Updated The Ultimate Wax Tutorial Learn to Edit Videos Like a Pro

Updated The Ultimate Wax Tutorial Learn to Edit Videos Like a Pro

Charlotte Lv12

The Ultimate Wax Tutorial: Learn to Edit Videos Like a Pro

Wax - How to Use Free Video Editor Wax to Edit Videos

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Wax is a light weight but high performance and flexible video editing, composition and special effects software. And above all, it’s a free video editor for both commercial and personal use. Wax can create 2D & 3D special effects and can work in two modes - as a standalone application and as a “plug-in” to video editors/NLEs like VirtualDub, Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere, etc.

This is the getting-started tutorial for Wax. In this Wax tutorial, we are going to show you how to zoom, crop and pan video and image, how to make project settings and how to render AVI videos.


Note: If you think Wax is something complicated, you can turn to Wondershare Filmora , which enables you to edit videos with separate tracks and add transitions to your videos, finally, convert your video to any video format you like.Download the free trial version of Wondershare Filmora (originally Wondershare Video Editor) (Windows/Mac) below.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


1. Zoom, crop and pan image for video

Download Wax and install it first. Run the software and Load Media Files by right-clicking on MediaPool panel. But this doesn’t finish. To edit video, you need to drag-n-drop desired media files to the timeline. Then switch to Video Plugins to drag-n-drop Quick 3d plugin to the just added track.

wax free video editor

As shown above, click the triangle next to Quick 3d, you would see many options such as Posx, Posz, Cropleft, Cropbottom, etc. Please see detailed instructions to make editing in Wax:

Zoom Video: Click the Posz clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.

Crop Video: Click the Cropleft/Croptop/Cropright/Cropbottom clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.

Pan Video: Click the Posx clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.

Note that you could preview the video while making settings in the top preview windows.

2. Make project settings

Press F3 or click the Project Settings button in the tool bar to bring up the dialog. There, specify the file name, save path and video options, including video dimensions, frame rate, and click OK.

how to use wax

3. Render AVI video

Click the green arrow button on the tool bar to start saving video to specified path in the project settings. A few minutes later, you will get the edited video.

wax video editing

To be concluded, this is just the beginning Wax tutorial. You will find more features while using it. Just download Wax and have a try.

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Wax is a light weight but high performance and flexible video editing, composition and special effects software. And above all, it’s a free video editor for both commercial and personal use. Wax can create 2D & 3D special effects and can work in two modes - as a standalone application and as a “plug-in” to video editors/NLEs like VirtualDub, Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere, etc.

This is the getting-started tutorial for Wax. In this Wax tutorial, we are going to show you how to zoom, crop and pan video and image, how to make project settings and how to render AVI videos.


Note: If you think Wax is something complicated, you can turn to Wondershare Filmora , which enables you to edit videos with separate tracks and add transitions to your videos, finally, convert your video to any video format you like.Download the free trial version of Wondershare Filmora (originally Wondershare Video Editor) (Windows/Mac) below.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


1. Zoom, crop and pan image for video

Download Wax and install it first. Run the software and Load Media Files by right-clicking on MediaPool panel. But this doesn’t finish. To edit video, you need to drag-n-drop desired media files to the timeline. Then switch to Video Plugins to drag-n-drop Quick 3d plugin to the just added track.

wax free video editor

As shown above, click the triangle next to Quick 3d, you would see many options such as Posx, Posz, Cropleft, Cropbottom, etc. Please see detailed instructions to make editing in Wax:

Zoom Video: Click the Posz clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.

Crop Video: Click the Cropleft/Croptop/Cropright/Cropbottom clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.

Pan Video: Click the Posx clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.

Note that you could preview the video while making settings in the top preview windows.

2. Make project settings

Press F3 or click the Project Settings button in the tool bar to bring up the dialog. There, specify the file name, save path and video options, including video dimensions, frame rate, and click OK.

how to use wax

3. Render AVI video

Click the green arrow button on the tool bar to start saving video to specified path in the project settings. A few minutes later, you will get the edited video.

wax video editing

To be concluded, this is just the beginning Wax tutorial. You will find more features while using it. Just download Wax and have a try.

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Wax is a light weight but high performance and flexible video editing, composition and special effects software. And above all, it’s a free video editor for both commercial and personal use. Wax can create 2D & 3D special effects and can work in two modes - as a standalone application and as a “plug-in” to video editors/NLEs like VirtualDub, Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere, etc.

This is the getting-started tutorial for Wax. In this Wax tutorial, we are going to show you how to zoom, crop and pan video and image, how to make project settings and how to render AVI videos.


Note: If you think Wax is something complicated, you can turn to Wondershare Filmora , which enables you to edit videos with separate tracks and add transitions to your videos, finally, convert your video to any video format you like.Download the free trial version of Wondershare Filmora (originally Wondershare Video Editor) (Windows/Mac) below.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


1. Zoom, crop and pan image for video

Download Wax and install it first. Run the software and Load Media Files by right-clicking on MediaPool panel. But this doesn’t finish. To edit video, you need to drag-n-drop desired media files to the timeline. Then switch to Video Plugins to drag-n-drop Quick 3d plugin to the just added track.

wax free video editor

As shown above, click the triangle next to Quick 3d, you would see many options such as Posx, Posz, Cropleft, Cropbottom, etc. Please see detailed instructions to make editing in Wax:

Zoom Video: Click the Posz clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.

Crop Video: Click the Cropleft/Croptop/Cropright/Cropbottom clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.

Pan Video: Click the Posx clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.

Note that you could preview the video while making settings in the top preview windows.

2. Make project settings

Press F3 or click the Project Settings button in the tool bar to bring up the dialog. There, specify the file name, save path and video options, including video dimensions, frame rate, and click OK.

how to use wax

3. Render AVI video

Click the green arrow button on the tool bar to start saving video to specified path in the project settings. A few minutes later, you will get the edited video.

wax video editing

To be concluded, this is just the beginning Wax tutorial. You will find more features while using it. Just download Wax and have a try.

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Wax is a light weight but high performance and flexible video editing, composition and special effects software. And above all, it’s a free video editor for both commercial and personal use. Wax can create 2D & 3D special effects and can work in two modes - as a standalone application and as a “plug-in” to video editors/NLEs like VirtualDub, Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere, etc.

This is the getting-started tutorial for Wax. In this Wax tutorial, we are going to show you how to zoom, crop and pan video and image, how to make project settings and how to render AVI videos.


Note: If you think Wax is something complicated, you can turn to Wondershare Filmora , which enables you to edit videos with separate tracks and add transitions to your videos, finally, convert your video to any video format you like.Download the free trial version of Wondershare Filmora (originally Wondershare Video Editor) (Windows/Mac) below.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


1. Zoom, crop and pan image for video

Download Wax and install it first. Run the software and Load Media Files by right-clicking on MediaPool panel. But this doesn’t finish. To edit video, you need to drag-n-drop desired media files to the timeline. Then switch to Video Plugins to drag-n-drop Quick 3d plugin to the just added track.

wax free video editor

As shown above, click the triangle next to Quick 3d, you would see many options such as Posx, Posz, Cropleft, Cropbottom, etc. Please see detailed instructions to make editing in Wax:

Zoom Video: Click the Posz clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.

Crop Video: Click the Cropleft/Croptop/Cropright/Cropbottom clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.

Pan Video: Click the Posx clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.

Note that you could preview the video while making settings in the top preview windows.

2. Make project settings

Press F3 or click the Project Settings button in the tool bar to bring up the dialog. There, specify the file name, save path and video options, including video dimensions, frame rate, and click OK.

how to use wax

3. Render AVI video

Click the green arrow button on the tool bar to start saving video to specified path in the project settings. A few minutes later, you will get the edited video.

wax video editing

To be concluded, this is just the beginning Wax tutorial. You will find more features while using it. Just download Wax and have a try.

author avatar

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

Best Animation Apps for Android and iOS: 2024 Edition

8 Best Video Animation App for Android/iPhone/iPad [2024]

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Free Download

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Click here to get Filmora for PC by email
or Try Filmora App for mobile >>>

download filmora app for ios ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t ) download filmora app for android ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t )

With the advent of the great range of video animation app, drawing or art is no longer limited to artists. If you are tired of using free animaiton software on PC , a video animation app might be a choice. In fact, Anyone having the knowledge of the animation maker app can create professional and mind-boggling animated movies and videos.

Usually, people are aware of the heavy animation software on the computer. But, are you aware of the animation app that can help you create animated videos on your phone? In fact, you can also easily make an amazing video with the best animated graphic maker . In this article, you will learn about some of the best video animation apps on Android, iPhone, and iPad.

You might also like: 10 Best 2D Animation Software in 2024 [Free/Paid]

Part 1: Best Animation Apps For Android

1. Animate it

Whether drawing sketches or manikin poses, Animate it is one of the best video animation app for creating animations on your smartphone or tab. Whether you are a student, gamer or a professional animator, Animate it is useful for all who love animation and looking for an animation creator app on the go. The features of this animation maker app include-

  • Customize, create, and edit scenes and characters
  • Edit up to 32 keyframes in each clip and up to 20 files
  • Reset, mirroring, pose or copy available
  • Skin and character selection
  • Create buildings and select from a range of props

2. Stick Fighter

You get a touchscreen interface in the Stick Fighter video animation app which lets you animate frame by frame in a flipbook style. You can use props like bows, swords, arrows on your stick image to create an animated cartoon battle. The features of this animation app include-

  • Change color and size of the objects
  • Use props to create the effect
  • Edit clips frame by frame
  • Save and export to share with other Stick Fighter users

Stick Fighter

3. Stick Draw

This is just a wow video animation app that lets you draw with your finger on your phone. Start with each frame and move to the next by saving and within a few minutes the animation can be up and running. Create stop-motion animations or draw stick figures with Stick Draw cartoon maker app. The features are-

  • Several graphics- rectangular, circular, line, freeform and more
  • Allows drawing with hands
  • Advanced copy pasting options
  • Use drawings or background images
  • Easily accessible interface
  • Mp4 and gif export options

Stick Draw

Part 2: Best Animation Apps For iPhone

4. Animation Desk

Start from the scratch and create an animation frame by frame or use videos, images, or PSD layers for creating animation with the Animation Desk video animation app for iPhone. Now, creating an animation on your iPad or iPhone is easy with this animation creator app. The features are-

  • Several import and export formats
  • More than 46 brush options
  • Rotoscoping or transforming videos into line drawing allowed
  • Music addition to your animation
  • 16:9 and 3:4 export video screen ratio
  • Apple pencil integration

Animation Desk

5. FlipaClip

This is the coolest cartoon maker app to relive your childhood with cartoons and animations. Create some of the best cartoon characters and explore your creativity by drawing cartoon frame by frame. It is basically the school flipbook having a contemporary twist. FlipaClip video animation software is ideal for the iPhone users and offers the best intuitive tools for storyboarding, sketching, animating or just playing around. The features are-

  • Supports several popular formats like SEQ, IMAGE, GIF
  • Share on a social platform like Tumblr, Facebook, YouTube
  • Add videos and draw over it
  • Text insertion from the choice of several fonts
  • Different layers of drawing
  • Grid overlay drawing

FlipaClip

Part 3: Best Animation Apps For iPad

6. Animation Desk Classic

Create hand-drawn images with the Animation desk classic animation app for iPad users. Explore your creative ideas with this animation maker app in a short span of time. The features of Animation Desk Classic are-

  • Add soundtrack or recordings
  • Insert motion backgrounds, shapes, or graphics stickers
  • Cut, copy, paste tool
  • Pigment cans

Animation Desk Classic

7. Animation Creator HD

It is a combination of the best drawing app and the best animation app for iPad. With Animation Creator HD video animation app one can create animated movies on the go. Whether iPad or iPad mini, this cartoon maker app offers great drawing tools, frame management and color options to make the best out of your creativity. The features of this video animation app are-

  • Retina quality and the high frame rate playback
  • Infinite frames and animations
  • Cineverse browsing
  • Powerful drawing tools
  • Easy frame management
  • Life-like animation

Animation Creator HD

8. Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

The simple yet powerful Animation & Drawing by Do Ink video animation app is counted amongst the best app for iPad. Even if you are a beginner, this animation app creator makes your animation creating experience, a pleasant one. The features of Animation & Drawing by Do Ink includes-

  • Powerful vector tools
  • Bezier curve editing
  • Flipbook-style animation
  • Create motion paths by dragging your finger
  • Reusable art props collection
  • Freehand drawing option with fill tools, pen, pencil, brushes
  • Geometric shape tools
  • Adjustable frame rates

Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

Conclusion

Animation has become a vital part of any video marketing strategy. The knowledge of the right video animation app can help you to create great videos on the go. You don’t need to reach your home or office to work on your computer for animating videos. With a range of great animation app available, you just need to download and install on your Android, iPhone, or iPad, to give wings to your creative imaginations and create perfect animations always. If you want to make animation video on PC, try to use Filmora that will give you more controls on editing!

Free Download

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Click here to get Filmora for PC by email
or Try Filmora App for mobile >>>

download filmora app for ios ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t ) download filmora app for android ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t )

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Free Download

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Click here to get Filmora for PC by email
or Try Filmora App for mobile >>>

download filmora app for ios ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t ) download filmora app for android ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t )

With the advent of the great range of video animation app, drawing or art is no longer limited to artists. If you are tired of using free animaiton software on PC , a video animation app might be a choice. In fact, Anyone having the knowledge of the animation maker app can create professional and mind-boggling animated movies and videos.

Usually, people are aware of the heavy animation software on the computer. But, are you aware of the animation app that can help you create animated videos on your phone? In fact, you can also easily make an amazing video with the best animated graphic maker . In this article, you will learn about some of the best video animation apps on Android, iPhone, and iPad.

