Moho Pro 14.4 — Mac version

Moho Pro 14 is a 2D animation studio that packs vector drawing, a bone-rigging system, and a full timeline sequencer into one application. It's the kind of tool you'd use for a short film, a web series, or game sprites that need to move with proper weight.

What's good

• Draw vector shapes and turn them into 3D objects without leaving the app.
• A built-in object library gives you props and characters to drop straight onto the canvas.
• The bone-rigging and curve tools make cut-out animation feel snappy, not fiddly.
• Export finished projects as video files, image sequences, or SWF.
• Can import Poser scenes to mix 3D assets with your 2D rigs.
• Full HD video import and export means it sits happily in a production pipeline.
• Interface speaks plain English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and a handful more.

Older Macs will struggle with OpenGL 4.1

• Needs macOS 10.15 or later and a graphics card that supports OpenGL 4.1 — older Macs will struggle.
• Online activation is required, so you'll need a connection at least once during setup.
• The scripting update to Lua 5.4.4 might trip up older custom scripts if you've been holding onto them.

Indie game animator: one morning's work

A solo dev sits down with a blank Moho project and a rough sketch of a player character — a lanky cat with a scarf. They need an idle loop and a walk cycle by lunch. The bone-rigging tools let them pin joints at the shoulders and hips in under ten minutes. Smart bones handle the scarf's sway without drawing each frame by hand. By eleven, both cycles are exported as PNG sequences and dropped into Godot. The tight engine integration means the developer doesn't spend the afternoon redoing pivot points.

Stash your Moho 13 scripts before testing Lua 5.4.4

• Stash a copy of your custom scripts elsewhere. Moho 14's Lua 5.4.4 is a jump from the old 5.1 engine. Some community scripts won't load until their authors catch up. Keep your working Moho 13 scripts safe, and test one at a time.
• Set up your export presets early. Decide whether you're spitting out MP4, image sequences, or glTF for a game engine. Doing it on day one keeps your folder structure sane when you're juggling five scenes later.
• Raid the object library first, customise second. The built-in props and rigged characters aren't just starter toys — pull one apart to see how the bones and switch layers are set up. It's a free masterclass in how Moho expects you to build things.

Walk cycle, start to finish

Let's say you've drawn a simple side-on character — a fox on two legs, vector shapes grouped into limbs. Here's a workflow that gets you a clean walk in under an hour.

1. Rig with the Add Bone tool. Drop a skeleton from the hip upward: spine, neck, head, then down each leg. Name the bones something you'll recognise in the timeline later — thigh_L beats bone7.
2. Bind the layers. Use the Bind Layer tool to stick each limb shape to its bone. Flexi-bind works for simple shapes; switch to Layer Binding if you want exact control.
3. Block the four poses. Jump to frame 1 and set the contact pose (heel down). Frame 6: passing pose. Frame 12: second contact. Frame 18: opposite passing. Use the Manipulate Bones tool — don't draw anything new.
4. Cycle the keyframes. Right-click the bone channel, choose Add Cycle Keyframe, and set it to loop. Moho handles the interpolation. Hit play and watch it loop cleanly.
5. Polish the secondary motion. Add a Smart Bone Dial for the tail. A gentle figure-eight shape dial, keyframed across the walk cycle, sells the weight shift without extra layers.
6. Export. If it's for a game, use the new glTF exporter in 14.4. For a reel, render to MP4 with a transparent background — drop it into your edit later.

• glTF and GLB export — push animated characters to game engines and 3D apps without extra conversion.
• Particle system and layer fixes have tidied up a few long-standing quirks.
• The scripting engine now runs on Lua 5.4.4, which is a quiet but solid upgrade for anyone writing custom tools.

• macOS 10.15 or later
• Intel or Apple Silicon Mac
• 2.0 GHz Intel Core i3 or better
• 4 GB RAM minimum
• 1.6 GB free hard drive space
• OpenGL 4.1 supported graphics card
• Online connection for activation