Affinity Designer is a vector graphics software developed by Serif (Europe) Ltd, replacing the former Serif DrawPlus. It is designed for professional illustrators, web designers, game developers, and other creatives.
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Cartoon Animator
Score 9.7 out of 10
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Cartoon Animator 4 (formerly CrazyTalk Animator) is a 2D animation tool designed to allow users to create professional animations easily. Users can apply motion effects to static images, turn videos of human faces into animated avatars, etc.
Best suited: Creating on the go. The app is the same on desktop as it is on mobile. All the tools and shortcuts exist on both platforms, no need to learn more than one workflow to get my work done
This is a difficult question to answer. This software can be used for a hobbyist or professionals alike. On one hand, you can make fun, simple animations for things like YouTube or Facebook. However, on the other hand, you can use this tool for professional looking animations that can be used in marketing, presentations, etc. I am someone who uses the program for both - as a hobbyist and also professionally. The first time I took it upon myself to make an animation for something job-related, it impressed my colleagues so much that they bought the company their own copy of the software and encouraged me to make more. There have been numerous times where I have used the program to entice new clients. I would even take it a step further by using a potential client's logo or CEO as a character in the animation. In 2015, CrazyTalk Animator (CTA) has even helped me land a new job. I had been laid off and was out of work for a few months. I saw a job opening I was interested but had learned that the position had literally hundreds of potential applicants. Basically, I created a video using CTA of me performing the job as if I already had been offered it. I even included the company logo. In the video, I made an animation explaining why it was a good idea to hire the company. Once I finished the video I included it along with my resume. To make a long story short, I got the job.
The main pro of the entire program is that it makes animation incredibly simple. You are not required to even know how to draw. Once you grasp the gist of the software it is extremely simple to use.
Another great aspect of CTA is the online community. There are a vast amount of online tutorials and an online forum for anyone who has questions. They even provide a content store in which users can sell their own content to other users.
A recent update has allowed Photoshop integration. This allows even more customization of aspects of the animation you are working with.
A characters mouth movements are automatically synced with voiceover audio. I felt this gave me one less thing to animate and has saved me time on more than one occasion.
Other products made by this company (Namely their 3D animation software) have a character creator. I would love to see something like this with CTA.
I would like to see a bigger integration with social media. Having the ability to live broadcast a CTA character in real-time (like mo-cap) would be amazing. If this were a possibility you could live stream a video chat or Facebook live portrayed as your CTA character.
Because the software is great. I have forced myself to learn it. I highly recommend to others. This is a game changer. Adobe is evil for going all subscription and not giving anyone the option to purchase lifetime versions of Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign it is CRIMINAL
I have not had much opportunity to go directly to support, but the training modules that are employed by the company are fantastic. I also find that if I need to understand something, there is always another user ready and willing to share their secrets. As this tool becomes more accepted local communities will also start to organize
First, Affinity has a much more attractive licensing model for users: Buy it once, use it forever. That's great and means one less recurring cost for a company. But I can go further, and as I've mentioned in other questions, Affinity has a very refined and polished interface, as well as superior performance, especially compared to Adobe's tools. On our team, we use Figma as the main tool focused on Product Design, and where it falls short, we complement it with Affinity. Price and product quality are the factors that make this choice happen.
CTA was a program that got me interested in 2D animation. After about a year of using the software, I began looking for other similar products. I had come across a program called Toon Boom. This was another 2D software somewhat similar to CTA. Toon Boom is a fantastic program however the price was higher than CTA. Aside from that, learning how to use Toon Boom had a much higher learning curve. Eventually, I purchased Toon Boom and learned the program. It is definitely a powerful 2D animation platform however I always seemed to bring myself back to CTA. I felt CTA was much more simple to use. It was also easy enough for other people to contribute to my animation projects. Having to reteach my coworkers another program was not going to work for us. Not being solely responsible for animations is a huge relief.
Since my company discovered that I was an animator, they are constantly wanting me to make videos. If the company were to outsource someone to create animations like the ones I am creating, they would be extremely pricey. CTA was only a one-time purchase. I have even trained several other employees of the company how to use the software. That way, if I ever exit the company they can continue to create marketing animations without me.