You might also like: 10 Best 2D Animation Software in 2024 [Free/Paid]

Part 1: Best Animation Apps For Android

1. Animate it

Whether drawing sketches or manikin poses, Animate it is one of the best video animation app for creating animations on your smartphone or tab. Whether you are a student, gamer or a professional animator, Animate it is useful for all who love animation and looking for an animation creator app on the go. The features of this animation maker app include-

  • Customize, create, and edit scenes and characters
  • Edit up to 32 keyframes in each clip and up to 20 files
  • Reset, mirroring, pose or copy available
  • Skin and character selection
  • Create buildings and select from a range of props

2. Stick Fighter

You get a touchscreen interface in the Stick Fighter video animation app which lets you animate frame by frame in a flipbook style. You can use props like bows, swords, arrows on your stick image to create an animated cartoon battle. The features of this animation app include-

  • Change color and size of the objects
  • Use props to create the effect
  • Edit clips frame by frame
  • Save and export to share with other Stick Fighter users

Stick Fighter

3. Stick Draw

This is just a wow video animation app that lets you draw with your finger on your phone. Start with each frame and move to the next by saving and within a few minutes the animation can be up and running. Create stop-motion animations or draw stick figures with Stick Draw cartoon maker app. The features are-

  • Several graphics- rectangular, circular, line, freeform and more
  • Allows drawing with hands
  • Advanced copy pasting options
  • Use drawings or background images
  • Easily accessible interface
  • Mp4 and gif export options

Stick Draw

Part 2: Best Animation Apps For iPhone

4. Animation Desk

Start from the scratch and create an animation frame by frame or use videos, images, or PSD layers for creating animation with the Animation Desk video animation app for iPhone. Now, creating an animation on your iPad or iPhone is easy with this animation creator app. The features are-

  • Several import and export formats
  • More than 46 brush options
  • Rotoscoping or transforming videos into line drawing allowed
  • Music addition to your animation
  • 16:9 and 3:4 export video screen ratio
  • Apple pencil integration

Animation Desk

5. FlipaClip

This is the coolest cartoon maker app to relive your childhood with cartoons and animations. Create some of the best cartoon characters and explore your creativity by drawing cartoon frame by frame. It is basically the school flipbook having a contemporary twist. FlipaClip video animation software is ideal for the iPhone users and offers the best intuitive tools for storyboarding, sketching, animating or just playing around. The features are-

  • Supports several popular formats like SEQ, IMAGE, GIF
  • Share on a social platform like Tumblr, Facebook, YouTube
  • Add videos and draw over it
  • Text insertion from the choice of several fonts
  • Different layers of drawing
  • Grid overlay drawing

FlipaClip

Part 3: Best Animation Apps For iPad

6. Animation Desk Classic

Create hand-drawn images with the Animation desk classic animation app for iPad users. Explore your creative ideas with this animation maker app in a short span of time. The features of Animation Desk Classic are-

  • Add soundtrack or recordings
  • Insert motion backgrounds, shapes, or graphics stickers
  • Cut, copy, paste tool
  • Pigment cans

Animation Desk Classic

7. Animation Creator HD

It is a combination of the best drawing app and the best animation app for iPad. With Animation Creator HD video animation app one can create animated movies on the go. Whether iPad or iPad mini, this cartoon maker app offers great drawing tools, frame management and color options to make the best out of your creativity. The features of this video animation app are-

  • Retina quality and the high frame rate playback
  • Infinite frames and animations
  • Cineverse browsing
  • Powerful drawing tools
  • Easy frame management
  • Life-like animation

Animation Creator HD

8. Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

The simple yet powerful Animation & Drawing by Do Ink video animation app is counted amongst the best app for iPad. Even if you are a beginner, this animation app creator makes your animation creating experience, a pleasant one. The features of Animation & Drawing by Do Ink includes-

  • Powerful vector tools
  • Bezier curve editing
  • Flipbook-style animation
  • Create motion paths by dragging your finger
  • Reusable art props collection
  • Freehand drawing option with fill tools, pen, pencil, brushes
  • Geometric shape tools
  • Adjustable frame rates

Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

Conclusion

Animation has become a vital part of any video marketing strategy. The knowledge of the right video animation app can help you to create great videos on the go. You don’t need to reach your home or office to work on your computer for animating videos. With a range of great animation app available, you just need to download and install on your Android, iPhone, or iPad, to give wings to your creative imaginations and create perfect animations always. If you want to make animation video on PC, try to use Filmora that will give you more controls on editing!

Free Download

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Click here to get Filmora for PC by email
or Try Filmora App for mobile >>>

download filmora app for ios ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t ) download filmora app for android ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t )

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Free Download

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Click here to get Filmora for PC by email
or Try Filmora App for mobile >>>

download filmora app for ios ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t ) download filmora app for android ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t )

With the advent of the great range of video animation app, drawing or art is no longer limited to artists. If you are tired of using free animaiton software on PC , a video animation app might be a choice. In fact, Anyone having the knowledge of the animation maker app can create professional and mind-boggling animated movies and videos.

Usually, people are aware of the heavy animation software on the computer. But, are you aware of the animation app that can help you create animated videos on your phone? In fact, you can also easily make an amazing video with the best animated graphic maker . In this article, you will learn about some of the best video animation apps on Android, iPhone, and iPad.

You might also like: 10 Best 2D Animation Software in 2024 [Free/Paid]

Part 1: Best Animation Apps For Android

1. Animate it

Whether drawing sketches or manikin poses, Animate it is one of the best video animation app for creating animations on your smartphone or tab. Whether you are a student, gamer or a professional animator, Animate it is useful for all who love animation and looking for an animation creator app on the go. The features of this animation maker app include-

  • Customize, create, and edit scenes and characters
  • Edit up to 32 keyframes in each clip and up to 20 files
  • Reset, mirroring, pose or copy available
  • Skin and character selection
  • Create buildings and select from a range of props

2. Stick Fighter

You get a touchscreen interface in the Stick Fighter video animation app which lets you animate frame by frame in a flipbook style. You can use props like bows, swords, arrows on your stick image to create an animated cartoon battle. The features of this animation app include-

  • Change color and size of the objects
  • Use props to create the effect
  • Edit clips frame by frame
  • Save and export to share with other Stick Fighter users

Stick Fighter

3. Stick Draw

This is just a wow video animation app that lets you draw with your finger on your phone. Start with each frame and move to the next by saving and within a few minutes the animation can be up and running. Create stop-motion animations or draw stick figures with Stick Draw cartoon maker app. The features are-

  • Several graphics- rectangular, circular, line, freeform and more
  • Allows drawing with hands
  • Advanced copy pasting options
  • Use drawings or background images
  • Easily accessible interface
  • Mp4 and gif export options

Stick Draw

Part 2: Best Animation Apps For iPhone

4. Animation Desk

Start from the scratch and create an animation frame by frame or use videos, images, or PSD layers for creating animation with the Animation Desk video animation app for iPhone. Now, creating an animation on your iPad or iPhone is easy with this animation creator app. The features are-

  • Several import and export formats
  • More than 46 brush options
  • Rotoscoping or transforming videos into line drawing allowed
  • Music addition to your animation
  • 16:9 and 3:4 export video screen ratio
  • Apple pencil integration

Animation Desk

5. FlipaClip

This is the coolest cartoon maker app to relive your childhood with cartoons and animations. Create some of the best cartoon characters and explore your creativity by drawing cartoon frame by frame. It is basically the school flipbook having a contemporary twist. FlipaClip video animation software is ideal for the iPhone users and offers the best intuitive tools for storyboarding, sketching, animating or just playing around. The features are-

  • Supports several popular formats like SEQ, IMAGE, GIF
  • Share on a social platform like Tumblr, Facebook, YouTube
  • Add videos and draw over it
  • Text insertion from the choice of several fonts
  • Different layers of drawing
  • Grid overlay drawing

FlipaClip

Part 3: Best Animation Apps For iPad

6. Animation Desk Classic

Create hand-drawn images with the Animation desk classic animation app for iPad users. Explore your creative ideas with this animation maker app in a short span of time. The features of Animation Desk Classic are-

  • Add soundtrack or recordings
  • Insert motion backgrounds, shapes, or graphics stickers
  • Cut, copy, paste tool
  • Pigment cans

Animation Desk Classic

7. Animation Creator HD

It is a combination of the best drawing app and the best animation app for iPad. With Animation Creator HD video animation app one can create animated movies on the go. Whether iPad or iPad mini, this cartoon maker app offers great drawing tools, frame management and color options to make the best out of your creativity. The features of this video animation app are-

  • Retina quality and the high frame rate playback
  • Infinite frames and animations
  • Cineverse browsing
  • Powerful drawing tools
  • Easy frame management
  • Life-like animation

Animation Creator HD

8. Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

The simple yet powerful Animation & Drawing by Do Ink video animation app is counted amongst the best app for iPad. Even if you are a beginner, this animation app creator makes your animation creating experience, a pleasant one. The features of Animation & Drawing by Do Ink includes-

  • Powerful vector tools
  • Bezier curve editing
  • Flipbook-style animation
  • Create motion paths by dragging your finger
  • Reusable art props collection
  • Freehand drawing option with fill tools, pen, pencil, brushes
  • Geometric shape tools
  • Adjustable frame rates

Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

Conclusion

Animation has become a vital part of any video marketing strategy. The knowledge of the right video animation app can help you to create great videos on the go. You don’t need to reach your home or office to work on your computer for animating videos. With a range of great animation app available, you just need to download and install on your Android, iPhone, or iPad, to give wings to your creative imaginations and create perfect animations always. If you want to make animation video on PC, try to use Filmora that will give you more controls on editing!

Free Download

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Click here to get Filmora for PC by email
or Try Filmora App for mobile >>>

download filmora app for ios ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t ) download filmora app for android ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t )

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Free Download

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Click here to get Filmora for PC by email
or Try Filmora App for mobile >>>

download filmora app for ios ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t ) download filmora app for android ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t )

With the advent of the great range of video animation app, drawing or art is no longer limited to artists. If you are tired of using free animaiton software on PC , a video animation app might be a choice. In fact, Anyone having the knowledge of the animation maker app can create professional and mind-boggling animated movies and videos.

Usually, people are aware of the heavy animation software on the computer. But, are you aware of the animation app that can help you create animated videos on your phone? In fact, you can also easily make an amazing video with the best animated graphic maker . In this article, you will learn about some of the best video animation apps on Android, iPhone, and iPad.

You might also like: 10 Best 2D Animation Software in 2024 [Free/Paid]

Part 1: Best Animation Apps For Android

1. Animate it

Whether drawing sketches or manikin poses, Animate it is one of the best video animation app for creating animations on your smartphone or tab. Whether you are a student, gamer or a professional animator, Animate it is useful for all who love animation and looking for an animation creator app on the go. The features of this animation maker app include-

  • Customize, create, and edit scenes and characters
  • Edit up to 32 keyframes in each clip and up to 20 files
  • Reset, mirroring, pose or copy available
  • Skin and character selection
  • Create buildings and select from a range of props

2. Stick Fighter

You get a touchscreen interface in the Stick Fighter video animation app which lets you animate frame by frame in a flipbook style. You can use props like bows, swords, arrows on your stick image to create an animated cartoon battle. The features of this animation app include-

  • Change color and size of the objects
  • Use props to create the effect
  • Edit clips frame by frame
  • Save and export to share with other Stick Fighter users

Stick Fighter

3. Stick Draw

This is just a wow video animation app that lets you draw with your finger on your phone. Start with each frame and move to the next by saving and within a few minutes the animation can be up and running. Create stop-motion animations or draw stick figures with Stick Draw cartoon maker app. The features are-

  • Several graphics- rectangular, circular, line, freeform and more
  • Allows drawing with hands
  • Advanced copy pasting options
  • Use drawings or background images
  • Easily accessible interface
  • Mp4 and gif export options

Stick Draw

Part 2: Best Animation Apps For iPhone

4. Animation Desk

Start from the scratch and create an animation frame by frame or use videos, images, or PSD layers for creating animation with the Animation Desk video animation app for iPhone. Now, creating an animation on your iPad or iPhone is easy with this animation creator app. The features are-

  • Several import and export formats
  • More than 46 brush options
  • Rotoscoping or transforming videos into line drawing allowed
  • Music addition to your animation
  • 16:9 and 3:4 export video screen ratio
  • Apple pencil integration

Animation Desk

5. FlipaClip

This is the coolest cartoon maker app to relive your childhood with cartoons and animations. Create some of the best cartoon characters and explore your creativity by drawing cartoon frame by frame. It is basically the school flipbook having a contemporary twist. FlipaClip video animation software is ideal for the iPhone users and offers the best intuitive tools for storyboarding, sketching, animating or just playing around. The features are-

  • Supports several popular formats like SEQ, IMAGE, GIF
  • Share on a social platform like Tumblr, Facebook, YouTube
  • Add videos and draw over it
  • Text insertion from the choice of several fonts
  • Different layers of drawing
  • Grid overlay drawing

FlipaClip

Part 3: Best Animation Apps For iPad

6. Animation Desk Classic

Create hand-drawn images with the Animation desk classic animation app for iPad users. Explore your creative ideas with this animation maker app in a short span of time. The features of Animation Desk Classic are-

  • Add soundtrack or recordings
  • Insert motion backgrounds, shapes, or graphics stickers
  • Cut, copy, paste tool
  • Pigment cans

Animation Desk Classic

7. Animation Creator HD

It is a combination of the best drawing app and the best animation app for iPad. With Animation Creator HD video animation app one can create animated movies on the go. Whether iPad or iPad mini, this cartoon maker app offers great drawing tools, frame management and color options to make the best out of your creativity. The features of this video animation app are-

  • Retina quality and the high frame rate playback
  • Infinite frames and animations
  • Cineverse browsing
  • Powerful drawing tools
  • Easy frame management
  • Life-like animation

Animation Creator HD

8. Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

The simple yet powerful Animation & Drawing by Do Ink video animation app is counted amongst the best app for iPad. Even if you are a beginner, this animation app creator makes your animation creating experience, a pleasant one. The features of Animation & Drawing by Do Ink includes-

  • Powerful vector tools
  • Bezier curve editing
  • Flipbook-style animation
  • Create motion paths by dragging your finger
  • Reusable art props collection
  • Freehand drawing option with fill tools, pen, pencil, brushes
  • Geometric shape tools
  • Adjustable frame rates

Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

Conclusion

Animation has become a vital part of any video marketing strategy. The knowledge of the right video animation app can help you to create great videos on the go. You don’t need to reach your home or office to work on your computer for animating videos. With a range of great animation app available, you just need to download and install on your Android, iPhone, or iPad, to give wings to your creative imaginations and create perfect animations always. If you want to make animation video on PC, try to use Filmora that will give you more controls on editing!

