• import/export functions, and more;
• runs on macOS and Windows.
• Free version with a watermark
• FlipBook Lite:  $19.99*
• FlipBook Studio:  $49.99*
• FlipBook ProHD:  $99.99*

*promotional offer

5. Moho (Anime Studio) Debut  &  Moho (Anime Studio) Pro

Complete 2d animation software.

While Moho (Anime Studio) Debut is aimed at beginners, even for kids , it includes powerful features that allow you to realize your vision into an animation. The revolutionary tools are combined with an easy-to-understand interface. Once you get the hang of it, you can try the Pro version which is quite more pricy, in fact, but it comes with powerful features that will help you create professional animations.

Features for the Debut version:

• available for Windows and macOS with online or offline activation;
• multilingual support: English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese (Simplified), and Japanese;
• advanced freehand tools;
• advanced bone rigging, plus pin bones;
• tablet support with pen pressure support;
• animated effects for layers and shapes;
• easy to edit and animate brushes;
• support for images and layered PSD;
• keyframe options: additive cycle, stagger, bounce, elastic;
• advanced masking options, auto freeze tool, and more.
• Free trial: 30 days.

Features for the Pro version:

• all features included in the Debut version;
• advanced bone rigging system, plus a Physics engine, Dynamic bones, and Smart bones to control complex movements;
• smart wrap for images and vectors;
• frame by frame capabilities;
• vector tools with bezier handles, plus accurate SVG, AI, and EPS import;
• 4k video export, vector export;
• realistic motion blur;
• easy control of multiple layers and channels, and even more.

6. Toon Boom Harmony

The most powerful software for animation production..

• runs on Windows and macOS;
• advanced vector/bitmap drawing technology;
• advanced palettes and painting tools providing effective control over texture and color;
• a toolset for traditional frame-by-frame animation;
• integrating 3D elements with 2D characters;
• special effects including volume and lighting effects to characters with auto toning;
• different camera angles and control over the composition;
• cut-out animation with master controllers;
• integration with other software: multilayer PSD and PSB files, Illustrator, PDF, bitmaps, audio;
• easy export to game engines.
• Harmony Essentials: $25.50 per month or $209 annual subscription
• Harmony Advanced: $64.50 per month or $500 annual subscription
• Harmony Premium: $117.50 per month or $954 annual subscription
• Free trial: 21 days.

Open-source & Free animation software… To test the waters!

A selection of free animation software for beginners and not only! These completely free software products allow coding gurus from around the globe to contribute and enrich them with even more powerful features. The listed software options are some of the best ones to start learning animating. The suggestions include software for 3D animation, software for traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation, as well as software for Flash-style animations.

8. Pencil2D

Light and easy to use tool for 2d hand-drawn animations.

If you are into traditional hand-drawn animation , then maybe Pencil 2D is a great software to start your animation project. This free software lets you use both raster and vector graphics and you can switch easily between the two types of artwork. Pencil 2D is a cross-platform tool and lets you focus on animating even when you are on the go. Since the software is completely free and open-source, users can have access to the source code and add features.

• runs on Windows, Mac OSX, Linux & Free BSD
• supports raster and vector images;
• includes various handy tools;
• includes distortion and light effects;
• import/export as a GIF is available;

9. Synfig Studio

Open-source 2d animation software.

Very easy for those of you who have worked with Flash and are looking for a similar animation software instead of frame-by-frame animation software. Synfig is based on vectors and allows you full control of editing the vector artwork in the animation. You also have advanced control over your characters, as well as the option to create character puppets.

Luckily, Synfig is 100% free and you can use it on Windows, Linux, and Mac. Since the software is open-source, you also have the option to access the source code.

• full-control vector editing which allows automatic calculation of frames;
• a variety of over 50 layer types including geometric, gradients, filters, distortions, transformations, etc.;
• control over your character by using a bone system and complex deformations;
• advanced controls for creating character puppets and other dynamic structures.

Online video animation tools… To create videos in seconds!

