Download Animation Studio for free in 2019 "Animation Studio Download"

Incorporating animation to user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design is important to get right, as it plays a crucial role in elevating how people will respond to an app or website – whether it be an online shopping experience or something as simple as dropping a pin on a map.

Animation demands the attention of the user or encourages them to act on something in a way that static images can’t. And now it’s becoming easier to create animation with emerging tools and software dedicated to this – some don’t even involve any code. To get inspired about what other designers, developers, and engineers are animating, check out UI Movement, or a quick Google search will bring up basic UI/UX animation guidelines and principles.

UX and UI animation has been known to be time-consuming and involves writing lots of hard-to-maintain code in JavaScript. But with specific tools, such as Airbnb's 'Lottie' open-source animation tool – and UI/UX design tools that have animation incorporated into their overall workflows, such as InVision Studio or Framer – animating features on a website or app has become a whole lot easier. Most tools offer online tutorials, so make sure to keep them out to get started.

Take a look at the best free and paid UI and UX animation tools, apps and software for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android.

For more on UX, check out the best UX tools for designers, the best paid and free UX design courses, and best UX design books.

Lottie is Airbnb’s open-source (via GitHub) animation tool for iOS, Android and React Native which renders After Effects animations in real-time, and allows native apps to use animation as easily as they use static assets.

The tool taps into animation data exported as JSON files from an open-source After Effects extension, called Bodymovin by Hernan Torrisi. The extension is bundled with a JavaScript player that can render the animation on the web.

Airbnb designers have built on top of this extension to support as many After Effects features as possible to allow for basic line art, character-based animation and logo animations with multiple angles and cuts. Airbnb already uses Lottie animations for its in-app notifications, full-frame animated illustrations and in its review flow (see below).

Download Lottie iOS, Android and React Native.

This animation and prototyping app is for Mac and iOS only. Users can integrate with Adobe XD CC, import from Sketch or use the built-in JavaScript engine. Described as where "Sketch meets After Effects", with this app you can edit animation paths and shape layers straight onto your canvas, play around with colors, size and pace of your animation. By generating "zero dependencies" Swift or Objective-C code compatible for both iOS and Mac, they’ll be no more guessing how fast something should move or how large it should grow.

You can factor animation into multiple pages of content, each with its own independent timeline and easily transitions between the pages through in-built page transitions or custom timeline animation. Check it all out with real-time rendering and see how it looks on your phone by downloading the companion app, Kite Compositor for iOS.

Download a free trial of Kite or buy now for US$99/£74.

ProtoPie pieces together interactions, animation and code-free, sensor-aided prototyping in one app. The good thing about ProtoPie is that it's designed for Mac, Windows, with a ProtoPie Player for iOS and Android. This app is used by the likes of Google, OnePlus, Yahoo! and Starbucks.

Explore prototyping features such as taping, moving, rotating, jumping and more and test out your final creation on any smartphone device. Control the sensors of smart devices in your prototype, such as tilt, sound, compass and 3D Touch sensors. To share prototypes you can share a link or the Dashboard and customize the playback experience.

Download a free trial of ProtoPie or choose from two licenses – ‘Buying for Myself’ (US$99/£74) and ‘Buying for Others’ (from US$99/£74).

An enterprise subscription is expected later this year. If you choose a license you can receive free updates for one year after purchase.

This animation and interactive UI maker is for Mac users only. It’s powered by Apple’s Core Animation, the engine that iOS and OS X are built on. It’s used by a load of big brands, including Amazon, Adobe, Netflix, Google, and Facebook.

Using an animation timeline you can illustrate basic movement such as “bounce, ease and pop” or design an entirely new animation before sharing your designs using compatible app Principle Mirror for iOS – or export a standalone Mac app for others to view. Like most UI and UX apps, you can link different screens together to create realistic web and desktop prototypes.

See what more Principle features in the video below.

Download a free 14-day trial of Principle or buy now for US$129/£95.

Adobe After Effects is increasingly being used for UI/UX designers and developers by a range of brands, including Airbnb, Uber, Audi, Google and more. UX designer and animator Issara Willenskomer has created a tutorial hub, UX in Motion, with video tutorials on how to create UI animation using Adobe After Effects. His tutorials cover topics such as micro-interactions, Dashboard animations, infographics and even augmented reality.

There’s also an entire 25-tutorial course on turning Photoshop, Illustrator and Sketch designs into UI animations. UX in Motion individual video tutorials ranges from US$59-149.

Find out more here or listen to Issara’s introduction in the video below.

InVision Studio

InVision offers some powerful prototyping tools, allowing you to quickly and easily create interactive mock-ups of our designs in a way that actually reflects a real web experience. It also offers mobile prototyping with gestures, and you can also launch user testing from an iPhone, including screen recordings, videos, and audio of users testing your prototypes.

