As this cartoon starts to play you may think this is a repeat. No actually, I combined each of the four Rock Band cartoons into a single long episode. The new animation is in there, it's just at the end. I also combined all of the user comments into this single entry.

Taking a Break From Animation

Yes, that's right, I'm taking an extended break from animation. I'm almost finished with an SEO application I've been working on and the cartooning takes up more time than I have right now. I will still be writing articles about cartoon software and animation programs, but this is the last new cartoon for a while.

To celebrate I decided to actually animate the monkey from the logo for the first time. For the record his name is Scribbles.

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Stephen Sloan is a Toon Boom animator with some wonderful cartoons on his site, Upon Animation. This week he released an amazing music video for a song created by Kupek, the band of Bryan Lee O'Malley. If you're not familiar with O'Malley's work I highly recommend his Scott Pilgrim comic book series, due out as a movie starring Michael Cera in 2009.

Stephen was kind enough to answer some questions about the music video.

Can you please tell us how you came to start on this project?
I had decided that I was going to be taking a substantial break from the studio animation industry to pursue a career creating my own shorts. I needed some sort of test, or exercise to flex my creative muscles. I figured a music video would be Ideal, mainly because I wouldn't have to worry about the audio.

Please take us through the broad steps you took create the video.
Well, first I listened to the song a bunch, stared out into space and waited for whatever feelings or visuals the song would manifest in my mind. I organized them into kind of a series of scenes VERY loosely interconnected by a main character. I did some rough thumbnails of the shots I wanted to include, some were cut for pacing and others were added later to help the flow. Since I was the only one working on this project I didn't bother with an animatic, it was all there in my brain.

What software did you use?
Toon Boom Studio 3.5 for all the animation. I'm looking forward to upgrading to 4.5 soon. I also used TBS for any lighting effects. The backgrounds were all painted in Photoshop and the whole thing was 'Composited' in QuickTime Pro. (Drag and drop, that's about as fancy as my editing gets.)

The music is given away for free by Bryan Lee O'Malley at radiomaru.com. Did you (or somebody) contact him before creating the video for his blessing?
I knew I was going to be hearing this music A LOT, so I wanted to be sure I chose a band who I listen to fairly regularly. And because I thought that I might like to submit this to some online festivals, I figured I'd find someone pretty Indy. I contacted Bryan and asked if he would mind if I made a video based on some of his music, originally it was going to be 'Cats' or 'She's an Invalid' both catchy tunes with great opportunities for visuals, he mentioned that he had a new album coming out around the end of summer, and that if I was interested, I could do something for that. He was nice enough to provide multiple versions of the song as he worked on it and even provided some musical notation for the piano part, so I could properly sync the hand to the keyboard.

As far as copyright issues go... I'm not really in a position to give any advice. There were no contracts involved here. The video shouldn't be construed in any way as being an official Kupek video, or being 'blessed' by Bryan or anything. The video exists purely as a fun exercise/promotional piece, which I hope other people might enjoy watching, or at least enjoy the song.

Finally, given all your hard work, did you enjoy creating this great music video? Is it something you would do again if given the chance?
I had a great time with the video. I tried out a bunch of new techniques that will be following me onto my next project. I got to feel accomplished for finishing something that's all my own, and not part of an assembly line production. I learned a lot, and I know I'm doing at least one other Music Video, with which I'll be taking a different approach based on those lessons. I have however, had to delete every version of 'Monday Morning' from my itunes. As good as it is, I'll be needing a bit of a break from it.

Thank You!

We appreciate your time in answering our questions. If you found Stephen's work to be as interesting as I did, I recommend following his blog.

The Pyro is the most interesting character in Team Fortress 2, if only because his (her?) mumbling is extremely counter-productive. Trying to cry for a medic is a waste of time. Regardless, when used properly the Pyro is really good at laying waste to an entire area.

Still, I imagine that behind the mask is a creature of untold psychopathy.

This is the third great entry from the "Simon's Cat" series. If you enjoyed this cartoon you can watch the first and second episodes as well.

Happy Friday, have a great weekend!

Ranging from free to the price of a small car made of cardboard, these programs will get you started with a career in animation. We've discussed various free cartoon software in the past. This article is intended to be a definitive list of all available animation programs. You many notice that some of these programs are not primarily for animation. Some, like Flash, are designed for other tasks. However if animation can be created with the software it will be considered for this list.

If you know of an animation program that's missing, please mention it in the comments below, or send me a message. In return for your assistance we will happily link to your site.

