What is the best software?

[Clintlantz]

What are some of the top animation software programs that are currently on the market?
Clint - I know I'm a noob.

[Ferx]

Check the Toolbox section (on the top of the animation forum page) There is a great list of the top and useful software for 2D and 3D animation. :)

[claytor]

Some 2D packages you might try are Flash, Toon Boom, and Animation Studio.
3D packages could include 3D Studio Max, Maya, or Blender. As mentioned, checking out the ToolBox section can give you a more comprehensive list of some of the different available software.

[Rasheed]

And what software is best for stop motion or clay animation?

I think iStopMotion by Boinx Software is a good program.

[Chilerkle]

Well I'll list the usual 2D software Toonboom Studio,Anime Studio.
However there is 3D software I haven't seen mentioned and that is Carrara 6(the newest version) I wonder why Amazon.com doesn't sell the newest version of Carrara it's way more affordable the 3ds Max and Maya put together.

[D.T. Nethery]

What are some of the top animation software programs that are currently on the market?


Depends on what you want to do with it ... since this forum does specify that it is Dedicated To 2D Technique and Animation I'm going to assume you are looking for a 2D Animation application.

I've tried a lot of them. I'm very partial to TVP Animation (http://www.tvpaint.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=79) . To me it's the most versatile of the softwares which are used for "traditional hand-drawn animation look" in a paperless/digital production pipeline.

I've set up a blog which collects clips of various projects made with TVP which you may be interested in checking out:

http://paperless-animation.blogspot.com

[Black Spot]

I think we all have our own favourite software or what we find easy to use. It’s all down to what you’re looking for in a programme. There are some that cost a fair bit and some free or minimal cost, some are easy to get straight into and others take a bit of getting used to. Make a shopping list of what you really want from a programme, what you really can’t live without and download free trials to see which one fits best.