Not only do you get to use raster, but you can also work with vectors in this program.
It’s a powerful 2D animation software and the most advanced one yet. I think I don’t have to tell you more about its capabilities. And the crazy thing is, it’s the same tool used by frickin Studio Ghibli! With OpenToonz, Studio Ghibli made globally acclaimed movies like “Spirited Away”.
It is a free source software that costs zero bucks and you can use it with ease thanks to a vast library of tutorials by the community. It seems like an exaggeration, but I think it is. OpenToonz is the best 2D animation software in the world, period.
Download Synfig Studio from here (don’t forget to donate as much as you can). It is an open source software, so you can always check, change and build your own Synfig Studio from the source code. You can also join their development fund on Open Collective. Synfig Studio is free, but you can donate while downloading the program. Like I said before, you can draw anything with vectors. If you are not someone who uses pen tablets for drawing, rather draws vectors with a mouse, you may find Synfig Studio more suitable for you. Sure you can make absolutely anything with a vector workflow, still you may miss your pen tablet, your natural drawing and sketching. There is no drawing involved in this, rather paths and vector shapes. If you are an artist who does painting and sketches, you will get a hard time adjusting to vector based workflow. Consider that,Īlthough this is a wonderful piece of software, I still don’t recommend it for many. The development is active and you can get support from the community that is rather growing.
At the time of writing, Synfig released their 1.3.16 version and it keeps getting improved.
And there are also many YouTube tutorials for Synfig. If you find it confusing, or you don’t know what does what, you can check their detailed documentation. Synfig studio is a good software with easy-to-use interface. You create characters and objects with vector shapes and paths, add bones to characters for easy rigging, and then move vector objects with key-frames to animate them. What I mean by it is it uses vector shapes and animates them using key frames. As I have said before, Synfig is a vector-based animation tool. From the start, you have a tools panel, canvas, animation timeline and some basic tools. It does not provide much, and the whole software is simple. It features a handful of tools and functionality. Synfig Studio is a good and minimal app that lets you create vector based 2D animations. Let me explain this for each of the software. Cause you have three types of animation workflow. In this article, I’m going to talk about 3 software that is: Synfig Studio, OpenToonz and Blender. Although they are free, they are not bad at all. But there is some advanced software that is open-source and also free. To be honest, there are tons of bad but pricey software too. Not all open-source software is good, in fact many are bad. Many love software like Blender, because it’s powerful and delivers industry-standard level quality. Many FOSS enthusiasts, including me, who use Linux have limited choice for advanced graphics software. Also, there are professionals who want reliable software to work with.
Many “free” software are trials and will limit features you can use to push to you for the full version. You may not have the budget when you are just starting out. By beginner, I mean for those who are animating as a hobby or study. But many of these apps are not helpful for beginners and hobbyists. There are tons of applications that can help you with 2D animation. Why should you use open-source animation software? In this article, I will talk about three great open source applications that enable you to create stunning 2D animations with ease and for free. There are tons of software out there you can use to achieve these, but if you don’t have the budget for pricy software, you can always opt for a better solution. Maybe you are planning to make the next Studio Ghibli film! For any reason, to create animation with all the needed tools and environment, you need a 2D animation software. Maybe you’re a professional, or maybe you’re a hobbyist artist who wants to create live and moving art elements.