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Minecraft Animation Studio For Mac

  1. 3d Animation For Mac
  2. Free Minecraft Animation Studio
  3. Free Animation Software For Mac

For the most part, animation is not an expensive craft to pursue but it does come with some fairly pricey overheads when you’re first getting started out.

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If you’re in animation school, chances are you’ve got access to all of the equipment and software you could possibly need. But if you’re interested in kitting out your home setup with animation software, the price tag can quickly rack up. Luckily, there are some free animation software alternatives which are good enough to see you through the majority of animation projects you’ll undertake.

Presenting…

Pencil

OS: Mac, Windows, Linux

When it comes to free and open-source 2D animation programs, Pencil is by far the most well-rounded and comes with a surprising number of features given that it comes with no charge.

Animation

Although it looks simple from the clean interface, it is packed with all the main tools you’ll find in some of the Pencil’s paid counterparts. It supports both vector and bitmap images, multiple layers and has its own in-built illustration tools (so you can either import graphics or create them right there and then before animating them).

Mac

Synfig Studios

OS: Mac, Windows, Linux

Right up there with Pencil, Synfig is very similar in design but arguably comes with a steeper learning curve; reason being, it throws in even more advanced features, and the results which can be achieved once you master them border on the professional level.

Stykz

OS: Mac, Windows, Linux

Given the above two open-source suites which offer an impressive level functionality, why are we featuring a simple stickman animation tool?

Simply put, Stykz has got a lot of use for anyone who likes to draft things out before getting down to fully-fledged artwork and animating. It’s completely free with no strings attached, works on any platform and can produce fluid .GIFs incredibly quickly (which will no doubt lead on to bigger things).

One particularly neat feature is that it also integrates with Pivot, another node-based (and free) animation tool.

CreaToon

OS: Windows

An entry-level animation program, CreaToon is cut-out based (all graphics are imported) that takes a lot of the headache out of creating cartoon-esque animation. While it isn’t quite as polished as some of the other names on this list, the real-time editing, auto in-frame filling and versatile file format support are real pulls.

Ajax Animator

OS: Windows, Mac, iPad

Not to be confused with the coding language, Ajax started life back in 2006 and was developed by a 6th grader as a replacement to Adobe’s expensive Flash MX. From such auspicious beginnings emerged a robust and fully functional animator that is well worth checking out despite its primitive look, especially if you’re an iPad user.

Blender

OS: Mac, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD

If you’ve heard of Blender, that’s because it’s one of the most widely-used free animation softwares still in active development (even professional animators and video game developers turn to it from time to time). Although it may take some time for beginners to get to grips with, those who manage to put even half the features Blender offers to use will be able to produce very impressive results.

Bryce

OS: Mac, Windows

Although it’s not strictly an animation suite, free terrain generation software (of decent quality) is hard to come by. Bryce has really stepped up to the plate in this department – as a terragen, it’s both as simple and as elaborate as you need it to be depending on the scale of your project and works seamlessly with most other modeling software.

Incidentally, Bryce is developed by DAZ 3D, who are also responsible for:

DAZ Studio

OS: Mac, Windows

This fantastic modeling and animation software wasn’t always free, but as of 2012, the professional version of DAZ is yours simply for signing up for a free registration account. The rendering engine is lightning fast, and the huge library of pre-created component content will have you creating in no time.

Clara.io

OS: Browser-based

Not only is Clara free, but it’s the only web-based one we can think of that is fully functional (and you don’t need any browser plugins to get it going). Not only does it feature a good system for polygonal modeling and skeletal/keyframe animation, but due to its 80,000+ user base there’s a strong community feel and plenty of people with which to chat shop.

Know of any great free or open source drawing animation software/tools which we’re missing? Do help the animation community out by leaving your suggestions in the comments below. And, if you’re interested in learning more about 3D animation and visual effects, check out NYFA’s 3D Animation & VFX School to begin your journey.


