Animation program for drawing primitive shapes with color, moving them, adding text and images, with smooth transitions

Question

I want the ability to animate a scene where I can draw boxes, circles, text, and other things like images, and be able to record it. I figure I will need my own recording software, but that is separate from this post.

Because my needs are very simple, the tool I use should be free.

Since some of the things will be computer science and math related, originally I was looking at 3Blue1Brown's videos, but the application used for those videos is a bit overkill for what I need.

Answer 1

If you need only primitives (lines, squares, circles, ellipses, etc), you may find what you need by using SolveSpace (free, Linux, Windows, OS X). Image from linked site.

The program is capable of 3D creations, but just as easily allows one to create 2D designs.

If the design is properly created (limited constraints), one can move elements of the design for recording and animation purposes.

Answer 2

You could use a video compositing software like Natron (which may also be a bit overkill). You can definitely render out videos with it if that's your goal?

Otherwise it would also be an idea to work with HTML and CSS animations. If you already have experience there, you can quickly get simple animations. You could then also record your screen or even integrate the HTML snippet or start the animation on hover/click.

You may should update your question to make more clear what you want to do with that animation or what container file you need.

Answer 3

Video editing software like Hitfilm express often includes features for keyframing animations. If the software you use doesn't come with particular shapes or text, you could always create images of those shapes/text with a free image editor like Gimp and import them into your video editing software.

You could also look into "png tuber" software like this one I found with a quick Google search, but I haven't tried one before.

If you don't need the animations to be "tweened" automatically, you could do the tweening yourself with free 2D animation software like Krita. Blender is also free and would suit your needs but it's definitely a steeper learning curve.