The animation is not hard to create; they are easy to design when you have the right tools. Animation can be in the form of video clips, GIFs, and many other types. If you are learning to design animation or already an expert, the software is the major requirements. We see the animation daily, they are on cereal boxes, in cartoons, in advertisements and advanced animations are now in movies too. Stick figure animation also called pivot animation use pivot-joiners for connection; the drawings are represented frame by frame after another. Stick figure is the most common and oldest used animation. Various programs offer tools to make stick figures they can be coloured, semi-circles, dot, or line. There are many animation tools available online and free to download on multiple operating systems they all support stick figure animation and more 2D and 3D tools if you want to expand your expertise.
GIF Animator is Mac user's best choice for creating amazing animations, avatars, banners and userpics. With this app you can easily convert Video to GIF, or create GIF animation from set of images with a few clicks. Key features: Compiling animation from imported frames. Create or extract animated GIF files using GIF Animator. Add raster (exif, bpg, bmp, tiff, png, jpeg) images to a list, set frame delay interval and create a animated GIF. Also select animated GIF files and display individual frames in designated folders. Free Cartoon Creator for Mac Best cartoon maker software for Mac users to make interactive animation videos with ease. Abundant pre-designed templates for business, branding, teaching and other occassions. The mobile application costs 4.99 USD and the macOS version costs 9.99 USD. Probably the best free animation software on this list and one of the most recommended software for animation by professionals, Blender is an open-source software that runs on different platforms with ease.
Download Easy GIF for macOS 10.12 or later and enjoy it on your Mac. EasyGIF can easily organize various design elements, easily design animated scenes, preview in real time, WYSIWYG, quickly generate animated GIF files, and efficiently optimize GIF file size.
1. Stykz
Best Free Animation Software
Stykz is an animator, free software which allows users to create stick-figure and sprite animation and save them in GIF format for web usage and AVI format. A multi-platform stick figure animation program that is frame-based and let the user work on individual frames for excellent animation. The program allows you to edit the animation directly on the stage, by holding particular modifier user can access extend mode which enables him to reach a line segment and move all linked line segments. The program consists of simple features like manipulating figures, working with animation, importing and exporting animation and edit them in Stykz, auto-save and auto-backup facility and more. The tools provided are simple, labelled, and easy to use. The GUI factor is significant in the animation software, so Stykz has given a lot of work in presenting a nice and clean interface.
2. Pivot
Pivot animator short for Pivot is a free multi-platform stick figure and sprite amination creator. It provides a simple, easy to use interface designed according to the user perspective. The program offers a frame-by-frame animation principle that also includes a wide range of pre-designed sticks, so the user has an idea of design and layout. The figure is made by using lines and circles, with each line and circles a pivot point is used to connect them. The user interface is easy to navigate, and it has all the startup tools to design an essential figure and animation, user can import and export animation to editing in Pivot. The software is quick to install and contain many pre-designed pictures for editing purpose; the animations can be saved in GIF extension so the user can edit them in other software.
3. TISFAT
TISFAT is a free, open-source 2D-based keyframe animation software which offers editing and creating stick figure and sprite figure animations, and works on almost all platforms. User can create multiple animating on a single platform. The tools TSIFAT offers are easy to use and understand, although creating a single animation takes a lot of time. The feature includes 60 fps, uses tweening to smooth out keyframes, necessary and advance onion skin, intuitive interface and easy navigation, multilayer system, image support system, and highly packed stick edition. A slight factor of time-consuming and multilayer duplication makes the software hard to use.
4. Tupi
Tupi is a free animation software for Mac users and allows to create stick-figure and sprite figures. 2D animations which enable Mac users to experience an easy way to create animation. The software features include necessary tools for vector illustration that include rectangles, ellipses, lines, and polygons, reusing imported media assets, support for tweening position, scale, shear and rotation, raster images called bitmap, the choice to save finished animations to AVI, MPEG, SVG, GIF, etc. Tupi interface is comfortable for even an eight-year-old to make animation. The tools are laid out and labeled so the user can choose from the specific section; the instruments change according to the project category.
