Here’s a list of popular animation software

2D Animation Software

For traditional or vector-style animation:

1. Toon Boom Harmony – Industry standard for 2D animation (used by studios like Disney, Nickelodeon).
2. TVPaint – Bitmap-based, great for traditional hand-drawn animation.
3. Adobe Animate – Formerly Flash; good for web animations and cartoons.
4. OpenToonz – Free and open-source; used by Studio Ghibli.
5. Krita – Free, primarily a painting tool but supports 2D animation.
6. Synfig Studio – Free and open-source vector animation tool.
7. Pencil2D – Lightweight, free 2D animation software for beginners.

3D Animation Software

For modeling, rigging, and animating in 3D:

1. Blender – Free and open-source; full 3D suite with animation, rigging, VFX.
2. Autodesk Maya – Industry standard for 3D animation in film and games.
3. Cinema 4D – Known for motion graphics and smooth workflow.
4. 3ds Max – Used for games and architectural visualization.
5. Houdini – Great for procedural animation and VFX.
6. DAZ Studio – Focused on character posing and rendering.
7. iClone – Real-time 3D animation tool, good for fast production.

Stop Motion Animation Software

1. Dragonframe – Industry standard for stop motion (used in “Coraline”, “Kubo”).
2. Stop Motion Studio – Beginner-friendly and mobile-compatible.
3. iStopMotion – Mac-based software with a simple interface.

Motion Graphics / Hybrid

1. Adobe After Effects – Great for motion design, compositing, and 2.5D animation.
2. Moho (Anime Studio) – Hybrid tool for rigged 2D animation and vector art.
3. Spine – Specialized in 2D skeletal animation for games.
4. Character Animator (Adobe) – Real-time animation using webcam and mic.