Animation for beginners: How to get started & which software to use

When you think of animation, you probably picture Pixar, Disney, or DreamWorks movies. And that's exactly why animation might seem daunting. But bringing movement and life into your static designs can be as easy as clicking a few buttons on beginner-friendly software. 

Let's dive into everything you need to know about animation for beginners and how to get started. 

How to quickly start animating?

As with any new project or skill, you have to start small. Think of easy animation techniques you can tackle at the beginning of your learning journey. 

For instance, let's say you have an Instagram ad story but want to bring in some movement to make it more dynamic. Break down your project into some simple animations. You could try out:

Text animations

You can animate text using a preset to fade letters in and out. Or you can use the timeline of your software to manually move the text up and down. 

Breathing motions

Pick out an element in your design and set keyframes in your timeline to increase the scale just a tad. Then, in the next second, reduce the size. Increase it once again, then decrease it one more time. This motion gives the illusion of an inhale and exhale. 

Loop animations

Choose an element, like a circle, and make it bounce from one corner to another. Place the circle at the top of your design, then move the playhead in your timeline and move the circle to the right side, then to the bottom, up to the left, and back at the top. Keep the motion going until the end. You've created a loop. 

Dissolve transitions

To create the illusion of objects dissolving, you can adjust the opacity of the elements. Set a keyframe when you want the dissolve to start (100%) and where you want it to end (0%). The visible object will begin to disappear as the opacity goes down. An invisible object (set to 0%) can start to appear in the frame as soon as the previous one has disappeared.

Recommended animation tools

Starting out with animation can only feel simple if you choose the right software. When selecting software, consider: 

• Your skill level and how much guidance you need
• If your laptop or tablet has enough power to run the program
• If the software is compatible with your operating system (iOS, Android, Windows, etc.)

Here are five beginner-friendly animation software you could try out if you're interested in 2D or vector animation. If you want to dig deeper into 2D animation software, you can check out this list.

Linearity Move

Linearity Move is a vector animation platform for graphic designers and illustrators. 

Why it's good for beginners: 

• Auto Animate feature: If you're just starting, nothing makes your life easier than software that animates for you. Turn your static design into motion graphics by just clicking one button. 
• Presets: If animating text or elements in your design seems too complex or you just want to whip out an animated video quickly, then using presets — one-click motion effects — is the way to go. 
• Template Gallery: If you feel lost or lack inspiration to make your static design more engaging, tap into Linearity's template gallery. With thousands of templates, you'll be sure to find assistance in your animation process.
• Timeline feature: The timeline is where you create and undo your animations. Animating in the timeline can be as simple as moving the playhead ahead, selecting an element, and moving it up, down, forward, or backward. Click on play to see the magic unfold. 
• Integration with design tools: Are you worried about moving your designs from Figma into your animation software? Linearity Move seamlessly integrates with third-party design tools to ease the animation process. You can also directly build your vector designs within the platform using Linearity Curve. 

Choose Linearity Move if…

• You want user-friendly software for your Mac or iPad to produce engaging and memorable social media posts and ads.

Procreate

Procreate is a raster graphics app for iPad that allows users to create drawings, illustrations, and 2D and 3D animations. 

Why it's good for beginners:

• Visual timeline: Procreate's timeline feature depicts your animation frame by frame. You can preview your work, edit frame duration, duplicate, remove, or add new frames.
• Onion Skin: Procreate's onion skinning is a faint layer on top of your current frame that lets you preview upcoming or previous movements in your animations. 
• Canvas: You can select a specific frame in your animation and directly draw and paint on it, editing only that frame without affecting the rest. 
• Animation foreground and background: You can lock in foreground and background frames that remain still throughout the animation. 

Choose Procreate if…

• You're an iPad artist or illustrator who wants a platform on which you can sketch and animate your art.  

Adobe Animate or Adobe After Effects

Adobe Animate is 2D animation software traditionally used by professionals for cartoon creation but accessible to hobby animators alike. Adobe After Effects is software used for motion graphics, visual effects, and character animations. Both can be acquired under a monthly Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. 

Why it's good for beginners:

• Learning resources: Adobe has a vast gallery of courses and tutorials you can follow for all their products. 
• Seamless integration: Animate and After Effects seamlessly integrate with other Adobe Creative Cloud products such as Photoshop or Illustrator. This allows you to import and export your designs from one platform to another without issues. 
• Asset library: Animate offers templates for pre-built animations you can use in your creations. 
• Motion Tween feature: This feature enables you to set a start and end point of an animation and automatically generate the in-between animations, so you do not have to manually alter the movement frame by frame.

Choose Adobe Animate if…

• You want to animate cartoon characters with advanced keyframe and rigging capabilities.

Choose Adobe After Effects if…

• You want to create complex motion graphics or add visual effects to videos using your laptop or tablet.

Krita Animation

Krita is a free, open-source animation software for 2D drawing and illustration animations.

Why it's good for beginners: 

• Community support: Access the Krita community forums to get support when struggling with the software. 
• Accessibility: If you're a beginner animating for fun, there's nothing more accessible than free software.
• Drawing and brush tools: Since Krita specializes in hand-drawn art, it offers a wide variety of tools to customize or edit your drawings as you animate each frame. 

Choose Krita if…

• You're a digital or comic book artist and want to create animated 2D characters in your Mac, Windows, or Linux-operated computer. 

Toon Boom Harmony

Toon Boom Harmony is a popular 2D animation software used by both professional and aspiring animators. The likes of The Simpsons and SpongeBob SquarePants have been animated with Harmony.