We put the Hue Animation stop-motion animation kit to the test. The kit includes a repositionable camera with a sturdy base and software to use it to create stop motion animations.
Disclosure: We were provided with the Hue Animation kit to review. As always, our opinions are our own.

What is the Hue Animation Studio Kit?

The kit includes:
  • The Hue HD Camera - a USB camera with a sturdy base and with a long flexible neck
  • The Hue Book of Animation
  • Hue Animation Studio software on CD or via download
  • A box which can be used as a stage for stop motion animation

The kit is designed for stop motion animation but the camera can also be used as a regular USB camera or as a basic document camera/visualiser with a projector.

Unboxing

The Hue Animation Studio kit comes in a small box with a flap that folds down to provide a stage at the back. This is a neat feature as having a backdrop in place makes animations look so much better and kids are keen to get started immediately. It's just cardboard so it won't last forever but it's a great way to get started.

The Camera

The camera itself is brightly coloured and attached to a bendy positionable stand. You can either plug the camera directly into a computer USB port or via a sturdy base.
The camera is physically very good quality. It gives lots of scope for positioning and stays put once you have it in place. We've done lots of stop motion animation with kids on phones and tablets and keeping the device steady is something you really need to pay attention to.

The Hue camera acts as a regular USB camera. You can use it with other software. We started by just using it with the Camera app on Windows 10 and taking some photos.
This Bear Yoyos card is slightly curved so it's hard to get a perfect photo, but it came out pretty well:

There's no auto-focus so you do have to use the manual focus adjuster on the camera. This makes sense for other uses of the Hue (see their post on why manual focus is used.) It's definitely important to get the focus right, this can be tricky with kids who just want to dive in and get started, but we can understand the reasons. Auto-focus with a 'lock' feature would be very convenient.
We were able to capture clear pictures of small items. There's no light built into the camera so you might find it useful also use a USB-powered light (note the Hue HD Pro camera from the same range does have LED lights.) We found that the colours were sometimes a bit washed out.
We managed to get some great close up photos of electronics like these pictures of the BBC micro:bit:

I can't read the text on the actual BBC micro:bit components - the chip that says KINETIS is about 4mm square.

Getting Started with the Software

The Hue Animation studio comes with software on a CD. It's unusual for a product to come with software on a CD as most modern computers don't have them. Having a CD might be useful in some cases, but it's not really needed.
You can download the software instead which is what we did. Be aware that it's not a simple download. You need to create an account, register with the code included in the box, download the software and then provide the license key to the software. We also had to install QuickTime which is required but must be installed separately.

First Experience

The Hue Animation Studio is very easy to use and packed with useful features.
I used the kit with a pack of Cub Scouts who had never seen it before and they were able to produce short stop motion videos in small groups using LEGO and clay in 20-minute timeslots.
Minecraft animation maker
It would be good to have a button on the base of the camera for taking photos so children don't have to keep returning to the computer (this should be possible without knocking the camera as the base is sturdy.)
There is a button on the head of the camera but from what we can tell this only works with third party AMCap software.
A couple of times during a 90-minute session the software stopped being able to see the camera. The software doesn't seem to automatically reconnect like the Windows 10 camera app does. There's a 'Reset Camera' option on the menu which reconnects.

With the Minecraft Stop Motion Animation Studio

We have the Minecraft Stop Motion Animation Studio which includes a stage and characters so we tried that with the Hue camera.
Elbrie's 8-year-old son created an animation using Hue Animation Studio software. He found that having to use the computer to take a photo was a bit inconvenient. You could use a wireless mouse, but we came up with another solution.
We used the MaKey MaKey bit from the littleBits Rule Your Room set to create a button. First, we tried using a pressure mat as the button - you tap it with your foot to take a picture. That worked but was a bit distracting.
Next, we rigged up a momentary touch switch as the input to the MaKey MaKey so you can just press a button to take a picture. You hear a camera shutter sound every time Hue Animation Studio takes a picture so this approach works really well.
We exported the resulting animation as a mp4 video (there are lots of options for export formats and settings, this is just using the default.)

