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4.7 star rating
0
Software
Animation
What is the best animation software?
3
Options
Considered
18
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Recs.
Sep 12, 2022
Last
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Best animation software
Price
Platforms
Technology
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Blender
FREE
Windows, Linux, Mac, FreeBSD
C, Python
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Autodesk Maya
-
-
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Blender
My Rec
ommendation
for
Blender
My Recommendation for
Blender
All
15
Pros
14
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Very versatile
You don't have to switch between software when you want to do different things. Because modeling, sculpting, composting, video editing etc can all be done in blender.
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Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac, FreeBSD
Technology:
C, Python
3D:
Yes
2D:
Yes (as of 2.8)
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Top
Pro
•••
Has a large community
There's a huge community to help you get started immediately.
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Top
Pro
•••
Very useful for a freelancer
It offers a round solution (it covers many areas and professional fields) for a freelancer, for free, constantly updated, very polished, and allowing high quality results that clients do require. After some learning, it becomes very useful for professional work.
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Top
Pro
•••
Keyboard shortcuts
Good keyboard shortcuts for everything. Keep your left hand on the keyboard and your right hand on the mouse.
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Top
Pro
•••
Node based modeling support
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Top
Pro
•••
Includes video editing & compositing tools
Blender's node-based compositor has comprehensive video sequencing and post-processing features.
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Top
Pro
•••
Sculpting and 3D painting features
Although Blender's 3d painting and sculpting tools (mostly painting) are not at par with specialized software like Substance Painter, ZBrush, or Mari, it is more than capable of getting most jobs done if the user takes the time to learn and understand it.
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Top
Pro
•••
Regular release schedule
Releases are made every ~3 months.
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Top
Pro
•••
Wide import and export format support
Support lots of modern 3D formats including DAE and FBX - ideal for game developers.
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Top
Pro
•••
Supports both low-poly and hi-poly modeling
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Top
Pro
•••
Powerful animation suite
Blender provides a full rigging system, and automates animation by interpolating between keyframe positions.
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Top
Pro
•••
Python extensibility
Blender embeds Python 3, which can be used to write add-ons, tools, extend the interface, rig characters and automate tasks.
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Top
Pro
•••
Has a powerful rendering engine
Blender runs the Cycles path tracing engine under the hood. Cycles is a very powerful rendering engine capable of full path tracing (light fall off, caustics, volumetrics). It is mostly compatible with OpenCL and CUDA rendering, and is implementing mycropolygon displacement features. The upcoming release has a viewport engine called EEVEE whereby you can see and interact with your work in render mode in real time!
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Top
Pro
•••
Free and open source
Blender is licensed under the GPL. Some Blender modules such as the Cycles rendering engine are licensed under the Apache 2.0 license.
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FREE
Recommend
7
--
Autodesk Maya
My Rec
ommendation
for
Autodesk Maya
My Recommendation for
Autodesk Maya
All
9
Pros
5
Cons
3
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Flexible
Autodesk Maya has many features and can do pretty much anything if you know how to use it. It includes great lighting and animation features and settings that Cinema4D and Blender don't have. It has an extensive list of tools for modelling, look development, rigging, animation, rendering and exporting.
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Top
Con
•••
Poorly organized interface
The menu organization doesn't make sense, and leaves you searching all over the place for functions that should fall under one category. For example, the option to bake your animation isn't under the Animation menu.
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Specs
Pricing:
Free trial version for 30 days or $1,620 /year for the Commercial version
Top
Pro
•••
Extensible
The MEL language allows one to either write custom scripts or to download them.
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Top
Con
•••
Expensive
Maya costs about $50 a month if you can't avail of the free student version.
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Top
Pro
•••
Free for students
It is free for 3 years for college/university students.
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Top
Con
•••
Poorly organized interface
The menu organization doesn't make sense, and leaves you searching all over the place for functions that should fall under one category. For example, the option to bake your animation isn't under the Animation menu.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Multiplatform
Maya supports Linux, Mac, and Windows.
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Top
Pro
•••
Industry standard
Maya is used heavily in game-development and other industries; and has been the industry standard for 3d modelling and animation for years.
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here
Recommend
3
Don't see your favorite option? Add it.
--
Animation Desk
My Rec
ommendation
for
Animation Desk
My Recommendation for
Animation Desk
Free
Recommend
8
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