The Top 7 - 2D Animation Software in 2020 to Amaze Everyone

It does not matter if you are teaching a group of young children or even showing employees how to do their job, 2D animation software can come in handy for just about anything. This is something that the best 2D animation studios London know and understand. 

Currently, there are many different 2D animation software for both beginners and highly experienced professionals that can perform a variety of functions. Let us check out the best software for amateurs and pros alike:

1. Crazy Talk Animator (CTA)

CTA is widely considered to be one of the world's easiest 2D animation software. This is largely because it enables all types of users to create high-quality and professionally tweaked animations without much effort. If you were to use its latest iteration, CTA3, you will be able to instantly bring a logo or an image to life by applying cutting edge Elastic Motion (EM) effects. And this is just one of many different motion templates available with this software. 

It is also equipped with a set of built-in motion libraries and 2D character templates. These are combined with a powerful 2D editor and audio lip-syncing tools that give the software’s users near unparalleled control when creating 2D animations. 

If done properly, you will be able to bring to life various talking characters for games, videos, web, smartphone apps, and even corporate presentations. In fact, it is possible to turn even simple linear images to animated characters, and also control characters with your expressions via the software’s lip-sync animation suite. This software can produce excellent 2D visual effects while accessing content resources to rapidly customise characters and generate content. 

2. Adobe Animate 

Adobe’s Animate 2D software can help you design interactive animations for TV shows, computer games, and the internet. Now, you can breathe life into cartoon characters and banner ads with the help of a few keystrokes. 

With Animate, you can easily and quickly publish your 2D content on multiple platforms in just about any format. From creating animated doodles and avatars to adding action to infographics and eLearning content, Animate can help you with it all. You can reach your audience on mobile, desktop, and TV by exporting your new 2D animations to multiple platforms, including WebGL, Flash/Adobe AIR, HTML5 Canvas, and even custom platforms such as SVG. Animate also allows you to add actions without having to generate code in the background. In fact, the best 2D animation studios use Adobe Animate today.

3. Character Animator (CA)

The aptly named Character Animator uses your own facial expressions and movements to animate 2D characters in real-time. It is an extremely fast software that also enables you to live stream even as you work so that you will be able to impress your audience every step of the way. You can create a work of art on your system and turn it into an animated character. All you need is a webcam that is powered by Adobe Sensei AI. Apart from that, you can also import your art files from Photoshop and Illustrator.

If you don’t want any external software, you can simply work with its vast library of built-in character templates. CA gives you the ability to control gestures such as waving the arms of your character with your MIDI device or keyboard. You can also save these gestures and movements as buttons so that they will be easier to remember as compared to keyboard operated commands. As of now, there exist many a digital design agency that uses CA to make professional presentations.

4. Synfig 

Synfig is the software of choice for custom website design services because it can support a large number of layers of different types. These include the following:

• Geometric

• Gradients

• Picture filters

• Distortions

• Transformations and 

• Fractal layers

Synfig also boasts of the core features to help sync your animation with your soundtrack while using Sound Layer. 

The software has been designed to both look like and work like Flash, to make the transition easy from dedicated Flash users. This is free and open-source software that can be used by experienced professionals and beginners alike.

5. CelAction 2D 

This is a highly sophisticated professional 2D animation software suite used for movies, TV series, and commercials. It is the software of choice for most of the leading animators in the industry. It has a state-of-the-art interface for the production of high-quality animations that are used in high volume productions. 

It uses vectors and bitmaps as character models so that they can be rigged into a basic animation skeleton that will be fully customisable and easily hanged and reused. The movement of the animations can be tweaked and streamlined so that they run faster in comparison to most of the other 2D animation suites out there. 

6. Moho (Anime Studio) Pro

The Moho Pro is a great choice for anyone new to animation. You won’t have to shell out big bucks for a super-advanced animation program while getting the core functionality of some of the best animation software suites available today.   

Its Smart Bones feature effectively helps to reduce or even completely remove any distortion or jerky movement around knees elbows, or any other joints of your animation. It is simple to operate and doesn’t require prior knowledge of working with animations.

7. FlipBook 

The Flipbook suite is extremely user-friendly and can make working with animation both fun and easy to learn. It’s so easy because it works the way you would work on a drawing in real life. 

For example, you can draw with a pencil or paint with a paintbrush and once you are done you can click on the play icon to watch how your animation has worked out. Adding a sound file is simplicity itself since you just have to drag and drop it onto the Xsheet. it is so intuitive you will get the hang of it within an hour or two at most.

Conclusion 

This brings us to the end of the list. All the software suites mentioned above have something valuable to offer to amateurs and experienced animators alike. Check them all out to see which one works best for you. 

About Author:-

Richard Kearsey is a digital designer at Emerald Colour – a creative design agency that offers various services, like website design, animation, bespoke exhibition stand design, etc. He loves creativity and enjoys experimenting with various design techniques for both web and print. He also enjoys sharing his thought on latest design trends and upcoming marketing ideas.