5. Pencil 2D
Pencil 2D is free, multi-platform 2D animation and graphic designing software. Most straightforward hand-drawn animation program that works flawlessly on Mac computers and works fine on Windows. It is an excellent platform for beginners, which includes a help and tutorial feature to learn and practice every tool. The interface is easy to understand, and interaction provides quick access to the user to the library where pre-designed figures are stored. The features include lightweight and minimalistic design that makes it very easy for starters to work with stick figures and animation, raster image and vector workflow with quick switching between them. The tools consist of layers, keyframe manipulation system, onion skinning, pressure sensitivity, and many more.
6. Toon Boom Animate Pro 3
Toon Boon is an award-winning software used to create stick-figure and animations; it works on almost all platforms. The software offers two tiers; animated 3 and animated Pro 3. As the name suggested that animation 3 is free and have limited features and an excellent platform for beginners to start creating animations. Both applications interface are not that easy to understand, the learning curve is steep, but with little time, it is a powerful tool in amination designing category. Toon Boom Animate Pro 3 features include Bone-Style Deform, true pencil, to draw and modify lines easily, Tool Presets Toolbar which allows the user to save presets for any tools and remembering its properties.
7. Blender
Blender is an OpenGL based software that provides tools for 2D, 3D animations, stick figure, and sprite figure animations. Free software which can run on almost all operating systems. It is a tool for professionals; beginners have not a pleasant experience because the interface is not very intuitive. This tool enables users to turn still images into 3D animation, and also offers a fast rigging too that allows users to convert 3D models into animated characters. the core functions of the program offers are automated walk-cycle along paths, an editor for character animation poses, non-linear animation for independent character movement and mirror functionality.
8. Bryce
Bryce is a multi-platform 3D modeling, rendering, and animation software. It allows stick and sprite figures animations and can save work in multiple extensions. The software combines exceptional power with an innovative user interface for comfortable usage. Software specifications involve improved light tab, sky lab improvement, improved instancing lab, render options movements, importing and exporting animations, and much more. It is free to download and has two versions; the pro version is not free and costs about $20. The software blends adequately with an inventive interface that is user-friendly. Bryce is less time consuming and offers more solution and autocorrect features; these features have made the program works perfectly with most of the other modeling programs in the category.
9. DAZ Studio
DAZ Studio is free software that offers 3D, stick figure animation. The software has a fast and friendly interface and contains a clear GUI to the user. A steep learning curve allows its users to gain more information in less time. The 3D factor is DAZ is the reason this software is more compatible with every operating system. The massive library consists of pre-designed animated figures which allow the user to create and edit an animation in less time. A key feature of DAZ includes NVIDIA Iray that is a photoreal render tool with similar items to help make HDR photos. Other features include 3D morphing, interactive tutorials that allows both beginner and expert users, GPU accelerated real-time rendering and many more.
10. Synfig Studio
Synfig Studio, a free multi-platform animations creator which offers 2D designing tools. It comes with a sharp learning curve due to its Avant-grade feature and amazing outcomes which rely on helping the user in becoming a professional animation designer. The user interface of the software is quite intuitive, which allows the user by separating the windows in categories like tools window, editing, navigator, and parameters window. Since most of the elements based on vectors and slabs developed are parametrically; therefore, only raster images will appear and not the inherent pixilation. Synfig Studio offers complete support for gradient routes, which allows the user to insert soft shading into the drawing without any effort and without need for sketching the animation on each frame separately.
11. Plastic Animation Paper
Free Gif Animation Software For Mac
Plastic Animation Paper is a free stick figure and 2D animation designing software that support all operating systems. They provide their tutorials, so users don’t have to face any issues with the usage. The layout of the interface is easy to understand and provides guidelines. Its features include essential drawing tools, the ability to organize a workflow with a menu creating option, zooming and rotating a sheet, and many more. It allows the use of a pressure-sensitive Wacom pen that allows the user to create more accurate designs. Plastic Animation Paper has complete its features with onion skinning, light setup, layers, blue and red pen for planning and drafting scenes and poses.
12. Stickman & Elemento
Free Gif Creator Software
Stickman & Elemento is an animation software in which the user can create and control cartoon character. It is a cross-platform software and free to download, although it will only work if the system has Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1. The free version has many tools, but the pro version has all those tools but has some difference in the interface and additional tools which makes the pro version standout. The user can use the software for more than animation and stick figure, easy to use with clean and clear GUI. Key features involve infinite curves for drawing, path tools, drag-drop items, combine the video clips, pivot stick figure 2.2.5 integration, GDI+, AntiGrain rendering with OpenGL acceleration, and many more.