What Ipad Apps Are Good For Animation Students

Did you know? iPad is considered as powerful as any laptop, so why not use it to create an animation using an app?. In this article, we're going to walk you through some of the best animation apps for iPad to get things easier for you.

While creating an animation film using any desktop software, you need to put way too much effort into learning the nuances of tools. Even though iPad apps let you create animations, still cannot replace software due to many technical reasons.

However, iPad animation apps are easy to get the hang of, and an iPad itself is quite wieldy. Apart from that, you can find lots of apps compared to desktop software. So without further ado, let's dive into the article.

Apps that animate drawing for iPad (2021)

Flipaclip

$4.99 full access

Flipaclip is undeniably the best free 2D cartoon animation maker app for iPad. It's intuitive yet easy to use, without an overflow of tools.

Founded in 2017, it has been made its mark as the best animation app, racking up a commnunity of creative people around the globe. It provides users with essential tools that help them create strikingly beautiful animation for free. Tools are laid out beautifully so that users don't have to go through any kind of intricacy.

Not only is Flipaclip straightforward to use, but it also allows users to create eye-catching moving motion designs. To start, draw anything on the blank canvas and use layers wisely.

You can create as many layers as you want. However, animation seems quite hard at first, but once you understand how tools work, it becomes a lot easier to animate. It also has tutorials on getting started, and also you can discover other animation tutorials on YouTube.

With this app, you get a host of drawing tools such as a pen, brush, sketch pen, and pencil. On top of that, you can change the frame rate of animation, change the background, upload videos and images in layers.

Your work gets saved and can be shared on YouTube and other social platforms. To explore its every feature and have more flexibility, you can opt for the premium plan worth $12.

Pros

Easy to use tools.
Tons of tutorials on YouTube.
Supports stylus and apple pencil.
Offers flexibility to users.
Unlocks everything for just $12.

Cons

fewer features in the free plan.
Bugs (can be improved).

Animation Desk

7-days free trial | $59.99/year , $9.99/monthly (after 3 days free trial), $19.99/quarter (after 3 days free trial).

Want to bring doodles to life? This app has your back. Animation desk app allows users to animate their sketches just like a flipping diary. It has decent tools that are easy to use.

If you already know how Flipaclip works, this app works the same. It has a few more drawing tools and has a distinct user interface designed like a pro.

Besides, animating using this app might be a whole new experience because of the tools it offers. It supports apple pencils, so you can precisely make doodles on a blank canvas. You get a bunch of free brushes, pens, and other tools as a gift, all you required is signup.

Animation Desk provides you with all the crucial tools for free, but when going premium, you unlock more features that help you create better animations.

It has cloud storage you can use to free up your space. Above all, you can save animations to various file formats like Gif, PDF, PSD e.t.c. Undoubtedly, it is one of the best apps for iPad pro that animates drawing.

Pros

Apple Pencil support (velocity sensitivity).
Various export options.
Ample of tools for free.
Users can upload videos and images.
Users can Adjust frame rates and choose custom size format.

Cons

Users must be good at drawings.
No custom background in a free plan.

Also read: Best Pdf annotation apps for iPad

Callipeg

7 days free trial then $15 yearly or $5 monthly.

Callipeg is another best animation app you can have on your iPad. It has a classy user interface that you see on any high-end software. It offers a bump of tools making an animation quite a fun task.

With Callipeg, you get different layers of pens, brush, and pencils for a hand-drawn sketch. Also, it has a rectangle, line, and square tool in the brush list. And unlike other relevant apps, you can design your own brush.

It offers much flexibility for everything, whether you want to customize onion skin, frame rates, or canvas. Along with the brush list, there is the selection tool which works like any other selection tool. Also, it has an eraser that seems quite thin as we couldn't find a setting to thicken its size.

However, When holding down two fingers Slightly on the screen, a box pops up encompassing the four tools shortcut: remove all, copy, paste, and arrows.

The app comes with a 7 days free trial, where it lets users have access to full features. It supports multiple file formats such a Png, Gif, MP4, and JSON. So, this iPad animation app is best with an apple pencil for making a more accurate representation.

Pros

Simply straightforward to use.
Has a wide range of tools.
Best for hand-drawn, paint, and image.
Backs various files format.
offers flexibility in the setting.

Cons

Tools are sometimes difficult to find.
No enlarge option for the eraser.

Folioscope

Free | No in-app purchases

It's another best free 2D animation app for iPad. It's free and doesn't require any further skills to use it. Despite being a free app, it provides a plethora of tools.

Compared to other premium animation apps, it has a bit of a disadvantage as to the quality of features and pens, but all worth it, because it's is completely free, and is a great application who want to learn to create animations.

It has a slew of other features that you may not find even in premium apps. At a click of a button, you can manage the grid and margin, and layers. On top of that, it has distinct options to customize apple pencil settings. And tools like brush, layers, frame rates, eraser, paint are easy to spot on.

Well, the app has ads that you can weed out by ponying up around $3. To sum app, Folioscope is a decent application to create hand-drawn animations with an apple pencil. It backs a host of file formats including gif, PSD, PNG, and MP4.