Free Download

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Free Download

For macOS 10.14 or later

Filmora secure download Secure Download

Click here to get Filmora for PC by email
or Try Filmora App for mobile >>>

download filmora app for ios ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t ) download filmora app for android ](https://app.adjust.com/b0k9hf2%5F4bsu85t )

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

FCPX Visual Effects: Freeze Frames, Slow Motion, and Advanced Editing

Final Cut Pro X: Freeze-Frames and Slow Motion

author avatar

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

A very simple, yet very effective effect is changing the speed of a video clip. This could be a simple still-frame (also called “Freeze Frame”) or playing a clip in slow or fast motion.

This article shows you how to do this using Final Cut Pro X.

For more tutorials on slow-motion please refer to this article: Top 10 Slow Motion Video Editing Software.

Freeze-Frames and Slow Motion in Final Cut Pro X

1. STILL FRAMES

still frames

A still-frame freezes action. For instance, here is a clip of a hummingbird getting ready to land on a bird feeder. I want to create a freeze-frame of the bird in flight. (Um, yeah, I use “freeze-frame” and “still-frame” interchangeably.)

In Final Cut Pro X, put the playhead (or skimmer) on the frame you want to freeze and type Option+F.

freeze frames

This creates a two-second freeze-frame at the position of the playhead.

create freeze frame

Adjust the duration of the frame by trimming the edge; just like any other clip. Here, for example, I’m making the duration of the freeze-frame 11 frames shorter.

freeze frames in FCP X

In case you were wondering, this is what the freeze looks like. It freezes the flight of the hummingbird in the middle of playback, allowing us to add graphics or other text then resume the action as though nothing had happened.

Very cool, except….

Well, the good news is that this is fast and easy. The bad news is that we can’t change the location of the still frame.

So, here’s another way to do this.

Put the playhead (or skimmer, but I prefer the playhead) on the frame you want to freeze, select the clip, then type Shift+F.

Playhead

This locates the source clip in the Browser, selects both the Browser and the clip, and matches the position of the In, Out, and playhead.

match clips

Now, with the Browser selected, type Option+F. This creates a freeze-frame of the Browser clip and places it at the location of the playhead as a connected clip in the Timeline.

As a connected clip, we can move this new freeze-frame wherever we want. However, be careful in moving the clip, because, unless you mark the original frame with a marker (type “M”), there’s no easy way to match the still frame with the source frame, once the still frame is moved somewhere else.

I use both these techniques in many different projects.

2. HOLD FRAME

A Hold Frame is similar to an in-line still frame, but with more flexibility.

hold frame

Put the playhead (or skimmer) on the frame you want to hold. Then, Then, using either Modify > Retime or the “Smurf-on-a-headset” Toolbar icon, choose Hold Frame (or type: Shift+H).

hold frames in fcp x

This displays the orange Retime editor bar above the clip, with a small red portion indicating the Hold frame.

create hold frames

Change the duration of the Hold frame by dragging the small thumb at the right end of the red bar.

speed016

Add a speed ramp transition at the end of the Hold frame by clicking the downward-pointing arrow next to the word “Hold” in the Retime Editor.

speed018

To change the actual frame being held, double-click the bar icon to the LEFT of the red Hold section and choose Source Frame (Edit). This allows you to slide the Hold frame selection left or right.

NOTE: Changing the source frame is a feature that I like a LOT!

3. SLOW (or FAST) MOTION

fast/slow motion

We use slow-motion to show events that are too fast for the unaided eye to see. And fast motion to speed up very slow events. Both of these effects use what’s called a “constant speed change,” where the entire clip changes by the same amount - either faster or slower.

WE create either effect using the same tools, just different values. Here’s how.

slow motion

Select the clip who’s speed you want to change. Then, using either Modify > Retime or the “Smurf” Toolbar icon, select Slow (or Fast).

Choose one of the available speeds; in this case, 50%. (Yes, you can change this to any value you want, I’ll show you how in a minute.)

create slow/fast motion

Three things happen at once:

  • The duration of the clip changes
  • The orange Retiming bar appears over the top of the clip
  • The speed of the clip changes

speed010

To reset the speed back to normal (100%), click the downward-pointing arrow in the Retiming bar and choose Normal (100%).

There are two ways to change the speed of a clip.

speed017

The easy way is to grab the small handle at the end of the clip and drag left or right. The speed will change as you drag it.

Or, for more precision, click the downward-pointing arrow in the Retiming bar and choose Custom.

speed011

This opens a new dialog allowing a number of changes:

  • Reverse. Plays the clip in reverse.
  • Rate. Select a specific speed change as a percentage of normal speed for a clip. Less than 100% is slow-motion. More than 100% is fast-motion.
  • Duration. Select a specific duration for a clip and FCP X will calculate how fast or slow it needs to go.
  • Ripple. When checked, adjusts the duration of a clip based upon the speed. When unchecked, the clip duration remains fixed even when speed changes.

You will get the smoothest speed changes when the percentage you choose divides evenly into 200. For example, 100, 66, 50, 40, 33, 25, 20, 10 and so on.

4. EXTRA CREDIT

There is one more setting to consider when slowing a clip. (This does not apply when creating fast motion.)

speed012

Using, again, either Modify > Retime or the “Smurf” menu, select Video Quality.

  • Normal. This is the best choice for speeds of 50% or faster.
  • Frame Blending. This is the best choice for speeds of about 20% to 50%.
  • Optical Flow. This is the best choice for speeds slower than about 20%.

Frame blending puts a short dissolve between frames when running in slow motion to improve the illusion of motion. Optical Flow invents in-between frames to minimize the jerkiness of extremely slow motion.

Frame blending is relatively fast and easy. Optical Flow will look better in most cases, but takes a long time to render.


This is a basic tutorial about Apple Final Cut Pro X, a professional video editing software. However, if video editing is new to you, consider Wondershare Filmora for Mac . This is a powerful but easy-to-use tool for users just starting out. Download the free trial version below.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


SUMMARY

Whether you want your clips to speed up, slow down or just plain stop, Final Cut Pro X makes the entire process easy.

author avatar

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

A very simple, yet very effective effect is changing the speed of a video clip. This could be a simple still-frame (also called “Freeze Frame”) or playing a clip in slow or fast motion.

This article shows you how to do this using Final Cut Pro X.

For more tutorials on slow-motion please refer to this article: Top 10 Slow Motion Video Editing Software.

Freeze-Frames and Slow Motion in Final Cut Pro X

1. STILL FRAMES

still frames

A still-frame freezes action. For instance, here is a clip of a hummingbird getting ready to land on a bird feeder. I want to create a freeze-frame of the bird in flight. (Um, yeah, I use “freeze-frame” and “still-frame” interchangeably.)

In Final Cut Pro X, put the playhead (or skimmer) on the frame you want to freeze and type Option+F.

freeze frames

This creates a two-second freeze-frame at the position of the playhead.

create freeze frame

Adjust the duration of the frame by trimming the edge; just like any other clip. Here, for example, I’m making the duration of the freeze-frame 11 frames shorter.

freeze frames in FCP X

In case you were wondering, this is what the freeze looks like. It freezes the flight of the hummingbird in the middle of playback, allowing us to add graphics or other text then resume the action as though nothing had happened.

Very cool, except….

Well, the good news is that this is fast and easy. The bad news is that we can’t change the location of the still frame.

So, here’s another way to do this.

Put the playhead (or skimmer, but I prefer the playhead) on the frame you want to freeze, select the clip, then type Shift+F.

Playhead

This locates the source clip in the Browser, selects both the Browser and the clip, and matches the position of the In, Out, and playhead.

match clips

Now, with the Browser selected, type Option+F. This creates a freeze-frame of the Browser clip and places it at the location of the playhead as a connected clip in the Timeline.

As a connected clip, we can move this new freeze-frame wherever we want. However, be careful in moving the clip, because, unless you mark the original frame with a marker (type “M”), there’s no easy way to match the still frame with the source frame, once the still frame is moved somewhere else.

I use both these techniques in many different projects.

2. HOLD FRAME

A Hold Frame is similar to an in-line still frame, but with more flexibility.

hold frame

Put the playhead (or skimmer) on the frame you want to hold. Then, Then, using either Modify > Retime or the “Smurf-on-a-headset” Toolbar icon, choose Hold Frame (or type: Shift+H).

hold frames in fcp x

This displays the orange Retime editor bar above the clip, with a small red portion indicating the Hold frame.

create hold frames

Change the duration of the Hold frame by dragging the small thumb at the right end of the red bar.

speed016

Add a speed ramp transition at the end of the Hold frame by clicking the downward-pointing arrow next to the word “Hold” in the Retime Editor.

speed018

To change the actual frame being held, double-click the bar icon to the LEFT of the red Hold section and choose Source Frame (Edit). This allows you to slide the Hold frame selection left or right.

NOTE: Changing the source frame is a feature that I like a LOT!

3. SLOW (or FAST) MOTION

fast/slow motion

We use slow-motion to show events that are too fast for the unaided eye to see. And fast motion to speed up very slow events. Both of these effects use what’s called a “constant speed change,” where the entire clip changes by the same amount - either faster or slower.

WE create either effect using the same tools, just different values. Here’s how.

slow motion

Select the clip who’s speed you want to change. Then, using either Modify > Retime or the “Smurf” Toolbar icon, select Slow (or Fast).

Choose one of the available speeds; in this case, 50%. (Yes, you can change this to any value you want, I’ll show you how in a minute.)

create slow/fast motion

Three things happen at once:

  • The duration of the clip changes
  • The orange Retiming bar appears over the top of the clip
  • The speed of the clip changes

speed010

To reset the speed back to normal (100%), click the downward-pointing arrow in the Retiming bar and choose Normal (100%).

There are two ways to change the speed of a clip.

speed017

The easy way is to grab the small handle at the end of the clip and drag left or right. The speed will change as you drag it.

Or, for more precision, click the downward-pointing arrow in the Retiming bar and choose Custom.

speed011

This opens a new dialog allowing a number of changes:

  • Reverse. Plays the clip in reverse.
  • Rate. Select a specific speed change as a percentage of normal speed for a clip. Less than 100% is slow-motion. More than 100% is fast-motion.
  • Duration. Select a specific duration for a clip and FCP X will calculate how fast or slow it needs to go.
  • Ripple. When checked, adjusts the duration of a clip based upon the speed. When unchecked, the clip duration remains fixed even when speed changes.

You will get the smoothest speed changes when the percentage you choose divides evenly into 200. For example, 100, 66, 50, 40, 33, 25, 20, 10 and so on.

4. EXTRA CREDIT

There is one more setting to consider when slowing a clip. (This does not apply when creating fast motion.)

speed012

Using, again, either Modify > Retime or the “Smurf” menu, select Video Quality.

  • Normal. This is the best choice for speeds of 50% or faster.
  • Frame Blending. This is the best choice for speeds of about 20% to 50%.
  • Optical Flow. This is the best choice for speeds slower than about 20%.

Frame blending puts a short dissolve between frames when running in slow motion to improve the illusion of motion. Optical Flow invents in-between frames to minimize the jerkiness of extremely slow motion.

Frame blending is relatively fast and easy. Optical Flow will look better in most cases, but takes a long time to render.


This is a basic tutorial about Apple Final Cut Pro X, a professional video editing software. However, if video editing is new to you, consider Wondershare Filmora for Mac . This is a powerful but easy-to-use tool for users just starting out. Download the free trial version below.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


SUMMARY

Whether you want your clips to speed up, slow down or just plain stop, Final Cut Pro X makes the entire process easy.

author avatar

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

A very simple, yet very effective effect is changing the speed of a video clip. This could be a simple still-frame (also called “Freeze Frame”) or playing a clip in slow or fast motion.

This article shows you how to do this using Final Cut Pro X.

For more tutorials on slow-motion please refer to this article: Top 10 Slow Motion Video Editing Software.

Freeze-Frames and Slow Motion in Final Cut Pro X

1. STILL FRAMES

still frames

A still-frame freezes action. For instance, here is a clip of a hummingbird getting ready to land on a bird feeder. I want to create a freeze-frame of the bird in flight. (Um, yeah, I use “freeze-frame” and “still-frame” interchangeably.)

In Final Cut Pro X, put the playhead (or skimmer) on the frame you want to freeze and type Option+F.

freeze frames

This creates a two-second freeze-frame at the position of the playhead.

create freeze frame

Adjust the duration of the frame by trimming the edge; just like any other clip. Here, for example, I’m making the duration of the freeze-frame 11 frames shorter.

freeze frames in FCP X

In case you were wondering, this is what the freeze looks like. It freezes the flight of the hummingbird in the middle of playback, allowing us to add graphics or other text then resume the action as though nothing had happened.

Very cool, except….

Well, the good news is that this is fast and easy. The bad news is that we can’t change the location of the still frame.

So, here’s another way to do this.

Put the playhead (or skimmer, but I prefer the playhead) on the frame you want to freeze, select the clip, then type Shift+F.

Playhead

This locates the source clip in the Browser, selects both the Browser and the clip, and matches the position of the In, Out, and playhead.

match clips

Now, with the Browser selected, type Option+F. This creates a freeze-frame of the Browser clip and places it at the location of the playhead as a connected clip in the Timeline.

As a connected clip, we can move this new freeze-frame wherever we want. However, be careful in moving the clip, because, unless you mark the original frame with a marker (type “M”), there’s no easy way to match the still frame with the source frame, once the still frame is moved somewhere else.

I use both these techniques in many different projects.

