Have you ever wanted to make your very own animation but felt like it was too complicated? Obviously, if you were thinking of making something really high-quality and ambitious along the lines of How to Train Your Dragon or Frozen, you might be disappointed. However, it wouldn't hurt trying to make simple ones for yourself and your close families and friends. AnimationMaker is a simple little app that will help you do just that. It is an animation app that has most of the features you will need to create basic cartoons. 

The Good and Bad

AnimationMaker allows users to draw pictures on their phones to create animations. The app supports drawing using both touch and a stylus pen. It also has features that are very useful for animators such as the Onion feature where the previous frame is shown underneath the new frame in a lower opacity. The Grid feature, meanwhile allows users to redraw figures more accurately. Users can also add text and music to their animated works. 

Despite these great features, the app is a bit limited in some aspects. The biggest problem is probably the fact that you can't add pre-existing media to your project. This means any previously drawn images can't be compiled in the app to create an animation. You'll also have to record your own audio through the app. Videos seem to be an exception, but the import process takes quite a bit of time. 

Interface 

The app's interface is very simple, but not at all lacking in essential animation tools. The workspace obviously takes up the largest portion of the screen, and on the left is a toolbar with the app's five main tools: pen, eraser, selection, fill, and text. Double tapping on the tool icon will prompt additional options for each tool. 

At the bottom of the screen, you will find the animation frames of your project. They are displayed in a film strip view with each frame visible as a thumbnail. Tapping a frame will prompt a small pop-up menu with commands.  At the bottom-left of the screen, users will find the music icon where users can add audio to their animation. 

Simple and Easy

As long as you're not trying to do anything too ambitious then the AnimationMaker is a great app to check out. It's a good training ground if you just want to learn the basics quickly and without having to study a bulky software first. Just load up the app, start drawing, and watch it come to life.