Animated Videos have become one of the signature tools of marketers worldwide for telling a story and creating effective marketing campaigns for the future.
Depending on your purpose and skills, you can choose from different types of software available both offline and online, for professionals and amateur users, 2D, 3D, whiteboard or stop motion animation tool, etc.
Below are our picks for the best animation software for mac of 2019. For more background information, see a more detailed buying advice below the picks.
Verdict: Blender is an open source free video editor for Mac that offers 3D rendering. It has the best set of functions for work with movable objects, such as modeling, training, interface, animation, shading, opening UV, creating 3D games in real time, etc. Making a movie for your loved ones, friends, or family members is now an easy job when you carry one of the best movie maker software on your PC. Even if you have short movie clips or songs to insert, a good video editing tool can surely be your right bond. This is why, we are discussing some smart movie makers for Windows 10 that help you with. Microsoft Windows Movie Maker. Microsoft is unbeatable when it comes to the best movie maker software for Windows 10. It is beautiful to view, edit photos and videos while allowing you to create different albums.Moreover, you can instantly make the remix of your video with fine-tune adjustments as and how required.
Part1. Whiteboard Animation Tools Part2. 2D Animation Tools Part3. 3D Animation Tools Part4. Stop Motion Animation Tools Part5. Motion Graphics Software How to Choose the Right Animation Software for Mac
Part1. Whiteboard Animation Tools
#1. Best Whiteboard Animation Software for Mac: VideoScribe by Sparkol
This program is produced by Sparkol and it remains one of the best whiteboard animation software programs for both Mac and PC. You can also use it on a number of mobile devices including devices that run android. There are elements of the program that works through the cloud making it very simple to upload and edit video wherever you might be.
Videoscribe works quite intuitively for building business presentations, TED talk style videos, tutorials, creative marketing solutions and more. What is produced out of this program looks hand-drawn and extremely professional for any type of marketing campaign. The best part is that you can use many of these tools to create these effects with very little animation knowledge.
Even children enjoy using this program because of its ease of use. There is a full library of stock images, animation and more as well as an extensive voiceover soundtrack that can be used with the solutions here.
The yearly and monthly subscription also ensures that there is a flexible use for the program. It also comes with a seven-day free trial with features to try before you buy.
#2. Best Free Animation Software for Mac: PowToon
This is a fantastic online presentation maker for academic use, presentations and infographics.
The program is completely free to use and has a number of animation effects on board that can make anything exported out of the program seem extremely professional.
The free templates available in the program as well as the quality of the animations that are presented within the platform make it a true favorite amongst many brands.
A number of major companies now almost exclusively trust their creative tools to Powtoon and it can be used almost anywhere where there is an Internet connection with mass compatibility.
As a fully cloud-based system there’s no use for installation or downloads to take full advantage of it. Its available for free use on any Macintosh computer as long as you are willing to use the watermark.
Part2. 2D Animation Tools
#3. Best 2D Animation Software for Mac: Toon Boom Harmony
This is a program that actually deserves some surprising recognition. The company has partnered with major film companies like Warner brothers, Disney, and Nickelodeon and it’s currently one of the best and most powerful 2-D animation suites for commercial use.
With the use of this program you can build anything from traditional animation all the way to amazing drawing tools that can produce the future of 3-D animation. The 3-D cameras and integration available in this platform can provide fundamental solutions for drawing, rendering and building beautiful projects.
There are tools and tasks available here that can suit small hobby animators all the way up to professional uses. The premium version delivers the top tool professional solutions that you might expect at of any major animation suite. The essentials level of the harmony program is designed more for hobbyists and it delivers a scaled down version of some of their more high and customization techniques.
Toon Boom not only remains one of the best 2-D animation programs for mac but it is a regular fixture in the animation world today.
#4. Runner-up, Best 2D Animation Software for Mac: Adobe Animate
Adobe is one of the successors to perhaps one of the most popular 2-D animation software is available. At the core of Animate are the flash tools that have been working to create high-quality animations since the early days of the Internet. Today the program uses vector-based publishing to produce intuitive and inexpensive animation results.
Although it may not have all of the professional animation tools that you would find in some major production suites, it’s possible to get very professional looking results.
#5. Best Free 2D Animation Software for Mac: Pencil
This is a simple and open source vector-based program that’s designed for the Mac OS X platform. It’s also available on Linux and Windows and it was originally created for producing digital comics. The platform allows animators to use the basic hand-drawn techniques that were experimented with long in the past. Pencil is an ideal program for beginners that don’t want to invest in expensive license for a program. It can teach the basic principles of animation and with a timeline feature it’s possible to add new layers to arrange fun effects.
