Desktop Software

Toonboom Harmony Premium

I’ve written a lot about my love for Toonboom. You can read this blog dedicated to it. Suffice to say, I think that if you want to animate digitally, and you have a desktop, Toonboom is the best way to do so. It’s pricy, but well worth the cost. Part of my explosive productivity can be attributed exclusively to that program. It’s a game changer.

Adobe After Effects

While Toonboom does have compositing available, After Effects is built entirely around that concept. I am not the biggest fan of adobe’s products, and I wasn’t too keen on after effects for several years due to the poor...everything, but in recent years, starting since about 2015, the program has steadily improved and has become a lot more reliable. The program it functions as now, is what I wish I had when I was in college. I don’t commend adobe much, but they have pushed this program very far, and it’s insanely versatile.

Pro Tools 11

While I am sure Pro Tools is on a more modern version, this is what I’ve been using for many, many years. I upgraded from 10, and have been on this version since. If you plan to do sound design on your films, or animated projects, this is a mostly intuitive program to use. It functions better when you have another program to sift through your sound effects library, but it is still plenty powerful on it’s own, and makes sound design a pleasure. Be wary of playback for large videos, as the video engine isn’t that great. I recommend you render a low-resolution draft of your work before throwing it into this program.

Soundminer HD+

Soundminer HD+ is another audio program I’ve had for many years. It allows you to compile and archive your sound effects (I have about 1/2 a terabyte currently), and organizes them, which if you have a large sound library, is a must. Getting it set up with pro-tools on windows is always a nightmare, but after setup, it runs well enough. I’m not super into audio so I don’t know of all the alternatives to this program, but if you’re stuck on windows like I am, it does the job well enough, and is priced reasonably well.

Mobile Software

Notability

While I do the bulk of my notes on the stock iPhone app, notability has become an important part of my workflow and business planning. It’s a very simple app and easy to use with a one time fee. I generally use it for very specific situations (business plans,  guides and so forth), but it’s flexible enough where you can do whatever you need to. It can be a bit buggy if you have a lot going on, but comes with a lot of functionality as a trade-off.

Things 3 for iPhone

Things 3 is one of my favorite apps to use. I discovered it about a year ago and it is my main task-setting app. It’s fluid, has a lot of options for checklists, setting repeating tasks, creating projects and so on. it comes with a one time fee for both the iPad and iPhone app, and it’s worth it if you’re into checking things off your list like I am. It sounds silly, but I have become smarter with my productivity because of it.

Evernote

Evernote is a very, very old app that most people probably know of. It doesn’t get much use from me these days aside from it being a secondary archival tool. It went through a long phase of being buggy, slow and unreliable, but it functions very smoothly now. It has all the tools that mobile notes app have, and comes with an optional subscription for power user features, which I don’t use myself. If you’re new to note taking on mobile, or you have different devices, Evernote is a great starting place.

Procreate

I’ve written about procreate before, so I’ll keep this short. I love this app. It is by far my most used app for my iPad, and an integral part in my pipeline now. It comes with a one time fee, and is constantly updated bringing more and more power user features to it. There are a few bugs that pop up once in a while, but it is the smoothest operating app on the iPad I think. If you do art, and have an iPad, this app is a must have.

Rough Animator

Rough animator is an honest attempt at making an animation first program on iPad. It is still in the early stages, but it is already quite powerful. I haven’t used it as much since procreate added a timeline, but for more in-depth animations, or if you just want to quickly sketch out an action, rough animator is a great program. Plus, it’s one of the few animation apps that come with multiple timelines in a standard UX, which is a great tool that sets itself apart from the competition.

Vectornator

Vectornator is a surprisingly powerful vector app. It mimics most of the main tools you would find in a program like adobe illustrator (and can even export in that format), but you get it for free. The interface is clean, and it’s a powerful, smooth running program. This program was integral in me completing several shorts a while back as adobe illustrator files play well with this and Toonboom, so if you need an app for vector art creation, you can’t get better than this. It also plays very well with other mobile apps for importing and exporting. I’ve been very impressed with how power and reliable it is.

Affinity Designer

If you need a vector program with a bit more power behind it, look no further than Affinity Designer. It has a lot of tools. By a lot, I mean it. It is a desktop class app for mobile. Ironically, I don’t use it much, because at the time of this writing, it doesn’t export in the adobe illustrator format, but if it did, it would easily replace Vectornator for me. The tools allow you to quickly create very precise works, very quickly, and there’s no silly subscription like adobe has with their programs. If you fit in it’s niche, it is excellent.