Pencil2D vs SkelForm

Pencil2D is free, open-source software for creating hand-drawn 2D animations. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and, according to the homepage, FreeBSD. The project provides stable builds for Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.14 or later on Intel, and both 32-bit and 64-bit Linux. Artists can switch between raster and vector workflows for sketching, inking and painting. A timeline manages keyframes, while dockable tool and color windows accompany an unlimited canvas with a camera field. Onion skin displays drawings before and after the current keyframe, with controls for drawing count and transparency. Sound can be imported through a sound layer, although waveform display is still pending. Exports include MP4, WEBM, AVI, GIF, APNG and PNG image sequences. Video importing, text tools and shape tools are not implemented. Pencil2D is free for commercial use. Help is available through its forum, Discord, tutorials, FAQ and user manual.

SkelForm is a free 2D skeletal animator designed for game animation. It offers a web editor that works without a download, as well as desktop availability for Linux, macOS and Windows. Listed animation features include styles, inverse kinematics and mesh deformation. SkelForm can import Photoshop Document files to build an armature: PSD groups become bones, while layers inside each group are combined into a texture. Exports include sprite sheets and video. A runtime is required to use SkelForm animations in games; the site lists generic and engine runtimes, and its guide covers using animations in pygame. The installation guide describes the downloaded editor as a portable program without an installer, while the v0.8 release lists dedicated Windows and Mac installers. SkelForm and its documentation are works in progress. Mobile development is inactive, with no direct mobile build process; the described option is to use the web version in a WebView wrapper. Its public repository lists a GPL-3.0 license.