This is one of the best programs for beginners and sketching characters as well as setting keyframes can all be done using the pen tool, fill tool and the vector layers tool. The interface on this is actually based off of some of the original Adobe flash platform’s and it produces some good quality graphics even on a tablet device. Perhaps one of the best parts of using this program is that it automatically exports everything in.FLV which gives it mass compatibility with a number of online sources. The videos that you export here will be easy to embed or upload in video sharing sources and more.
Part3. 3D Animation Tools
#6. Best 3D Animation Software for Mac: Maya
Autodesk Maya remains one of the best 3-D modeling software programs that’s designed for Mac, Windows and Linux. The program itself has migrated many of the tools away from Autodesk Mud and now has features that you would normally find in several different pieces of software for creating highly detailed 3-D models. Autodesk Maya is a 3-D modeling software that is designed mostly for professional artists but with the templates that are available for download and the massive amount of tutorials online, it is possible to see quite a difference with this software when you are working with it over time.
#7. Runner-up, Best Free 3D Animation Software for Mac: Blender
Blender is a program that is designed with open source technology for 3-D modeling and it’s made mostly for beginners that want the option to learn how to play and get comfortable with reading modeling on their Mac computer. This open-source program does feature many of the basic features that you can expect to find including rigging, animation, architectural support and even the option to create full games. The philosophy that’s behind it allows for the inclusion of many different templates and it is very well suited to use by a number of creators. Blender remains some of the best 3-D modeling software for creative artists with its completely free use.
Part4. Stop Motion Animation Tools
#8. Best for Making Stop Motion Videos: Dragonframe
Dragonframe remains one of the best stop motion software solutions for mac today. It’s one of the top choices for many of the world’s largest studios like Laika and Aardman. It can produce high-quality masterpieces in stop motion animation and it is a perfectly suited set of professional tools. The program allows for easy capture of a number of precise movements and you can also compose in light various angles using the camera controls on board. Editing images as well as performing advanced image review techniques can all be done through the program as well.
The process of inserting and editing audio can be done according to a characters needs and based off of the animation that you want to create. The advantage to using some of the precise movements and controls in this program is that you can have a wide array of improvements at your fingertips for professional products.
#9. Runner-up: Stop Motion in Movavi Video Editor
We selected this is our runner up because with this program there’s no need to pay for a dedicated piece of stop motion software. This is an open source piece of technology that delivers a full-featured video editor that suitable for many beginners.
The program itself is perfect for getting all of the features that are often teased in many full license software programs. Because it’s open source there are also a number of templates that can make it easy to use. The full-featured video editor is excellent for its features and for the newest features that are being added by the community regularly to keep up with the stop motion technology of today.
Part5. Motion Graphics Software
#10. Best Motion Graphic Animation Software for Mac: After Effects
With a number of motion graphic animation software programs available for Mac, after effects sets itself apart.
Adobe After Effects is truly one of the most masterful programs for any motion graphic artist. Of course many of the features of aftereffects can be found in other Adobe programs, but there is no other piece of software that can be so versatile for the creation of motion graphics. The way to the menus are set up and the way that the program behaves makes it an intuitive leap for 3-D modeling and 2.5 D animation.
The whole goal of aftereffects is to help you produce almost any type of animation that you may want without having to involve 3-D modeling. After effects remains one of the primary pieces of software for motion graphic work in storyboards, motion comics and more. There are elements in this program that are close to Photoshop and illustrator but they have been optimized for the purpose of creating motion graphics here.
How to Choose the Right Animation Software for Mac
When it comes down to choosing the program that you may want to purchase a license for or download on your computer, you need to be very focused into the types of animation that you are looking for and what you need out of any program. The first thing you need to understand is the various styles and techniques for animation and what you might want out of a program:
2d animation
This is the traditional style of animation that comes from the idea of cell shading or digital cell shading. In the past animators would draw images on transparent pieces of paper and then later than one frame at a time to create motion. Today drawings can be rendered and layered on top of one another using a digital timeline and computer vector animations.
3d animation
This is a completely new and different way to look at traditional animation that requires understanding the basic principles of composition, movement and 3-D modeling. Creating 3-D graphics can involve scanning objects or even piecing together various 3-D models to create characters, share complex ideas and then animate all of the items along a storyboard.
Motion graphics
A motion graphic is considered to be one of the newest forms of animation. These motion graphics are fairly common in items like banner ads, short comics and more. Usually these types of graphics are designed for commercial purposes.
Stop motion
Stop motion involves taking photos of an object and manipulating it ever so slightly to eventually produce a storyboard of motion. Completing and repeating this process over and over eventually gives the full allusion of movement. This is a very time-consuming process that often involves manipulating objects slowly over hours of movement to create just a few seconds of animation.
