Solid animation software (not Flash)

Godfather

I'd like to create/make some animation using my tablet PC! Unfortunately I can't use Flash: I dunno why, but the program is too exhausting on the system's GNU/GPU/whatever.

What other alternatives are there for animating using a computer? All the better if you can export/import .fla files

Suggestions anyone?

Iruka

How much are you willing to spend, and what level of animation do you need? You can animate in Photoshop, it has a functioning timeline past cs5.

other options:
ToonBoom
TVpaint
Anime Studio

TVpaint is like 2k, or something. ToonBoom is 1k and an industry standard, now. I have no experience in Anime Studio, but its 300 bucks.

If you are just making gifs and you have a legit copy of PS, I would just use that.

Godfather

Trying to make legitimate shorts, not just gifs.

I don't mind shelling out cash, but man, 1 or 2k is really steep! I understand that's the prices but i'm just trying to make some personal animations to just try out ideas, not to land a studio job. I do have Photoshop, but it seems to chuff a bit on my tablet. I'm just looking for something relatively stable to draw/create with that won't bog down my tablet's processor like Flash does, to the point where it's unusable.

I don't really need any of those extra bells-and-whistles that things like ToonBoom offer, this is just gonna be a straight traditional animation process. I know there's a few free options out there but they either aren't compatible with my tablet/won't recognize pen input or have an awful user panel setup (I'm looking at you SynFig)

supabeast

Adobe After Effects. You can get it on a monthly subscription plan as part of the Creative Cloud service.

Iruka

If photoshop is stalling, its likely will these other suites will as well. AE isn't exactly light compared to PS. Not as many people animate casually as just illustrate casually, so options are limited on the free side.

I would look into anime studio, I dont know what your tablet is capable of, but maybe it can run it. If you are doing shorts though, those files are going to get big fast just from the amount of frames (assuming you mean like 1-5 minutes)

people have done shorts in PS though, if you really want to push it.

flowerhoney

I animate by hand with Digicel Flipbook but I'm pretty sure you can just import images or maybe even draw directly into the program, I haven't really ever done that but I'm almost positive its possible

I think its really more of testing program and not exactly designed for finished film, but you can get a basic version for like $80. It might be a good place to start if other programs are too pricey (Iruka probably knows better than me though)

Iruka

Never heard of that program, that may be perfect for what hes looking for.

flowerhoney

http://www.digicelinc.com/flipbook.htm

Looks like you can draw directly into the program with a tablet. You can run a full trial version first under the downloads page and try things out before you buy it and see if this kind of program is what you're after! =D

pacbowl

Maybe Swish? It's like Flash-lite and may run better on your tablet. They have a free trial download if you want to check it out. I haven't used it in about 10 years but it was pretty simple to use when I played with it and isn't that expensive.

amateurhour

Pencil and Easytoon are two freeware programs. Easytoon has a pretty small resolution but Pencil is a little nicer.

Past that, there's the timeline feature in photoshop which is basically a digital onionskin animation tool, then there's the high end stuff like toonboom.

Godfather

Wow, this was very informative and helpful!

I will give digicel and swish a try. Pencil doesn't recognize my tablet pen so i'm skipping on that one