2. HOLD FRAME

A Hold Frame is similar to an in-line still frame, but with more flexibility.

hold frame

Put the playhead (or skimmer) on the frame you want to hold. Then, Then, using either Modify > Retime or the “Smurf-on-a-headset” Toolbar icon, choose Hold Frame (or type: Shift+H).

hold frames in fcp x

This displays the orange Retime editor bar above the clip, with a small red portion indicating the Hold frame.

create hold frames

Change the duration of the Hold frame by dragging the small thumb at the right end of the red bar.

speed016

Add a speed ramp transition at the end of the Hold frame by clicking the downward-pointing arrow next to the word “Hold” in the Retime Editor.

speed018

To change the actual frame being held, double-click the bar icon to the LEFT of the red Hold section and choose Source Frame (Edit). This allows you to slide the Hold frame selection left or right.

NOTE: Changing the source frame is a feature that I like a LOT!

3. SLOW (or FAST) MOTION

fast/slow motion

We use slow-motion to show events that are too fast for the unaided eye to see. And fast motion to speed up very slow events. Both of these effects use what’s called a “constant speed change,” where the entire clip changes by the same amount - either faster or slower.

WE create either effect using the same tools, just different values. Here’s how.

slow motion

Select the clip who’s speed you want to change. Then, using either Modify > Retime or the “Smurf” Toolbar icon, select Slow (or Fast).

Choose one of the available speeds; in this case, 50%. (Yes, you can change this to any value you want, I’ll show you how in a minute.)

create slow/fast motion

Three things happen at once:

  • The duration of the clip changes
  • The orange Retiming bar appears over the top of the clip
  • The speed of the clip changes

speed010

To reset the speed back to normal (100%), click the downward-pointing arrow in the Retiming bar and choose Normal (100%).

There are two ways to change the speed of a clip.

speed017

The easy way is to grab the small handle at the end of the clip and drag left or right. The speed will change as you drag it.

Or, for more precision, click the downward-pointing arrow in the Retiming bar and choose Custom.

speed011

This opens a new dialog allowing a number of changes:

  • Reverse. Plays the clip in reverse.
  • Rate. Select a specific speed change as a percentage of normal speed for a clip. Less than 100% is slow-motion. More than 100% is fast-motion.
  • Duration. Select a specific duration for a clip and FCP X will calculate how fast or slow it needs to go.
  • Ripple. When checked, adjusts the duration of a clip based upon the speed. When unchecked, the clip duration remains fixed even when speed changes.

You will get the smoothest speed changes when the percentage you choose divides evenly into 200. For example, 100, 66, 50, 40, 33, 25, 20, 10 and so on.

4. EXTRA CREDIT

There is one more setting to consider when slowing a clip. (This does not apply when creating fast motion.)

speed012

Using, again, either Modify > Retime or the “Smurf” menu, select Video Quality.

  • Normal. This is the best choice for speeds of 50% or faster.
  • Frame Blending. This is the best choice for speeds of about 20% to 50%.
  • Optical Flow. This is the best choice for speeds slower than about 20%.

Frame blending puts a short dissolve between frames when running in slow motion to improve the illusion of motion. Optical Flow invents in-between frames to minimize the jerkiness of extremely slow motion.

Frame blending is relatively fast and easy. Optical Flow will look better in most cases, but takes a long time to render.


This is a basic tutorial about Apple Final Cut Pro X, a professional video editing software. However, if video editing is new to you, consider Wondershare Filmora for Mac . This is a powerful but easy-to-use tool for users just starting out. Download the free trial version below.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


SUMMARY

Whether you want your clips to speed up, slow down or just plain stop, Final Cut Pro X makes the entire process easy.

author avatar

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

A very simple, yet very effective effect is changing the speed of a video clip. This could be a simple still-frame (also called “Freeze Frame”) or playing a clip in slow or fast motion.

This article shows you how to do this using Final Cut Pro X.

For more tutorials on slow-motion please refer to this article: Top 10 Slow Motion Video Editing Software.

Freeze-Frames and Slow Motion in Final Cut Pro X

1. STILL FRAMES

still frames

A still-frame freezes action. For instance, here is a clip of a hummingbird getting ready to land on a bird feeder. I want to create a freeze-frame of the bird in flight. (Um, yeah, I use “freeze-frame” and “still-frame” interchangeably.)

In Final Cut Pro X, put the playhead (or skimmer) on the frame you want to freeze and type Option+F.

freeze frames

This creates a two-second freeze-frame at the position of the playhead.

create freeze frame

Adjust the duration of the frame by trimming the edge; just like any other clip. Here, for example, I’m making the duration of the freeze-frame 11 frames shorter.

freeze frames in FCP X

In case you were wondering, this is what the freeze looks like. It freezes the flight of the hummingbird in the middle of playback, allowing us to add graphics or other text then resume the action as though nothing had happened.

Very cool, except….

Well, the good news is that this is fast and easy. The bad news is that we can’t change the location of the still frame.

So, here’s another way to do this.

Put the playhead (or skimmer, but I prefer the playhead) on the frame you want to freeze, select the clip, then type Shift+F.

Playhead

This locates the source clip in the Browser, selects both the Browser and the clip, and matches the position of the In, Out, and playhead.

match clips

Now, with the Browser selected, type Option+F. This creates a freeze-frame of the Browser clip and places it at the location of the playhead as a connected clip in the Timeline.

As a connected clip, we can move this new freeze-frame wherever we want. However, be careful in moving the clip, because, unless you mark the original frame with a marker (type “M”), there’s no easy way to match the still frame with the source frame, once the still frame is moved somewhere else.

I use both these techniques in many different projects.

2. HOLD FRAME

A Hold Frame is similar to an in-line still frame, but with more flexibility.

hold frame

Put the playhead (or skimmer) on the frame you want to hold. Then, Then, using either Modify > Retime or the “Smurf-on-a-headset” Toolbar icon, choose Hold Frame (or type: Shift+H).

hold frames in fcp x

This displays the orange Retime editor bar above the clip, with a small red portion indicating the Hold frame.

create hold frames

Change the duration of the Hold frame by dragging the small thumb at the right end of the red bar.

speed016

Add a speed ramp transition at the end of the Hold frame by clicking the downward-pointing arrow next to the word “Hold” in the Retime Editor.

speed018

To change the actual frame being held, double-click the bar icon to the LEFT of the red Hold section and choose Source Frame (Edit). This allows you to slide the Hold frame selection left or right.

NOTE: Changing the source frame is a feature that I like a LOT!

3. SLOW (or FAST) MOTION

fast/slow motion

We use slow-motion to show events that are too fast for the unaided eye to see. And fast motion to speed up very slow events. Both of these effects use what’s called a “constant speed change,” where the entire clip changes by the same amount - either faster or slower.

WE create either effect using the same tools, just different values. Here’s how.

slow motion

Select the clip who’s speed you want to change. Then, using either Modify > Retime or the “Smurf” Toolbar icon, select Slow (or Fast).

Choose one of the available speeds; in this case, 50%. (Yes, you can change this to any value you want, I’ll show you how in a minute.)

create slow/fast motion

Three things happen at once:

  • The duration of the clip changes
  • The orange Retiming bar appears over the top of the clip
  • The speed of the clip changes

speed010

To reset the speed back to normal (100%), click the downward-pointing arrow in the Retiming bar and choose Normal (100%).

There are two ways to change the speed of a clip.

speed017

The easy way is to grab the small handle at the end of the clip and drag left or right. The speed will change as you drag it.

Or, for more precision, click the downward-pointing arrow in the Retiming bar and choose Custom.

speed011

This opens a new dialog allowing a number of changes:

  • Reverse. Plays the clip in reverse.
  • Rate. Select a specific speed change as a percentage of normal speed for a clip. Less than 100% is slow-motion. More than 100% is fast-motion.
  • Duration. Select a specific duration for a clip and FCP X will calculate how fast or slow it needs to go.
  • Ripple. When checked, adjusts the duration of a clip based upon the speed. When unchecked, the clip duration remains fixed even when speed changes.

You will get the smoothest speed changes when the percentage you choose divides evenly into 200. For example, 100, 66, 50, 40, 33, 25, 20, 10 and so on.

4. EXTRA CREDIT

There is one more setting to consider when slowing a clip. (This does not apply when creating fast motion.)

speed012

Using, again, either Modify > Retime or the “Smurf” menu, select Video Quality.

  • Normal. This is the best choice for speeds of 50% or faster.
  • Frame Blending. This is the best choice for speeds of about 20% to 50%.
  • Optical Flow. This is the best choice for speeds slower than about 20%.

Frame blending puts a short dissolve between frames when running in slow motion to improve the illusion of motion. Optical Flow invents in-between frames to minimize the jerkiness of extremely slow motion.

Frame blending is relatively fast and easy. Optical Flow will look better in most cases, but takes a long time to render.


This is a basic tutorial about Apple Final Cut Pro X, a professional video editing software. However, if video editing is new to you, consider Wondershare Filmora for Mac . This is a powerful but easy-to-use tool for users just starting out. Download the free trial version below.

Download Win VersionDownload Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )


SUMMARY

Whether you want your clips to speed up, slow down or just plain stop, Final Cut Pro X makes the entire process easy.

author avatar

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Free Animation Made Easy: Top Software for Windows and macOS

Best 12 Free Download Animation Software for Windows and Mac

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In your search for quality animation software, you may have found that many of the programs cost a lot of money no matter it is 2D animation software or 3D animation editor. The good news is that you can choose free animation tools to make different animation types easily.

That is why we created a list of the best animation software on both Mac and Windows. Whether you are a professional editor or just a beginner to start making animation, you will find the tools listed below are easy to use without watermark and won’t cost money to improve your skills.

The best part is you will find these free animation programs are also very useful for content creation on Mac and Windows. Besides, we have listed the pros and cons of each software. Keep reading!

Here we have made a table of 12 free animation software without watermark on Windows and macOS. Take a look.

6 Free Animation Software for macOS

5K-3DMiddleIt is a great tool for 3D artists6KritaDifficultPerfect software for 2D animation

Number Software Difficulty Level Highlight
1 Synfig Studio Easy Calculate vector shape to animation automatically
2 Pencil2D Animation Easiest Straightforward interface for beginners
3 Tupi Middle Its community is active to offer solutions
4 Blender Difficult It is a powerful animation tool to render and make modeling

6 Free Animation Software for Windows

Number Software Difficulty Level Highlight
1 DAZ Studio Difficult For professional users with the fast animation process
2 Terragen Middle It can make realistic CG environments
3 Anim8or Difficult 3D animation is Anim8or’s main function
4 Seamless3d Easy It has many features for 3d modeling
5 OpenToonz Middle Make cartoon animation with plugins
6 Stykz Easy Quickly make animation if you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator

Best Animation Software on Windows and Mac - Filmora

Looking for a simple while powerful Mac video editing tool ? We recommend using Wondershare Filmora. You can use it to create 2D/3D animated texts, shapes, or anything you like for YouTube videos.

The keyframing features will help you make animation effects smooth and precise. When exporting, you can also make it transparent.

Besides, various title templates and transitions are also available for you. Download it now to have a try! Or learn more from Wondershare Video Community .

Key features

  • Create various shapes that you like
  • Add keyframing to make it move
  • Fine-tuning to make it smooth
  • Add visual effects/text/color before export it

Download Filmora9 Win Version Download Filmora9 Mac Version

Download Filmora9 Mac Version

You can even create photo cut animation which has been very trendy on Tiktok and Instagram. Here is a video to present you how you can do it in Filmora.

Part 1 Best Free Animation Software for Mac

Listed below is free animation software on Mac. Take a look.

01 Synfig Studio - Mac Software to Animate Video

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: You can create many layers once a time and sync audio for your animation.

Con: This one needs much time to learn, especially for beginners.

An open-source 2D animation software that works on Macs, Synfig Studio delivers multiple players while you are creating content. Whether you want to add geometric, filters, distortions, or transformations, it is all possible! And thanks to the high-end bone system, you can create cut-out videos using bitmap images!

The thoughtful part is there are two download versions on the homepage: the stable version and the development version. If you want to enjoy a stable and smooth animation editing experience, choose the stable one. However, the development package gives you access to the use of the latest features.

For a novice, you can learn Synfig from step by step guide in Wikipedia and video tutorials. Four languages are available including English, Russian, Dutch, and French for a video course.

You can free download its latest version 1.3.11. The upcoming version is 1.4.

Features:

  • It offers support for many layers within the animation.
  • The program’s bone system means that you can easily create animations with bitmap images or vector artwork.
  • It allows you to sync your creative work with any sound that you want. Has a full-featured audio editor.

02 Pencil2D Animation - Animation Program for 2D Pencil Lover

Difficulty Level: Easiest

Pro: Easy to start and make animation as the interface is user-friendly for many people.

Con: You need to set your preference every time to open it up, so it takes up some time

Pencil2D Animation is one of the simplest 2D hand-drawn tools available. It will work flawlessly on Mac computers. It is ideal for beginners, as the commands and interface are very easy to understand.

Whether you want to create a simple one, or you want something with many layers for videos on YouTube, you can use Pencil2D animation to get it done. Its timeline is easy to use at first glance. You can add and duplicate different frames on a different track.

The frequency of releasing the new version is very fast as Pencil2D is committed to bringing the lasted features to each user. The newest version is v0.6.4 (as of August 2019). Its user guide is informative with video tutorials, FAQs, and manual material.

Features:

  • Lightweight and minimalistic design that makes it very easy for beginners.
  • Features raster and vector workflows, with easy switching between them. You can paint and sketch as you want!
  • Will run on all platforms - Mac, Windows, and Linux.
  • Completely free and open source.

free animation software Pencil2D

03 TupiTube - Free Animation Application for Mac Users

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It supports vector illustrations. Besides, various formats are available.

Con: If you want to make 3D animation, it will fail. You can only make 2D effects.

A free software application for YouTube, Tupi will allow you to create 2D animations to your heart’s content. The tool was started by animators who wanted to create something that others could use.

It is an open-source tool, which means that users can make tweaks to the program if they have some interesting ideas. The program works on both Windows and Mac. You need to use Tupi and Papagayo to make lip-sync animation with different mouth shapes.