Presentation or whiteboard style
This is a popular style of animation that has taken off over the past few years. The online marketing videos that are produced and the specific programs that have been created for building whiteboard videos are proving that this is a format that truly keeps people engaged and remains a trend for school projects, business presentations and more.
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Making a movie for your loved ones, friends, or family members is now an easy job when you carry one of the best movie maker software on your PC. Even if you have short movie clips or songs to insert, a good video editing tool can surely be your right bond. This is why, we are discussing some smart movie makers for Windows 10 that help you with making cute or professional videos at the same time. Are you ready? Keep scrolling!
How To Decide The Best Movie Maker Software For Windows?
A good movie maker software is easy to understand and use, be it for a beginner or an expert.
It must consist of additional tools like effects, text, animations, etc. The addition of images or videos should be easy alongside.
It must be capable of adding your favorite music at the backend while you can edit, trim, merge or throw effects in it.
These are the basics a good movie maker for Windows 10 shall contain. Let’s find out the features in the listicle below.
Best Movie Maker Software
1. MiniTool Movie Maker
This movie maker for Windows 10 is such a simple and easy solution to all those who want to make movies quickly. Once you collect all your clips in the photo album, you are free to create animations and add elements to your story.
What’s More With MiniTool?
The interface is pretty simple, to begin with where you can import your files. Now add titles, transitions, or effects without having any real experience of movie making before.
Fan of Hollywood style trailers? Again this movie maker is yours by choosing a template and create something exciting.
Studio quality titles, perfect aesthetic senses, and trimming or splitting videos are just perfect for you to make movies.
Pros:
Animations, drag & drop tools and multiple templates available.
Cons:
2. Movavi Video Editor
Just like Microsoft Windows movie maker, Movavi has one of the simplest user interfaces, a wide range of tools and support for most of the input and output media formats. Let’s understand the details below to figure out why Movavi is one of the best movie maker software.
What’s More With Movavi Video Editor?
Vast editing tools include transition, callouts, stickers, animations, sound adjustment, panning or zooming, etc.
This tool allows you to capture audio or video from multiple sources like webcams, HD camcorders, TV tuners, etc.
Interestingly, it can support 4K video quality, which is indeed huge support for those who believe in quality content on screen.
Pros:
Video rendering speed is really good.
Cons:
Price: $28.39 per month
3. Microsoft Windows Movie Maker
Microsoft is unbeatable when it comes to the best movie maker software for Windows 10. It is beautiful to view, edit photos and videos while allowing you to create different albums. Moreover, you can instantly make the remix of your video with fine-tune adjustments as and how required.
What’s More With Microsoft Windows?
Add any music, filters, texts, and effects to make the video look exciting and expressive.
3D effects like running fireball, lightning, and a swarm of butterflies could be added for more excitement.
Moreover, you can remix your video and audio to change the pace, style, and music. Cool, right?
Pros:
Extremely user-friendly and perfect for the beginners.
Cons:
Large and extensive videos are not able to be handled by the tool.
Price: Free
Also Read: How to Download Windows Movie Maker for Windows 10
4. OpenShot
Making movies is a process simpler than ever with this movie maker on Windows 10. OpenShot is pretty simple to look at as well as to use yet very powerful. Video effects in OpenShot are immense, like removing background from video, inverting the colors, or adjusting the brightness.
What’s More With OpenShot?
It is a cross-platform video editor. Hence, if the work was started in Windows, it could later be finished on Mac or Linux.
Render beautiful 3D animations for titles, effects like flying text, lens flares, etc.
The power of time lies in your hands. Control the video speed, reverse or slow down anywhere. In fact, you can add on the preset for further animation.
Pros:
3D video editing with loads of audio tools to support.
Cons:
It doesn’t allow social media sharing directly from the platform.
Price: Free
Also Read: 6 Best Free Windows Movie Maker Alternatives You Must Try
5. Lightworks
Known for a complete video creation package, Lightworks is a smart tool for film editing and has also been used in cinematic history earlier. Moreover, this is the best movie maker software as it allows you to make from simple social media videos, YouTube videos to 4K film projects. You do not want to say no to 720p resolution right coming out from the software.
What’s More With Lightworks?
Editing timeline and trimming them is one of the simplest things to do on Lightworks.
You can access royalty-free music and video content straight from the software itself.
It supports a wide range of file formats along with variable frame rate media.
Pros:
Lightweight for the system and use less storage space in Windows PC.
Cons:
Price: $24.99 per month
6. Shotcut
How about having a free, open-source and cross-platform video editor on your PC which can support a wide range of formats? We believe there is a yes! And so why not when Shotcut can support resolution up to 4k and capable of capturing from SDI, HDMI, webcam, JACK and pulse audio. Moreover, it is codec independent and indeed, the best movie maker software.
