Animation has changed a lot in the decades since it has existed. In the old days, animators had to go through an extremely tedious process of drawing every animation from scratch. Nowadays, however, animators don’t need to go through all of those extra steps because there are dozens of animation software that can make the process so much easier. Express Animate is one such software. It was developed by NCH Software, a developer known for their quality releases. Express Animate is another addition to their library of high-quality software.

Great software for animation

If we’re going to look at Express Animate’s performance in animation then there’s no doubt that it’s topnotch. There’s a lot you can do with this software such as add text, shapes, and more. The process of animation itself is easy once you get the hang of it. It does have a bit of a steep learning curve for beginners in animation, however. For advanced animators, most of the tools in the software’s interface will be familiar. There are keyframes, a timeline, and layers. It shouldn’t be difficult to get used to it if you’ve tried animation before.

It is definitely good at animation, but not much else. That’s probably one point against this software. It’s too specific in functionality. Typically, animators would want put their animations directly into their clips or videos. Unfortunately, this software doesn’t support that function. NCH Software does have a video editor that they recommend users to edit their videos with, but it would be more convenient to have all those functions in one program rather than having to download several programs. It might even convince users to get Sony Vegas, a program that can animate and edit, instead.

Is it worth it?

All that being said, we shouldn’t forget that Express Animate is completely free of charge. For a free software, it is extremely efficient and powerful. The software has a large number of pre-installed media such as shapes and music in its Clipart and Sound Library. Users can also use their own media in order to create videos about any subject matter that they want. 

Another great thing about this software is the fact that it can support a large number of file formats. The software can load most file types including mp4, mp3, jpeg, png, and more. This may not seem like such a big deal but for animators that have to use a lot of different elements, having an animation program that can support different formats can be a huge lifesaver.

Not bad for a free software

All in all, NCH Software has another great software in their hands with the Express Animate. Even though it’s completely free, it does deliver in what it promised to do. Animating using Express Animate is very easy, but you might need another software to add it to your videos. It’s definitely worth a try.