The highly hyped animation app Procreate Dreams has been out for a couple of weeks. And I have spent that time learning the full features of the app and creating some fun animations. As a Senior Art Director who not only creates 2D and 3D animation but also teaches it to students on Skillshare, I wanted to share an honest Procreate Dreams Review.

The Pros:

• Familiar for Procreate users. There's a lot of gestures and UI elements that are consistent or similar to the original Procreate app.
• A full timeline that supports frame-by-frame animation and animating through keyframes. Previously, I would use Procreate's limited timeline to create frame-by-frame animation which I would then bring into After Effects to keyframe more complex movement. Procreate Dreams has replaced the need for After Effects in my hand-drawn animations.
• Along with a full timeline, comes the ability to group frames and layers (called Tracks in Dreams).
• Performing is the app's showstopper feature which allows users to record the actions they perform such as dragging an object across the screen. Performing that action is recorded through keyframes
• The ability to import Procreate projects and brushes directly into Dreams.
• The ability to animate not just movement and scale but also filter effects (ex: Opacity and Blur) and transformations (ex: Distort and Warp).
• Nondestructive workflow and the ability to draw and move objects outside of the frame. One of the downsides of Procreate was how transforming and scaling objects would cause a loss of quality which isn't an issue in Dreams.
• A nice feature for beginners is an easy-to-use Easing system which along with Performing helps newbie animators produce nice-looking animations.
• Overall it's really fun app to use once you've gotten over the learning curve.

The Cons:

• The most disappointing part of the app has been the limited Drawing mode. Procreate became my go-to app for frame-by-frame animation because of its easy-to-use drawing experience. Dreams' drawing mode currently lacks the selection tool, the ability to edit brushes and streamline, as well as, the ability to use quick shapes/line. Also not able to reorder layers or frames in flipbook mode.
  • Due to the state of the drawing mode, I tend to draw my illustrations and even draw some frame-by-frame animation in Procreate and then import them into Dreams. I have noticed a lot of other artists using a similar approach.
• The high learning curve. As with the original Procreate app, Dreams has a very minimalistic design which, means a lot of features are hidden and some features are only accessible through gestures. This makes it difficult for a new user to be able to jump in immediately and start animating. You really need to watch a couple of tutorials to learn how to access everything.
  • Dreams also takes the minimalistic approach further with a reduced UI that hides settings like Onion Skins, Preferences, and Exporting within the user interface. This is another reason why new users need to spend time learning the program before they can get going.
• Features being gesture dependant. A downside to the app is that some features like undo and redo are only accessible through gestures. The original Procreate app used a lot of similar gestures but would also give users the option of actual UI buttons to accomplish actions.
• Lacks the ability to copy/paste keyframes and retime multiple keyframes.
• Currently, there's no way to organize or group projects in the theater.

Procreate Resolution

While Dreams may feel half-baked, the good news is that Procreate has been pretty progressive with responding to criticism and letting users know of their plans to address a lot of the issues and lacking features in coming updates. Developer roadmap can be found here: https://folio.procreate.com/discussions/3/6/58248. Seeing the plans to address concerns has gotten me excited for the future of the app.

The Verdict: Should You Buy It?

It'll depend on the user. In my opinion, Dreams is best suited for users who love Procreate and need more advanced animation features like animating keyframes and performing. Since Procreate app is needed for drawing workarounds, I wouldn't recommend Dreams for non-Procreate users. And, if you're a serious animator, I'd recommend checking out other animation apps. Currently, apps like Toonsquid offer a more robust animation experience with more features.

I personally am glad I bought the app even in it's current state. Once you get past the learning curve and have developed workarounds, it's a lot of fun creating animations.

Looking for more Motion or Animation class suggestions? Then check out my blog.