Pros

Complete free.
No layers limit.
Apple pencil support.
Tools are accessible easily.

Cons

No image upload option.
Ink appears obscure.

Toontastic 3D

Free | no in-app purchases.

Hate drawing up from the scratch? This app has your back. Toontastic is nothing kind of any fantastic platform by Google where you don't need to draw and mess with layers.

It has prebuilt story images and characters to select from. Each character has a defined style that you can apply in your story based on what the character implies. Don't worry if prebuilt stories and characters don't fit into your play, create your own design with a bunch of tools. It turns your 2d illustration into 3D without having you tap any button.

We tried this app, and since we used its easy-to-use features, we never fall back on any other animation app. Isn't it amazing that it allows you to create your own story animation cinema effortlessly?.

The only drawback with Toontastic is that it doesn't have any option to upload images. Either we have to create our own story by manipulating brushes and tools or select a few pre-built stories that seem too ubiquitous.

If you are an artist and good at visualizing a graphic story, then this application is worth giving a shot. It's free, and there are no ads to tick you off.

Certainly, with characters moving body parts without creating a layer for each action, it is much easier to design a captivating story. Undeniably this is the best 3D animation app for iPad that is completely free.

Pros

Users can simply drag a character to set it in motion.
Houses prebuilt 3D story templates and 3D characters.
Everything is automated and easy to use.
Automatically converts 2D sketches into 3D.

Cons

No image upload option.
The design editor is not intuitive.

Also read: Best mind mappings apps for android and iOS

Stop motion Studio

Free | one-time $8 for full access.

To set something in motion, you can count on Stop motion. It is undeniably the best free animation app for iPad to create 3D animated films. Similar to Flipaclip, or Callipeg, it lets users design their own designs in the feature-packed editor.

It also has options for uploading images (camera & local), clips, and videos, thus offering a superior experience by not merely relying on hand-drawn tools.

As with most animation apps, you have to wrap your head around loads of layers that you cannot rearrange later. If you're already acquainted with such apps, Stopmotion is not a big deal. There are tutorials and samples to help you out throughout.

To have access to everything that the app includes, you have to shell out a one-time fee of around $8. With access to premium, you unlock features like import image, Sound effects, movie effects, paint, green screen, themes, 4K ultra HD, guides, and a few more.

Pros

in-depth tools.
Users can capture images using the camera.
Supports images and videos.
Tutorials and guides.

Cons

limited features for free.

Stick nodes

Free (Full access)

Stick nodes can be in your best interest if drawing is not your cup of tea. When it comes to animation apps, this app takes a unique spin as to how it's built and works. Like any relevant apps, Stick nodes allows users to create a story, but it uses nodes to move objects.

It has a host of different shapes in the inventory, helping users build all forms of characters. Also, if something went wrong, you can undo, redo, or delete an object.

Now that you can create characters easily doesn't mean creating a story is a piece of cake. You have to speculate the whole scenario as to what the story would be, how many layers would it take, and so on.

Characters' building is a tip of an iceberg, story is what matters the most. However, once you adapt to every tool, it becomes a lot easier to craft a good story.

You can animate an object through your finger, and from the side panel. Also, it has other options in the side panel such as frame rates, import background, text field, export, looping, tweening, filters e.t.c. Tweening makes your animation smoother by adding in-between frames.

Stick nodes exports a file to Gif, and Gif. It has also the pro version app that backs Mp4 for youtube as an export option and has more features compared to the free version.

Pros

Good for beginners who don't want to doodle.
Free.

Cons

Choppy user interface ( could have been a bit dapper).
Not Mp4 in an export option.

Rough Animator

One-time $8 for full access.

Rough Animator is a powerful app that animates drawing or hand-drawn figures. It supports apple pencil, Logitech crayon, or any Bluetooth stylus. Whether you want a pose by pose or straight ahead animating, this app is the best choice.

It allows users to create frame-by-frame animation on the flow. Best of all, it is feature-packed and all the tools are laid out in symmetry, causing no difficulty for users.

With unlimited layers and a thorough list of tools, Animating is super fun and exciting. However, unlike Toontastic, it requires an understanding of tools. Besides, Your artist's side is equally important to bring immobile sketches to life.

Well, it has onion shining, and custom brushes to make your apple pencil shine. On top of that, it lets you control frame rates, import audio for lip-synching, and video for rotoscopic animation.

There are more other cool features as well. Rough Animator's animation can be exported to Gif, quick time video, or image sequence. You can also import projects to the adobe flash, after effects to edit later.

Pros

Loaded with tools.
A better list of brushes with a custom brushed option.
Supports all kinds of Bluetooth pencils.
Projects can be edited later.
Unlimited layers.

Cons

No Mp4 export option.
No tutorials.

wrapping it up

These are the best free animation apps for iPad that support apple pencils. After testing each app ourselves, we have rounded up these apps so you get the best possible experience.

However, every app has its pros and cons. All the apps are free to use but also offer premium tools that can be a game-changer. Toontastic, therefore, is completely free, and the easiest app.

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