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MJ DeMarco

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Does anyone have an animation tools or software they'd like to recommend?

I'm looking for something that can do the quality of Prager U.

PragerU | Short Videos. Big Ideas.

Some of the more popular ones:

Create Animated Videos for your Business | GoAnimate.com
http://PowToon.com
Presentation Software | Online Presentation Tools | Prezi

Does anyone have any first hand experience?

I also have Final Cut Pro if that makes a difference.
 
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Argue

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Curious to know some tools myself because I've been looking for the same thing.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Does anyone have an animation tools or software they'd like to recommend?

I'm looking for something that can do the quality of Prager U.

Or another sidebar to the question...

Does anyone have a recommended freelancer that can put animation to a voiceover?
 
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Waspy

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Fiverr is littered with them. I chose a guy with amazing feedback, higher end of the pricing range and awesome example videos.

He produced a pile of crap for me.

Maybe I was unlucky, but check out UpWork, the caliber of professional is generally much higher.
 

Roli

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I'm a bit out of touch these days, After Effects was my weapon of choice back in the day.
 

Roli

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Or another sidebar to the question...

Does anyone have a recommended freelancer that can put animation to a voiceover?

If you PM me a script, concept and budget and I can put this out to a couple of peeps I know.
 
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Roli

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I also have Final Cut Pro if that makes a difference.

The tools in Final Cut Studio, namely Motion, are no longer supported by Apple, ergo you will have a hard time getting anyone else to work on it in the future. However FCP can be used to edit finished files. Which is more of a handy thing for you, rather than getting a pro finished look.
 

Ravens_Shadow

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Final cut pro is more than capable. It's just a matter of getting the background art and working with animated titles etc.
 

Davidlee

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My team and I are currently working on a platform for entrepreneurs to create quality videos online easily. I hope we can share with you more in the coming month.
Right now you can find out more at www.offeo.com

May I know whats the main purpose of the video you are creating?
 
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MJ DeMarco

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May I know whats the main purpose of the video you are creating?

Like explainer videos linked above in my original post by Prager.
 

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loop101

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Does anyone have an animation tools or software they'd like to recommend?

I'm looking for something that can do the quality of Prager U.

PragerU | Short Videos. Big Ideas.

Some of the more popular ones:

Create Animated Videos for your Business | GoAnimate.com
http://PowToon.com
Presentation Software | Online Presentation Tools | Prezi

Does anyone have any first hand experience?

I also have Final Cut Pro if that makes a difference.

I've used Reallusion's CrazyTalk Animator a little bit in the past. It is for making cartoons. They have a store with a lot of content for sale (movements/people/objects/e/tc). A beginner would just use some of the character templates and motion libraries.

The One for All 2D Animation Software - CrazyTalk Animator 3

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjFmOAobi4Y
 
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Nicoknowsbest

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Hey @MJ DeMarco!

Does anyone have an animation tools or software they'd like to recommend?
You'd need more than just one software.

You'd need to draw the graphics for your entire story board with a graphic program.

A good illustrator might draw them by hand and then digitize them later on.

You'd then import these graphics into a motion graphics software.

I worked with Adobe After Effects and it's my preferred tool. But I might be biased - I haven't tried many other tools.

With the motion graphics software, you'd then animate the storyboard graphics, make words and titles appear, make humans walk, shake their heads etc.

Once that's done, you add sound, voice overs and export it for your preferred medium.

I haven't worked with any "all-in-one" online tools before...


Maybe I was unlucky, but check out UpWork, the caliber of professional is generally much higher.

100%.

Stay away from Fiverr if you want to save yourself some trouble - I had the same experience as @Waspy.
 

luniac

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Or another sidebar to the question...

Does anyone have a recommended freelancer that can put animation to a voiceover?

as a hands on kind of guy why don't u do it urself in final cut pro?
voiceover on audio track.
images on a video track and add keyframes to animate.

but i can understand if u aint interested in that crap lol
 

Nicoknowsbest

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as a hands on kind of guy why don't u do it urself in final cut pro?
voiceover on audio track.
images on a video track and add keyframes to animate.

but i can understand if u aint interested in that crap lol

I few months back, I would have said the same.

But when thinking about operating a business, opportunity cost etc, it's better to outsource it.

Unless you want to learn that kind of skill for the future?
 
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ZF Lee

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Does anyone have an animation tools or software they'd like to recommend?

I'm looking for something that can do the quality of Prager U.

PragerU | Short Videos. Big Ideas.

Some of the more popular ones:

Create Animated Videos for your Business | GoAnimate.com
http://PowToon.com
Presentation Software | Online Presentation Tools | Prezi

Does anyone have any first hand experience?

I also have Final Cut Pro if that makes a difference.
I have seen my college mates use Prezi. Even better and more polished than your powerpoints. It's like having a whole mind map charted out elaborately. You can construct a Prezi framework with the backbone of a whale or an iceberg, depending on your graphical themes preferences! :)

But it's not very spectacular for animated figures though....

I have not tried Powtoons, but it's like drag and drop using ready made pictures...I don't like it. It gets rigid from there if you want more expression.
Hey @MJ DeMarco!


You'd need more than just one software.

You'd need to draw the graphics for your entire story board with a graphic program.

A good illustrator might draw them by hand and then digitize them later on.

You'd then import these graphics into a motion graphics software.

I worked with Adobe After Effects and it's my preferred tool. But I might be biased - I haven't tried many other tools.

With the motion graphics software, you'd then animate the storyboard graphics, make words and titles appear, make humans walk, shake their heads etc.
I actually did that stuff before. The drawing manually, but I video recorded it instead of digitalizing it. But I think if you use a digital drawing pad and connect it with the right systems, and your drawing is good, you can just record stuff on-screen.

