Animation Paper

Animation Paper is hand-drawn 2D animation software for Windows, Mac and Linux, built around real-time drawing, flipping and playback. It supports rough sketching, clean-up and inking, with a quality line engine that preserves detail when drawings are transformed or scaled. The software is designed to keep timing and drawing work in one responsive workspace.

Its feature set includes an advanced, customizable Light Table for onion skinning, an X-Sheet for annotations, timing, editing and reuse, color-coded layers, and a Floating Selection tool for repositioning, rotating and scaling drawings or parts of drawings. Audio can be imported, played back and scrubbed, and video or frame-stacks can be loaded for reference or rotoscoping. Output covers MP4, GIF, ProRes MOV and PNG or OpenEXR frame stacks, including alpha, audio and X-Sheet timing data, with OCA support and export at up to 400% scale. The interface is customizable, including the Tool Bar and Speed Dial, and supports large and small frame formats up to 60fps, a second-monitor full-frame reference, and Shift and Trace. It works with major drawing tablets and touch PCs, and project files are interchangeable across the three desktop platforms.

Animation Paper is aimed at professional animators, students, filmmakers and game artists. A beta release is available for free download, and the site describes a single complete version rather than separate editions. Coloring, full color layers, an advanced color palette, Paint, Fill and Eye Dropper tools, and Color Buckets are listed as coming soon, with a free upgrade, along with a touch interface version for iPad and Android.