Animation : Simple software by Craig D Griffiths

If it is 2D animation you are looking to produce then check out crazytalk animator or toonboom. Toonboom has been an industry standard for 2D animation production but the one drawback is you have to draw your characters whereas crazytalk, another cool animator, supplies pre-built characters that can be animated to a very high degree including dialogue sync. These are both for purchase. In the 3D animation world there is DAZ 3D, which is free and supplies a nice getting started package of content along with a marketplace of content, props, and backgrounds to create just about anything. Also, crazytalk makes a 3D animation program for purchase called iclone that looks intriguing but have yet to use as it is only built for the windows platform at present.

Stevie is right about the 2D animation. I created a Sleepy Joe cartoon in toonboom. With 3D I have only used 3DS Max but I here there are others out there that are free. Going to be learning Maya next which is pretty much the industry standard now. Both with Maya and max there are free predefined models you can download and move them about for animation.

Thank you so much for your help. As a writer I am an image and storyboard nut. Animation seems to be my next step.

You can also animate both in Photoshop and After Effects. Not so simple but in case you already use any of these tools worth checking out. I have some tips and tricks in my blog about AE animation stuff: http://sundstedt.se/blog/posts

Very true Anders I am using After Effects today. Used Photoshop last week all for animation.

• Craig D Girffiths, If you want to do 2D animation, Synfig is a free open source software, and is amazing. If you want a free 3D animation software, then use Blender.