It also offers a solution for schools with related features including academic license, technical support, and ads-free, so many schools choose to use this one to teach kids how to make an animation video.

Features:

  • Support for vector illustrations. You can add rectangles, lines, polygons, and other shapes as you please. To fill areas, just use the paint bucket.
  • You can import raster images using this program.
  • You can export all your finished images into different file formats.
  • Support for tweeting positions, scale, shear, and rotations.

TupiTube free animation software mac

04 Blender - Need Some Time to Learn This Animation Tool

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Really powerful software that you can make for professional users.

Con: It is not easy to make image animation as it focuses on 3D.

Blender is an open-source 3D animation creation suite without a watermark. If you find that 2D is a little bit limiting, we think that you will be very happy with what this free program offers. You can take your projects to a whole new level when you can use this program on your Mac.

You can use Blender to make a video game, modeling, and high-quality animation. However, it involves a steep learning curve. Luckily, there are many tutorials to guide you through the journey. You can also ask for help in the Blender community that millions of talented people like you are there.

Features:

  • Creating renders is no problem with this program.
  • Modeling, such as sculpting, retopology, and creating curves is not an issue either.
  • VFX and animation features are better than any option on the market.
  • It offers powerful simulation tools.
  • Integration with pipeline tools is easy.

free download 3D animation software blender

05 K-3D - Best for Animation and Modeling in 3D

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: Ideal for designing simple 3D animations and models.

Con: It has an old-fashioned interface. Also, the built-render (RenderMan) feature is difficult to use by beginners.

K-3D is an animation and 3D modeling software. You can download this tool for free on your Mac. Besides, you can also install and run it on your Windows and Linux systems. If you look at the design, you will find that the software is quite old. But don’t judge a book by its cover. Why so? It is because K-3D is one of the strongest and most versatile tools for 3D artists with many options.

For example, K-3D offers extremely systematic and methodological workflows. You can easily adjust the properties of the features in real-time and get instant results. It has a node-oriented visualization pipeline to enjoy more freedom. That means you can create animation using a variety of combinations.

One of the best things about K-3D is that it has three subdivisions of animation. You can work on your model on one side while showing the other side in a mirrored form. Then, experience the final result combined together. And in case you need to make the changes to the end results, you can simply work on the first subdivision and savor automatic changes to the results.

K-3D has an advanced redo and undo mechanism to ensure you can go back or move forward to make corrections or amendments without limits. Additionally, the tool is developed keeping in mind all the industrial standards. For instance, it has complete support and integration of native RenderMan™ to its user interface. This is an excellent feature because most free animation software for Mac requires third-party render plugins.

Features:

  • Parametric workflow.
  • 2D and 3D animation tools.
  • Allows Python and K3DScript scripting.

K-3D

06 Krita - For Professional 2D Animators

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Advanced tools with numerous animation options and online training material.

Con: Not suitable for beginners.

If you love 2D animation, then you’ll surely love Krita. It is entirely free software available on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Also, it offers a full platform for drawing and frame-by-frame animation.

The number one reason for adoring Krita is its brush library. There are more than 100 professional brushes to give you a wide range of effects. Moreover, the strokes are pretty amazing and similar to Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.

Another great thing about Krita is the brush stabilization feature designed for shaky hands. You can add a stabilizer to your chosen brush to smoothen its flow. Besides, there’s a special Dynamic Brush tool to make animation more fun. At the same time, you can also customize your brushes through different brush engines, including filter engines, color smudge engines, and many more.

Apart from the basic brush options, the preloaded vector tools are next to admire. These tools help you make great comic panels. All you need to do is choose and drag the word bubble template on your canvas. Then, make changes with the anchor point to make new shapes. At the same time, you can also add text to your animation by using the text tool.

Last but not least, there’s a wrap-around mode to create seamless patterns and textures. That means the image or drawing makes its own references along the x-axis and y-axis. This gives you the freedom to continue painting and enjoy updates to your animation instantly.

Features:

  • HDR painting.
  • PSD support.
  • Python scripting.
  • Selection and transformation tools.
  • Proper group, filter, vector, and file layer management.
  • Complete color management for extraordinary results.
  • Drawing assistant to help you with straight lines and vanishing points.

Krita

Part 2 Best Free Animation Software for Windows

Below is free animation software on Windows. Keep reading.

01 Anireel - Easy to Use Animation Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Anireel is a simple yet powerful Video Creativity tool used to make 2D animated explainer videos. Developed by Wondershare, one of the most popular Windows software and tool developers, Anireel uses rich, ready-to-use, and diverse assets to help one effortlessly make animated videos.

Download Win Version

Features:

  • There are tons of drag and drop characters, actions, props, text, and audio assets.
  • Easy Text-to-Speech conversion via deep studying technology.
  • Animate integrated and imported assets.
  • Tons of templates that match many script types.

anireel animation software

02 DAZ Studio - Free Software for 3D Lovers

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: You can make game animation for fun. It also supports GPU accelerated real-time rendering.

Con: It has a high demand for the device, but owns a steep learning curve.

Daz 3d is a powerful and completely free 3D creation tool that will let you create the short videos that you want. Whether you are using this for business or pleasure, you will find the program is very easy to understand. Within a day, you will be completely used to its interface.

3D effects are the core focus of DAZ Studio. You can build a model, render, and pose animation within the skin texture level. It has a high requirement for the device. For Windows 64 bits, its recommended RAM is 3G.

Features:

  • Options for 3D morphing, animation, and rendering.
  • GPU accelerated real-time rendering, which delivers the best results.
  • Interactive tutorials to help you become a better 3D artist.
  • Everything you make is yours, royalty-free!

DAZ animation software

03 Terragen - Use It to Make CG Animation

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: The recently updated version is the best one. Ray-traced preview is a great function to help us make animation.

Con: The interface looks complicated, but it gets easy to know after you are familiar with it.

A completely free program that you can download and install on all Windows computers and tablets, Terragen is the ideal program for you to create the 3D animations and environments that you want. If you want a photo-realistic CG environment, using Terragen is the best way to do it!

Releasing imagination instantly, Terragen Creative is the one tool you’d like to consider. You can use it to make beautiful scenery.

For advanced tools, you can choose FBX to make animation quickly. The featured image gallery on its homepage will give you a deep understanding of the final outcome you can achieve with Terragen.

Features:

  • Ray-traced preview. Without watermark after exporting
  • Photo-realistic clouds and ozone simulation
  • Rendering is twice as fast as the previous version of the program.
  • Adding terrain, objects, and shader to your final product is very easy with the intuitive interface.

Terragen animation software

04 Anim8or - Free Tool to Make 3D Modeling

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Anim8or supports 3D modeler and TrueType fonts to meet advanced needs.

Con: Beginners will find it difficult to learn.

Anim8or is a free 3D modeling program that will let you create the unique work that you want. It is a personal project from an animator, but the program does get regular updates and troubleshooting.

It is not going to give you the same features as something like Studio Max or Maya, but you will get the basics. Beginners who are getting into animations will love this program.

Anim8or is a great tool to step into 3D animation ff you think other software is too different to start. In some way, it means you need to give up some advanced features. But all in all, it’s still recommended for you.

Features:

  • A full 3D modeler that allows you to create spheres, cylinders, platonic solids, and any other objects that you want.
  • Features support for TrueType fonts.
  • Easy to create 3D scenes and output them as video files or images.

Anim8or video animation software

05 Seamless3d - Open-source Free Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is an open-source 3D modeling package. The good thing is the handy infinite Undo/Redo operation.

Con: Some advanced features are missing like drawing.

Seamless3d, an open-source 3D modeling software that you can download, is among the best animation worktables if you want to create specialized images, animated videos, or 3D characters.

It supports FFmpeg video format, so you can use AVI, MP4, and more. Besides, the forum is not active compared with before, but you still can find answers from many tutorials .

Features:

  • It comes with infinite undo and redo options for complete flexibility to correct mistakes.
  • It allows for partitioned and seamless texture mapping for YouTube videos.
  • Has a specialized tree view interface.

animation software for windows Seamless3d

06 OpenToonz - Support Plug in to Make Animation Freely

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It is open-source software, so you can change the code freely.

Con: The plug-in effects are limited.

This animation program is made for beginners on Windows. It is among the best 2D animation software in the market. You can use plug-in effects to change image style, add lights, and distort details. It supports Windows 7/8/10 only for 64 bit.

Features:

  • You can add provisional colors to make your animation more colorful.
  • Smooth correction without frame losing.
  • Compatible with black-and-white, colored, or without binarization scanning.

OpenToonz animation program

7 Stykz - Simple to Use Animation Program for Beginners

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is the best stick figure animation if you want to make this kind of video.

Con: The UI is not modern to use and needs time to adapt to using it.

Stykz is completely free to use and without a watermark. If you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator, then you will find Stykz is similar to it, but you can import the previous .stk files to animate it again. You can use it to make animation smooth frame by frame.

With its frame-based feature, Stykz is easy to customize each frame. You can change previous and current frames to get what you want. You can download it to have a try considering its easy-to-use features.

Features:

  • There is some animes file on this website, so you can have a reference.
  • Edit animation in the software without using another editing window.
  • You can share the final work with others including information.

Stykz best free animation software

Part 3 FAQ about Animation Software for Windows and Mac

01 Are Macs good for animation?

To be frank, Mac is a better choice to make animation if you want to have a smooth animation experience. For example, screen resolution is a crucial factor to make excellent animation. The good is Mac’s screen will never let you disappointed.

02 What is the best animation software for Mac?

The best animation software on mac includes Synfig Studio, Pencil2D Animation, Tupi, Blender, and more. Mentioned are free-to-use. Maya is also worth considering animation software if you are a professional user. Maya offers a 1-month free trial. After it is ended, the paid plans are month, 1-year, and 3-year.

03 Can you animate in Photoshop?

Yes, you can make basic animation in Photoshop. However, it only supports frame-based animation making. In this case, you need to use other professional software to make animation. But, you still can use Photoshop to meet your needs if you are a beginner.

Conclusion

With any of these free animation maker programs on Mac and Windows, you will have an easy time creating your next 2D or 3D video. Ensure you choose the program that has the features and compatibility that you desire. Then it is up to your creative mind to come up with stunning animations! If you want to make animation easily, you can also find inspiration through classical animated cartoon types with examples .

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In your search for quality animation software, you may have found that many of the programs cost a lot of money no matter it is 2D animation software or 3D animation editor. The good news is that you can choose free animation tools to make different animation types easily.

That is why we created a list of the best animation software on both Mac and Windows. Whether you are a professional editor or just a beginner to start making animation, you will find the tools listed below are easy to use without watermark and won’t cost money to improve your skills.

The best part is you will find these free animation programs are also very useful for content creation on Mac and Windows. Besides, we have listed the pros and cons of each software. Keep reading!

Here we have made a table of 12 free animation software without watermark on Windows and macOS. Take a look.

6 Free Animation Software for macOS

5K-3DMiddleIt is a great tool for 3D artists6KritaDifficultPerfect software for 2D animation

Number Software Difficulty Level Highlight
1 Synfig Studio Easy Calculate vector shape to animation automatically
2 Pencil2D Animation Easiest Straightforward interface for beginners
3 Tupi Middle Its community is active to offer solutions
4 Blender Difficult It is a powerful animation tool to render and make modeling

6 Free Animation Software for Windows

Number Software Difficulty Level Highlight
1 DAZ Studio Difficult For professional users with the fast animation process
2 Terragen Middle It can make realistic CG environments
3 Anim8or Difficult 3D animation is Anim8or’s main function
4 Seamless3d Easy It has many features for 3d modeling
5 OpenToonz Middle Make cartoon animation with plugins
6 Stykz Easy Quickly make animation if you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator

Best Animation Software on Windows and Mac - Filmora

Looking for a simple while powerful Mac video editing tool ? We recommend using Wondershare Filmora. You can use it to create 2D/3D animated texts, shapes, or anything you like for YouTube videos.

The keyframing features will help you make animation effects smooth and precise. When exporting, you can also make it transparent.

Besides, various title templates and transitions are also available for you. Download it now to have a try! Or learn more from Wondershare Video Community .

Key features

  • Create various shapes that you like
  • Add keyframing to make it move
  • Fine-tuning to make it smooth
  • Add visual effects/text/color before export it

Download Filmora9 Win Version Download Filmora9 Mac Version

Download Filmora9 Mac Version

You can even create photo cut animation which has been very trendy on Tiktok and Instagram. Here is a video to present you how you can do it in Filmora.

Part 1 Best Free Animation Software for Mac

Listed below is free animation software on Mac. Take a look.

01 Synfig Studio - Mac Software to Animate Video

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: You can create many layers once a time and sync audio for your animation.

Con: This one needs much time to learn, especially for beginners.

An open-source 2D animation software that works on Macs, Synfig Studio delivers multiple players while you are creating content. Whether you want to add geometric, filters, distortions, or transformations, it is all possible! And thanks to the high-end bone system, you can create cut-out videos using bitmap images!

The thoughtful part is there are two download versions on the homepage: the stable version and the development version. If you want to enjoy a stable and smooth animation editing experience, choose the stable one. However, the development package gives you access to the use of the latest features.

For a novice, you can learn Synfig from step by step guide in Wikipedia and video tutorials. Four languages are available including English, Russian, Dutch, and French for a video course.

You can free download its latest version 1.3.11. The upcoming version is 1.4.

Features:

  • It offers support for many layers within the animation.
  • The program’s bone system means that you can easily create animations with bitmap images or vector artwork.
  • It allows you to sync your creative work with any sound that you want. Has a full-featured audio editor.

02 Pencil2D Animation - Animation Program for 2D Pencil Lover

Difficulty Level: Easiest

Pro: Easy to start and make animation as the interface is user-friendly for many people.

Con: You need to set your preference every time to open it up, so it takes up some time

Pencil2D Animation is one of the simplest 2D hand-drawn tools available. It will work flawlessly on Mac computers. It is ideal for beginners, as the commands and interface are very easy to understand.

Whether you want to create a simple one, or you want something with many layers for videos on YouTube, you can use Pencil2D animation to get it done. Its timeline is easy to use at first glance. You can add and duplicate different frames on a different track.