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The default video export is at 640 x 480 which is pretty low res these days. You can change it using the Export... menu. We found that it's possible to export photos and videos at 1080 x 720 which is the lowest resolution for HD. (Most people these days would be referring to a higher resolution if they said HD, but this is the definition.)
You'll notice that the lighting changes a lot between frames. This is due to shadows created by the director! We'll look at improving our lighting set up and focus for future projects.
Usefully the individual picture frames are also saved so it's possible to create an animated gif or use another tool to combine the images.

Elbrie's son's studio setup:

The Hue Book of Animation

The kit includes the Hue Book of Animation, a mini book with lots of suggestions on ways to use the Hue camera. This is really useful for kids and families who need some help with ideas to get started. It's also a great way to get the most from the camera by looking for new things to try.

Tablet vs PC for Stop Motion Animation?

Hue also offers a iOS app for stop motion animation and a flexible tablet stand that can be used to secure a tablet to keep it in position. The stand can be used for securing a tablet in lots of other situations too.
Is a PC/Mac or a mobile device better for stop motion animation? This partly depends on what your child has access to and is used to using. Either option can work really well so if your child has only a PC or only a tablet/phone then go with that option.

Mobile devices have the advantage of portability and often have a good camera built in.
More advanced software is generally available for the PC/Mac. When using a mobile device it can be difficult to position the camera well and kids have a tendency to knock the device when operating the software, the Hue HD camera addresses this problem well for the PC.
If your child has access to a PC and a tablet then consider whether you would make more use of the additional features of the Hue HD camera (such as use with Scratch) or for the Hue Flexible tablet stand (such as using your tablet in the kitchen to follow recipes.)

Use as a Cheap Document Camera / Visualiser

The Hue camera can also be used as a basic document camera or visualiser with a projector. This is useful for schools and also homeschool groups, clubs, camps, maker spaces and libraries - anywhere where you want a group of people to be able to view a physical object.
High-quality document cameras and visualisers cost a lot of money. If you can afford one that's great. But if you can't justify the cost of a high-end product then the Hue camera does a reasonable job and for some tasks, it's plenty good enough so there's no need for a high-end device.
You can use the camera with any camera app or with the Hue Animation studio which has options for flipping the camera which can be very useful.
We found that the camera is great for showing small items on a projector. It also worked well for documents with large text if you just want to show a small area at a time.
Note that the Hue HD Pro camera from the same company offers a longer neck and is designed to enable viewing of A4 and letter sized documents.
We tried to view an A4 document by raising up the Hue HD and found it hard to position the camera well, the long neck would be really useful here. (The Pro version of the camera also comes with more advanced software with features for use by a teacher.)
I did find that I kept disconnecting the camera from the base when adjusting it, a sturdier connection here would be good. The Windows 10 camera app just reconnects automatically, but the Hue Animation studio requires you to reset the camera from the menu.

Time-lapse Photography

Another useful feature of the Hue Animation Studio is time lapse photography. You can set the software up to take photos at customizable time intervals. We've successfully used this feature, but you'll have to wait for an upcoming review to see the results.

Verdict

The resolution of the camera is fairly low by today's standards (but common for webcams), but that's not a problem for many of the main usage scenarios for this camera.

Free Minecraft Animation Studio

We really liked the sturdy base and repositionable neck and the design of the camera. It's not fragile and I wasn't at all concerned about putting it into the hands of children.
The Hue Animation Studio software is easy to use and has advanced features including Chroma Key (green screen) and time lapse photography. We'll look at more features in future.
The Hue HD is a practical option for creating stop motion animations using a PC. It's also a good choice for a child who occasionally needs to use a webcam or take photos from their laptop.

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Educators would probably want to opt for the Hue HD Pro camera with its longer neck, but the Hue HD is still useful if your budget is very tight.