Maybe becoming a professional animator isn’t a part of your plan and you just want to create quick animations, let’s say, for your brand. There are many great tools available on the web that will help you realize your ideas.

10. Animaker

World’s largest animated library.

Animaker is an online tool for animation that offers plans for all kinds of users – from beginners to enterprises. Each version comes loaded with features and assets to help users create amazing animated videos in a diversity of styles. With Animaker, you can create 2D and 2.5D videos, animated infographic videos, handcraft videos, whiteboard videos, typography animations, and more.

• 6 styles of videos: 2D, 2.5D, infographics, handcraft, whiteboard, typography;
• horizontal and vertical video layouts;
• full HD video support;
• animated infographic maker with over 100 charts, 1000 icons, and 3000 maps;
• advanced features for animation such as record, multimove, curve, camera in and out, transition effects, enter/exit effects;
• a deck feature allowing you to use the animation as a video or an animated presentation;
• audio features: text-to-speech, background music tracks, sound effects, voice recording, plus the option to import your custom sounds;
• a library of pre-designed templates.
• Basic – $10 per month billed annually
• Starter – $19 per month billed annually
• Pro – $45 per month billed annually
• Enterprise – you have to contact Sales

The easiest way to create  professional animated videos.

Vyond Studio offers an online animation-making tool suitable for people of all skill levels to make great professional animations including explainer videos, whiteboard videos, and more kinds of animated videos. Enriched with handy features, this online tool for video animation allows you to build animations based on characters, make engaging data visualizations, and more.

• a convenient drag-and-drop tool;
• a rich library with pre-built templates and assets;
• import images and MP4s;
• an array of enter and exit effects for static images;
• automatic lip-syncing;
• a library of characters available for full customization;
• camera tool – pan zooms and camera angles;
• team collaboration.
• Free trial – 14 days
• Essential –  $299 per year
• Premium – $649 per year
• Professional – $999 per year
• Enterprise – contact Sales

A cool online tool for creating animated videos for different purposes: social media, advertising, explainer videos, whiteboard videos, presentations, and more. The tool is perfect for users of all levels , as well as big and small businesses. Easy to work with, Moovly provides a library of templates, as well as images, video, and audio files to choose from.

• user-friendly drag and drop interface;
• a library of templates, images, video clips, and sound files;
• upload your own media easily
• download and sharing options
• Pro – $24.92/month billed annually
• Max – $49.92/month billed annually
• Enterprise – custom pricing

Bonus software:  Wideo

Online animation software for all levels of users.

A great online tool for animation that doesn’t require any previous experience in animating. With Wideo, you can create animated videos for different purposes: explainer videos, data videos, promotional videos, animated presentations, videos for e-commerce, business, real estate, and more.

To help you get started easily, the guys from Wideo have provided very useful  lessons  for beginners that explain the basics of working with the tool.

• HD and full HD support;
• a library of scene templates suitable for videos for all kinds for purposes;
• a library of graphic assets;
• music soundtracks;
• video length and storage capacity depending on your plan;
• YouTube upload, and more.
• Basic – $19/month billed annually
• Pro – $39/month billed annually
• Enterprise – $79/month billed annually

Ready to make your first video animation?

We hope we’ve been helpful with this selection of animation software for beginners. The good thing is, that all software products offer free versions or free trials. So, you will be able to try before you buy.

Have a favorite animation software for beginners that are not listed on this page? It would be awesome if you share it with us in the comments below.

You may also be interested to continue with:

•   The Best YouTube Thumbnail Makers For Great Video Thumbnails
• Animation Trends in 2022
• How to Learn Animation At Home: Beginner’s Guide

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Iveta Pavlova

Iveta is a passionate writer at GraphicMama who has been writing for the brand ever since the blog was launched. She keeps her focus on inspiring people and giving insight on topics like graphic design, illustrations, education, business, marketing, and more.

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Looking for design bundles or cartoon characters.

