12 Best Animation Apps For Beginners in 2024

If anyone has ever told you that you can’t draw, don’t believe it because drawing is a skill that can be developed! You just need to ignore this misconception and labeling and start practicing. To help you kick off your drawing adventure, we have gathered the most powerful tools and best animation apps that can help you bring your imagination to life. For beginners interested in 2D or 3D animation, there are powerful animation apps available out there that are tailor-made for you. So if you’re ready to ignite your inner fire of imagination and creativity, it’s time to explore the best animation apps available in 2024 and start creating! 

Key In-App Animation Features You Need

When looking for the most important features in an animation app, we would recommend:

• Onion skin is incredibly useful for checking the keyframes and the in-betweens (the frames between the key frames), which helps you ensure your animation flows smoothly.
• Layers can be helpful even for simple animations. It helps you separate the background and different characters on each layer for easy drawing and revising.
• Adding photos and videos to your animation will give you a jump-start, as you can easily capture the movement and have a template to develop from.
• The instant preview gives you the chance to quickly preview your existing work and you can quickly switch back to working on it.
• Adjusting the duration of each frame is another must, as the speed of your frames plays a big role in the overall effect of your animation. If you have fewer in-betweens or a lower FPS (frames per second), your animation is likely to look choppy. Being able to adjust the length of each frame easily can help you make your animation fluid.

Best Apps for Strengthening Your Overall Animating Skills:

Animation Desk

Animation Desk features an intuitive user interface and an abundance of advanced features. With over 20+ brushes to experiment with different animation styles and textures, this app is perfect for exploring your creativity. It offers a useful tool called rotoscoping, which allows you to draw and develop from existing templates without the fear of not knowing where to start. Plus, it comes with tons of templates to choose from, making it easy to get started on your next project. 

Additionally, Animation Desk enables you to view your animation in the form of a storyboard that gives you a quick overview and you can make any annotations on the side. This is great for noting down a particular animating technique that you want to improve on or that you are particularly fond of. You can simply jot down all your thoughts throughout the creation process!

Although Animation Desk doesn’t include tools to help add multiple audio clips to an animation it is great for making GIFs and the landscape view gives you a bigger surface to draw on. In addition, the software supports a variety of export options, such as ad. package, PNG, GIF, PDF, and MP4, making it easy to share your creations with others. Plus, Animation Desk is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Android operating systems, ensuring that it can be used on different platforms. With these export formats and cross-platform compatibility, Animation Desk is an excellent choice of tool that can be used to bring your animation ideas to life.

Toon Boom Harmony

Toon Boom Harmony offers an impressive range of basic features that make it an excellent option for beginners looking to get started with animation. Its intuitive interface and comprehensive toolkit enable users to create professional-looking 2D animations with ease, including special effects such as explosions and smoke.

However, some users may find that the learning curve for the more advanced features is steep, which can be a downside. Additionally, the software may be slow or experience glitches when working with complex or lengthy animated content. Despite these potential issues, Toon Boom Harmony remains a top choice for animators looking to take their skills to the next level, offering advanced editing tools for creating more complex animations.

Blender

Blender is a free, open-source 3D animation software that offers a vast array of features to create high-quality animation, visual effects, and motion tracking. It is a versatile and powerful tool that is suitable for both beginners and professionals, allowing users to create stunning 3D characters, environments, and objects using various modeling techniques. Blender also offers a frame-by-frame animation tool, which is particularly useful for creating character animations or intricate visual effects. Additionally, Blender provides video editing capabilities, making it an all-in-one solution for animation, post-production, and the editing process needs.

However, it’s important to note that Blender may have a steep learning curve for beginners who are new to 3D animation software. The interface and workflow may take some time to get used to, and some features may be difficult to understand. Additionally, Blender may not be as stable as some other 3D animation software, and users may experience occasional crashes or stability issues while using the app. Despite these downsides, Blender remains an ideal app for improving overall animating skills.

Best Animation Apps For Parents And Kids:

Folioscope

This app offers a very simple interface that is very suitable for kids. It is ideal for those who are new to animation drawing and want very simple tools to get a taste of how traditional animation works. If you are a parent, you can introduce animation making and get your children into drawing and animating using Folioscope. But if you are looking for a solution that offers more advanced features, Folioscope may be too basic for you.

