Animation Software to Learn

For character animation the most widely used software in the industry is Flash (for digital 2d

animaton) and Maya (for 3d animation). Flash is used primarily for series animation (TV series) and TV commercials. But Maya is used in every part of the animation industry – TV series, feature film, commercial, vfx….The good majority of animation you see in commercials, on TV and in movies are created in one of these software packages.

Classical animation is rarely used in studios any more, almost not at all. All 2d and 3d character animation, layout, background paintings, environments, effects…etc. Pretty much everything in the animation world is done in software.

There are other packages out there such as Toonboom/Harmony for digital 2d, and 3dMax and Houdini for 3d. All these packages have their pros and cons but if your goal is to get a job as an animator your best bet is to learn Flash or Maya – or both!…..

I started out in the industry as a 3d Maya animator and later upgraded my skills and learned Flash… and just recently learned Harmony. With both my Fash and Harmony upgrades I was lucky enough to be trained by a studio and believe me, I’m very gratefull for the training! Don’t rely on a studio to train because it is rare.

I’ve conducted or have sat in on interviews where the young animator in the room was expecting to be trained. Some people that we interviewed were shocked when they were told that we could only hire experienced Flash animators or Maya animators.

A studio will usually only train people if they can’t find experienced animators who already know the software (demonstrated on their reel) and the scheduled animation start date for the project is fast approaching. So they may be under some pressure to get staff in place quickly. There might be other circumstances that might afford them to take time with a trainee but you would have to demonstrate that you have a solid understanding of animation fundamentals with what’s on your demo reel. Some studios don’t hire anyone who doesn’t pass their animation test, where you would have to animate in the required software (again, usually Flash or Maya).

So you could set out to find work as a 2d Flash animator or a 3d Maya animator. But if your in school and your learning Maya you should really take the time to try and pick up Flash and get some good Flash animation on that demo (along with your 3d stuff) before you graduate while you still have the time!

Flash
I’m convinced, I’d go this far and say I know that the biggest reason why Flash is the most popular 2d animation software is the price of the product license (around $700). The second most popular 2d animation software is Toonboom/Harmony (around $3000 give or take a couple hundred) but in my opinion is a superior, more flexible program.

So it’s pretty obvious why Flash has prevailed so far as the popular choice – it’s cheap! And studios can be up and running with a Flash production with less overhead costs, but it’s still good animation software. Toonboom/Harmony is much more difficult to learn than Flash. I started with Flash first and found that it’s a good place to start if your learning digital 2d animation.

Flash was originally designed as a web tool to create “flashy” web animation, splash pages and intros, add banners, motion graphics, etc…Somewhere along the line someone decided to use it in series animation + the great price = the most widely used digital 2d animation software! But with any other software package you have to get the hang of it, but once you do it’s a lot of fun to animate in.

Adobe recently bought Flash and released version CS4 Professional. This new release has a lot of new animation tools that earlier versions never had. (like hierarchies or parenting and motion editing tools). You would likely end up using Flash CS4 in a studio if you started training with it now because studios that use Flash will soon make the transition to this new and more versatile incarnation.

Maya
This is my favorite 3d software to animate in. I’ve used 3dMax and Houdini and find Maya is the best, but I grew up in the industry with Maya – so I may be a little biased

In recent years Maya has emerged as the worlds most popular professional 3d animation, modelling, and rendering software. It’s popularity is generally based on the fact that it’s user/artist friendly and gives animators the greatest amount of flexibility. The animation tools are fairly easy to learn (with some instruction).

Most 3d animation schools teach Maya as opposed to other software packages and it has a really solid user base in the animation industry – and not just with series animation, it’s also most widely used in animated feature films and visual effects for live action.

In 2003 Alias/Wavefront (the company that created Maya) won an Oscar for scientific and technical achievement for the development of Maya software, the professional 3d animation and effects package.