Top 15 Powerful Motion Design Tools You Should Give a Try

Motion design tools offer all the necessary functions to create stunning visuals for various purposes.

You’ll get the digital space to explore your creativity and productivity tools to make the designing process more efficient.

In this article, I have reviewed some of the best tools for motion graphics. Whether you are a student working on personal projects or a seasoned designer looking for industry-standard tools, you’ll find this review helpful.

What Is Motion Design And What Tools Are Best For You?

Motion design/graphics software allows you to animate static shapes to create interactive visuals.

You can animate various visual elements with this tool, such as photos, texts, illustrations, and backgrounds.

Tons of designing software have motion graphics capabilities. Many provide basic animation features, but some also have advanced functionality.

Top Features To Look For In Motion Design Software;

• Animation and visual effects.
• Vector and raster capabilities.
• Standard composition tools.
• Integrations.

Let’s look at the top 15 tools offering motion design features. I have covered both beginner and advanced-level applications to provide diverse options for your convenience.

1. After Effects

Adobe After Effects is a part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. It offers industry-standard tools to create advanced motion graphics, animations, and special effects. 

You’ll get both 2D and 3D tools to design separate or combined motion graphics. 

Plus, you can make composites for cinematic effects and integrate CGI into your footage. You’ll get tons of plugins to experiment with different effects.

You can integrate Adobe Effects with its other designing products, like Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and Illustrator. 

Core Features

• Motion graphics.
• 2D and 3D animation.
• Visual effects.
• Composites.
• 3D import.
• Templates and fonts.
• Adobe Creative Cloud integration.
• Third-party plugins.

Price

After Effects prices start at $23 per month. You can take a free trial. 

2. Procreate Dreams

Procreate is another most-loved design platform. Like Adobe, it provides a suite of products, including a motion design app.

The software is excellent for digital storytelling, multimedia projects, and videos. You can create dynamic motion graphics, animated text, 2D shapes, and composites.

With its wide range of brushes and pens, you can draw and animate pretty much anything.

Overall, Procreate Dreams is a user-friendly, accessible, and affordable version of Adobe.

Core Features

• iPad App.
• 2D animation.
• Text animation.
• Composites.
• Intuitive drawing tools.
• Audio and video editing.
• Real-time rendering.
• Backups.

Price

Procreate Dreams costs $19.99. It’s a one-time purchase.

3.  Krita

Krita is a free open-source digital painting software. It offers a wide range of brushes and sketching features to design illustrations and digital paintings. 

You can also create motion designs on Krita. It has a built-in animation workspace with vector and raster tools for 2D motion graphics.

You’ll get a variety of animation and transition effects with a rich color palette. The software is easy to use and allows customization.

If you are a 2D artist and need a free software to explore motion graphics, go for Krita.

Core Features

• Digital painting and illustration.
• Comic creation.
• 2D animation workspace.
• Customizable brushes.
• Vector and raster tools.
• User-friendly interface.
• Plugins.

Price

Krita is free to use.

4. Apple Motion

If you are a Final Cut Pro user, Motion is the best app for special effects. It’s standalone Apple software that lets you create dynamic content for your videos.

You can design 2D texts, 3D objects, and animated filters with Motion. You’ll get the option to convert your designs into templates and import them to Final Cut Pro.

With real-time rendering, you can preview animations and effects instantly. 

Motion can be connected to third-party plugins.

Core Features

• Motion graphics.
• Animations.
• 3D text and shapes.
• Real-time rendering.
• Compositing.
• Custom templates.
• Final Cut Pro integration.
• Video editing.
• Third-party plugins.

Price

Motion’s subscription plan costs $50.

5. Blender

Blender is an open-source 3D modeling software for character designing. Most digital artists in the gaming industry start their careers with this software.

Blender also has animation and rigging capabilities, making it excellent for motion design. You will get drawing and composting tools with realistic rendering engines to create and preview your work.

The software supports macOS, Windows, and Linux. It also has a good speed and stable performance.

If you are a seasoned artist wanting to enter the 3D motion field, Blender is perfect for you.

Core Features

• 3D modeling and sculpting.
• 2D sketching.
• Animation and rigging.
• Composites.
• Rendering.
• Video editing.
• Cross-platform compatibility.

Price

Blender is completely free.

6. Cinema 4D

Cinema 4D is a premium version of Blender. It’s a professional 3D modeling and animation software that allows you to create realistic graphics.

You’ll get a library of pre-made animations and rigging tools for motion graphics. You can draw characters, build composites, animate objects, design special effects,

Rendering and simulation are part of its core functions. Both deliver realistic previews.

Cinema4D’s standout feature is MoGraph. It lets you create complex and abstract animations.

You can integrate Cinema4D with Illustrator, Photoshop, and After Effects.

Core Features

• 3D modeling 
• Animation.
• Advanced rendering.
• Templates.
• Stimulations.
• Motion graphics tools.
• Seamless software integration.
• User-friendly interface.

Price

Cinema 4D costs €121.77/month.

7. Houdini

Houdini is also a leading 3D designing and animation software. With its node-based procedural workflow, you can generate complex animations and effects.

The software is rich in features and offers amazing VFX tools for advertisements. You can create composites with ease and add realistic effects like fluids and dust to enhance the visual effects.

Check out some of the examples here. You’ll get a general idea of its capabilities.

Core Features

• 3D modeling.
• Animation.
• Complex workflows.
• Advanced simulations.
• Visual effects.
• Rendering.
• Integration.

Price

Houdini sells several packages. You can try it for free and get student discounts. 

8. Jitter

Jitter is perfect for UX graphics. It’s a browser application that provides hundreds of pre-designed templates with Figma integration.

