2D animation software. Any suggestions?

[HromiDaba]

Hi Guys. To those creating 2D art. Does anyone have recommendations for 2d animation software?
I am hoping for something that has a bone system as well as soft body dynamics (for those wiggly boobs).
Still considering Open Toonz, Moho and Toon Boom Harmony, but still not sure which to pick and if there is something better (hopefully free).
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[polywog]

Welcome to the forum, and good luck with your project. At this time, I am unable to provide assistance with animation, due to an unresolved matter where moderators take it upon themselves to go around deleting such posts without cause or explanation. It's not worth the effort, only to turn around and see those posts take down. Perhaps a clarification will be made by staff in the near future, as to the acceptable forms and types of animation, animation tutorials, and animation videos that can be posted on the site.

 

[Egglock]

Another option if you haven't already check, is Blender 2.8x Grease pencil feature. The software is free, and along side it is the added benefit of adding 3D objects to your scene, or as place holders if you want to do it completely in 2D.

Here are some examples.

Grease Pencil + Rigging

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Blending between 3D and 2D

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Rotoscoping in Blender

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These are just the few I thought would interest you pertaining to what Blender can achieve in terms of 2D animation.

 

[crackedreneamon]

I use Firealpaca a lot, pencil2d for video rendering and the free trail of tvpaint animation for timing.

Hope that helps.

 

[HromiDaba]

Thanks for feedback guys! Will check those options. Thanks

 

[exirock]

Hi Guys. To those creating 2D art. Does anyone have recommendations for 2d animation software?
I am hoping for something that has a bone system as well as soft body dynamics (for those wiggly boobs).
Still considering Open Toonz, Moho and Toon Boom Harmony, but still not sure which to pick and if there is something better (hopefully free).
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks

Im not a pro but i can give u info on some programs (sorry in advance with the previews being nsfw), majority of 2d animations softwares are payed, the only free one i know its Krita but not sure if its good cause i never used it.

Payed programs i have 3 that i know they are good for animations,
U have clip studio for sequence animation which is pretty good and u have a store where u can get resources for free and of course there is some payed stuff, i use this one alot this days,

(example of animation i did)

Live2d is a really good program if u want to make 2d animations without drawing frame by frame (u can almost turn them into 3d need some expirience and work), the program even has option to import the animation to unity and i have seen it work on rpg maker mv and it has physics (its used for those interactive games where u click for example on a boob and u move her boob)

(example i used a friend image and did a idle animation)

and for last Moho its almost the same has live2d, its a good program for starters and its easy to use, u can do pretty good animation with it, i used when i started doing animations cause of a dev called Spiralvortex, i saw how awesome they looked and used it for quite awhile until i changed to live2d cause is has more functions then moho. (a side note idk for sure if was my pc for not having a GPU at the time but when u export the animation the quality goes down alot u can see on the preview some bits of rain on it, but i have seen alot people hving the same issue at the time idk if they fixed it already)

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(this link will show u the animation i did for Dr bones game, for some reason idk where i have it)

A good program that is equally good has live2d and moho, u have Spine

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i never used but seen some streamers using them for making assets to game and to do 2d animations, example of an animation

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.

2024 small update, you have Pixelover its more focused for pixelart, but it works very well with 2d Animations i have been using it recently cause its very easy to use and its kinda cheap compare to other programs.

 

[HromiDaba]

Thanks for your answer Exirock. I already use Clip studio and it is great software, however no bones animation... Will check the Live2D since I didn't know of it. I think I'll start with Blender and Open Toonz because they are free, and see if that works for me. If not I'll move to some paid stuff... Your art looks really cool btw. Thanks again for your feedback guys

 

[Selek]

I hope it's okay if I revive this thread, because I am also interested in 2D animation. I'd like to make my 2D characters look 3D, as in the better animations in Summertime Saga or Fantasy Valley. What do most 2D animators use here?

I use Clip Studio Paint Pro to draw, but its animation features are not robust. I've never been wild about Blender. Dragonbones looks interesting, and I guess it's free, but I'm not sure it "rigs" a 2D character to look 3D. I'm willing to pay for a 2D animation program, but I'm not sure which one suits my needs. Spine and Live2D both seem to support "rigging" a 2D character so it looks 3D -- right?

 

[Egglock]

I'm not a 2D artist, but from the little experience I had, making a character look 3D in 2D is how well you understand colors, shading and perspective. I can't say much about other 2D software, but why not give Blender a try? It offers a wide range of tools and features that I believe other 2D software out there doesn't. From the combination of 2D and 3D to the variety of animation features. Below are some examples as what you can achieve.

Advance 2D rigging.

You must be registered to see the links

Using 3D objects as ref. for 2D sketches.

You must be registered to see the links

Lighting In 2D

You must be registered to see the links

These are just few examples of what you can do in Blender. There are much more advance techniques that can be done in the software alone. If you're willing to put in the effort to learn Blender's grease pencil, there is a lot of potential there for 2D.

 

[Selek]

Thanks for your reply and for the links. I didn't realize Blender did all this. I watched the Grease Pencil video and found it helpful. I'll watch the other two tomorrow. I appreciate the help.

 

[chad_nifer]

Hi Guys. To those creating 2D art. Does anyone have recommendations for 2d animation software?
I am hoping for something that has a bone system as well as soft body dynamics (for those wiggly boobs).
Still considering Open Toonz, Moho and Toon Boom Harmony, but still not sure which to pick and if there is something better (hopefully free).
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks

Enve