Toontastic 3D

Toontastic 3D is a user-friendly 3D animation software app designed for beginners who are interested in creating animated stories. It’s particularly well-suited for parents and kids, as the app offers pre-built characters, backgrounds, and sound effects that can be easily customized. The app’s interface is easy to use, making it simple for beginners to create 3D animations without any technical skills, making it a perfect starting point for beginners. It’s a fun and engaging way to learn about 3D animation!

Pencil 2D

This animation software is perfect for beginners due to its simple user interface, basic animation features, and support for 2D hand-drawn animations using both raster and vector graphics with a vector workflow. Its easy-to-use timeline makes organizing and editing animation frames a breeze, and it also supports various file formats. Additionally, Pencil 2D is open-source and free software, making it accessible to anyone interested in animation without breaking the bank. However, it is important to note that this app is not compatible with smartphones. Therefore, if you are planning on unleashing your creativity while on the go, this app may not be suitable for you.

Best Apps for Animation Beginners:

Animatic

If you are new to animation drawing and want a basic app, Animatic would be an excellent choice. It supports onion skin, various brush options, and flexible adjustment of the animation speed. However, the lack of color palettes results in a very limited selection of colors. Animatic also doesn’t offer layering or instant preview that makes animation creation a drag rather than an enjoyment. Nonetheless, it has an easy-to-use frame editor that’s perfect for beginners!

Rough Animator

This animation software app’s standout feature is its pressure sensitivity, which allows users to create lines and strokes that vary in thickness based on the amount of pressure applied with their finger or an Apple pencil. This feature gives users a greater level of control over their animation and allows for more expressive and nuanced drawings on their smartphones or tablet.

In addition to its pressure sensitivity, Rough Animator also offers a range of other useful tools, including onion skinning, which allows users to see a faint outline of previous frames to help guide their drawing, and a range of brush and eraser tools to create different effects. It is a great option for beginners looking to get started with animation.

Synfig Studio

Synfig Studio is a powerful and versatile animation software that offers a comprehensive animation experience for beginners. The app’s user-friendly interface allows users to create stunning animations without requiring any prior knowledge of animation techniques. One of the key features of Synfig Studio is its vector-based graphics system, which enables users to create smooth and scalable animations with ease.

However, there are a couple of drawbacks to using Synfig Studio. Firstly, it has limited export format options, which may be inconvenient for users who require specific export formats. Secondly, getting the right color in Synfig Studio can be tricky at times, which may require users to spend more time adjusting the colors of their animations. Despite these drawbacks, Synfig Studio is still a great choice for anyone starting their animation journey. 

Best Apps for Precise Drawing:

Flipaclip

Flipaclip is ideal for those who like to be very accurate with their drawings, especially when it comes to drawing in proportions and shapes. It offers a grid as visual assistance so you can feel a lot more in control when drawing free-hand. Flipaclip supports video and photo inserting, audio adding, multiple layers of drawing, as well as onion skin.

The biggest downsides to Flipaclip are the limited brush options and advertisements that pop up from time to time, which can be quite disturbing when drawing.

Procreate

This animation software app’s allows users to create stunning animations with ease, thanks to its support for pressure-sensitive drawing with the Apple Pencil. With its advanced drawing tools, Procreate is perfect for those who need precise control over their drawings. However, one downside of Procreate is that it is only available on iOS devices, which may limit its accessibility for some users.

One of the standout features of Procreate is its ability to work with multiple layers, allowing users to create complex animations with ease. Its app also offers a range of brushes and other drawing tools to help users create the perfect animation. Procreate is a great option for anyone looking to take their animations to the next level. With its advanced features and user-friendly interface, Procreate is a must-have tool for anyone serious about animation.

Adobe After Effects

Adobe After Effects is a professional animation app that is widely used by professional animators. The app offers a range of advanced animation features, such as motion tracking and keyframe animation, making it ideal for advanced users. It also integrates with all Adobe Creative Cloud applications and supports a variety of different file formats, making it easy to import and export animations from the app.

The app has a steep learning curve and may be overwhelming for users who are not familiar with the software. However, for professional animators and advanced users, Adobe After Effects is a must-have tool for creating high-quality, professional animations.

As Van Gogh once said, “If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” The same applies to animation, and with so many drawing applications available, you’re sure to find a powerful animation tool that includes essential features to bring your ideas to life.