Why it's good for beginners:

• Community: Since it's an industry-leading software, Toon Boom puts much effort into community building. You can find support or like-minded people at in-person events or on their Discord server. 
• Flexible workflow: You can choose whether you animate frame-by-frame, integrate 2D animation with 3D styles, or use motion tweens to automate smooth transitions between keyframes. 
• Advanced pen, brush, and color tools: From Dynamic Brushes to highly customizable pencil lines, Harmony offers a wide range of options to refine your creations. 

Choose Toon Boom Harmony if…

• You want a professional-grade program that is compatible with Mac, Windows, or Linux, and you have the time to invest in learning how to use its wide range of features. 

Starting your animation journey

Get clear on the types of animation you want to make

Before thinking about software to animate with, you must decide on an animation style.  

• Traditional animation: The wildly popular hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animation used in old Disney films like The Lion King. If you want to bring your drawings or tablet illustrations to life, this is your type. 

• Vector animation and motion graphics: This style is used to animate 2D characters, professional cartoons, and corporate explainer videos. It is also used to animate text, objects, and static design elements in advertisements and content creation.

• 3D animation: Also known as CGI animation, it is the most widely used animation in films and video games nowadays. This type is reserved for advanced animation experts since you must clearly understand animation principles, complex animation software, and the ins and outs of rigging.

• Stop motion animation: It requires manipulating and photographing physical objects in gradual, small increments. Each frame is placed one after the other to create a sense of movement.  

Understand the principles of animation

There are twelve principles of animation you should know:

• Squash and stretch: Altering the size of an object by an external force without changing its volume. A ball pushes against a wall, it gets squashed. A ball is pulled back to the floor, it gets stretched.
• Anticipation: An indicator that a movement is about to happen. A column sways softly from side to side before it crashes on the ground.
• Staging: How are you presenting your shot? The shot's composition matters to make the animation's focal points and narrative arc clear.
• Straight ahead and pose to pose: Creating each movement frame by frame or defining the key points of the animation first and then filling in the in-between points.
• Follow-through and overlapping action: The idea that parts of an object or character don't move simultaneously. Injecting laws of physics and motion into your animations for a more realistic effect, like inertia.
• Slow in and slow out / Easing: To represent realistic movement, objects start moving in an accelerated motion and slowly decrease in speed as they reach the end of the motion. Slower movement requires more frames, while faster movement requires fewer frames. 
• Arcs: Another aspect of depicting realistic movement is using curves instead of straight lines since objects in real life don't move in straight lines.
• Secondary action: Movement by a secondary object (not the main focal point) to emphasize the actions of the main object.
• Timing: The size and weight of the character or object impact how fast or slow it should move and, therefore, the number of frames required to depict its movement.
• Exaggeration: A hyperbolic movement that gives a sense of exaggerated reality, like a jaw dropping or heart eyes.
• Solid drawing: Giving objects a sense of depth, volume and weight. Making them look 3D while being 2D. 
• Appeal: Any interesting characteristic that makes the animated character or object stand out. 

Think about how you could apply these principles to the marketing materials you design and animate. 

Practice regularly

Practice makes perfect, so set aside time to experiment and improve.

For instance, you could make it a goal to provide the marketing team with an animated social media post once a week for a month. Once you've gotten the hang of your tool of choice and animation principles in general, you can decide as a team how to implement animations into the content calendar more regularly and measure how they perform against static posts.

Resources for learning animation

You can always learn by doing, but there's no need to struggle alone. Learn from others through courses or online communities. 

Online Courses 

Free resources

• Linearity Academy: Animation tutorials on quick and easy motion graphics. 
• Youtube: 
  • Check out Alex Grigg's "Animation for Anyone" series or his "Animation Software Classes."
  • Dive into NobleFrugal Studio's "Free 2D Animation Course" 
  • Look into the "Motion Design Basics" series by Envato

Paid resources: Find a wide range of motion and 2D or 3D animation courses on…

• Skillshare
• Udemy 
• Domestika

Community 

• Tap into online communities like Reddit forums, such as the animation subreddit or the learning animation subreddit. 
• Join Discord servers where you can chat with other beginners, share your work, or ask for advice when you're stuck on a project. Find the right server for you here, or look up animation servers here. 

Overcoming common challenges

Animation and motion design are not without their challenges. These are a few common hurdles beginners face and how you can overcome them:

Understanding the fundamentals of animation 

The only way to overcome this is by studying the principles of animation and all the keywords you're unfamiliar with. Then, get your hands dirty by practicing each principle one by one with simple projects in your tool of choice. Like trying out “squash & stretch” with a bouncing ball animation. Or animate the next event announcement banner your marketing team wants to publish on LinkedIn. You'll be practicing shape and text animation that way.

Becoming fluent in your software of choice 

For this one, we encourage you to pick a tool that offers a wide range of tutorials or detailed user guides. With these resources, you can build a learning path and slowly but surely master your software.

Taking too much time to finish an animation

If you want to save time, using templates and assets, or choosing software with features that animate for you, like motion presets, can be game changers in your animation workflow. 

Staying consistent with animation

Having an accountability partner is the best way to keep consistent. If you commit to delivering animated banners, stories, and carousels to your marketing team, you have a few people to hold you accountable with set deadlines. The content has to be made. So you'll have no choice but to practice and produce.

Lacking creativity to develop new animations

You have to stay inspired. Feeling blocked? Read an article to gather ideas, watch a video, scroll through social media, watch a movie — find that piece of animation that will spark the lightbulb in your brain. 

Get started with animation today with Linearity Move

Animation is an on-demand skill. With social media being video-first, static designs don't yield the same results as they used to. If you want to stay competitive as a designer, you need to start upskilling. Learn the fundamentals of animation, connect with other beginners in online forums, and practice animation every week.

With Linearity Move, you can start your animation journey for free. Access the tutorials, templates, and assets to ease into the workflow. Leverage the powerful Auto Animation or Presets. And master the intuitive timeline to customize your animations as you please.

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