Which Animation Program is Right For You?

For each of the following animation programs we will display its price, complexity level, a link to the program and any other relevant information you might find useful. Hopefully this will educate you in finding the right animation program for you.

2D Animation Programs

The following animation programs are all primarily designed to function in 2D.

Toon Boom Studio 4

$299, toonboom.com/products/toonboomstudio, Download Free Trial

Toon Boom Studio is one of the best animation programs for internet users, and is well known for its depth and quality of their technical support. It's a solid application that is made for animators, by animators. This makes it a perfect choice for creating your own original cartoons.

Animationish

$59.95, toonboom.com/products/animationish

Developed with the premise that animation programs do not have to be overly complicated to produce effective and fun cartoons, Animationish is a great application to learn the basics of cartoons.

Flip Boom

$39, toonboom.com/products/flipboom

The producers of Toon Boom created this animation program with kids in mind. It's a simple program to get the hang of, with basic drawing inputs and previous/next frame navigation. Even the output controls have been slimmed down to make it as easy as possible for kids to grasp.

Flash

$699, adobe.com/flash

Adobe Flash has been around for a long time in one form or another. It has the benefit of being easy to use, but is missing some key toolsets that would truly benefit animators. That's why Flash does not currently get top billing from most animation studios.

If the price does not scare you away you'll find that Flash can provide a great interactive experience but is not an ideal animation program for cartoons.

After Effects

$999, adobe.com/aftereffects

While it's primarily used for compositing and effects, After Effects can be used to create animation. It's clearly overkill to use this program just for animation, but the fact that you can means it must go on this list. Frankly, I can think of several things I would rather do with a thousand dollars.

Pencil

Free, les-stooges.org | Download Pencil

Pencil is an interesting animation program in that it allows for both vector and bitmap drawings. It's as if the drawing tools of Photoshop were combined with the powers of Flash. The software itself has been pared down to its most essential elements, meaning it's an excellent introductory animation program.

Synfig

Free, synfig.org | Download Synfig

The creators of the Windows-only Synfig have ambitious goals of their animation software being used to create feature film quality animation. After watching an impressive demo it looks like they're not far away from their goal. Synfig can create complicated lighting and camera effects, it's up to you, the animator, to use them properly.

CreaToon

Free, creatoon.com | Download CreaToon

Another Windows-only animation program, CreaToon uses a cut-out animation process, similar to Toon Boom. The application itself seems a bit less polished, but the ability to use bitmap images within the program is useful.

Toon Boom Digital Pro

$2,499.99, toonboom.com/products/digitalpro

As internet animation programs go, Toon Boom Digital Pro is strictly for professionals, as indicated by its price tag. They have the credentials to back it up though. Besides the extensive list of TV and movies created with Toon Boom Digital Pro, internet sensations Adam Phillips and Bernard Derriman also use this animation program.

Toon Boom Studio Express

$149, toonboom.com/products/toonBoomStudio

This pared down version of Toon Boom Studio is a good introductory animation program for newcomers. There are limits, however, especially since only one scene can be created at a time. You can easily purchase Express and then upgrade to Studio later if you find that you need the extra punch.

SWiSH

$149.95, swishzone.com | Download Free Trial

SWiSH was initially created to take advantage of the open .swf format established by Flash. Originally billed as a cheaper Flash alternative, SWiSH has become a solid Windows-only text animation program in its own right, allowing you to easily create impressive swooping effects and export them for the internet.

Ulead Gif Animator

$49.95, ulead.com | Download Free Trial

Gif Animator is truly old school animation software. Animated Gifs have, in general, are almost extinct on the internet as Flash and DSL speeds have become almost ubiquitous. This is a Windows-only application, and does not work in Vista. If you want to party like it's 1999, this animation program will get you in the mood.

TV Paint

475€, tvpaint.com | Download Free Trial

While TV Paint was a solid animation program before, when they purchased the Mirage name and rolled the two applications into a single animation program simply called TV Paint many animators rejoiced. TV Paint is solid production level animation software, and there is a professional version available for 950€.

Plastic Animation Paper

99€, plasticanimationpaper.dk | Download Free Trial

This truly exciting animation program comes to us from the beautiful country of Denmark. Plastic Animation Paper is meant to be a replacement to a traditional light table/paper animation combination. This software is currently available for Windows and Linux, however they are diligently working on a version for the Mac. There is a free version for you to try, as well as a professional version for 695€.

