Motion Graphics on Linux

If you are a motion graphics artist, you likely use mac or windows, and you probably spend a lot of time in Adobe After Effects. It’s an incredible program, versatile yet precise, broadly adopted yet behind a paywall that excludes those that don’t have the budget, or the time to invest in learning it.

AE is not supported on Linux. There may be some people who have been able to run it using Wine, Bottles, or a VM, but there are a lot of reasons why that isn’t a great idea. This fact, at the outset, means that those who need to use Adobe products for one reason or another are simply not using Linux as their main operating system.

Let’s assume that you are using linux, you’re not locked into Adobe, and you want to create professional motion graphics in a reliable environment that is supported, and that offers versatility for different types of projects. You have a few options, and since I recently discovered one that I had no idea even existed, I thought I’d share them here.

1. DaVinci Resolve Fusion #

If you do professional editing on Linux, chances are you use Resolve. I have had a USB License for several years now (how I haven’t lost it yet considering how often I transport it in my bag, combined with my ADHD brain, is beyond me!) and so I use the studio version, so I can only speak to that. Used in combination with Fusion (built into Resolve), the ability to create custom fusion compositions, settings files, filters, transitions, etc, is amazing - assuming that you can invest some time into learning the tool. There are many incredible presets you can buy or download for free, which will elevate your videos instantly with little effort.

The node-based workflow can be difficult to wrap your head around if coming from After Effects, but has some serious advantages.

It’s cross-platform (Win/Mac/Linux)

Scripting & Expressions are written in Lua, not Express script, so that just means one more language to learn

The standalone Fusion application gives you even more options with regards to compositing and other tools.

2. Blender #

Blender is a classic, not often thought of as a ‘motion graphics’ program. Definitely takes learning, but very powerful. real-time can be a challenge.

Also node-based if you want to learn the power of geometry nodes.

3. Friction #

This was new to me. I want to like it. I’m not sure if I do yet.

Great expressions options, based in ECMAScript so learning will be easy if you are familiar with expressions in After Effects.

Some AE workhorse expressions not supported without lots of scripting? .valueAtTime() is an example. This seems to be something that is known and is on the Milestones list for version 1.1.0

Can save presets

can export motion svg

Integrates well with Inkscape.

4. Glaxnimate #

a very basic looking vector graphics program that can also do motion! Give it a try- it’s more capable than it appears. I haven’t dove into the scripting yet, but their release documentation offers an API guide

I love that it’s able to export Lottie animations, Animated GIF and WebP and Animated SVG.- something that feels more difficult than it should on After effects.

In sum, I do feel that After Effects has the advantage due to the ease of integrating expressions, the relatively straightforward option to use keyframes, and compatibility with Illustrator, Premiere, and Photoshop. However, stepping outside of the Adobe environment is possible, if you’re willing to learn a new way of thinking about objects in your scene (nodes-based) or learn a new scripting language. Blender especially unlocks some amazing new visual potential, just be ready for the increased render times that will come with it.