A source of high-quality vector graphics offering a huge variety of premade character designs, graphic design bundles, Adobe Character Animator puppets, and more.

Pencil2D Animation

An easy, intuitive tool to make 2d hand-drawn animations., minimal design.

Lightweight and easy to use so you can focus on animating and not what button to hit next.

Raster & Vector

Seamlessly switch between raster and vector workflows, allowing you to sketch, ink & paint on the go.

Cross-Platform

Pencil2D is cross-platform and runs on Windows, macOS, Linux & FreeBSD.

Open Source & Free

Pencil2D is completely open source and free to use, even commercially!

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• Pencil2D v0.7.0 RC1 is now available for testing! 19 June, 2024
• 🎬Behind the Scenes: Pencil2D's New Icon Set 21 May, 2024
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Tips and tools to create a memorable animated presentation

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Get inspired, benjamin barnhart.

• 06 April 2024
• 17 min read

In this article

We've all had to sit through at least one long, boring presentation before.

But there's so much you can do to make professional presentations more impactful.

We'll share a few tried-and-tested techniques for creating captivating presentations that keep your audience engaged and help you communicate effectively.

Further below in this article, you can also check out our list of the top video maker tools that provide tools for all kinds of business presentations:

• Promotional videos
• Explainer videos
• Sales slide decks
• Other digital assets for marketing teams

Bring motion in-house

Animate marketing assets in seconds with Linearity Move.

What's different about an animated presentation?

An animated presentation uses animations, slide transitions, and other visual effects to create a more visually appealing and memorable experience.

Whether for business meetings, educational purposes, or marketing campaigns, animated presentations effectively convey complex information in a compelling and interactive way.

Why video presentations are so effective

Want to grab your audience's attention and keep them engaged throughout your talk? Incorporating animation elements, custom fonts, stock images, and video clips in your presentation design will help deliver a more compelling message.

Easier to understand

Animation helps enhance understanding by visually illustrating complex concepts or ideas.

Using animation, you can break down information into bite-sized chunks, making it easier for your audience to comprehend and retain the presented information.

Animated presentations also save time. Instead of explaining each point verbally, you can share quick videos to communicate ideas and key takeaways. This also ensures that your audience can grasp the main points more efficiently.

Improves information retention

Another advantage of using animation is that it makes your presentation more dynamic and memorable. Visual learners particularly benefit from animated clips as they need visual aids to process information.

Animation adds a layer of interactivity that helps your audience engage with your content.

Choose your animated presentation software

Before starting your animated presentation, you need to pick the right software. There are a few key factors to selecting the best tool for your needs.

Consider each product's features and capabilities, such as ease of use, templates, and support for multiple formats. How many people will view your presentation, and what devices will they use? This determines the file size and format you need.

Have a look below at our top picks of software programs for creating animated presentations.

1. Linearity Move

Meet our new innovative marketing animation software, Linearity Move . It's a high-powered suite of features to take your designs to the next level.

This marketing design tool combines sophisticated animation tools with exceptional user experience , introducing a new frontier in animated presentation videos.

Linearity Move allows you to animate vector designs and reduce production costs . You can easily import your designs from various software programs such as Linearity Curve, Figma, Sketch, or Adobe Illustrator.

The easy import-click-animate workflow ensures anyone can create stunning animated presentations with full customization controls. It offers powerful features like object layers, keyframe editing , element positioning with animation curves, and seamless transitions.

Want to see two to three times higher click-through rates (CTRs), up to 30% more conversions , and higher SEO rankings? Join thousands of forward-thinking designers and marketers—get started with Linearity Move.

This animation production system was formerly known as GoAnimate and has been around since 2007. Vyond focuses on creating animated videos primarily aimed at business customers.

It offers a library of video templates you can use as a starting point for your business presentations. There are also plenty of training videos to help navigate your way through the process.

You can add customization, switch up the background music, change the video backgrounds, and more.

PowToon is one of the best animation apps for making animated presentations of all kinds, whatever your skill level is. You can easily use its drag-and-drop approach to build your entire presentation from scratch.