The frequency of releasing the new version is very fast as Pencil2D is committed to bringing the lasted features to each user. The newest version is v0.6.4 (as of August 2019). Its user guide is informative with video tutorials, FAQs, and manual material.

Features:

  • Lightweight and minimalistic design that makes it very easy for beginners.
  • Features raster and vector workflows, with easy switching between them. You can paint and sketch as you want!
  • Will run on all platforms - Mac, Windows, and Linux.
  • Completely free and open source.

free animation software Pencil2D

03 TupiTube - Free Animation Application for Mac Users

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It supports vector illustrations. Besides, various formats are available.

Con: If you want to make 3D animation, it will fail. You can only make 2D effects.

A free software application for YouTube, Tupi will allow you to create 2D animations to your heart’s content. The tool was started by animators who wanted to create something that others could use.

It is an open-source tool, which means that users can make tweaks to the program if they have some interesting ideas. The program works on both Windows and Mac. You need to use Tupi and Papagayo to make lip-sync animation with different mouth shapes.

It also offers a solution for schools with related features including academic license, technical support, and ads-free, so many schools choose to use this one to teach kids how to make an animation video.

Features:

  • Support for vector illustrations. You can add rectangles, lines, polygons, and other shapes as you please. To fill areas, just use the paint bucket.
  • You can import raster images using this program.
  • You can export all your finished images into different file formats.
  • Support for tweeting positions, scale, shear, and rotations.

TupiTube free animation software mac

04 Blender - Need Some Time to Learn This Animation Tool

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Really powerful software that you can make for professional users.

Con: It is not easy to make image animation as it focuses on 3D.

Blender is an open-source 3D animation creation suite without a watermark. If you find that 2D is a little bit limiting, we think that you will be very happy with what this free program offers. You can take your projects to a whole new level when you can use this program on your Mac.

You can use Blender to make a video game, modeling, and high-quality animation. However, it involves a steep learning curve. Luckily, there are many tutorials to guide you through the journey. You can also ask for help in the Blender community that millions of talented people like you are there.

Features:

  • Creating renders is no problem with this program.
  • Modeling, such as sculpting, retopology, and creating curves is not an issue either.
  • VFX and animation features are better than any option on the market.
  • It offers powerful simulation tools.
  • Integration with pipeline tools is easy.

free download 3D animation software blender

05 K-3D - Best for Animation and Modeling in 3D

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: Ideal for designing simple 3D animations and models.

Con: It has an old-fashioned interface. Also, the built-render (RenderMan) feature is difficult to use by beginners.

K-3D is an animation and 3D modeling software. You can download this tool for free on your Mac. Besides, you can also install and run it on your Windows and Linux systems. If you look at the design, you will find that the software is quite old. But don’t judge a book by its cover. Why so? It is because K-3D is one of the strongest and most versatile tools for 3D artists with many options.

For example, K-3D offers extremely systematic and methodological workflows. You can easily adjust the properties of the features in real-time and get instant results. It has a node-oriented visualization pipeline to enjoy more freedom. That means you can create animation using a variety of combinations.

One of the best things about K-3D is that it has three subdivisions of animation. You can work on your model on one side while showing the other side in a mirrored form. Then, experience the final result combined together. And in case you need to make the changes to the end results, you can simply work on the first subdivision and savor automatic changes to the results.

K-3D has an advanced redo and undo mechanism to ensure you can go back or move forward to make corrections or amendments without limits. Additionally, the tool is developed keeping in mind all the industrial standards. For instance, it has complete support and integration of native RenderMan™ to its user interface. This is an excellent feature because most free animation software for Mac requires third-party render plugins.

Features:

  • Parametric workflow.
  • 2D and 3D animation tools.
  • Allows Python and K3DScript scripting.

K-3D

06 Krita - For Professional 2D Animators

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Advanced tools with numerous animation options and online training material.

Con: Not suitable for beginners.

If you love 2D animation, then you’ll surely love Krita. It is entirely free software available on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Also, it offers a full platform for drawing and frame-by-frame animation.

The number one reason for adoring Krita is its brush library. There are more than 100 professional brushes to give you a wide range of effects. Moreover, the strokes are pretty amazing and similar to Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.

Another great thing about Krita is the brush stabilization feature designed for shaky hands. You can add a stabilizer to your chosen brush to smoothen its flow. Besides, there’s a special Dynamic Brush tool to make animation more fun. At the same time, you can also customize your brushes through different brush engines, including filter engines, color smudge engines, and many more.

Apart from the basic brush options, the preloaded vector tools are next to admire. These tools help you make great comic panels. All you need to do is choose and drag the word bubble template on your canvas. Then, make changes with the anchor point to make new shapes. At the same time, you can also add text to your animation by using the text tool.

Last but not least, there’s a wrap-around mode to create seamless patterns and textures. That means the image or drawing makes its own references along the x-axis and y-axis. This gives you the freedom to continue painting and enjoy updates to your animation instantly.

Features:

  • HDR painting.
  • PSD support.
  • Python scripting.
  • Selection and transformation tools.
  • Proper group, filter, vector, and file layer management.
  • Complete color management for extraordinary results.
  • Drawing assistant to help you with straight lines and vanishing points.

Krita

Part 2 Best Free Animation Software for Windows

Below is free animation software on Windows. Keep reading.

01 Anireel - Easy to Use Animation Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Anireel is a simple yet powerful Video Creativity tool used to make 2D animated explainer videos. Developed by Wondershare, one of the most popular Windows software and tool developers, Anireel uses rich, ready-to-use, and diverse assets to help one effortlessly make animated videos.

Download Win Version

Features:

  • There are tons of drag and drop characters, actions, props, text, and audio assets.
  • Easy Text-to-Speech conversion via deep studying technology.
  • Animate integrated and imported assets.
  • Tons of templates that match many script types.

anireel animation software

02 DAZ Studio - Free Software for 3D Lovers

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: You can make game animation for fun. It also supports GPU accelerated real-time rendering.

Con: It has a high demand for the device, but owns a steep learning curve.

Daz 3d is a powerful and completely free 3D creation tool that will let you create the short videos that you want. Whether you are using this for business or pleasure, you will find the program is very easy to understand. Within a day, you will be completely used to its interface.

3D effects are the core focus of DAZ Studio. You can build a model, render, and pose animation within the skin texture level. It has a high requirement for the device. For Windows 64 bits, its recommended RAM is 3G.

Features:

  • Options for 3D morphing, animation, and rendering.
  • GPU accelerated real-time rendering, which delivers the best results.
  • Interactive tutorials to help you become a better 3D artist.
  • Everything you make is yours, royalty-free!

DAZ animation software

03 Terragen - Use It to Make CG Animation

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: The recently updated version is the best one. Ray-traced preview is a great function to help us make animation.

Con: The interface looks complicated, but it gets easy to know after you are familiar with it.

A completely free program that you can download and install on all Windows computers and tablets, Terragen is the ideal program for you to create the 3D animations and environments that you want. If you want a photo-realistic CG environment, using Terragen is the best way to do it!

Releasing imagination instantly, Terragen Creative is the one tool you’d like to consider. You can use it to make beautiful scenery.

For advanced tools, you can choose FBX to make animation quickly. The featured image gallery on its homepage will give you a deep understanding of the final outcome you can achieve with Terragen.

Features:

  • Ray-traced preview. Without watermark after exporting
  • Photo-realistic clouds and ozone simulation
  • Rendering is twice as fast as the previous version of the program.
  • Adding terrain, objects, and shader to your final product is very easy with the intuitive interface.

Terragen animation software

04 Anim8or - Free Tool to Make 3D Modeling

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Anim8or supports 3D modeler and TrueType fonts to meet advanced needs.

Con: Beginners will find it difficult to learn.

Anim8or is a free 3D modeling program that will let you create the unique work that you want. It is a personal project from an animator, but the program does get regular updates and troubleshooting.

It is not going to give you the same features as something like Studio Max or Maya, but you will get the basics. Beginners who are getting into animations will love this program.

Anim8or is a great tool to step into 3D animation ff you think other software is too different to start. In some way, it means you need to give up some advanced features. But all in all, it’s still recommended for you.

Features:

  • A full 3D modeler that allows you to create spheres, cylinders, platonic solids, and any other objects that you want.
  • Features support for TrueType fonts.
  • Easy to create 3D scenes and output them as video files or images.

Anim8or video animation software

05 Seamless3d - Open-source Free Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is an open-source 3D modeling package. The good thing is the handy infinite Undo/Redo operation.

Con: Some advanced features are missing like drawing.

Seamless3d, an open-source 3D modeling software that you can download, is among the best animation worktables if you want to create specialized images, animated videos, or 3D characters.

It supports FFmpeg video format, so you can use AVI, MP4, and more. Besides, the forum is not active compared with before, but you still can find answers from many tutorials .

Features:

  • It comes with infinite undo and redo options for complete flexibility to correct mistakes.
  • It allows for partitioned and seamless texture mapping for YouTube videos.
  • Has a specialized tree view interface.

animation software for windows Seamless3d

06 OpenToonz - Support Plug in to Make Animation Freely

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It is open-source software, so you can change the code freely.

Con: The plug-in effects are limited.

This animation program is made for beginners on Windows. It is among the best 2D animation software in the market. You can use plug-in effects to change image style, add lights, and distort details. It supports Windows 7/8/10 only for 64 bit.

Features:

  • You can add provisional colors to make your animation more colorful.
  • Smooth correction without frame losing.
  • Compatible with black-and-white, colored, or without binarization scanning.

OpenToonz animation program

7 Stykz - Simple to Use Animation Program for Beginners

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is the best stick figure animation if you want to make this kind of video.

Con: The UI is not modern to use and needs time to adapt to using it.

Stykz is completely free to use and without a watermark. If you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator, then you will find Stykz is similar to it, but you can import the previous .stk files to animate it again. You can use it to make animation smooth frame by frame.

With its frame-based feature, Stykz is easy to customize each frame. You can change previous and current frames to get what you want. You can download it to have a try considering its easy-to-use features.

Features:

  • There is some animes file on this website, so you can have a reference.
  • Edit animation in the software without using another editing window.
  • You can share the final work with others including information.

Stykz best free animation software

Part 3 FAQ about Animation Software for Windows and Mac

01 Are Macs good for animation?

To be frank, Mac is a better choice to make animation if you want to have a smooth animation experience. For example, screen resolution is a crucial factor to make excellent animation. The good is Mac’s screen will never let you disappointed.

02 What is the best animation software for Mac?

The best animation software on mac includes Synfig Studio, Pencil2D Animation, Tupi, Blender, and more. Mentioned are free-to-use. Maya is also worth considering animation software if you are a professional user. Maya offers a 1-month free trial. After it is ended, the paid plans are month, 1-year, and 3-year.

03 Can you animate in Photoshop?

Yes, you can make basic animation in Photoshop. However, it only supports frame-based animation making. In this case, you need to use other professional software to make animation. But, you still can use Photoshop to meet your needs if you are a beginner.

Conclusion

With any of these free animation maker programs on Mac and Windows, you will have an easy time creating your next 2D or 3D video. Ensure you choose the program that has the features and compatibility that you desire. Then it is up to your creative mind to come up with stunning animations! If you want to make animation easily, you can also find inspiration through classical animated cartoon types with examples .

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In your search for quality animation software, you may have found that many of the programs cost a lot of money no matter it is 2D animation software or 3D animation editor. The good news is that you can choose free animation tools to make different animation types easily.

That is why we created a list of the best animation software on both Mac and Windows. Whether you are a professional editor or just a beginner to start making animation, you will find the tools listed below are easy to use without watermark and won’t cost money to improve your skills.

The best part is you will find these free animation programs are also very useful for content creation on Mac and Windows. Besides, we have listed the pros and cons of each software. Keep reading!

Here we have made a table of 12 free animation software without watermark on Windows and macOS. Take a look.

6 Free Animation Software for macOS

5K-3DMiddleIt is a great tool for 3D artists6KritaDifficultPerfect software for 2D animation

Number Software Difficulty Level Highlight
1 Synfig Studio Easy Calculate vector shape to animation automatically
2 Pencil2D Animation Easiest Straightforward interface for beginners
3 Tupi Middle Its community is active to offer solutions
4 Blender Difficult It is a powerful animation tool to render and make modeling

6 Free Animation Software for Windows

Number Software Difficulty Level Highlight
1 DAZ Studio Difficult For professional users with the fast animation process
2 Terragen Middle It can make realistic CG environments
3 Anim8or Difficult 3D animation is Anim8or’s main function
4 Seamless3d Easy It has many features for 3d modeling
5 OpenToonz Middle Make cartoon animation with plugins
6 Stykz Easy Quickly make animation if you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator

Best Animation Software on Windows and Mac - Filmora

Looking for a simple while powerful Mac video editing tool ? We recommend using Wondershare Filmora. You can use it to create 2D/3D animated texts, shapes, or anything you like for YouTube videos.

The keyframing features will help you make animation effects smooth and precise. When exporting, you can also make it transparent.

Besides, various title templates and transitions are also available for you. Download it now to have a try! Or learn more from Wondershare Video Community .

Key features

  • Create various shapes that you like
  • Add keyframing to make it move
  • Fine-tuning to make it smooth
  • Add visual effects/text/color before export it

Download Filmora9 Win Version Download Filmora9 Mac Version

Download Filmora9 Mac Version

You can even create photo cut animation which has been very trendy on Tiktok and Instagram. Here is a video to present you how you can do it in Filmora.

Part 1 Best Free Animation Software for Mac

Listed below is free animation software on Mac. Take a look.

01 Synfig Studio - Mac Software to Animate Video

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: You can create many layers once a time and sync audio for your animation.

Con: This one needs much time to learn, especially for beginners.

An open-source 2D animation software that works on Macs, Synfig Studio delivers multiple players while you are creating content. Whether you want to add geometric, filters, distortions, or transformations, it is all possible! And thanks to the high-end bone system, you can create cut-out videos using bitmap images!

