The popularity of animated videos has risen and become a way to stay ahead in the digital realm. Everyone enjoys animation, regardless of whether they are in 2D or 3D. It engages, captivates, and encourages the audience, allowing businesses to look beyond the box. Nothing is off-limits when it comes to animations! Therefore, every creator strives to create the best animations to help them stand out in a crowded digital market.
Unfortunately for new animators, entering the animation industry in 2023 is not easy. And finding the best animation apps to enhance skills is another challenge. You must still be wondering which are the best animation apps, but don’t fret! Here, we have highlighted nine ground-breaking animation apps.
Whether you’re a newbie eager to delve into the unknown areas of animation or an expert trying to enhance the outcome—these nine best apps for animation will sprinkle new and innovative effects on your digital art.
Factors To Consider When You Pick Your Animation App
Before learning about the apps, knowing the factors you must consider when finding a suitable app is crucial.
1. Pricing
Many animation apps might be pricey, particularly if you’re a one-person business. However, if all you want to do is generate infographics, you don’t need complex animation tools, so start with what you want to create and go for a budget-friendly option.
2. Ease of Use
Which is the best animation app for Windows or MacBook? Numerous animation apps are infamous for having challenging learning curves. Plus, some animators find it challenging to work on MacBook, while others on Windows. But that doesn’t imply you should disregard more sophisticated apps. To ensure you’re getting the most out of the animation app and the best return on investment, you should consider this factor other than cost.
3. Customer Support
We advise looking into your options for assistance, whether there is a lively community or one that offers tech support, especially if you are finding animation apps for beginners. A conversation with a customer support representative can help you get the best app for your animations.
Other factors that need to be considered are:
- Social media integration
- 2D vs. 3D, or both
- Media library
- User interface and customization options
In short, pick an app that helps you enhance your skills and get outstanding results.
9 Great Animation Apps
We understand some crucial factors that are important to consider when finding an app. It’s time to learn about 9 best animation apps for beginners and experts to help them create compelling animations online.
1. Cinema 4D
Cinema 4D is a powerful 3D animation app that provides users with various features for creating a professional project. Beginners can also use this platform easily. The tool makes the best 3D animation layout. With weekly webinars and outstanding customer service, users can learn more about the product’s numerous options.
The number of features in Cinema 4D is astounding, especially the integrated Adobe support. You need a powerful machine with the necessary RAM and other hardware to execute this tool.
· Platforms
Linux, Windows, macOS.
· Pros
Cinema 4D offers a simple interface and a professional solution for producing 3D objects, dynamic graphics, and realistic renders. The software supports basic modeling capabilities and procedural and polygonal modeling, which also offers a number of package modules for all uses, such as scene visualization, object dynamics simulation, character animation, and others.
· Cons
The app is quite pricey, with advanced, unnecessary features for simple tasks.
· Price
Cinema 4D costs $94/month or $719/year.
2. Adobe Animate
This robust web design tool from Adobe’s suite is one of the best iPad animation apps, enabling even beginners to produce vector graphics and animations professionally.
· Platforms
macOS, Windows
· Pros
Adobe Animate makes it as easy to create compelling images as it does to draw it from scratch. The app supports 3D models, sound overlay, ActionScript, and integrations with other Adobe products. Its content can be used on online videos, websites, or games.
· Cons
Compared to other animation tools, Adobe Animate’s camera control is less sophisticated and has fewer options. As a result, creating more intricate 3D animations or even 2D animations with many camera angles and movements may be difficult.
· Price
The pricing plan of Adobe Animate is $20.99 per month.
3. Adobe After Effects
The solution for motion design and 3D animation is Adobe After Effects. It can manage tasks like rotating text and more complex ones like in-depth post-production editing. This is one of the animation apps for Windows and Mac that is widely used in the industry. The user interface is simple, but mastering it requires much practice to utilize all of its functions. Adobe After Effects works well with the company’s software lineup and some external applications like Cinema 4D. More robust features can be available with a Creative Cloud subscription.
Sadly, this might make it unaffordable for individuals and small businesses.
· Platforms
Mac, Windows
· Pros
The tool has tons of tutorials available for assistance. It provides plugin integration and also has an animated text feature. The tool also has incredible Adobe Fonts, preloaded effects, and presets.
· Cons
It offers only a seven-day free trial and has a steep learning curve. The tool uses many computer resources.
· Price
Adobe After Effects costs $20.99/month
4. LottieFiles
Creating scalable animations, from websites to pitch decks, is made simple using LottieFiles. It is one of the best apps for animators. This enables you to make your animations and set up triggers for your designs, such as click, scroll, or hover. Since LottieFiles’ animations are far smaller than GIFs, you can use them without worrying about page load times. Additionally, they are infinitely scalable, allowing you to maintain responsive designs across all screen sizes.
· Platforms
Windows, iOS, Mac, Android
· Pros
The tool offers integration with Webflow and 50,000+ free animations. No coding skills are required to use this mobile app. It has a free plan option, too.