It has a vast library of visual content and animated assets, such as animated characters, stock images, templates, and music tracks.

This animated presentation maker is a good option for anyone wanting to make professional presentations in a simple and straightforward way. 

The software has a free option to get started immediately with basic features and limited functionality.

You can use Visme to create various assets, such as infographics, social media graphics , charts, and interactive content. It also offers pre-designed presentation templates.

The Visme library has many free photos, icons, charts, and other visuals that you can use. But you’ll need a Pro account to unlock some functionality.

Founded in Budapest in 2009, Prezi has been making presentation tools for some time. But the recent revolution in hybrid working and home offices allowed Prezi's live presentation software to flourish.

You can use its Prezi Video product to incorporate graphical elements into a live online presentation. It's compatible with video conferencing tools like Slack, Zoom, and Google Meet.

Prezi comes with templates for making standard animated presentations, plus its zoom-in feature adds a sense of dynamism to presentations. 

This presentation software uses HTML5 web language and mind-mapping techniques to create links between branches of content trees. Focusky's approach enables you to make professional presentations quickly.

It has all the presentation options you would expect for creating animated video presentations, such as transitions, animated characters , charts, and graphs. You also have a choice of video backgrounds and more.

The basic version is free and has limited functionality, and your presentations will have a watermark. You can unlock all the functionality with a standard account.

The online tool Wideo is a beginner-friendly animated presentation software. It’s intuitive, meaning a lack of animation experience isn’t a barrier to making beautiful presentations.

You can jump right in and use one of Wideo’s animated templates, such as an app demo video or an explainer video , and tailor it to suit your needs. But you can also skip the templates and create your own presentation from scratch.

Wideo uses a traditional slide-by-slide format , so it’s easy to follow the process. You can add your company branding, choose a suitable background image, select a background music track, etc.

As a piece of animated presentation software, it might not have the same additional features as others on this list. 

The free version of the software limits your videos to one minute in length, and you only get 10 templates to choose from. For longer animation times and more access to content, you can opt for a paid version of Wideo.

Moovly is an online video maker that works in your browser, so there’s no need to download any software to get started. It’s primarily aimed at business users, and its suggested uses include announcement videos and training videos.

A free version of Moovly is available, which gives access to the stock library and the ability to export presentations. These presentations will come with a watermark, so you’ll need to upgrade to eliminate them.

Upgrading allows you to export in HD quality and create your own templates.

9. Biteable

As a general video-making platform, Biteable is an excellent choice. It boasts big client names like Amazon, Disney, and Google. 

The Biteable software is easy to navigate and intuitive, keeping things simple and understandable. There's a 7-day free Biteable trial available, so you can experiment with the software before you commit.

Steps to create an animated presentation

It's easier than you think. With the right tools and techniques, anyone can create a captivating and effective presentation.

Here are some tips to help you make your own memorable animated presentation:

1. Choose a stunning presentation template

Choosing a template will set a good course when using a video presentation maker. It's a starting point that provides a solid foundation for your project.

You could opt to create a presentation from scratch, but using a template offers pre-designed layouts and slide transitions to create a good tempo for your presentation. These guide rails ensure your presentation flows smoothly and engages your audience effectively.

You also want to ensure your video presentation is on-brand with your company's look and feel. Your chosen template should reflect your brand identity with colors , fonts, images, and other elements consistent with your message.

Templates are created by design and marketing professionals who understand the principles of effective storytelling and visual communication. They offer a proven structure that has been carefully crafted to make your presentation concise and impactful.

By following a template, you can be confident that your content is organized in a logical and engaging manner.

With a range of customizable designs and animation elements available, you can add your personal touch while benefiting from the preconstructed template.

