I have a question for a niche group of people.
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@david_chisnall I agree and transitioning to it wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done, but I'm quite stubborn, so for me it's working out great. But we're all different. Luckily there are loads of tools out there to choose from.
@eLearningTechie @david_chisnall I also use Inkscape for all my vector drawing stuff, but, to be honest, it's mainly technical rather than artistic.
Having said that, I have used Inkscape to create animated graphics, and even (for a past employer) created a palette of animated components which could be dragged and dropped into Inkscape drawings.
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I have a question for a niche group of people.
The question is for people who have used Flash or Animate to make 2D animations.
Have you found alternative software that has the same overall user experience as old school Flash?
If yes, what is it?
Please note I am aware of a lot of animation packages out there & I know a lot of them are great, but I have a LOT of experience in Flash & if I can ditch Animate but keep the overall experience that would be perfect.
Thanks.
@eclectech Have you heard of Cavalry yet? Have no idea how it compares, but I see it praised, and it's free for Windows and Mac (which is why I haven't yet tried it, but might wake up Wine for that).
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@eLearningTechie @david_chisnall I also use Inkscape for all my vector drawing stuff, but, to be honest, it's mainly technical rather than artistic.
Having said that, I have used Inkscape to create animated graphics, and even (for a past employer) created a palette of animated components which could be dragged and dropped into Inkscape drawings.
@simon_brooke oh nice!
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@simon_brooke oh nice!
@eLearningTechie The thing about Open Source software is that if it doesn't do what you want, you can extend it to do what you want -- but you may need to learn a lot more about it than you really wanted to!
Still, it was a hugely fun project, and a really useful tool.
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@eLearningTechie The thing about Open Source software is that if it doesn't do what you want, you can extend it to do what you want -- but you may need to learn a lot more about it than you really wanted to!
Still, it was a hugely fun project, and a really useful tool.
@simon_brooke Absolutely, but not everyone has the skills or time (and motivation) to learn those skills. It's a pity but a fact of life. Like I said earlier on this topic, there are lots of apps out there, it's just a question of finding the one that works for your individual needs. I'm happy to invest some effort, but not everyone is.
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@howtophil Oooh, the screenshots on the webpage certainly make it look worth checking out - and it mentions vector animation too. Thanks!
@eclectech No Problem
I've used it for this and that, but I'm not an animator, so... ymmvIt always seemed pretty slick to me, even early-ish versions
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@eLearningTechie The best I can say about Inkscape is that it works, but the UI is incredibly clunky and I spend so much time fighting it that I can't focus on what I'm trying to draw.
@david_chisnall @eLearningTechie
For straightforward diagrams I use Libre Office draw. -
@david_chisnall @eLearningTechie
For straightforward diagrams I use Libre Office draw.@markhburton that makes sense
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@eclectech Again haven't tried Illustrator, but people say that Affinity Designer feels much more like Illustrator than Inkscape does.
For mostly vector graphics there is also Graphite, it's mostly web only now but they've just released the first version of desktop app too, and promise add more animation nodes. It's node-based for all the procedural stuff, but you can also just draw stuff in it without looking at node graph.
I'm learning it in hopes that I like its animation stuff when it comes
As I'm more limited in options being on Linux.
My list is Manim that I write for in Python, and Friction2d for manual stuff. But it doesn't tween or deform raster past scaling and shearing, so morphing this raster image was quite a struggle.@triffen
Graphite is a very interesting concept. I've played with it a bit. I think it could be very cool for procedural 2D motion graphics.But while I think it's worth trying out, it's a very different way of looking at things. So if the goal is Flash but not Adobe, I suspect it doesn't fit the bill.
I only rarely do anything with 2D animation myself, so I don't have food suggestions, but I'm very curious to hear the result of exploring the options people have been sharing.
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@triffen
Graphite is a very interesting concept. I've played with it a bit. I think it could be very cool for procedural 2D motion graphics.But while I think it's worth trying out, it's a very different way of looking at things. So if the goal is Flash but not Adobe, I suspect it doesn't fit the bill.
I only rarely do anything with 2D animation myself, so I don't have food suggestions, but I'm very curious to hear the result of exploring the options people have been sharing.
@tschundler Yeah, I suggested it as an alternative to Inkscape, not for motion graphics (yet).
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I have a question for a niche group of people.
The question is for people who have used Flash or Animate to make 2D animations.
Have you found alternative software that has the same overall user experience as old school Flash?
If yes, what is it?
Please note I am aware of a lot of animation packages out there & I know a lot of them are great, but I have a LOT of experience in Flash & if I can ditch Animate but keep the overall experience that would be perfect.
