Animation videos are gaining popularity nowadays. Professionals, students, and also hobbyists make use of animation software to create animated explanatory videos. From marketing to making a birthday video for a friend, animation videos are very effective. There are lots of animation software that you can choose from if you are in the market for one. However, before you opt for any, you need to consider your skill level and needs.
With animation software, you can generate moving graphics and animate 2D, 3D, or even hand-drawn graphics. In addition to this, you will be able to add effects and audios to your videos. Animation software is very common in the television industry. They are used when working on commercials, television shows, and also cartoons. This post is going to look at the 10 best animation software we have in 2020.
10 Best animation software of 2020
Autodesk 3Ds Max
This professional 3D animation software was formerly called the 3D studio. It is popularly useful in making 3D images, games, models, and animations. Autodesk 3D Max was developed by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. It is compatible with the Microsoft Windows operating system. This software is mostly useful to game developers, television studios, and many more. Furthermore, it is also effective in creating movie effects. This animation software is among the best ones in 2020 and it comes with powerful features. It has a customizable interface, normal map creation, global illumination, rendering, and many more.
Moho (Anime Studio)
This is a vector-based powerful 2D animation software that is quite popular among animators. It works on both Microsoft Windows and MAC OS X operating system. There are two versions of this software which are Anime Studio Debut and Anime Studio Pro. The Pro version of Moho has all the features and functions the debut does not have. There are no limits to it in terms of image size and possible length.
Autodesk Maya
Maya is also an animation application that is popularly used by professionals and students. It is useful in creating 3D models for use in television, games, and architectures. Autodesk Maya is one of the leading animation software used for the development of character animation. Major television studios all over the world use it for character development. It is compatible with Windows 7 or later or RHEL/CentOS 6.2 or later.
Blender
This professional open-source 3D animation software is also a great software. It helps to effectively create visual effects, interactive 3D apps, video games, animated films, art, and 3D printed models. Blender is effective in the development of interactive animation characters. Some of its features include raster graphics editing, rigging, and skinning, UV unwrapping, particle simulation, soft body simulation, match moving, sculpting, video editing, motion graphics, camera tracking, and more.
Adobe Animate
This is one of the best multimedia programs and animation software in the industry. Animate was developed by Adobe systems and it has been used in the development of many popular and successful animations. You should choose Animate if you want to create vector graphics and animations. It is versatile and can be used for online videos, video games, TV commercials, and website animations. Furthermore, it supports audio and video embedding, raster graphics, ActionScript, and rich text. It is compatible with Windows and OS X.
Cinema 4D
Cinema 4D is also one of the best 3D animation, motion graphics, rendering, and modeling software. It is highly compatible with AmigaOS, Microsoft Windows, and AmigaOS. Some of the features of this software are texturing, rendering, video editing and compositing, modeling, lighting, visual effects, and compositing. When it was first developed in the 90s, the first three versions were only compatible with the Amiga computer. However, with the invention of version 4, they developed one that is compatible with Macintosh and Windows computers. The reason for this is to expand its app and reach a wider audience.
Houdini
This is also one of the best animation software out there. It was developed by Side Effects Software and consists of procedural generation software tools. This makes it different from other 3D computer graphics applications. Houdini has bsuccessful in the production of many feature animation films such as Ant Bully, Rio, Frozen, and Zootopia.
Aladdin 4D
This animation software is also useful in modeling and render 3D graphics and animations. It is compatible with Mac OS, Amiga OS, iPad, MorphOS, Windows, Linux, and AROS. Aladdin 4D is very easy to use and provides users with a friendly interface. It comes with numerous modern features that make it easy to create animation videos.
Poser
Poser is also one of the best animation software in the industry at the moment. It helps users to create models of human figures. Poser is quite popular among professional animators and it assists beginners to develop basic digital images and animations. It can be useful in animating, posing, and rendering 3D polymesh human or animal figures. When using Poser, you can use it to load props, lighting, and figures for animated renderings.
LightWave 3D
Lastly, there is is LightWave 3D. It is an animation software that is useful in rendering static and animated 3D images. It supports subdivision surfaces and polygon modeling. LightWave has a fast rendering engine while paves way for upgraded features such as realistic reflection, caustics, radiosity, and 888 render nodes. It is compatible with Windows, Mac OS, and AmigaOS.
Conclusion
In summary, there are lots of animation software that you can use to create and develop animation. What you need to do is choose the one that will suit your needs and also provide you with the necessary capabilities.