Friction
For web and video, Friction supports vector and raster animation through its motion graphics application.
About Friction
Friction is a motion graphics application for creating vector and raster animations for web and video. According to its homepage, it uses a C++ vector and raster pipeline built on Skia and the Qt framework, with GPU and CPU rendering. Downloads are listed for Windows, Linux, and macOS, with both release and snapshot builds.
The homepage describes support for animated SVG using SMIL, multiple scenes and timelines, expressions with ECMAScript, and a set of text and path effects. Shader effects are described as experimental and limited to a small included set, and the homepage says more text and path effects are planned. Pricing is not stated in the source.
Key features
- Vector and raster animation pipeline built on Skia and Qt
- Animated SVG creation using SMIL, as recommended by W3C
- Multiple scenes, timelines, and viewers open at the same time
- ECMAScript expressions with a code editor offering autocompletion and syntax highlighting
- Text and path effects for vector graphics and text
- Experimental user-customizable shader effects with a limited included set
Best for: Designers and animators who create vector or raster motion graphics for web or video and want scripted expressions.
Good for
- Homepage describes a scalable, high-performance GPU/CPU vector and raster pipeline
- Supports creating animated SVG using SMIL
- Lets users work on multiple scenes, timelines, and viewers at once
Watch out for
- Shader effects are described as experimental, with only a limited set included
- The homepage states the effects collection is still being expanded
Friction at a glance
- Website
- friction.graphics
- Category
- Design & Creative › Video Editing & Animation
- Type
- Online tool
- Pricing
- Not confirmed. Check the site
- Platforms
- Linux, macOS, Web, Windows
- Open source
- Not stated
- Language
- English
- Last checked
- Oct 6, 2026 · Online when checked
- Listed
- Oct 5, 2026
Guides for Video Editing & Animation
Friction alternatives
Tools and sites you could use instead, ranked by how closely they match.
Create 2D and 3D motion graphics and visual effects with Autograph, which is available for free.
wide.video edits HD and 4K video locally in the browser, with AI captions, background removal, and smooth-motion tools listed on its site.
MKVToolNix provides tools for creating and working with Matroska files, with source and release information on Codeberg.
Convert video, audio and image files online with this web-based media converter built around FFmpeg.
LosslessCut edits video and audio without re-encoding, with the project source available on GitHub.
Open source
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Friction FAQ
Can Friction create animated SVG files?
The homepage states that Friction can create animated scalable vector graphics using SMIL.
Are shader effects fully supported?
The homepage describes shader effect support as experimental, with a limited set of effects included.
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