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Simple 2D Animation Software for UNIX-like OSes

Posted by Cliff on from the building-cartoons-without-windows dept.

BSDanimation asks: "I want to create slide based cartoon-like animations with speech bubbles and simple programmable 2D effects in a widely accepted format like MPEG or AVI. I have considered using Ming to code a Flash animation, but then decided against Flash and would prefer to stay away from such proprietary formats. Blender seems nice, but is too complex and a complete overkill. OpenOffice presentations seem promising, but I am not sure if it is possible to program effects and speech bubbles in it and export such presentations into a format other than Flash. What free UNIX-like OS based open source software is there for such simple 2D animation that would also allow me to distribute my animations commercially without any licensing restrictions?"

7 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Blender is not Overkill by vcv · · Score: 3, Interesting

    But is there a higher learning curve than using a 2d tool because of what it's designed for? I've never used blender, so I can't so. But for any other 3d tool I've used, I would definitely say yes.

  2. Flash and non-preparatory formats by Distortions · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You *do* know you can author in flash and export it as video, right?

    --
    Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
  3. Cinepaint by Leghkster · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There's also http://cinepaint.movieeditor.com/ - a natural, if you're familiar with the Gimp.

    --
    Witty signature omitted for brevity.
  4. "proprietary"? by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Do you mean "Flash" as in "SWF"? Because: swf is a stanadrd. Ming saving as SWF should be an entirely open format. Now, the fact that gplflash is still in its infancy is a problem, but the format itself is open.

    --
    Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
  5. The good old days... by bscott · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Where is EA's old "Deluxe Paint III" (Amiga version) when you need it?
    Sometimes the march of progress plows under the simple-but-useful.

    --
    Perfectly Normal Industries
  6. Re:Blender is not Overkill by foniksonik · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What's nice about using 3d for 2d animation is the ability to create everything to scale, keep it at scale and simply move it back into the distance (z-index) instead of 'faking it' by scaling it down. This makes depth much more plausible to the viewer and much easier to animate... think of it like a theater stage with a backdrop and stand up props, except that you have an infinitely deep stage to work with and unlimited 'tracks/layers' to put your props on.

    --
    A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
  7. Moho by rrwood · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Might not be exactly what you're looking for, but Moho from Lost Marble is a great 2D animation tool. And it comes in all your favourite OS flavours (as long as that means Windows, OS X, and Linux).

    All smartass commentary aside, I think it's great that the Lost Marble guys have ported to Linux. I'm sure it's been a total loss as far as monetary return-on-investment goes, but I like to think that the PR value has made it worthwhile (heck, it made me post this to SlashDot).