Motion Studio

$39.95, wisdom-soft.com/ms

This Windows-only is a quirky little program designed only to create .exe files. This could be useful for a slideshow or looping display, however the animation part of the program is relatively limited.

Pro Motion

cosmigo.com/promotion | Download Free Trial

Pro Motion is a Windows-only animation program designed for close-up pixel manipulation. This makes it ideal software for building sprite-based characters such as those found in video games.

3D Animation Programs

For the most part 3D is considered to be software for professionals, although the following applications are seeing use at home and open-source movies.

3D Studio Max

$3,495, autodesk.com/3dsmax | Download Free Trial

3D Studio Max wins the dubious honor of being the most exspensive animation software program on this list. You many notice that this and the next program, Maya, are both owned by Autodesk. While it's a popular program for industrial designers and architects, it's also found a core following in film and video games.

Maya

$1995, autodesk.com/maya

Increasingly Maya is becoming the 3D tool of choice for film, as it allows for a vast array of shading and lighting effects. Maya is also extremely customizeable, allowing for easy integration with third party software. This makes it an easy choice for animation production houses. There's a Personal Learning Edition that you can download for free, which we recommend if you're considering this software.

Lightwave

$995, newtek.com/lightwave | Download Free Trial

Lightwave is a truly professional 3D program, used to create many movies and TV special effects. Tackling Lightwave is not something you should enter into lightly. Fortunately there is a 30 day trial for this animation software, which we highly recommend.

Blender

Free, blender.org | Download Blender

Blender has recently made a pretty impressive splash when it was used to create the impressive cartoon Big Buck Bunny. This entertaining and professional cartoon should be all the reason you need to try out this open source animation program.

Anim8or

Free, anim8or.com | Download Anim8or

Truly a personal labor of love, this 3D animation program is the creation of Steve Glanville, a software engineer for NVidia. Anim8or, besides being difficult to spell, is a Windows-only application. It is not professional level animation software, but it was never intended to be. Regardless, it is a good introductory animation program, especially if you're interested in learning how to animate in 3D.

Swift 3D

$249, erain.com/products/swift3d | Download Free Trial

The original intention of the Swift 3D software was to offer a 3D alternative to Flash users. This animation program will let you model and animate directly in the software, and then export to the Flash-friendly .swf format.

Photograph Animation Programs

Almost falling into the miscellaneous category, the following photograph animation programs use still photos to create animated movies.

iStopMotion

$49, boinx.com/istopmotion

This is the only Macintosh-only application on this list. iStopMotion is a fun program designed for stop-motion animation. It can work with the camera built into your Mac, or can quickly import photos to build your animations.

Morpheus

$49, my.smithmicro.com/win/photoanimation

Morpheus is an animation program designed to transform your photos into into other things such as cartoons or animals. The morphing process itself is the extent of the animation involved, but it can be interesting to play with.

If you're a fan of really bad Eastern European accents, this episode is for you. I gave it my best shot and now I know I'm bad at it. At least you don't have to hear me attempt British or Irish, your ears would likely start bleeding.

This cartoon is another nod to Grand Theft Auto, I think it will be the last reference for a while. We'll see.

I'm considering offering free Toon Boom templates for some of these characters (Niko, for instance). I don't want to go to the trouble though if there's no interest. Let me know in the comments or send me a quick message if you're interested in playing around with a couple of Toon Boom character templates.

There's something about Friday that makes me want to show you something interesting from the world of animation, something you might not normally get the chance to see.

This is an incredible stop-motion animation that I think you'll really enjoy. While there's no story to speak of, the animators created a fascinating and convincing depiction of somebody making a plate of spaghetti.

Back in early April we mentioned that Atom (formerly Atom Films) had begun accepting entries to their annual Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge. I received word this weekend that the finalists have been chosen and that the judging period is very short, only until this Thursday.

Head on over to Atom to start casting your votes.

My Favorite Star Wars Cartoons

Of the entries, I prefer the cartoons!

Toon Boom announced this weekend that they're having a brief sale of Toon Boom Studio 4. The cost is the lowest I've seen it, at only $299.

Toon Boom Studio is pretty much all I use to create my cartoons, so if you've considered purchasing it before, now is a great time to give it a look. There's a free trial for Toon Boom Studio if you're not sure if it's for you.

» Download Free Trial of Toon Boom Studio 4

After some time off we're back with this new cartoon about the video game Grand Theft Auto. If you're not familiar with it, on the Xbox 360 version there are achievements you can earn, one of which is killing all 200 pigeons in the city. That's really all you need to know to understand this video game cartoon.

Rock on.