The thoughtful part is there are two download versions on the homepage: the stable version and the development version. If you want to enjoy a stable and smooth animation editing experience, choose the stable one. However, the development package gives you access to the use of the latest features.

For a novice, you can learn Synfig from step by step guide in Wikipedia and video tutorials. Four languages are available including English, Russian, Dutch, and French for a video course.

You can free download its latest version 1.3.11. The upcoming version is 1.4.

Features:

  • It offers support for many layers within the animation.
  • The program’s bone system means that you can easily create animations with bitmap images or vector artwork.
  • It allows you to sync your creative work with any sound that you want. Has a full-featured audio editor.

02 Pencil2D Animation - Animation Program for 2D Pencil Lover

Difficulty Level: Easiest

Pro: Easy to start and make animation as the interface is user-friendly for many people.

Con: You need to set your preference every time to open it up, so it takes up some time

Pencil2D Animation is one of the simplest 2D hand-drawn tools available. It will work flawlessly on Mac computers. It is ideal for beginners, as the commands and interface are very easy to understand.

Whether you want to create a simple one, or you want something with many layers for videos on YouTube, you can use Pencil2D animation to get it done. Its timeline is easy to use at first glance. You can add and duplicate different frames on a different track.

The frequency of releasing the new version is very fast as Pencil2D is committed to bringing the lasted features to each user. The newest version is v0.6.4 (as of August 2019). Its user guide is informative with video tutorials, FAQs, and manual material.

Features:

  • Lightweight and minimalistic design that makes it very easy for beginners.
  • Features raster and vector workflows, with easy switching between them. You can paint and sketch as you want!
  • Will run on all platforms - Mac, Windows, and Linux.
  • Completely free and open source.

free animation software Pencil2D

03 TupiTube - Free Animation Application for Mac Users

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It supports vector illustrations. Besides, various formats are available.

Con: If you want to make 3D animation, it will fail. You can only make 2D effects.

A free software application for YouTube, Tupi will allow you to create 2D animations to your heart’s content. The tool was started by animators who wanted to create something that others could use.

It is an open-source tool, which means that users can make tweaks to the program if they have some interesting ideas. The program works on both Windows and Mac. You need to use Tupi and Papagayo to make lip-sync animation with different mouth shapes.

It also offers a solution for schools with related features including academic license, technical support, and ads-free, so many schools choose to use this one to teach kids how to make an animation video.

Features:

  • Support for vector illustrations. You can add rectangles, lines, polygons, and other shapes as you please. To fill areas, just use the paint bucket.
  • You can import raster images using this program.
  • You can export all your finished images into different file formats.
  • Support for tweeting positions, scale, shear, and rotations.

TupiTube free animation software mac

04 Blender - Need Some Time to Learn This Animation Tool

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Really powerful software that you can make for professional users.

Con: It is not easy to make image animation as it focuses on 3D.

Blender is an open-source 3D animation creation suite without a watermark. If you find that 2D is a little bit limiting, we think that you will be very happy with what this free program offers. You can take your projects to a whole new level when you can use this program on your Mac.

You can use Blender to make a video game, modeling, and high-quality animation. However, it involves a steep learning curve. Luckily, there are many tutorials to guide you through the journey. You can also ask for help in the Blender community that millions of talented people like you are there.

Features:

  • Creating renders is no problem with this program.
  • Modeling, such as sculpting, retopology, and creating curves is not an issue either.
  • VFX and animation features are better than any option on the market.
  • It offers powerful simulation tools.
  • Integration with pipeline tools is easy.

free download 3D animation software blender

05 K-3D - Best for Animation and Modeling in 3D

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: Ideal for designing simple 3D animations and models.

Con: It has an old-fashioned interface. Also, the built-render (RenderMan) feature is difficult to use by beginners.

K-3D is an animation and 3D modeling software. You can download this tool for free on your Mac. Besides, you can also install and run it on your Windows and Linux systems. If you look at the design, you will find that the software is quite old. But don’t judge a book by its cover. Why so? It is because K-3D is one of the strongest and most versatile tools for 3D artists with many options.

For example, K-3D offers extremely systematic and methodological workflows. You can easily adjust the properties of the features in real-time and get instant results. It has a node-oriented visualization pipeline to enjoy more freedom. That means you can create animation using a variety of combinations.

One of the best things about K-3D is that it has three subdivisions of animation. You can work on your model on one side while showing the other side in a mirrored form. Then, experience the final result combined together. And in case you need to make the changes to the end results, you can simply work on the first subdivision and savor automatic changes to the results.

K-3D has an advanced redo and undo mechanism to ensure you can go back or move forward to make corrections or amendments without limits. Additionally, the tool is developed keeping in mind all the industrial standards. For instance, it has complete support and integration of native RenderMan™ to its user interface. This is an excellent feature because most free animation software for Mac requires third-party render plugins.

Features:

  • Parametric workflow.
  • 2D and 3D animation tools.
  • Allows Python and K3DScript scripting.

K-3D

06 Krita - For Professional 2D Animators

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Advanced tools with numerous animation options and online training material.

Con: Not suitable for beginners.

If you love 2D animation, then you’ll surely love Krita. It is entirely free software available on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Also, it offers a full platform for drawing and frame-by-frame animation.

The number one reason for adoring Krita is its brush library. There are more than 100 professional brushes to give you a wide range of effects. Moreover, the strokes are pretty amazing and similar to Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.

Another great thing about Krita is the brush stabilization feature designed for shaky hands. You can add a stabilizer to your chosen brush to smoothen its flow. Besides, there’s a special Dynamic Brush tool to make animation more fun. At the same time, you can also customize your brushes through different brush engines, including filter engines, color smudge engines, and many more.

Apart from the basic brush options, the preloaded vector tools are next to admire. These tools help you make great comic panels. All you need to do is choose and drag the word bubble template on your canvas. Then, make changes with the anchor point to make new shapes. At the same time, you can also add text to your animation by using the text tool.

Last but not least, there’s a wrap-around mode to create seamless patterns and textures. That means the image or drawing makes its own references along the x-axis and y-axis. This gives you the freedom to continue painting and enjoy updates to your animation instantly.

Features:

  • HDR painting.
  • PSD support.
  • Python scripting.
  • Selection and transformation tools.
  • Proper group, filter, vector, and file layer management.
  • Complete color management for extraordinary results.
  • Drawing assistant to help you with straight lines and vanishing points.

Krita

Part 2 Best Free Animation Software for Windows

Below is free animation software on Windows. Keep reading.

01 Anireel - Easy to Use Animation Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Anireel is a simple yet powerful Video Creativity tool used to make 2D animated explainer videos. Developed by Wondershare, one of the most popular Windows software and tool developers, Anireel uses rich, ready-to-use, and diverse assets to help one effortlessly make animated videos.

Download Win Version

Features:

  • There are tons of drag and drop characters, actions, props, text, and audio assets.
  • Easy Text-to-Speech conversion via deep studying technology.
  • Animate integrated and imported assets.
  • Tons of templates that match many script types.

anireel animation software

02 DAZ Studio - Free Software for 3D Lovers

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: You can make game animation for fun. It also supports GPU accelerated real-time rendering.

Con: It has a high demand for the device, but owns a steep learning curve.

Daz 3d is a powerful and completely free 3D creation tool that will let you create the short videos that you want. Whether you are using this for business or pleasure, you will find the program is very easy to understand. Within a day, you will be completely used to its interface.

3D effects are the core focus of DAZ Studio. You can build a model, render, and pose animation within the skin texture level. It has a high requirement for the device. For Windows 64 bits, its recommended RAM is 3G.

Features:

  • Options for 3D morphing, animation, and rendering.
  • GPU accelerated real-time rendering, which delivers the best results.
  • Interactive tutorials to help you become a better 3D artist.
  • Everything you make is yours, royalty-free!

DAZ animation software

03 Terragen - Use It to Make CG Animation

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: The recently updated version is the best one. Ray-traced preview is a great function to help us make animation.

Con: The interface looks complicated, but it gets easy to know after you are familiar with it.

A completely free program that you can download and install on all Windows computers and tablets, Terragen is the ideal program for you to create the 3D animations and environments that you want. If you want a photo-realistic CG environment, using Terragen is the best way to do it!

Releasing imagination instantly, Terragen Creative is the one tool you’d like to consider. You can use it to make beautiful scenery.

For advanced tools, you can choose FBX to make animation quickly. The featured image gallery on its homepage will give you a deep understanding of the final outcome you can achieve with Terragen.

Features:

  • Ray-traced preview. Without watermark after exporting
  • Photo-realistic clouds and ozone simulation
  • Rendering is twice as fast as the previous version of the program.
  • Adding terrain, objects, and shader to your final product is very easy with the intuitive interface.

Terragen animation software

04 Anim8or - Free Tool to Make 3D Modeling

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Anim8or supports 3D modeler and TrueType fonts to meet advanced needs.

Con: Beginners will find it difficult to learn.

Anim8or is a free 3D modeling program that will let you create the unique work that you want. It is a personal project from an animator, but the program does get regular updates and troubleshooting.

It is not going to give you the same features as something like Studio Max or Maya, but you will get the basics. Beginners who are getting into animations will love this program.

Anim8or is a great tool to step into 3D animation ff you think other software is too different to start. In some way, it means you need to give up some advanced features. But all in all, it’s still recommended for you.

Features:

  • A full 3D modeler that allows you to create spheres, cylinders, platonic solids, and any other objects that you want.
  • Features support for TrueType fonts.
  • Easy to create 3D scenes and output them as video files or images.

Anim8or video animation software

05 Seamless3d - Open-source Free Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is an open-source 3D modeling package. The good thing is the handy infinite Undo/Redo operation.

Con: Some advanced features are missing like drawing.

Seamless3d, an open-source 3D modeling software that you can download, is among the best animation worktables if you want to create specialized images, animated videos, or 3D characters.

It supports FFmpeg video format, so you can use AVI, MP4, and more. Besides, the forum is not active compared with before, but you still can find answers from many tutorials .

Features:

  • It comes with infinite undo and redo options for complete flexibility to correct mistakes.
  • It allows for partitioned and seamless texture mapping for YouTube videos.
  • Has a specialized tree view interface.

animation software for windows Seamless3d

06 OpenToonz - Support Plug in to Make Animation Freely

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It is open-source software, so you can change the code freely.

Con: The plug-in effects are limited.

This animation program is made for beginners on Windows. It is among the best 2D animation software in the market. You can use plug-in effects to change image style, add lights, and distort details. It supports Windows 7/8/10 only for 64 bit.

Features:

  • You can add provisional colors to make your animation more colorful.
  • Smooth correction without frame losing.
  • Compatible with black-and-white, colored, or without binarization scanning.

OpenToonz animation program

7 Stykz - Simple to Use Animation Program for Beginners

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is the best stick figure animation if you want to make this kind of video.

Con: The UI is not modern to use and needs time to adapt to using it.

Stykz is completely free to use and without a watermark. If you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator, then you will find Stykz is similar to it, but you can import the previous .stk files to animate it again. You can use it to make animation smooth frame by frame.

With its frame-based feature, Stykz is easy to customize each frame. You can change previous and current frames to get what you want. You can download it to have a try considering its easy-to-use features.

Features:

  • There is some animes file on this website, so you can have a reference.
  • Edit animation in the software without using another editing window.
  • You can share the final work with others including information.

Stykz best free animation software

Part 3 FAQ about Animation Software for Windows and Mac

01 Are Macs good for animation?

To be frank, Mac is a better choice to make animation if you want to have a smooth animation experience. For example, screen resolution is a crucial factor to make excellent animation. The good is Mac’s screen will never let you disappointed.

02 What is the best animation software for Mac?

The best animation software on mac includes Synfig Studio, Pencil2D Animation, Tupi, Blender, and more. Mentioned are free-to-use. Maya is also worth considering animation software if you are a professional user. Maya offers a 1-month free trial. After it is ended, the paid plans are month, 1-year, and 3-year.

03 Can you animate in Photoshop?

Yes, you can make basic animation in Photoshop. However, it only supports frame-based animation making. In this case, you need to use other professional software to make animation. But, you still can use Photoshop to meet your needs if you are a beginner.

Conclusion

With any of these free animation maker programs on Mac and Windows, you will have an easy time creating your next 2D or 3D video. Ensure you choose the program that has the features and compatibility that you desire. Then it is up to your creative mind to come up with stunning animations! If you want to make animation easily, you can also find inspiration through classical animated cartoon types with examples .

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

In your search for quality animation software, you may have found that many of the programs cost a lot of money no matter it is 2D animation software or 3D animation editor. The good news is that you can choose free animation tools to make different animation types easily.

That is why we created a list of the best animation software on both Mac and Windows. Whether you are a professional editor or just a beginner to start making animation, you will find the tools listed below are easy to use without watermark and won’t cost money to improve your skills.

The best part is you will find these free animation programs are also very useful for content creation on Mac and Windows. Besides, we have listed the pros and cons of each software. Keep reading!

Here we have made a table of 12 free animation software without watermark on Windows and macOS. Take a look.

6 Free Animation Software for macOS

5K-3DMiddleIt is a great tool for 3D artists6KritaDifficultPerfect software for 2D animation

Number Software Difficulty Level Highlight
1 Synfig Studio Easy Calculate vector shape to animation automatically
2 Pencil2D Animation Easiest Straightforward interface for beginners
3 Tupi Middle Its community is active to offer solutions
4 Blender Difficult It is a powerful animation tool to render and make modeling

6 Free Animation Software for Windows

Number Software Difficulty Level Highlight
1 DAZ Studio Difficult For professional users with the fast animation process
2 Terragen Middle It can make realistic CG environments
3 Anim8or Difficult 3D animation is Anim8or’s main function
4 Seamless3d Easy It has many features for 3d modeling
5 OpenToonz Middle Make cartoon animation with plugins
6 Stykz Easy Quickly make animation if you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator

Best Animation Software on Windows and Mac - Filmora

Looking for a simple while powerful Mac video editing tool ? We recommend using Wondershare Filmora. You can use it to create 2D/3D animated texts, shapes, or anything you like for YouTube videos.

