I would like suggestions for a simple animation program for a noob. I’ve read several articles, but don’t have a clear idea of which direction to go.
My current goal is to make animated phonics books for young learners that will be in a LibreOffice Impress presentation. I have made animated stories with Google Slides that were a big hit and will need presentation features for class. Now I want to go further.
Future goals: I’m currently stuck on Widows* 10 (BIOS doesn’t support Linux ) but the next PC will be a straight Linux machine. I am looking for compatibility with other programs. If the books work well, I want to be able to transfer as much of the material as possible to different programs to upgrade, make into video versions, etc. (If all I can transfer are the words and vector images, that’s ok. I know I’m a noob.)
LO Impress animations are more complex than G Slides, so this may be the best option? A program that I can use to move characters into different poses and paste into LO Impress might also be a good option. Other than LO Impress, the following seem to have potential:
GIMP: has basic 2d animation ability, from what I’ve read. I’ve used it before, but struggled for a simple graphic. Seems like it has a long learning curve.
Pencil 2d: gets high marks but seems to be geared toward creating original artwork? (I lack the skill & time for that. I plan to use vector images as much as possible.)
OpenToonz: This looks to have potential, though still complicated. How long does it take to learn?
Any other FOSS suggestions?
Thanks all for any ideas you may have.
*Not a typo. It’s Widows b/c I feel nothing but grief and want to weep when using it.
I know it may seem a little bit overkill for your use-case, but people underestimate the powers of Blender very often. It is famous for 3D animation, but it can do much more. It can do video editing. It also can do what you ask for. This software has a big helpful community and lots of tutorial resources. Additionally, it was improved by a LOT in the past months. I think you should at least give it a shot.
I haven’t tried any of these yet. I’ve spent a couple hours reading about different programs already without a clear direction of which to even try. I have 2 kids running around and needing my attention, and am helping my wife learn and set up online teaching to rebuild our teaching center that Covid destroyed. So, I’m a bit overwhelmed in terms of time. I came here hoping that the community’s wisdom could help me figure this out.
I should re-formulate my question: how long would it take to learn to create simple characters for a book similar to the Bob books (link below)? The goal is to create a series of phonics readers that can eventually have the graphics improved, turned into video, etc. I want to make these as accessible as possible. (If I can ever get above being broke, I’m open to the idea of donating them to the open source ed community too.)
) but the next PC will be a straight Linux machine. I am looking for compatibility with other programs. If the books work well, I want to be able to transfer as much of the material as possible to different programs to upgrade, make into video versions, etc. (If all I can transfer are the words and vector images, that’s ok. I know I’m a noob.)