2. Add custom creative content

The content you include on your slides makes or breaks your presentation. Here are some tips for gathering content for your slides and making them more engaging:

• Select relevant information: Clearly define your key message or objective before starting your presentation. This will help you focus on gathering content that directly supports and reinforces your main points.
• Use branded elements: Incorporate your logo, hero images, and other branded visual elements. Imagery makes your content more visually appealing and helps convey complex information more effectively.
• Use text sparingly: Avoid overwhelming your audience with lengthy paragraphs. Instead, use bullet points to highlight key ideas. This makes it easier for your audience to follow along and retain the information.
• Leverage animated templates: Animated templates are a great way to add visual interest and engagement to your presentation. They offer pre-designed layouts and transition effects that can captivate your audience and keep them interested throughout.

By following these tips and utilizing animated templates, you can gather relevant and engaging information for your slides or animated videos, making your content more impactful and memorable.

3. Add animations and transitions

Adding animations and transitions to your presentation video can greatly enhance its visual appeal and watch time. To add these effects, follow these steps:

• Select the object or text you want to animate.
• Open the animation menu.
• Choose an animation effect. Popular options include fade, slide, zoom, and flip.
• Adjust the settings. This can include adjusting the animation's duration, delay, and direction. Experiment with these options to find the optimal settings for your presentation.
• Add scene transitions .
• Preview and refine. After adding animations and transitions, preview your presentation to ensure the effects appear as intended. Adjust any timing or effect settings to ensure a smooth and visually appealing flow.

These steps will help you effectively incorporate animations and transitions into your presentation and bring your content to life.

Get creative with our ready-to-use templates.

Linearity Curve offers templates for every social media platform and various use case templates for posters, business cards, slides, app store screenshots, and more.

4. Customize fonts and colors

To make your presentation stand out, it's important to customize the fonts and colors to align with your brand or personal style. Here's how you can easily modify the design elements in an animated presentation template:

• Font options: Select the text you want to customize. Look for the font menu or formatting options in the toolbar. Click on it to access a range of font options. Experiment with different fonts to find one that complements your content and enhances readability. Ensure that the selected font is consistent throughout your presentation for a polished look.
• Color options: Create cohesion by customizing the colors in your animated template. Look for the color menu where you can modify the text color, background color, or the colors of individual elements. Choose colors that align with your brand or the message you want to convey. Ensure that the selected colors are visually appealing and easy on the eyes.
• Modifying your design: Many animated presentation templates also offer the flexibility to modify design elements. This can include changing the layout, rearranging elements, or adding new ones. Explore the template's editing features to customize the design to your liking. This will ensure a unique, personalized presentation that captures your audience's attention.

You can tailor your animated presentation template by customizing fonts, colors, and design elements. Remember to keep your choices consistent and visually appealing throughout to create a cohesive and professional look.

5. Utilize visual aids to illustrate concepts

Incorporating visuals is another effective way to break up content. Visuals not only add interest and variety to your presentation but also help reinforce your message.

Graphics, diagrams, and images can visually represent what you're talking about, making them easier to understand and remember.

• Images: Including relevant images can help bring your ideas to life and make them more engaging. Images can evoke emotions, set the mood, or provide examples of your presentation topic.
• Charts and graphs: Present data, statistics, or comparisons using charts and graphs. Visualizing information in a graphical format helps to simplify complex numbers and trends, making it easier for the audience to comprehend. The rule applies: Show, don't (only) tell .
• Diagrams: Diagrams help explain processes or sequences. You can present concepts and aid the audience's understanding by breaking down complex ideas into step-by-step visual illustrations.
• Icons: Icons are simple visual symbols that represent specific ideas. Incorporating icons in your presentation can help to convey information or reinforce key points quickly. You can also use them as section markers.
• Infographics: Combine different visual elements, such as images, charts, and icons, to present large pieces of information in a visually appealing and digestible format. Infographics are especially useful when presenting complex data or statistics.

Including design elements in your presentation is crucial. Apply design principles to create an information hierarchy and lead the audience's eyes across each slide. Appropriate design styles add a layer of visual appeal to animated presentations.