You can use Jitter to create motion graphics, custom animations, and video effects. You’ll have the flexibility to build your own templates and export them in high resolution. 

Jitter also offers a shared workspace with real-time collaboration to speed up the design process.

Core Features

• UX designs.
• Text and shape animation.
• Presets and templates.
• Real-time collaboration.
• Customization
• Figma plugins.
• Accessible.

Price

You can try Jitter for free. Its premium package costs $19. 

You can customize your plan.

9. Wondershare Filmora

Wondershare Filmora is a beginner-friendly video editing software. Whether you’re editing vlogs, short films, or social media content, it has all the tools to make your videos stand out.

You can easily cut and merge clips, add transitions, and include text overlay. With advanced features, you can make animated titles and captions.

You can also use special effects, filters, and motion graphics in your videos. It’s excellent for creating 2D animation and cinematic effects.

Filmora supports various formats and works perfectly on both Windows and Mac.

Core Features

• Video editing.
• Motion tracking.
• Animation.
• Advance text editing.
• Transitions and effects.
• Built-in templates and music.
• Easy-to-use interface.
• Cross-platform compatibility.

Price

Filmora’s subscription plan starts at $10 per month. You can try it for free.

10. Alight Motion

Alight Motion helps you make motion graphics and video edits on the go.

It’s a mobile app through which you can generate 2D animations, dynamic text, and visual effects like color correction, glitch effects, and motion blur.

You can layer multiple elements to make complex designs. It offers 160+ basic effects and advanced editing tools. You can also create and save custom templates for reuse. 

One of its best features is its interface. The app is designed for mobile and tablets and has a simple interface. 

You can find Alight Motion on Google Play and Apple stores, both.

Core Features

• Video editing.
• Animation.
• Motion Graphics.
• Visual effects and transitions.
• Color correction.
• Customizable templates.
• Layer support.
• User-friendly interface.
• Cross-platform compatibility.

Price

You can download Alight Motion for free. The premium subscription starts at $7 per month.

11. Rive

Rive is ideal for website designs, game assets, and animation.

It offers a robust set of tools for vector-based graphics, character animation, and interactive elements like buttons and sliders.

Its interface is clean, and its rendering capabilities are excellent. You can run it on all the common systems and invite teams for real-time collaboration.

All in all, Rive is worth checking out.

Core Features

• Interactive elements.
• UI/UX designs.
• Vector editing.
• 2D animations.
• User-friendly interface.
• Real-time collaboration.
• Multiple file formats.
• Cross-platform compatibility.

Price

Rive’s costs $49 per month. You can try it for free.

12.  Cavalry

Cavalry is an advanced 2D animation tool with a user-friendly interface. You can use it to create artwork, motion graphics, animated text, and more.

The software is packed with powerful features and comes with community support. You’ll also get tons of educational material to get started.

With its smart workflow system and real-time rendering, you can experiment freely and cut down your development time.

Cavalry is compatible with MAC and Windows.

Core Features

• Vector drawing.
• 2D animation.
• Advanced tools.
• Audio.
• Real-time rendering.
• Scalable workflows.
• Customization.
• Multiple formats.
• Team package.
• Community support.

Price

You can download Cavalry for free. The professional plan costs £16 per month.

13. Canva

Canva is well-known for its user-friendly design tool and vast library of assets. Almost everyone is familiar with this platform and uses it for social media posts and brand content.

Canva also provides basic motion design elements to create GIFs and interactive graphics. You can apply different animation effects to text, such as fade-ins and typewriter effects.

The platform offers other elements as well, like icons, shapes, and illustrations. I recommend experimenting with its animation features to discover its capabilities.

You can use Canva on multiple devices and export your designs as MP4 videos or GIFs.

Core Features

• Social media graphics.
• Animation.
• Templates. 
• Drag-and-drop interface.
• Video editing and GIF creation.
• Team Collaboration.
• Mobile friendly.

Price

Canva’s basic plan is free and the premium plan costs around $5 to $7 per month.

14. MotionLeap

MotionLeap is a fun and creative animation app. It uses AI to turn static photos into animated content.

You can animate the entire image or part of the photo, it’s up to you. You’ll get the option to emanate elements like water, clouds, and hairs or add dynamic effects like motion blur and overlays. 

It also provides tools for adjusting the speed and direction of animation, giving you full control over the final look.

MotionLeap is compatible with Android and iOS, both. 

Core Features

• Photo animation.
• Realistic motion effects.
• Customization.
• AI-powered tools.
• Advanced video editing.
• High-quality exports.
• Multi-Platform Compatibility.

Price

MotionLeap is free to download. For the premium subscription, it charges $4 to $6 per month.

15. Powtoon

Powtoon provides an intuitive platform for creating educational content. You’ll get 100+ templates to make 2D whiteboard animations, explainer videos, and dynamic presentations.

You can add transitions, text animations, and music to your projects. The app comes with a drag-and-drop editor and AI assistant to make things easier.

Team collaboration is also available. Your team members can edit and comment on your projects.

You can export and share Powtoon videos to popular social media platforms.

Core Features

• Explainer videos.
• 2D lamination.
• Motion graphics.
• Pre-designed templates.
• Character designing.
• Text and typography.
• Flexible export options.
• Third-party app integration.

Price

Powtoon prices range between $50 and $190. You can get separate packages for teams.

Conclusion

Motion design apps are used in diverse projects.

With these tools, you can create anything from simple text animation for websites to complex 3D graphics for commercials.

For example. If you are a social media manager and want something simple to create appealing Facebook ads, you can apply basic animation in Canva. For advanced cinematic motion graphics, you can go for After Effects or Cinema 4D.

Narrow down the features you need and explore the tools to find the best-matching software. Good luck!