Best Beginner Software?

[rodneydavis79]

What software did you start out using? What is the best software for beginners? Please post prices as well. It'd be great to have an online software that you sign into to make clips from multiple devices.

[dueyftw]

Free software:
Pencil - If you have a tablet and no money, start with this program. If you can make descent animation in Pencil, any other software you get will be just a time saver.
Synfig

300 dollar range
Anime Studio

High dollar
Toomboom
Flash- here, because if you do animation for 10 years that 30 dollars a month adds up.
Tv paint

There are many more. Some like Anime Studio have a limited version. Don't bother with them, get the full version of what ever program you are going to use. The whole point of animation software is to save time, not to do the core work for you. What do I mean by core animation work? No matter how good an animation program is, none will do drawings or do timeline keys for you.

I started out using Bryce, then moved to Poser.
Now I do only 2d.

Dale

[Tradley]

I remember trying Pencil once. It's decent for a free tool, but it does take some time to get used to.
I've also tried using Adobe Flash, and just like Pencil, it's kinda tricky to get used to.
This is why I'm sticking with Anime Studio. It just feels natural and friendly.

[dueyftw]

The reason I recommend Pencil over anything else is Pencil has no tweening tools. Everything must be done FBF. It forces a beginner to learn how to draw for animation.

Dale

[uncle808us]

There is also Tupi. http://www.maefloresta.com/portal/

[Bossco]

I really like Plastic Animation Paper....http://animationpaper.com/tutorials/

[uncle808us]

I really like Plastic Animation Paper....http://animationpaper.com/tutorials/

Widows only.

[djwaterman]

Cool, just downloaded Plastic Animation Paper and playing around, I think I'm going to try using it (it's a pity the crowd funding update didn't happen), but this old app seems pretty good to me for frame by frame. I wonder now what's in store with the frame by frame in ASP 11?

[jezjones29]

If you're looking for online animation tools, then there are a few listed here:
animestudiotutor.com/animation_links#animation_online

http://www.animaker.com may be worth looking at.

[GCharb]

When I started, there was no 2D animation softwares, but the first I really used was Autodesk animator, back in the late 80S, but if I had to choose one today, I would go for Synfig, which is free and vector based, Anime Studio Debut, which is really cheap and also vector based and has a great community for beginners, but I also would have a look at Toonboom Studio, but its more expensive, is raster, and has no community to speak of.

[neeters_guy]

...I also would have a look at Toonboom Studio...

According to the website, Toon Boom Studio will only be available until Oct 16, 2015.

[mattchee]

...I also would have a look at Toonboom Studio...

According to the website, Toon Boom Studio will only be available until Oct 16, 2015.

Yeah, TB came out with Harmony Essentials to replace it. They've re-introduced Harmony in three levels (Essentials, Advanced, Premium) to get everyone on board with Harmony, with the price reflecting a scalable feature set. This is actually smart, since they previously had three different products covering these bases. It seems to make more sense to get folks started with something, and then move up if the need to, not sacrificing anything they've learned/created thus far. They also offer a subscription service now, but I don't think that makes sense for something in the Harmony Essentials price range.

In any case, though, for my money, I think Anime Studio Pro is a better option in this category of software. I've done trials with both Toon Boom Studio, and Harmony Essentials. In AS, the bone rigging is better, the timeline makes more sense, and now it looks like AS11 is going to have frame by frame, which is really the only thing that TB had on AS (okay, TB's drawing tools are pretty nice!).

[GCharb]

My bad, didn't look at their site in quite a bit!

Then Debut seems to be the best commercial software for beginners, much cheaper, and definitely worth a look!

[herbert123]

Although not available yet, keep an eye out for Krita's upcoming frame by frame animation - their kickstarter was entirely successful, and animation will now be implemented in Krita.

Since Krita is bitmap focused, and Anime Studio is more vector and bones oriented, these two should complement each-other quite well.