Any good animation programs out there?

Started by Neko November 8th, 2008 7:32 AM
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  • 7 replies

Neko

PC's Traveling Artist

Age 31
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In your best dreams and worst nightmares
Seen August 25th, 2021
Posted May 2nd, 2015
2,108 posts
17.8 Years
I wanted to know the names of any pretty decent animation programs out there. Programs someone would use if like, say they wanted to make a flash animation or something along the lines of that.

Help is very much appreciated. Thanks to all who can. :)


-Neko

Alex

what will it be next?

Seen December 30th, 2022
Posted December 26th, 2022
6,407 posts
16.4 Years
I used to do lots of animation in grade 8 and grade 9, and what I used was Macromedia Flash. Adobe (the company that makes Photoshop, among other programs) bought Macromedia, and thus continued making the Flash program under their name.

What I have on my computer is Adobe Flash CS3, which came out last year. Adobe has already made CS4, which I find to be a bit ridiculous and unnecessary, and in the family is Adobe Flash CS4 Professional. So, you can download a free trial of that on their site right right here, or buy the program right here ($699.00 US). Orrrr.. you can pirate it.

Personally, I don't think it's worth the money if you're just starting out. The free trial will be really fun and incredibly complete for you, and Flash is the best animation program in my opinion. If you really love the free trial, I still don't think it's worth the money. Which is why pirating would be your best bet. :x

Mr. Pokemon

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Age 29
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Posted August 2nd, 2010
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I'd check out http://www.toonboom.com/main/. They have all kinds of products, and some aren't that expensive. I've used the trial version of Flip Boom Classic, and it's really easy-to-use, but is designed for young kids.

There's also a free program called Pencil (http://www.les-stooges.org/pascal/pencil/) which I still haven't gotten the hang of. It's more complicated than Flip Boom because it's not really meant for novices, I'm sure.

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Posted July 20th, 2009
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Orrrr.. you can pirate it.
Shhhhh... No talk of that here. :x

Flash is the most popular program for making animation, and if you DO like the trial then I recommend purchasing, as it is a very useful tool. :)

Something that a fun waste of time though is this.
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Hiidoran

ohey

Age 32
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Posted February 4th, 2022
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Yes, Adobe/Macromedia Flash is the best program for making animations. It takes a little while to get used to, but its not too terribly difficult. Plus, it can do just about anything you can imagine animation or control wise. If you know the correct programming language, heck you could even create a game. ;D

The pricetag is a bit of an issue, but I would say that it's completely worth it. Just try out the free demo and get the hang of it, you shall see what we mean, Neko-San! :3

txteclipse

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Posted November 2nd, 2016
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15.7 Years
I have the glorious luck of getting the entire CS4 Design Premium suite (which includes Flash) for about $329 because I'm a college student. I'm not really sure what the rules are about such things, but you could try asking around to see if you can get the same or a similar deal. It may pertain to college only, but it's definitely worth a shot.

Otherwise, try that Pivot Stick Figure animator that was mentioned above. I used that for a bit, and it was fun. It took the edge off of my need to animate, at least.

Neko

PC's Traveling Artist

Age 31
Female
In your best dreams and worst nightmares
Seen August 25th, 2021
Posted May 2nd, 2015
2,108 posts
17.8 Years
:D

Thanks so much to everyone that helped! I think I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do now.

Since I'm not a college student just yet, I doubt they'd give me a deal that good. I think not the best thing for me to do is to start small (stick figure program thing) then move up a little (the ones Mr. Pokemon mentioned that are designed for kids) then finally once I get a basic grasp on the concept of animation I'll move on to the bigger things (Adobe/Macromedia Flash) and then finally once I'm in college and majoring in Graphic Design I can use what I've learned and learn some more from it. x3

Then I can finally have my dream job of being a Graphic Designer like my cousin is. A little bit of a stretch, I know, though one can always dream! :3

Thanks again to all who helped. I greatly appreciate the thought! *dumps bucket of peanut butter cups and cherry hershey kisses over posters* xD;


-Neko