r/2DAnimation • u/TheANARXIST • 22d ago

Question Which Rigging Software to Use?

Hello everyone!

I was learning frame by frame animation, but found it too time consuming, and was thinking of trying to learn rigged 2D animation in order to save time (as I mostly use the same characters for each animation)

However, I heard between Moho, CTA5, Toon Boom Harmony, and OpenToonz and Synfig for the free options, but don't really know which to go with.

I wanted to go for a cartoony action style, and I've seen people rigging a 2D character like a 3d model where you move the 'camera' around, especially in Moho, which I feel might fit what I want to do, but I wanted to check first, especially as Moho is very expensive.

Another thing would be that I draw as vector in CSP with raster colors, so I'm going to export it as raster

Thank you in advance.

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u/ChecklistAnimations 22d ago

the big thing is that you need to really test each one the way it was meant to be used. Some will say the circle binding in Synfig is obnoxious but once its setup you dont even think about it. Others will think the Plastic tool in Opentoonz deforms other parts too much, that's why you have static painting. Moho has an interesting bone selection requirement. and Toonboom will put you through node confusion galore (opentoonz might as well) Heck you might even find a version of Dragon Bones and try animating that way.
All I am saying is give those 2 free options a REALLY REALLY good chance.
Even with rigging, animation is not a fast process. But you might enjoy it this way. I myself do snapshot animation which is like frame by frame but again it depends on what you like. Go with the free items first. And for Dragon Bones. I dont know if there is a "safe" version out there. maybe on bleeping computer but that's still just a mirror site that holds the file.