My favourite is actually to DRAW pictures on paper, cut them out, manuever them on a single colour background like puppets. Recorded it on an attached camera and arranged the clips with moviemaker. Learned it from some seniors in high school and used this technique for a history project....

But IMO, @Nicoknowsbest , there's more stuff like audio and story layout timing to consider. To harness the power of emotions, I take careful notice of choice of soundtracks, or side effects if there are humourous scenes involved. That's the challenge besides animating itself. You have to think of soundtracks that make people sink into oblivion so that your message becomes more receptive, soundtracks that make people happier to that they are more likely to buy the message out of positivity, soundtracks that...OK, you get it. It's not as if you can throw in random shit.

Wait, @MJ DeMarco , are you trying to make videos to promote the UNSCRIPTED message like you did for TMF ???:cool:
 

JCQ

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In my opinion the online tools are good for amateur quality stuff or just hobby projects. They tend to be clunky and take a while to learn. I would go with someone who knows what they are doing. How to animate. How to video edit. So you're probably looking at hiring at least 2 different people. If the animator can also video edit that's awesome. That's only one guy then or gal.

I've used a lot of different online and offline video editing animating tools. It's time consuming. So I don't tend to do it anymore.
 

Nicoknowsbest

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I actually did that stuff before. The drawing manually, but I video recorded it instead of digitalizing it. But I think if you use a digital drawing pad and connect it with the right systems, and your drawing is good, you can just record stuff on-screen.

There are a million ways to Rome.

It depends on your style and preference.


My favourite is actually to DRAW pictures on paper, cut them out, manuever them on a single colour background like puppets. Recorded it on an attached camera and arranged the clips with moviemaker. Learned it from some seniors in high school and used this technique for a history project....

Same here - a matter of style and choice.


But IMO, @Nicoknowsbest , there's more stuff like audio and story layout timing to consider. To harness the power of emotions, I take careful notice of choice of soundtracks, or side effects if there are humourous scenes involved. That's the challenge besides animating itself. You have to think of soundtracks that make people sink into oblivion so that your message becomes more receptive, soundtracks that make people happier to that they are more likely to buy the message out of positivity, soundtracks that...OK, you get it. It's not as if you can throw in random shit.

That goes without saying.

But then again, all this starts with the script.

The question is if MJ has everything ready and wants it animated, or if he wants a full production including screen writing, music, sound effects etc.

I spent a few years in advertising, so no worries, I wouldn't "throw in random shit".
 
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Joel Balin

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A Prager University graphics job opening says that their designers need to have "Fluency with Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Premiere." I too have been making similar videos in Final Cut Pro with a few plugins (see below), but looks like Prager does their text pretty much manually with After Effects.

To do similar presentations for our church announcements, I use text tools from Titles - LenoFX.com like Kinetic Text and Sidebar Tiles. It's not quite Prager U, but is effective, quick, easy and intuitive.

I would love to see some Final Cut pllugins designs that would match the Prager U text.



Does anyone have an animation tools or software they'd like to recommend?

I'm looking for something that can do the quality of Prager U.

PragerU | Short Videos. Big Ideas.

Some of the more popular ones:

Create Animated Videos for your Business | GoAnimate.com
Powtoon | Create Awesome Videos Yourself
Presentation Software | Online Presentation Tools | Prezi

Does anyone have any first hand experience?

I also have Final Cut Pro if that makes a difference.
 

spreng

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don't know where you went with this, but i'd recommend adobe premier and after effects over final cut.
 

ChrisV

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Edit: I just realized this question was from like 2 years ago. Was this really necessary to bump? But whatever, here was my original reply:

Does anyone have an animation tools or software they'd like to recommend?

I'm looking for something that can do the quality of Prager U.

PragerU | Short Videos. Big Ideas.

Some of the more popular ones:

Create Animated Videos for your Business | GoAnimate.com
Powtoon | Create Awesome Videos Yourself
Presentation Software | Online Presentation Tools | Prezi

Does anyone have any first hand experience?

I also have Final Cut Pro if that makes a difference.
So professional grade graphic of that quality (like Prager U) are almost always done in Adobe After Effects, with some elements made in Illustrator or other vector software. After Effects is pretty much the industry standard for animation. It's a bit of a learning curve, so honestly I think in your case (unless you're really committed to learning it) it would be better to just outsource, even if it's just a good animator on Fiverr. Although the higher quality artists won't cont $5. You can find someone who fits your style and let them know exactly what you want.

But best animation software? After Effects, hands down. It's really the only option for professional grade graphics.
 
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jayeshv7021

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Best Animation Software for Beginners
  • Maya.
  • Photoshop.
  • Adobe Animate.
  • Moho.
  • Autodesk motion builder.
  • Blender.
  • GoAnimate.
  • After Effects.
 

ChrisV

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For beginners?! Dude Maya is professional 3D rendering software lol, and the rest of those are pro grade software too .. except I've never heard of GoAnimate or MoHo
 

luanchen

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look at this article: 12 Best Free & Paid 2D Animation Software for beginners and professionals | XPPen

There are so many ways to achieve the result you're going for. What I can say for sure is that the characters are built like puppets where each body part is on it's own layer (i.e. Head is on layer 1, eyes on layer 2, etc.)

You could use Animaker. It's simple to use and great for beginners. I've never used it, but heard good things about it. Blender with 2d assets imported from Photoshop or similar apps (like Krita or Corel Paint) is another option too. Pencil 2D and OpenToonz are other free options.

The good thing about OpenToonz is that it uses a skeleton-animation system that allows you to build your character in the way you want, and you can animate them almost like you would in 3D.
 

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