· Cons
The free plan of this app only includes one private project and limited shareable links. Advanced features like unlimited projects, collaboration, customization, and version history are only available on paid plans.
· Price
The professional plan of LottieFlies starts from $19.99, the team package from $24.99, and the enterprise one from $49.99. All these packages are for per user and yearly billed.
5. SideFX Houdini
This is one of the animation apps for MacBook, Linux, and Windows. SideFX Houdini is an incredible tool for advanced productions, such as motion graphics, virtual reality, and film. Professional animators used this software during the production of Frozen. Like other animation software and apps, SideFX has a steep learning curve. Luckily, several tutorials are available to help users overcome the hurdle. It is a user-friendly app due to its various automatic features.
· Platforms
Windows, Mac, Linux
· Pros
The key feature of this software is its node-based workflow, which allows users to design actions that can easily be reused and rearranged. It allows you to make real-time animations and drag-and-drop editing. SideFX also has effect-specific tutorials available. Six subscription tiers are available on the platform, one of which is accessible for beginners.
· Cons
It has a high learning curve with expensive subscription rates. The app is not for casual users wanting a graphic design program.
· Price
The package starts from $269/one year.
6. Blender
Blender enables you to generate incredibly lifelike 3D models and uses its potent path-tracer engine. You may use this robust animation tool to access all the basic features, like onion skinning, but it also goes above and beyond in the level of detail it provides for the 3D figures you design. However, one of its standout capabilities is the capacity to apply object tracking to imported raw video.
· Platforms
Windows, Mac, Linux
· Pros
It’s a free, open-source tool with exceptional feature set and audio capture capability. Blender has a portable USB version available and offers outstanding community support.
· Cons
This software has a bit of a confusing interface, especially for newbies. 3D videos are challenging to create. So, if you find it difficult to make animations and need assistance, you can go for professional 3D animation services.
· Price
The app is free of cost.
7. Pencil2D
Another free, open-source animation software is Pencil2D, which is ideal for individuals just getting started with 2D animation. It offers versatility by working with both raster and vector workflows. It is one of the apps for animate drawing. Sound scrubbing, pixel tracker, and movie import are some of the top features of Pencil2D. The community there is very active and supportive.
· Platforms
Mac, Linux, Windows
· Pros
Users of Pencil2D can set up and switch between raster and vector workflows to make digital sketches, paintings, or solid drawing in animation. Graphic designers can change the canvas size, add unique colors, and blur images using the editing tools resize, fill, blur, and erase options. Additionally, it offers examples and valuable hints to assist new artists.
· Cons
Pencil2D lacks sophisticated features like color effects, drawing tools, curves, etc.
· Price
It is a free tool.
8. OpenToonz
OpenToonz is another open-source animation app with decent features that include old-school integrations and newer bells and whistles. Both business and non-commercial organizations can utilize OpenToonz. Anyone may freely edit its source code because it is accessible.
Although you might have difficulty locating the required tools, OpenToonz works well for simple tasks. Before moving your work into 3D, it’s a good tool for drafting 2D animation., but you can’t beat the price.
· Platforms
Linux, Windows, macOS
· Pros
OpenToonz offers powerful 2D animation, frame-by-frame 2D graphics, customizable fonts and templates, 2D imaging, video effects, and 3D editing. This software was used to make Futurama and Sponge Bob and is a professional for creating two-dimensional animation cartoons.
· Cons
This app is not intuitive and offers limited support. Due to its outdated, confusing UI, it might not be the best tool on the market.
· Price
OpenToonz is a free tool.
9. PicsArt Animator – GIF & Video
With features like animated stickers, frame duplication, and various overlays, PicsArt Animator enables you to quickly create beautiful animations and cartoons. It is one of the animation apps for mobile phones. They allow you to create simple animations by using many layers and sketching your animations frame-by-frame. You can add voiceovers to your animations and record sounds in the animation app using this app. With the Emoji Me function, you can even design your emojis, which makes this software stand out from the competition.
· Platforms
iPad, iPhone, Android
· Pros
PicsArt enables you to edit photos or videos using your smartphone. It is among the best drawing animation apps that offer layered effects and enhance your artwork.
· Cons
Its enhanced Video Editing Interface is for professionals. Sometimes, the interface is slow.
· Price
The app has a free version and Gold and Team packages. The Gold package is $5/month, and the Team is $7/month.
Best Animation Apps – Which One Should I Pick?
Several factors determine which animation app is ideal for you. What kind of animation do you need to make? Do you need to create a VR scene, a GIF, a cartoon, or an animated logo
Aside from your budget, the second thing you must decide is whether you choose to execute your design on a mobile device, tablet, or computer. Again, this depends on how intricate the animation you need to create. Although many excellent mobile animation apps are available, you can pick the best one based on your needs.
Moreover, you can also get assistance from a top-notch animation company, Anideos, which is leading among the 10 animation production companies in United States. The company provides excellent animation solutions across the globe.