Animation styles also play a significant role in enhancing your animation design. Whether you prefer sleek and modern animations or playful and dynamic ones, animation styles can help set your presentation's overall tone and visual aesthetic.

Choosing the right animation style can create a cohesive and visually appealing experience for your audience.

More tips to make an engaging animated presentation

From selecting the right background music to adjusting audio levels, these practices can enhance the overall impact of your presentation.

By incorporating these techniques, you can create visually stunning and captivating animated presentations that keep your audience hooked from start to finish.

Make an attention-grabbing opening

Begin your presentation with a captivating opening that grabs your audience's attention.

This can be achieved through an animated intro, a visually appealing slide, or a thought-provoking question.

By starting off strong, you set the stage for an engaging presentation that captures the interest of your viewers.

Use clear and concise content

Keep your content concise and focused. Break down complex concepts into easily digestible visuals and bullet points .

Avoid overwhelming your audience with too much information on a single slide . When there's too much text or your slides look too busy, the audience can easily become overloaded and lose interest in the content.

Instead, use animation to reveal key points one at a time, keeping your viewers interested in what comes next. This technique keeps the audience intrigued and focused on the presentation. By revealing text one point at a time, you can guide your audience through the information, allowing them to absorb and understand it more effectively.

Highlight one leading point on each slide to break up content. This allows your audience to quickly grasp the main points without feeling overwhelmed by lengthy paragraphs.

Shortening your slides helps focus your audience's attention on specific concepts or ideas.

Tips to achieve simplicity:

• Be short and sweet: Aim to deliver your message clearly and succinctly. Avoid information overload by focusing on the most essential points. Use animated slides to convey complex ideas and break them down into easily digestible visuals.
• Keep to an optimal video presentation length: To maximize engagement, we recommend condensing your animated presentation into a 1–2 minute timeframe. This ensures that your audience stays focused and retains the key information you present.
• Simplify teamwork: Collaborative tools can greatly simplify creating animated presentations. You can establish real-time team collaboration and manage user permissions using these tools. This enables remote and office-working team members to contribute and review presentations seamlessly.
• Customize with brand elements: Customize your animated presentations with brand elements such as logos, colors, and fonts. This enhances your professional image and helps your audience connect with your brand.

Keeping your presentations concise and to the point is key to holding your audience's attention and delivering the information well.

Ready to create brand assets that pack a punch?

Visit our Academy for free marketing design courses.

Create a storytelling narrative

Present your information in a storytelling format to create a narrative flow that captivates your audience. Incorporate compelling visuals and animations that support the storyline and effectively communicate your message.

This helps to resonate with your audience emotionally and keeps them engaged throughout the presentation.

Get out there and make yourself presentable

Making your own animated presentation can feel daunting when you haven’t done it before. Hopefully, this list has helped you realize that nothing is beyond reach with the right software and presentation techniques.

Animated presentation key takeaways:

• Animated presentations can help make professional presentations more impactful and engaging.
• Using animation design in presentations helps make complex information easier to understand, saves time, and improves information retention.
• Incorporating animation elements, custom fonts, stock images, and video clips in presentations can grab and retain your audience's attention.
• Text animations, slide transitions, and other visual effects can create a visually appealing and memorable experience for the audience.

If you’re inspired to bring animation into your business, check out how animation design can boost your brand by exploring more great animation articles on our blog.

Remember to download Linearity Curve . It's the best design platform for creating all your animated assets before importing and animating them using Linearity Move.

Linearity Move is an intuitive animation software to help you take your designs to the next level. Ready to try Move’s vector drawing tools, timeline layers, and templates to create dynamic video content ? Get started for free below.

Frequently asked questions

What are the types of animated presentations.

