7 Video Animation Softwares Must To Use

Introduction

There was a time when producing animated videos was an exclusive profession. Only those trained were qualified to do this. However, with the tools of today, anyone can create animated videos easily and at low costs.
With the advent of YouTube as a mode of mass communication, animation videos have gained immense importance.

Animation has been employed in eLearning initiatives giving spectacular results. Even though creating animated videos has become easy, the market is flooded with video animation software, and selecting the right software according to your requirements, may need thorough research. Here is a list of the best video animation software available in the market.

Autodesk Maya

Autodesk Maya is the most popular software in the market. It is supported on Windows, MacOS and Linux. and It is used for 3D modelling, animation, rendering and simulations of various materials. It is used by studios such as Pixar. The software works on the basis of nodes. Each scenario is built on an architectural network of nodes. Each node controls a specific object and its attributes. You can edit the attributes of a node to build your scenario.

It is professional grade software. Its features include accurate rendering and simulation of a variety of materials, the vast and powerful toolset allows the creation of complex procedural animations with ease, and the node flexibility gives a high degree of control over the rendering.

It is paid software on a subscription basis. The educational versions of the software are free to use.

Blender

It is high-end animation software. It is used professionally by a large number of studios. It is supported by Windows, MacOS and Linux. It is used for 3D modelling, animation, rendering, visual effects, and simulation. It is open source software. It, therefore, supports a large online user community. This is especially useful when you are a beginner. It is also significantly easy to master when compared to other high-end software.

Its features include simple animation tools, toolsets that are capable of animation, retopology, curves etc., and incorporation of industry standard libraries, path trace rendering and lots more.
This software is completely free. However, its interface is a lot different from other standard software, so getting used to it may take time and effort.

Moho

This software is dedicated to digital art. It was used to make movies that were listed nominated for the Oscars. It is supported by the Windows and MacOS. It is used only for 2D animation and scenes. The software functions on a vector based rendering system. This system is most suitable for 2D animation and drawing and makes it quite simple to operate.

Its features include a smart warp tool that makes handling vectors much more easy and automatic, Absolute control over frames that allows you to detail the visual effects, Bezier vector handles that optimise the resolution as per requirement, and UV analysis and unwrapping.

It is paid software.

Adobe After Effects

It is dependable software when it comes to animation and visual effects. It is supported by Windows and MacOS. It is normally used to add and edit post-production. It is simple and has a linear procedure. It is developed by Adobe Systems.

This gives you access to Adobe Stock, a vast collection of royalty free graphics content. It is also compatible with other Adobe applications. It can also be used as a purely audio editor or media transcoder.

Its features include easy interface and simplistic linear procedure sequencing that make it easy for beginners, animation pre-sets that allow you to add standard animations such as movie credits easily, and quick creations of simple animations that can be used in presentations.

It is paid software on a monthly and yearly subscription service with a free trial version.

Adobe Animate

Adobe Animate is excellent software for quality animation, rendering and graphics. It is supported by Windows, MacOS and Linux. The interface is very advanced. It includes pressure sensitive drawing and rendering tools. It can add animation with relative ease to objects. It is popularly used to make eLearning videos. It works well with Adobe applications such as After Effect, Photoshop, etc.

Its features include pressure and tilt sensitive tools on compatible devices, easy frame by frame animation effects, easy links with other Adobe software, availability of Adobe Stock and a lot more.

It is paid software with a monthly or annual subscription service with a free trial version.

GoAnimate

GoAnimate is dedicated to creating cartoons. It is cloud-based and is extremely easy to use. They claim that you can make your first video within 5 minutes. It especially suited to create short animations in order to engage the audience. It is widely used in corporate settings and in the eLearning industry. It also can synchronise audio with lip movements automatically.

Its features include easy lip sync: you only need to add audio tracks to automatically create a lip sync animation, it has pre-set industry-specific templates which make it quite useful for corporate communication and it can easily create a diverse range of accurate but fun animated characters.

It has a 14-day free trial, and monthly as well as yearly subscription plans.

PowToon

It is web-based animation software that is dedicated to creating 2D animations. It is used by large corporate industries like Coca Cola and Pfizer for corporate presentations and other communications. It has a mode entirely for making presentations and relevant animations. It is also used for creating eLearning videos. Since it is web-based, it has no OS restrictions.

Its features include colourful characters revolving around work activities pre-set animations of events and activities. It also allows you to create your own characters and scenarios from sketches. Most work-related and corporate requirements are covered by this software.

It has a free version that offers a lot of features. There is also a premium version that is paid with advances functions.

Conclusion

Video animation and visual effects has become an indispensable tool in all entertainment industries as well as the management sector. It is a very effective and engaging tool for communication. Every software covers different user needs and therefore, a detailed study of each software is necessary before choosing the right one. I am sure the above list will help in the selection of appropriate video animation software.