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I tried googling this but it didn't help much so I decided to ask here. What kind of 2D animation programs are there? Any good free ones?

I'm currently using monkeyjam and it basically has everything I need: the ability to import images, preview the animation before saving and changing the frames per second rate. The problem is that it lags A LOT when working with bigger images/longer animations. It's also annoying to use some functions, like duplicating frames.

I know about flash and photoshop but those are too expensive for me and I don't want to resort to piratism. Any ideas?

p.s. I wasn't sure where to post this so please move this if it's in the wrong place.

There is Easytoon, although it's only in black and white with rough pixels. I've seen some cool animations made with it though.

Thanks, but I really need something I can import my digital drawings into. Pixel stuff looks really cool too but it's not what I'm looking for right now.

Pencil is a free animation/drawing software for making traditional 2D animation using bitmap and vector graphics. There are versions for it in Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.

why don't you use gimp is totally free

http://www.gimp.org/

Last time I checked gimp was an image manipulation software... Does it really have animation features? I know I can draw the frames in photoshop(cs2, so it doesnt support animation), but can gimp do more?

GIMP has a function under Filter > Animation that allows playback of layers (to preview animation). You can change the timing of your layers by naming it with "(2000ms)" or something (haven't done it in a while).

> http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Simple_Animations/
> http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Advanced_Animations/

Do you just need a program to see how your animations will work before animating with ATL? Importing to a video editing program? Making gifs?

As an animator, I've been on the lookout for good 2D animation programs, but I can't recommend any free ones.

I can recommend ones that you can buy, however:
- Photoshop CS6 (Mainly a image-program, but also supports animation and basic tweening)
- After Effects (Good for cut-out animation with nested layers for the characters)
- Anime Studio Pro 8 (Again, good for cut-out animation. Also allows you to bone-rig a character, as well as hide/switch nested body parts)
- TV Paint (Good for hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animation)

anon2045 wrote:Pencil is a free animation/drawing software for making traditional 2D animation using bitmap and vector graphics. There are versions for it in Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.

Actually, the original Pencil stopped updating its development after a while. The good news is someone else picked it back up! So I recommend looking at the new version here if you want to try it out: http://www.pencil2d.org/

If you're willing to wait a bit or get by with Gimp or Pencil until it's ready, there's also Krita, which will be getting an animation branch soon thanks to the funding they've gotten for it: https://krita.org/

It'll be a while, since the animation aspect is still in development, but as far as I can tell it'll be worth the wait.

Good luck!

*edit* Reikun is totally right with Gimp. I use Gimp to make .gifs and test animations. Gimp also has some kind of animation package called Gimp Gap that I haven't messed with much. It might be worth taking a look at, but unfortunately I don't know much about it or if it is outdated by now. /edit

I'm taking a look at ToonBoom Animate, which seems to be like a mix between Adobe Flash and TVPaint, and looks promising. You may be interested, but it's not a free program.

I always found the program live 2d to be interesting it's kinda like 3d and vector animation yet not, it has been used in some Japanese Visual Novels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLnF7CQ8Ac
http://www.live2d.com/en
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW6Yrxnn5dM
It has some interesting licensing http://www.live2d.com/en/products/cubism_sdk appears it might allow some free use in indy work depending on scale of project.

For traditional 2d animation there are some free options the closet to anime studio would probably be synfig.http://www.synfig.org/cms/ lol what I would like to find is a freeware program that creates easy multiplane camera effect's https://youtu.be/kN-eCBAOw60 without complexity of blender etc.

Aviala wrote:I tried googling this but it didn't help much so I decided to ask here. What kind of 2D animation programs are there? Any good free ones?

I'm currently using monkeyjam and it basically has everything I need: the ability to import images, preview the animation before saving and changing the frames per second rate. The problem is that it lags A LOT when working with bigger images/longer animations. It's also annoying to use some functions, like duplicating frames.

I know about flash and photoshop but those are too expensive for me and I don't want to resort to piratism. Any ideas?

p.s. I wasn't sure where to post this so please move this if it's in the wrong place.

If you think to create a good or better 2D animation software, you need a good software. But, if you think about cost and freely available software, you don't access some features that really create your animation video amazing. You have see the difference between 2D vs 3D animation.



For free software, you can try TOON BOOM. I have use this software for long time. It's features are cool and makes a really amazing 2D animation video.

opentoonz - I think it's an open source 2d animating software, I have it but haven't used it yet. might have to google around, I downloaded it from a link that ppl were sharing on twitter when it came out

Synfig studio (http://synfig.org/) is also free and open source. You can try it, if you like. Here are some animations I did with it: https://www.artstation.com/artist/urmzoomn/albums/57994.