Not sure where I should post this...
I need to build a couple of little animated movies, to place within real world actors in videos to make complex subjects appear to be simpler than they are. Yeah, I know sounds ridiculous, but that's what I need to do. Using real actors is just not a best fit, because the audience is grade school level, and the content to explain is high school or early college level. Holding viewer interest is important, and by having animation it should make the viewer think... if it's a cartoon I can understand it.
I've been searching the web for animated movie maker software, which is what I think is needed. There are some free online things, but they aren't a best fit because they are too cookie cutter. Also, I'd say most are so simplified they aren't interesting for lengthy presentations.
I may not have made it clear enough. I need to use animated actors in the little skits. I guess I need something that renders pretty well, and is easy to create actors and their movements efficiently. I don't want the complexity of building 3d games. I just need to have a software that lets me take some 3d quality actors and scenery from a library and poke it altogether. Guess I'd also need some ability to either transcribe text to sound or create sound with human voice and dubb it.
Maybe someone could suggest a software.
You might want to look at CrazyTalk from Reallusion. It lets you take an audio file (songs, spoken word, etc...) and easily create animations using their pre-defined (or your own) characters.
Website: http://www.reallusion.com/CrazyTalk/
Here's something I did using it - Took about 4 hours if I remember correctly, but it was my first attempt at using the product: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-mwjNdVbwc
Bruce Paul 7Squared Productions http://www.7squared.com
Adobe After Effect has a cartoon feature that will make real actors appear to be cartoons.
Birdcat, I like your version, it is pretty cool for a first try.
Reallusion also has iClone with many "human" characters that you can easily animate. It also has scenery you can add and move around in.
http://www.reallusion.com/iclone/
Life is not a guided tour nor a destination. It is a journey. Take the time to enjoy your family, friends and surroundings. Build memories. Share experiences. Travel at sight speed not light speed. (C)
There is also Crazy talk animator which is really cool with cartoon characters. Easy to use its also reallusion.
I think moviestorm is one of the finest software for the animated video production.It will give you plenty of options for making numerous kind of animated videos.I prefer you to use this software,because it is so effective and if you see any complications you can see its tutorial on Youtube.
Perhaps http://www.makewebvideo.com will work for you? The animation videos it creates are mostly for a promoting a business, but maybe you find a suitable video template there.