InVision announced in November that its new digital design and UX application will be free for all users. InVision has released Studio – a rival to XD, Photoshop, Illustrator and Sketch, whatever tool you use to design apps, sites, and other digital products.

You can work on layouts for one screen size or type, and see that design adapted automatically for other devices and orientations. Libraries of assets can be shared across teams, and updated elements can be rolled out across designs. And designs can be quickly uploaded to the InVision platform to share with others in an organization (or clients).

See InVision Studio in action in the video below.

Read more about InVision’s Studio here.

One active prototype is free. Plans then start from US$15/£11 per month.

Sketch

Though Sketch itself has very limited animation controls, there are a bunch of plugins and other external tools that can help you add animation. Some, like Timeline for Sketch or AnimateMate, are for more artistic or narrative animation – while others are focussed on UI and UX design, such as Diya.

Framer

A framer is an Amsterdam startup company and rival to the likes of Adobe XD and InVision for UX designers.

You can design, draw, animate and share work with Framer – a tool for screen design and interactive prototyping.

Similar to Adobe XD, you can bring designs into life with pre-made interactions and animations, and share your ideas with live project previews with the Framer mobile apps.

You can start a free trial for 14 days, or plans start at US$12/£9 a month.

Ashampoo Slideshow Studio – Make a slideshow with music and pictures for free

A good slideshow can create a great impact on your audience whereas a bad one can make it all go down in vain. If you are creating a slideshow, make sure it is well organized, has good slides and some really good transitions. Ashampoo Slideshow 2019 can help you do that. It will help you make a slideshow with music and pictures for free.

This free software will help you make the interesting and attractive slideshows with just a few clicks. Be it your vacations pictures, your work presentation or any school project, Ashampoo Slideshow can do it all. It is a simple software with a very intuitive interface and even a beginner can use it easily. Let’s learn how to use this software to make great presentations.

1] Create a dynamic slideshow

Download and launch the program and start creating the slideshow. The interface is very intuitive and the main overview has it all. Start by selecting a new project, click on File and select New. Open a New Simple project if you want you to use the preloaded themes, or else click on New Project. Add pictures you want in the Slideshow and proceed.

2] Add pictures

Browse your PC and start adding the pictures. You can select multiple pictures by pressing the CTRL button on your PC. There is also a preview option in the right pane where you can see what picture you are adding. Now when you are done with adding the pictures, you can create a slideshow right away by clicking on Produce Slideshow.

You also have the option of adding some text or shapes to your images.

3] Add Animations To Your Slideshow

Animations make your slideshow interesting but don’t go overboard with them. Pick the animations according to the theme of your slideshow. Not every animation suits every slideshow. To add an animation, click the space between the images in the storyline and select the animations which suits the best to your slideshow.

4] Add Music Effects To Your Slideshow

Music certainly adds an element to your slideshow. Ashampoo Slideshow 2019 has some of the music effects preloaded which you can add in your slideshow. It has effects like birds chirping, train sound, various bells, cartoon whistle, various alarms and much more. Go to the right pane and click on Music Effects and there you can see the entire collection.

5] Add Music To The Slideshow

Apart from the music effects, you can also add the music files to your slideshow but the program doesn’t have any of the preloaded music files. You have to browse your PC to add music. Click on the Music icon in the right pane and it will open a new pop-up as shown in the image above. Click on the + sign and add the music files from your PC.

Other settings include the autosave option, automatically replacing the missing images, setting the duration of slides and animations, text font, etc.

Overall, Ashampoo Slideshow 2019 is a nice and free utility which can quickly and easily turn your images into stunning slideshows with some good transitions, music effects, fades and opening/closing credits. Download it here and let us know how it helped you.

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OpenToonz, the 2D Animation Software Used by Studio Ghibli, Is Now Free

Toonz, the software used to create Studio Ghibli films like Spirited Away and TV shows like Steven Universe and Futurama, is now OpenToonz. It’s open-source and free for any budding animator to download and use.

OpenToonz is a powerful 2D animation production software that anyone can now use to make commercial or non-commercial animations. And because it's open-source, you can modify the source code and develop your own tools as you see fit. You can also download the Effects plug-in from Dwango and the Studio Ghibli developed GTS scanning tool for free as well. Keep in mind, however, that using professional tools won’t make you an animator overnight. Still, if you’re an experienced animator, or just interested in learning, OpenToonz is a pretty sweet deal. You can download OpenToonz for Windows or OS X at the link below.

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Download Animation Studio for free in 2019 "Animation Studio Download"