Complete guide to 2D animation: Software, techniques, and workflow tips

The world of 2D animation has transformed dramatically from its hand-drawn origins to today's digital landscape where artists can draw and animate with unprecedented freedom. Whether you're interested in creating traditional frame-by-frame sequences, exploring stop motion techniques, or leveraging AI animation tools, understanding the fundamentals and available software options sets the foundation for bringing your creative visions to life. This guide explores the diverse types of 2D animation, reviews leading animation software, and demonstrates how Movavi Video Editor can streamline your animation workflow.

Animation has evolved from a specialized skill requiring expensive equipment to an accessible art form that anyone with a computer can explore. Modern animation studio software ranges from free open-source tools to professional suites used by major studios. The democratization of these tools, combined with the rise of AI for animations, means creators at every skill level can produce compelling animated content. Understanding which approach and tools align with your goals helps you invest your time and resources effectively.

Traditional animation (frame-by-frame)

Traditional animation, also known as cel animation, involves creating individual drawings for each frame of movement. This painstaking process produces the fluid, organic motion associated with classic Disney films and anime. Modern animation drawing tablets and software have digitized this process, but the fundamental principle remains: each slight change in position requires a new drawing. Artists who master this technique develop an intuitive understanding of motion and timing that translates across all animation styles.

Motion graphics

Motion graphics focus on animating graphic elements, text, and shapes rather than characters. This style dominates in explainer videos, title sequences, and infographics. Unlike character animation, motion graphics often rely on mathematical interpolation between keyframes, making it more accessible for designers without traditional drawing skills. The rise of template-based animated video maker tools has made motion graphics particularly popular for business and educational content.

Stop motion animation

Stop motion creates movement by photographing physical objects in slightly different positions. While traditionally associated with clay figures or puppets, digital stop motion techniques now allow creators to animate pictures, paper cutouts, or any physical objects. This tactile approach produces a distinctive aesthetic that computer-generated animation struggles to replicate. Modern software can assist with onion skinning and frame management, making stop motion more accessible than ever.

Cutout animation

Cutout animation uses separate pieces of artwork that move independently, similar to paper dolls with movable joints. This technique, popularized by shows like South Park, offers a distinctive visual style while being relatively efficient to produce. Digital cutout animation in modern software allows for smooth joint rotation and automatic in-betweening, significantly speeding up production compared to traditional methods.

Rotoscoping

Rotoscoping traces over live-action footage to create realistic animated movement. This technique bridges the gap between live action and animation, producing eerily lifelike results. Modern animation software includes tools specifically designed for rotoscoping, with features like automatic tracking and motion prediction that reduce the manual labor involved.

AI-powered animation

The newest frontier in 2D animation leverages artificial intelligence to generate in-between frames, predict motion paths, and even create entire animated sequences from text descriptions. AI animator tools can transform static images into moving scenes, automate lip-syncing, and generate character movements based on simple inputs. While these tools don't replace artistic vision, they dramatically accelerate certain production aspects.

Adobe Animate stands as the evolution of Flash, maintaining its position as industry-standard animation software for web and broadcast content. This comprehensive animation studio provides tools for every animation style, from traditional frame-by-frame to modern rigged character animation.

Key features:

• Advanced drawing tools with pressure sensitivity and custom brushes

• Bone tool for creating sophisticated character rigs without manual frame drawing

• Integration with Creative Cloud for seamless workflow with Photoshop and After Effects

• Export to multiple formats including HTML5 Canvas, WebGL, and video

• Extensive asset library and template collection for quick project starts

Professional studios worldwide rely on Toon Boom Harmony for feature films and television series. This animation studio software represents the pinnacle of 2D animation capabilities, offering tools that scale from independent creators to major productions.

Key features:

• Node-based compositing system for complex visual effects

• Advanced rigging system with deformers and inverse kinematics

• Master controller feature for managing complex character animations

• Integration with 3D elements for hybrid animation projects

• Industry-standard pipeline integration tools for large team collaboration

TVPaint specializes in traditional frame-by-frame animation, beloved by artists who prefer the hand-drawn aesthetic. This software excels at replicating traditional animation techniques while providing digital advantages.

Key features:

• Exceptional brush engine that mimics traditional media

• Powerful onion skinning with customizable opacity and color coding

• CTG layer system for managing complex scenes with multiple elements

• Extensive FX stack for adding effects directly within the animation software

• Project management tools designed specifically for traditional animation workflows

Moho Pro offers a unique approach to 2D animation by combining powerful bone rigging with traditional animation tools. This animation maker particularly excels at creating rigged characters that maintain artistic flexibility.

Key features:

• Smart Bones system that eliminates common rigging distortions

• Automatic lip-syncing with built-in phoneme recognition

• Vector-based drawing tools that maintain quality at any resolution

• Physics engine for realistic secondary motion

• Frame-by-frame capabilities alongside rigging tools

OpenToonz brings professional-grade features to the open-source community. Used by Studio Ghibli for their productions, this free software proves that quality animation tools don't always require significant investment.

Key features:

• GTS scanning tool optimized for traditional paper animation

• Particle system for creating complex effects

• Mesh deformation for smooth character movements

• Extensive plugin architecture for community additions

• Professional color management and compositing tools

While primarily known as a painting application, Krita includes robust animation features that make it an excellent choice for animation drawing enthusiasts. Its focus on artistic tools makes it particularly appealing for traditional animators.

Key features:

• Comprehensive brush engine with hundreds of customizable brushes

• Traditional animation timeline with onion skinning

• Audio import for syncing animation to sound

• Frame management with easy copying and repositioning

• Completely free and open-source with regular updates

Runway ML represents the cutting edge of AI animation technology. This platform uses machine learning models to assist with various animation tasks, from generating in-betweens to creating entirely new animated sequences.