What’s More With Shotcut?
Hundreds of video filters like audio light visualization, blur, brightness, flip, glitch, text, HTML, etc. considering it the best movie maker software.
Editing features like hiding, mute or track controls, append or insert in the timeline, unlimited undo, or redo are available.
UI translations are available in so many languages, including Chinese, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, English, Thai, Turkish, or much more.
Pros:
Free Software For Making Movies
Supports HD resolution for most of the videos to be published online.
Cons:
Collaboration or social sharing is not available on Shotcut.
Price: Free
Also Read: 7 Best Video Editor Software For Windows
7. VSDC Videos Editor
Starting from the most simple interface, VSDC can build the movies of the most complex nature. It is a non-linear video editor, which says that elements can be placed in any position on the timeline without the need to have a linear sequence. Other parameters, positions, and shapes of objects can be changed at later stages. Almost all audio, video, or image formats are supported with this movie maker on Windows 10.
What’s More With VSDC Videos Editor?
A number of visual or audio effects are present here based on the category of color correction, object transformation, object filters, transition effects, and special FX.
Masking elements to hide, blur or highlight certain objects on the video are available.
Easily export the movies to social networks like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Vimeo, etc.
Pros:
Motion tracking tool for registering and tracking the movement of objects.
Objects in the scene can be noticed with subpixel accuracy.
Cons:
Previewing the video has to be done on another application.
Price: $19.99 per month
8. Videopad
Create unlimited videos and movies for your fans and post them on YouTube using Videopad. This movie maker for Windows 10 is fully featured with visual effects, transitions, and much more. In fact, you can burn movies to DVD and Blu-ray or export them to your portable devices.
What’s More With Videopad?
Best Video Editing Software Mac
Videopad is a simple tool that supports popular video formats seamlessly. Whether you capture videos using a camcorder, GoPro, or webcam, formats like avi, wmv, mp4, apng, mpeg, etc. are acceptable.
More than 50 visual effects are present with this amazing movie maker software. Finally, you can export movies in resolutions like HD, 2K, and 4K.
Smooth transition between the two clips is really important to avoid any breakages. Videopad surely does justice to the same!
Pros:
Share videos on YouTube, Vimeo or Flickr using the same credentials.
Cons:
Price: Starts from $39.95
9. Blender
Blender is an open-source 3D creation tool that is free to use and supports a variety of things like modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, composition, and motion tracking along with video editing. You would be surprised to know that Blender is a public project and developed by students, scientists, VFX experts, animators, game artists, modders, and many more.
What’s More With Blender?
Numerous animated short films have been developed using Blender and they all possess great sound sync, story art, etc.
This movie maker for Windows 10 can combine 2D and 3D right in the viewpoint. There is full support to animation with Onion skinning.
You can use multiple add-ons created by the community to make the movie-making experience better.
Pros:
Supports output formats.MP4, .AVI, .FLV, .MOV, .MPEG4, etc.
Powerful character animation tools do make it a great movie maker software.
Cons:
Price: $17 per month
10. Avidemux
Last but never least, Avidemux is an absolutely free video editor for everyone, especially beginners. This tool is designed for simple cutting, filtering, and encoding tasks with utmost support to multiple file types like AVI, MP4, ASF, MPEG, etc.
What’s More With Avidemux?
It is a cross-platform and non-linear video editing tool that supports many codecs and files.
Filtering options like auto-resize, gauss smoothing, chroma shifts, black borders, etc. are available.
Pros:
Group file or video editing is possible with this best movie maker software.
Relatively easy to use and put your hands-on for the beginners.
Cons:
Price: Free
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Can I get Windows Movie Maker for Windows 10?
Absolutely, Yes! As the name suggests itself, Windows Movie Maker is made for Windows users and can be used by them to create amazing movies, videos, films, and more. Download it from microsoft.com, and you are ready to go. Moreover, Windows Movie Maker is absolutely free of cost.
Q2. What is the best free Movie Maker for Windows 10?
There are many free movie makers for Windows 10. Amongst them, Windows Movie Maker is the best one to go for. Apart from that, Windows Movie Maker, OpenShot, and Avidemux can be considered as trustworthy and amazing movie maker software for Windows 10.
Q3. What is a good replacement for Windows Movie Maker?
Various replacements for Windows Movie Maker are here to note for. We recommend MiniTool movie maker or Movavi video editor as a good replacement.
Conclusion
Now when you have a list of best movie maker software for Windows 10, you just need to pick the right one for yourself. From Movavi video editor to Windows Movie Maker, OpenShot to VSDC video editor, every option is unique in its sense.
Which one did you pick? Tell us in the comment section below! With that, also follow us on Facebook and YouTube for the coolest tech-updates.