The keyframing features will help you make animation effects smooth and precise. When exporting, you can also make it transparent.

Besides, various title templates and transitions are also available for you. Download it now to have a try! Or learn more from Wondershare Video Community .

Key features

  • Create various shapes that you like
  • Add keyframing to make it move
  • Fine-tuning to make it smooth
  • Add visual effects/text/color before export it

Download Filmora9 Win Version Download Filmora9 Mac Version

Download Filmora9 Mac Version

You can even create photo cut animation which has been very trendy on Tiktok and Instagram. Here is a video to present you how you can do it in Filmora.

Part 1 Best Free Animation Software for Mac

Listed below is free animation software on Mac. Take a look.

01 Synfig Studio - Mac Software to Animate Video

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: You can create many layers once a time and sync audio for your animation.

Con: This one needs much time to learn, especially for beginners.

An open-source 2D animation software that works on Macs, Synfig Studio delivers multiple players while you are creating content. Whether you want to add geometric, filters, distortions, or transformations, it is all possible! And thanks to the high-end bone system, you can create cut-out videos using bitmap images!

The thoughtful part is there are two download versions on the homepage: the stable version and the development version. If you want to enjoy a stable and smooth animation editing experience, choose the stable one. However, the development package gives you access to the use of the latest features.

For a novice, you can learn Synfig from step by step guide in Wikipedia and video tutorials. Four languages are available including English, Russian, Dutch, and French for a video course.

You can free download its latest version 1.3.11. The upcoming version is 1.4.

Features:

  • It offers support for many layers within the animation.
  • The program’s bone system means that you can easily create animations with bitmap images or vector artwork.
  • It allows you to sync your creative work with any sound that you want. Has a full-featured audio editor.

02 Pencil2D Animation - Animation Program for 2D Pencil Lover

Difficulty Level: Easiest

Pro: Easy to start and make animation as the interface is user-friendly for many people.

Con: You need to set your preference every time to open it up, so it takes up some time

Pencil2D Animation is one of the simplest 2D hand-drawn tools available. It will work flawlessly on Mac computers. It is ideal for beginners, as the commands and interface are very easy to understand.

Whether you want to create a simple one, or you want something with many layers for videos on YouTube, you can use Pencil2D animation to get it done. Its timeline is easy to use at first glance. You can add and duplicate different frames on a different track.

The frequency of releasing the new version is very fast as Pencil2D is committed to bringing the lasted features to each user. The newest version is v0.6.4 (as of August 2019). Its user guide is informative with video tutorials, FAQs, and manual material.

Features:

  • Lightweight and minimalistic design that makes it very easy for beginners.
  • Features raster and vector workflows, with easy switching between them. You can paint and sketch as you want!
  • Will run on all platforms - Mac, Windows, and Linux.
  • Completely free and open source.

free animation software Pencil2D

03 TupiTube - Free Animation Application for Mac Users

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It supports vector illustrations. Besides, various formats are available.

Con: If you want to make 3D animation, it will fail. You can only make 2D effects.

A free software application for YouTube, Tupi will allow you to create 2D animations to your heart’s content. The tool was started by animators who wanted to create something that others could use.

It is an open-source tool, which means that users can make tweaks to the program if they have some interesting ideas. The program works on both Windows and Mac. You need to use Tupi and Papagayo to make lip-sync animation with different mouth shapes.

It also offers a solution for schools with related features including academic license, technical support, and ads-free, so many schools choose to use this one to teach kids how to make an animation video.

Features:

  • Support for vector illustrations. You can add rectangles, lines, polygons, and other shapes as you please. To fill areas, just use the paint bucket.
  • You can import raster images using this program.
  • You can export all your finished images into different file formats.
  • Support for tweeting positions, scale, shear, and rotations.

TupiTube free animation software mac

04 Blender - Need Some Time to Learn This Animation Tool

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Really powerful software that you can make for professional users.

Con: It is not easy to make image animation as it focuses on 3D.

Blender is an open-source 3D animation creation suite without a watermark. If you find that 2D is a little bit limiting, we think that you will be very happy with what this free program offers. You can take your projects to a whole new level when you can use this program on your Mac.

You can use Blender to make a video game, modeling, and high-quality animation. However, it involves a steep learning curve. Luckily, there are many tutorials to guide you through the journey. You can also ask for help in the Blender community that millions of talented people like you are there.

Features:

  • Creating renders is no problem with this program.
  • Modeling, such as sculpting, retopology, and creating curves is not an issue either.
  • VFX and animation features are better than any option on the market.
  • It offers powerful simulation tools.
  • Integration with pipeline tools is easy.

free download 3D animation software blender

05 K-3D - Best for Animation and Modeling in 3D

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: Ideal for designing simple 3D animations and models.

Con: It has an old-fashioned interface. Also, the built-render (RenderMan) feature is difficult to use by beginners.

K-3D is an animation and 3D modeling software. You can download this tool for free on your Mac. Besides, you can also install and run it on your Windows and Linux systems. If you look at the design, you will find that the software is quite old. But don’t judge a book by its cover. Why so? It is because K-3D is one of the strongest and most versatile tools for 3D artists with many options.

For example, K-3D offers extremely systematic and methodological workflows. You can easily adjust the properties of the features in real-time and get instant results. It has a node-oriented visualization pipeline to enjoy more freedom. That means you can create animation using a variety of combinations.

One of the best things about K-3D is that it has three subdivisions of animation. You can work on your model on one side while showing the other side in a mirrored form. Then, experience the final result combined together. And in case you need to make the changes to the end results, you can simply work on the first subdivision and savor automatic changes to the results.

K-3D has an advanced redo and undo mechanism to ensure you can go back or move forward to make corrections or amendments without limits. Additionally, the tool is developed keeping in mind all the industrial standards. For instance, it has complete support and integration of native RenderMan™ to its user interface. This is an excellent feature because most free animation software for Mac requires third-party render plugins.

Features:

  • Parametric workflow.
  • 2D and 3D animation tools.
  • Allows Python and K3DScript scripting.

K-3D

06 Krita - For Professional 2D Animators

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Advanced tools with numerous animation options and online training material.

Con: Not suitable for beginners.

If you love 2D animation, then you’ll surely love Krita. It is entirely free software available on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Also, it offers a full platform for drawing and frame-by-frame animation.

The number one reason for adoring Krita is its brush library. There are more than 100 professional brushes to give you a wide range of effects. Moreover, the strokes are pretty amazing and similar to Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.

Another great thing about Krita is the brush stabilization feature designed for shaky hands. You can add a stabilizer to your chosen brush to smoothen its flow. Besides, there’s a special Dynamic Brush tool to make animation more fun. At the same time, you can also customize your brushes through different brush engines, including filter engines, color smudge engines, and many more.

Apart from the basic brush options, the preloaded vector tools are next to admire. These tools help you make great comic panels. All you need to do is choose and drag the word bubble template on your canvas. Then, make changes with the anchor point to make new shapes. At the same time, you can also add text to your animation by using the text tool.

Last but not least, there’s a wrap-around mode to create seamless patterns and textures. That means the image or drawing makes its own references along the x-axis and y-axis. This gives you the freedom to continue painting and enjoy updates to your animation instantly.

Features:

  • HDR painting.
  • PSD support.
  • Python scripting.
  • Selection and transformation tools.
  • Proper group, filter, vector, and file layer management.
  • Complete color management for extraordinary results.
  • Drawing assistant to help you with straight lines and vanishing points.

Krita

Part 2 Best Free Animation Software for Windows

Below is free animation software on Windows. Keep reading.

01 Anireel - Easy to Use Animation Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Anireel is a simple yet powerful Video Creativity tool used to make 2D animated explainer videos. Developed by Wondershare, one of the most popular Windows software and tool developers, Anireel uses rich, ready-to-use, and diverse assets to help one effortlessly make animated videos.

Download Win Version

Features:

  • There are tons of drag and drop characters, actions, props, text, and audio assets.
  • Easy Text-to-Speech conversion via deep studying technology.
  • Animate integrated and imported assets.
  • Tons of templates that match many script types.

anireel animation software

02 DAZ Studio - Free Software for 3D Lovers

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: You can make game animation for fun. It also supports GPU accelerated real-time rendering.

Con: It has a high demand for the device, but owns a steep learning curve.

Daz 3d is a powerful and completely free 3D creation tool that will let you create the short videos that you want. Whether you are using this for business or pleasure, you will find the program is very easy to understand. Within a day, you will be completely used to its interface.

3D effects are the core focus of DAZ Studio. You can build a model, render, and pose animation within the skin texture level. It has a high requirement for the device. For Windows 64 bits, its recommended RAM is 3G.

Features:

  • Options for 3D morphing, animation, and rendering.
  • GPU accelerated real-time rendering, which delivers the best results.
  • Interactive tutorials to help you become a better 3D artist.
  • Everything you make is yours, royalty-free!

DAZ animation software

03 Terragen - Use It to Make CG Animation

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: The recently updated version is the best one. Ray-traced preview is a great function to help us make animation.

Con: The interface looks complicated, but it gets easy to know after you are familiar with it.

A completely free program that you can download and install on all Windows computers and tablets, Terragen is the ideal program for you to create the 3D animations and environments that you want. If you want a photo-realistic CG environment, using Terragen is the best way to do it!

Releasing imagination instantly, Terragen Creative is the one tool you’d like to consider. You can use it to make beautiful scenery.

For advanced tools, you can choose FBX to make animation quickly. The featured image gallery on its homepage will give you a deep understanding of the final outcome you can achieve with Terragen.

Features:

  • Ray-traced preview. Without watermark after exporting
  • Photo-realistic clouds and ozone simulation
  • Rendering is twice as fast as the previous version of the program.
  • Adding terrain, objects, and shader to your final product is very easy with the intuitive interface.

Terragen animation software

04 Anim8or - Free Tool to Make 3D Modeling

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Pro: Anim8or supports 3D modeler and TrueType fonts to meet advanced needs.

Con: Beginners will find it difficult to learn.

Anim8or is a free 3D modeling program that will let you create the unique work that you want. It is a personal project from an animator, but the program does get regular updates and troubleshooting.

It is not going to give you the same features as something like Studio Max or Maya, but you will get the basics. Beginners who are getting into animations will love this program.

Anim8or is a great tool to step into 3D animation ff you think other software is too different to start. In some way, it means you need to give up some advanced features. But all in all, it’s still recommended for you.

Features:

  • A full 3D modeler that allows you to create spheres, cylinders, platonic solids, and any other objects that you want.
  • Features support for TrueType fonts.
  • Easy to create 3D scenes and output them as video files or images.

Anim8or video animation software

05 Seamless3d - Open-source Free Software

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is an open-source 3D modeling package. The good thing is the handy infinite Undo/Redo operation.

Con: Some advanced features are missing like drawing.

Seamless3d, an open-source 3D modeling software that you can download, is among the best animation worktables if you want to create specialized images, animated videos, or 3D characters.

It supports FFmpeg video format, so you can use AVI, MP4, and more. Besides, the forum is not active compared with before, but you still can find answers from many tutorials .

Features:

  • It comes with infinite undo and redo options for complete flexibility to correct mistakes.
  • It allows for partitioned and seamless texture mapping for YouTube videos.
  • Has a specialized tree view interface.

animation software for windows Seamless3d

06 OpenToonz - Support Plug in to Make Animation Freely

Difficulty Level: Middle

Pro: It is open-source software, so you can change the code freely.

Con: The plug-in effects are limited.

This animation program is made for beginners on Windows. It is among the best 2D animation software in the market. You can use plug-in effects to change image style, add lights, and distort details. It supports Windows 7/8/10 only for 64 bit.

Features:

  • You can add provisional colors to make your animation more colorful.
  • Smooth correction without frame losing.
  • Compatible with black-and-white, colored, or without binarization scanning.

OpenToonz animation program

7 Stykz - Simple to Use Animation Program for Beginners

Difficulty Level: Easy

Pro: It is the best stick figure animation if you want to make this kind of video.

Con: The UI is not modern to use and needs time to adapt to using it.

Stykz is completely free to use and without a watermark. If you have used Pivot StickFigure Animator, then you will find Stykz is similar to it, but you can import the previous .stk files to animate it again. You can use it to make animation smooth frame by frame.

With its frame-based feature, Stykz is easy to customize each frame. You can change previous and current frames to get what you want. You can download it to have a try considering its easy-to-use features.

Features:

  • There is some animes file on this website, so you can have a reference.
  • Edit animation in the software without using another editing window.
  • You can share the final work with others including information.

Stykz best free animation software

Part 3 FAQ about Animation Software for Windows and Mac

01 Are Macs good for animation?

To be frank, Mac is a better choice to make animation if you want to have a smooth animation experience. For example, screen resolution is a crucial factor to make excellent animation. The good is Mac’s screen will never let you disappointed.

02 What is the best animation software for Mac?

The best animation software on mac includes Synfig Studio, Pencil2D Animation, Tupi, Blender, and more. Mentioned are free-to-use. Maya is also worth considering animation software if you are a professional user. Maya offers a 1-month free trial. After it is ended, the paid plans are month, 1-year, and 3-year.

03 Can you animate in Photoshop?

Yes, you can make basic animation in Photoshop. However, it only supports frame-based animation making. In this case, you need to use other professional software to make animation. But, you still can use Photoshop to meet your needs if you are a beginner.

Conclusion

With any of these free animation maker programs on Mac and Windows, you will have an easy time creating your next 2D or 3D video. Ensure you choose the program that has the features and compatibility that you desire. Then it is up to your creative mind to come up with stunning animations! If you want to make animation easily, you can also find inspiration through classical animated cartoon types with examples .

author avatar

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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Also read:

  • Title: Updated The Ultimate Wax Tutorial Learn to Edit Videos Like a Pro
  • Author: Charlotte
  • Created at : 2024-05-19 10:32:43
  • Updated at : 2024-05-20 10:32:43
  • Link: https://smart-video-creator.techidaily.com/updated-the-ultimate-wax-tutorial-learn-to-edit-videos-like-a-pro/
  • License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
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Updated The Ultimate Wax Tutorial Learn to Edit Videos Like a Pro