Thanks.
@eclectech looks like they were already suggested, but I’ll add to mentions of Rive and Calvary as the ones I’ve heard most commonly as Flash replacements
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Quick thanks to everyone boosting and making suggestions here. I am making a list!
Might take me a while to go through but I will feedback (with particular reference to whether it's an easy transition from Animate) when I can.
@eclectech
I haven’t used it as my art (such as it is) pretends to be fine art done digitally with Procreate, but Procreate’s “Dreams” app has become pretty popular. -
I have a question for a niche group of people.
The question is for people who have used Flash or Animate to make 2D animations.
Have you found alternative software that has the same overall user experience as old school Flash?
If yes, what is it?
Please note I am aware of a lot of animation packages out there & I know a lot of them are great, but I have a LOT of experience in Flash & if I can ditch Animate but keep the overall experience that would be perfect.
Thanks.
@eclectech I've been asking the same for quite some time. Still haven't found it. But I'm also not looking that hard, truth be told.
I've been wanting to do an "old school" kind of website with little animations here and there, but it seems like an herculean task for someone who only used Flash years and years ago and now would have to learn a whole new thing again. I'd have to look into not just the animation part but the website part too. Ugh. It's too much.
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@eclectech I've been asking the same for quite some time. Still haven't found it. But I'm also not looking that hard, truth be told.
I've been wanting to do an "old school" kind of website with little animations here and there, but it seems like an herculean task for someone who only used Flash years and years ago and now would have to learn a whole new thing again. I'd have to look into not just the animation part but the website part too. Ugh. It's too much.
@eclectech erhm... I just came here to complain, instead of helping you with what your looking for. Sorry about that
(It was a "I feel your pain" kind of complaint, but still...) -
I have a question for a niche group of people.
The question is for people who have used Flash or Animate to make 2D animations.
Have you found alternative software that has the same overall user experience as old school Flash?
If yes, what is it?
Please note I am aware of a lot of animation packages out there & I know a lot of them are great, but I have a LOT of experience in Flash & if I can ditch Animate but keep the overall experience that would be perfect.
Thanks.
@eclectech lottie (https://lottiefiles.com/ ) has taken over a tiny part of what Flash did, I think. HTML5+JS has taken over another part of what Flash did. Unity3d has taken over a bit of what Flash did.
But there's still, in my humble opinion, a sizeable hole that never got filled.
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I have a question for a niche group of people.
The question is for people who have used Flash or Animate to make 2D animations.
Have you found alternative software that has the same overall user experience as old school Flash?
If yes, what is it?
Please note I am aware of a lot of animation packages out there & I know a lot of them are great, but I have a LOT of experience in Flash & if I can ditch Animate but keep the overall experience that would be perfect.
Thanks.
@eclectech also for animations, I think friction is slowly but steadily shaping up: https://friction.graphics/ here's a tutorial series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0ZBRmGxWXQ
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@eclectech lottie (https://lottiefiles.com/ ) has taken over a tiny part of what Flash did, I think. HTML5+JS has taken over another part of what Flash did. Unity3d has taken over a bit of what Flash did.
But there's still, in my humble opinion, a sizeable hole that never got filled.
@claudius Yeah, it seems such a shame that dislike of the default output format seems to have cast the entire setup as a Bad Thing.
I suppose arguably Animate is still there, but that's not cost effective for most people wanting to make stuff for fun.
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Quick thanks to everyone boosting and making suggestions here. I am making a list!
Might take me a while to go through but I will feedback (with particular reference to whether it's an easy transition from Animate) when I can.
FFS. Four days after asking for suggestions to replace Animate and Adobe announce they're discontinuing the product on 1 March.
So that's put the pressure on finding an alternative.
Also *I* was going to flounce off from you Adobe, not the other way around.
(to be fair, I will still flounce off, but it won't be *quite* as satisfying)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/02/adobe-animate-is-shutting-down-as-company-focuses-on-ai/
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FFS. Four days after asking for suggestions to replace Animate and Adobe announce they're discontinuing the product on 1 March.
So that's put the pressure on finding an alternative.
Also *I* was going to flounce off from you Adobe, not the other way around.
(to be fair, I will still flounce off, but it won't be *quite* as satisfying)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/02/adobe-animate-is-shutting-down-as-company-focuses-on-ai/
@eclectech Another reason to hate their subscription model.
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It is VERY annoying and you are well within your right to be ticked off about it.
Shutting something like this down on a month's notice is garbage.