Key features:

• Text-to-animation generation using advanced language models

• Automatic rotoscoping and background removal

• Style transfer for applying artistic looks to animations

• Motion tracking and prediction for smoother animations

• Integration with traditional animation software through plugins

Reallallusion's Cartoon Animator 4 serves as both a cartoon video maker and a comprehensive animation suite. It bridges the gap between simple animated video maker tools and professional software.

Key features:

• 2D motion capture using webcams or pre-recorded video

• Extensive content library with thousands of ready-to-use assets

• Smart IK/FK system for intuitive character posing

• Facial animation system with automatic lip-sync

• Pipeline integration with game engines and other animation software

Animaker positions itself as an accessible cartoon video generator for businesses and educators. This cloud-based platform eliminates software installation while providing powerful animation capabilities.

Key features:

• Drag-and-drop interface suitable for non-animators

• Extensive template library for quick project creation

• Character builder with millions of customization combinations

• Automated lip-sync and voice-over integration

• Built-in asset library with regular content updates

Movavi Video Editor excels at assembling animated sequences created in specialized software. Before importing your animations, organize your assets logically. Create separate folders for character animations, backgrounds, and effects. Export your animations from your primary animation software as image sequences or video files with alpha channels when transparency is needed.

The software handles various formats excellently, but PNG sequences provide the best quality for projects requiring transparency. When exporting from your animation studio, maintain consistent frame rates – Movavi can convert between rates, but matching them initially prevents potential timing issues.

Animation projects often involve multiple layers of content. Movavi's timeline supports unlimited video tracks, allowing you to layer character animations over backgrounds while adding effects and foreground elements. Use the track height adjustment feature to better visualize your layer stack – this proves invaluable when managing complex scenes with numerous animated elements.

Create a naming convention for your tracks: dedicate specific tracks to characters, effects, and backgrounds. This organization becomes crucial when projects grow to include dozens or hundreds of individual animated clips. Color-code your clips by type using Movavi's labeling system to maintain visual organization even in lengthy projects.

While dedicated animation software handles the creation process, Movavi shines in compositing final scenes. Import your character animations with transparency, then layer them over painted or photographed backgrounds. The software's chroma key tool can remove green screens from animated elements if your animation software doesn't support alpha channel export.

Use Movavi's position, scale, and rotation controls to fine-tune the placement of animated elements. These keyframeable properties allow you to add camera movements to otherwise static animated scenes. Create dynamic presentations by slowly zooming into action or panning across larger animated backgrounds.

Movavi's effects library enhances animated content in ways that complement rather than compete with your animation software's capabilities. Apply subtle color grading to unify elements created at different times or in different programs. The blur effects can create depth of field, drawing attention to foreground characters while softening background elements.

For projects combining multiple animated sequences, Movavi's transition library provides professional ways to move between scenes. Avoid overusing flashy transitions – simple cuts or fades often work best for animated content. However, creative transitions can enhance storytelling when used purposefully, such as using a swirl transition to indicate a dream sequence.

Great animation requires equally great audio. Movavi simplifies the process of adding soundtracks, sound effects, and dialogue to your animated projects. Import your audio files and use the waveform display to precisely align sound effects with animated actions. The software's beat detection feature can help synchronize movement to musical rhythms.

For dialogue-heavy animations, use Movavi's audio ducking feature to automatically lower background music during speech. This maintains professional audio balance without manual keyframing. The built-in audio effects, including reverb and echo, can place animated characters in different acoustic environments.

Every animated project needs polished titles and credits. While you could create these in your animation software, Movavi's title editor often provides a faster solution. Choose from animated title templates or create custom designs using the built-in text tools. Keyframe opacity and position to create smooth title animations that match your project's style.

For credits, use Movavi's scrolling text feature to create professional end sequences. Import logos and additional graphics to create branded conclusions to your animated content. The ability to save custom title templates means you can maintain consistency across multiple episodes or projects.

Develop Movavi templates for recurring animation projects. If you produce a series or regular animated content, create project templates with pre-configured tracks, effects, and export settings. This standardization dramatically reduces setup time for new episodes while ensuring consistency.

Save color grading presets that complement your animation style. Different animation techniques often benefit from specific color treatments – stop motion might need slight desaturation to unify disparate elements, while vector animations might benefit from enhanced vibrancy. Building a library of these presets streamlines post-production.

Animation production often involves repetitive tasks across multiple files. Movavi's batch processing capabilities can apply the same effects, transitions, or export settings to multiple animated sequences simultaneously. This proves invaluable when preparing animations for different platforms or creating variations of the same content.

Set up batch operations for common tasks like adding watermarks to demo reels, converting frame rates for different delivery requirements, or applying consistent color correction across episodes. The time saved through batch processing can be redirected to the creative aspects of animation.

As animation ai technology advances, Movavi serves as an excellent hub for combining AI-generated content with traditionally animated elements. Import AI-generated animations and blend them seamlessly with hand-crafted content. The software's masking tools allow selective application of AI-enhanced effects to specific parts of your animation.

Use Movavi to compile animations created with different AI for animations platforms. Since various AI tools excel at different tasks – some at character animation, others at background generation – Movavi provides the unified workspace to combine these elements into cohesive final products.

By understanding both the capabilities of modern animation software and Movavi's strengths in post-production, creators can build efficient workflows that maximize creative output while minimizing technical frustrations. Whether you're working with traditional hand-drawn animation or exploring the latest AI animator tools, Movavi Video Editor provides the finishing touches that transform good animations into great ones.