Feature Film and Anime Software

TVPaint

The industry standard for hand-drawn feature animation. Bitmap-based rather than vector, which means working in TVPaint feels closer to drawing on paper than any other digital animation tool, which is why it's the software of choice for studios producing the kind of feature animation that still looks and feels handmade.

(image above: Scholar)

Cartoon Saloon (Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea), SPA Studios (Klaus), Studio Ghibli's The Red Turtle, Folivari (Ernest & Celestine) and Sylvain Chomet's films (The Triplets of Belleville, The Illusionist) have all been made in TVPaint. It's also the working tool at Sun Creature and Studio La Cachette plus widely used for animated music videos and festival shorts.

Pricing

Sold as a one-time purchase, not a subscription:

• TVPaint Animation Standard - €650 inc. VAT. Core 2D animation tools

• TVPaint Animation Professional - €1,600 inc. VAT. More features

• Student / Educational pricing - heavily discounted (Standard around €325, Professional around €650 with proof of enrolment). Worth it if you can use it.

It's expensive compared to Clip Studio, but the one-time cost works out cheaper than subscription software within 2–3 years. They run sales periodically, including an annual spring sale worth waiting for if you're not in a rush. Available on PC.

TVPaint website

Where to learn

• Aaron Blaise / Creature Art Teacher - ex-Disney feature animator, his courses on traditional animation principles use TV paint.

• Tales of Alethrion - Tips and tricks

• TV Paint official - official tutorials.

• Gobelin Summer School - very pricey but a lifetime experience to learn in Paris in one of the best universities in the world

  
  

Clip Studio Paint

The standard tool for manga and anime production, and increasingly popular for indie 2D animation.

Used widely across Japanese studios for storyboards, key animation, and inbetweens, and increasingly by Western animators producing anime-styled commercial work, music videos, and personal projects.

Pricing

Goes on sale frequently!

• Clip Studio Paint PRO - affordable, suitable for most illustration and basic animation work

• Clip Studio Paint EX - full version with extended animation timeline (longer than 24 frames), multi-page projects, and more pro features

Available on PC and IPAD

Clip Studio Paint website

Where to learn

Anime-style animation specifically

• Dong Chang on YouTube - fantastic breakdowns of anime fundamentals, smear frames, impact frames, and the kind of stylised cel work that makes anime feel like anime. Essential viewing.

• Finchwing - Great intro to Clip Studio paint.

• Sakgura Foundry - indepth tutorials on how to learn the anime production pipeline as a 2D animator.

• Coloso - Paid course

• And more - a playlist of tutorials

Sakuga and reference

• Sakugabooru - community-curated database of standout animation cuts from anime, tagged by animator. Best place to study individual animator styles.

• Sakuga MAD compilations on YouTube - AMVs of anime sequences, super good to study.