Gone are the days of mere slide transitions. Now, we're talking about interactive storytelling. Here are some types of animated presentations you'll commonly encounter:

• Motion graphics presentations : These are the smooth operators of the animation world. Motion graphics are ideal for explaining complex topics in a digestible way, often employed to turn abstract data into visually compelling stories.
• Animated storytelling : Think of this as your classic Pixar or Disney film but in presentation form. These presentations have a narrative structure and often have characters, making them engaging and easy to follow.
• Explainer videos : A subcategory of motion graphics, explainer videos focus more on simplifying a concept or process. This is your go-to if you have a product to launch or an intricate concept to convey.
• 3D animated presentations : If you want to make an impactful presentation with depth and realism, 3D animations can be the answer. These are often used in architectural presentations or in-depth product demos.
• Interactive presentations : These presentations are not linear but allow users to click around, engage with the content, and explore at their own pace. This makes them ideal for kiosks, self-paced training modules, and more.
• Whiteboard animations : Imagine a hand sketching out ideas on a whiteboard. Whiteboard animations can be incredibly effective for educational purposes, breaking down a concept step by step.
• Isometric animated presentations : These give a pseudo-3D look with isometric illustrations, providing depth without the computational load of real 3D graphics. These are trending in the tech industry for their modern aesthetic.
• Mixed-media presentations : Combining live-action footage with animation, mixed-media presentations offer a rich, textured experience. This format effectively combines human emotion and storytelling with data or other information.
• Augmented Reality (AR) presentations : While less common, AR presentations are emerging as a novel form of conveying information. These interactive animations are overlaid in the real world, often via a smartphone or tablet, for a truly immersive learning experience.

Each type of animated presentation offers a unique set of advantages and challenges. Your choice should align with your message, your audience's expectations, and the kind of emotional or intellectual engagement you aim to provoke.

What are the different animation styles commonly used in presentations?

The animation style you choose can radically influence the tone and effectiveness of your presentation. Here are some of the commonly used animation styles in presentations:

• Flat design animation : Simplistic yet impactful, flat design animation uses two-dimensional visual elements that are easy on the eyes and straightforward. It's often employed in tech and modern business presentations for a clean look.
• Material design animation : Stemming from Google’s Material Design guidelines, this style offers more depth and shadow compared to flat design. It's tactile, grounded, and employs responsive animations and transitions.
• Cartoon style : Perfect for engaging younger audiences or for topics that benefit from a lighter tone, cartoon-style animation is entertaining and attention-grabbing.
• Skeuomorphic design : This style imitates real-world objects, often with a degree of realism. While considered somewhat dated in web design, it still holds its ground in presentations where the physical analogy aids understanding.
• Retro style : Heavily inspired by styles from the '70s, '80s, or '90s, this nostalgic animation style can add a unique flair and stand out for its creativity.
• Abstract animation : Often used to evoke emotions or concepts, abstract animation can be non-linear, featuring geometric shapes, patterns, or a mishmash of various elements.
• Stop motion : This animation style involves manipulating real-world objects and photographing them one frame at a time. Digital emulation of stop motion in presentations can add a tactile and artisanal feel.
• Line art animation : With its roots in traditional sketching, this animation style is versatile and can range from simplistic to incredibly detailed, based solely on lines and shapes.
• Particle animation : Ideal for conveying complex processes or phenomena, particle animation uses dynamic, small graphical units to represent data or elements. It's particularly impactful in scientific or tech-based presentations.
• Cinematic animation : Incorporating elements of film techniques like depth of field, lens flares, and high-quality rendering, this style adds sophistication and is often used for corporate storytelling.
• Kinetic typography : Often overlooked but incredibly potent, typography animation focuses on animating text to convey emotion or stress key points. From simple fades and swipes to more elaborate motions like spiraling or flipping, the text itself becomes a dynamic part of the visual storytelling. This style is particularly useful when working with text-heavy presentations that still need that "wow" factor.

The choice of animation style will invariably depend on your target audience, your message, and the aesthetic you aim to achieve. Each style carries its own connotations and impact, so choose the one that best aligns with your vision.

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Ben is the Marketing Manager at Linearity in Berlin, with extensive experience in content writing. He blends his passion for animation and history to develop impactful marketing strategies.

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