For nothing but freeware go here. Have fun being creative!
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Systemax - PaintTool SAI (2D Illustration)
http://www.systemax.jp/en/sai/
¥5400 JPY (~$54.00 USD)
Very popular, very good, and relatively cheap compared to other products.
Alternatives: FireAlpaca, Krita, MediBang Paint Pro
Adobe - Photoshop (2D Image Editing, 2D Illustration, 2D Animation/Storyboarding, Spriting, etc. ...)
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html
$19.99 USD/month
Standard. Primarly a photo and image editing software, but capable of being a drawing and animation program as well.
Alternatives: CELSYS - Clip Studio Paint, AKA Manga Studio (2D Illustration, Comic Illustration)
http://www.clipstudio.net/en
http://my.smithmicro.com/manga-studio-c ... tware.html
Pro: $47.99 USD, or ¥5000 JPY (~$50.00 USD)
EX: $209.99 USD, or ¥10000 JPY (~$100.00 USD)
Standard; the illustration software to Photoshop's image editing software.
Alternatives:
- Illustration: ^see PaintTool SAI^
Comics: ???
http://www.portalgraphics.net/en/oc/
$59.00 USD, or ¥5800 JPY
Another popular professional illustration program.
Alternatives: ^see PaintTool SAI^
portalgraphics - ComiLabo, AKA MangaLabo (Comic Illustration)
http://www.portalgraphics.net/en/cl/
¥5800 JPY (~$58.00 USD)
Comic drawing program also published by portalgraphics.
Alternatives: ???
Corel - Painter (2D Illustration)
http://www.painterartist.com/us/
$406 USD
Digital painting that mimics traditional painting.
Alternatives: ???
Adobe - Animate (2D Animation)
http://www.adobe.com/products/flash.html
$19.99 USD/month
Formerly known as Flash Professional.
Alternatives: Synfig?
Toon Boom - Harmony (2D Animation)
http://www.toonboom.com/products/harmony
Essentials: $180 USD/year, or $375 USD one-time
Advanced: $456 USD/year, or $975 USD one-time
Premium: $876 USD/year, or $1975 USD one-time
2D animation standard. Often used professionally, along with Storyboard Pro.
Alternatives: Synfig
Toon Boom - Storyboard Pro (2D Storyboarding)
http://www.toonboom.com/products/storyboardpro
$456 USD/year, or $999 USD one-time
2D storyboarding program often used alongside Toon Boom Harmony.
Alternatives: Blender
Blender (3D Modeling, 3D Animation, 2D Storyboarding, Game Creation)
https://www.blender.org/
Freeware!
Free and open source program capable of 3D modeling and animation first and foremost, includes its own game engine, and also capable of storyboaring via the Grease Pencil tool.
Metasequoia (3D Modeling)
http://metaseq.net/en/index.html
Standard: $45.00 USD, or ¥5400 JPY (~$54.00 USD)
EX: $150.00 USD, or ¥19980 JPY (~$199.80 USD)
Somewhat common 3D modeling tool, fairly easy to learn to use.
Alternatives: Blender
Adobe - After Affects (Post-production)
http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects.html
$19.99 USD/month
It's like Photoshop. But for videos.
Alternatives: ???
Aseprite (Spriting)
http://www.aseprite.org/
$14.99 USD
Sprite animation and pixel art program. Very cheap and is easy to learn to use, especially if you've previously done spriting in Photoshop.
Alternatives: ???