Kinemac is a 3D Real Time Animation Software for OS X. It allows you to create your own professional 3D and 2D animations with the utmost simplicity. And the results will blow you away. Express Animate is an animation tool used to create motion graphics, animated pictures, character animations, animated banners and much more. This software comes under the text animation software, free download category and is easy to use.
The number and variety of 3D software packages on the market is staggering, but many of the top applications in use by commercial film, gaming, and effects studios cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.
It's true that most commercial applications offer time-limited free trials or abbreviated learning editions for students and hobbyists. If you're planning to work in the computer graphics industry one day, these are well worth exploring even if you can't afford a full license, because your skills in the commercial packages are what will ultimately land you a job.
However, plenty of free 3D software suites are out there for hobbyists, independent filmmakers who don't have the budget for expensive software, and budget-conscious freelance professionals who have found all the tools and power they need in cost-free solutions like Blender or SketchUp.
Just because the software is free doesn't necessarily make it any less valuable. This list isn't exhaustive. There are dozens of other free 3D tools available beyond those mentioned here. However, these are the strongest of the bunch.
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Blender
What We Like
- Interface vastly improved over early versions.
- Great for video games and animation.
- Nearly on par with expensive professional 3D modeling programs.
What We Don't Like
- Less useful in designing architecture and objects like furniture.
- Heavy use of shortcuts to execute commands can be daunting for new users learning the software.
Blender is easily the most versatile entry on this list, and in many regards, it compares favorably to top digital content creation tools like Cinema 4D, Maya, and 3Ds Max. To this day, it stands as one of the greatest open-source development projects ever conceived.
Blender is full-featured, offering a complete range of modeling, surfacing, sculpting, painting, animation, and rendering tools.
The software is good enough to have produced numerous impressive short films and is in use by several professional studios.
Blender was criticized early on for having a confusing interface, but don't let outdated complaints steer you away. The software was given a thorough overhaul recently and emerged with a fresh interface and a feature set that aims for parity with the best.
While you don't see Blender in any Hollywood effects pipelines where Autodesk and Houdini are deeply ingrained, Blender has steadily carved out a niche in motion graphics and visualization, similar to where Cinema 4D excels.
Blender 2.79
Blender 2.79 (source code)
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Pixologic Sculptris
What We Like
- Makes quick editing easy.
- Excellent tool for learning the art.
- Users can transition to ZBrush without a difficult learning curve.
What We Don't Like
- Rendering can be slow at times.
- Lacks some useful tools and features found in other software.
Sculptris is a digital sculpting application similar to ZBrush or Mudbox, but with an easier learning curve. Because Sculptris uses dynamic tessellation, it is essentially geometry-independent, meaning it is an ideal learning package for someone with few or no modeling skills who wants to try his hand at sculpting. Sculptris was originally developed independently by Tomas Pettersson, but is now owned and maintained by Pixologic as a free counterpart to ZBrush. Sculptris is aimed at beginners. The website offers video tutorials and an assurance that the skills you learn in Sculptris easily translate to ZBrush.
Sculptris was last updated in 2011. Pixologic still allows downloads but warns that as legacy software, it's no longer maintained or supported.
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SketchUp
What We Like
- Great for architectural modeling.
- Large library of models available.
What We Don't Like
- Interface may be a challenge for new users to get used to.
- Importing 3D models created in other programs can sometimes be a problem.
SketchUp is an intuitive and accessible modeler, originally developed by Google and now owned by Trimble. SketchUp excels at practical and architectural design and probably has more in common with a CAD package than traditional surface modelers like Maya and Max.
Like Blender, SketchUp has been amazingly well received and has gradually carved out a niche with professionals in the visualization field due to its ease of use and speed.
The software has little in the way of organic modeling tools, but if your primary interest is in architectural modeling, SketchUp is an excellent starting point. You begin by drawing lines and shapes and then stretch and copy them to make whatever you like. You don't have to draw everything, though. SketchUp offers an enormous library of free 3D models to get you started — search the 3D Warehouse for what you need.
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Wings 3D
What We Like
- Good tool for learning 3D modeling basics.
- Supports many other 3D file formats.
What We Don't Like
- Doesn't offer features beyond the basics.
- No animations.
Wings is a straightforward open-source subdivision surface modeler, which means it has similar modeling capabilities to Maya and Max but none of their other functions.
Because Wings uses traditional (standard) polygon modeling techniques, everything you learn here is applicable in other content-creation packages, making this an ideal starting point for anyone looking to learn how to model for animation, film, and games.
Wings3D 2.2.4
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Tinkercad
What We Like
- Easy-to-learn interface.
- Design tools are online, no software to download.
What We Don't Like
- Doesn't fare well with very complex designs.
- Requires an internet connection.
Tinkercad is an impressive suite of free, lightweight 3D tools offered by Autodesk as an easy entry point into the world of 3D. Autodesk develops five different applications under the Tinkercad banner, including modeling and sculpting apps, an iPad based creature designer, and a tool to assist with fabrication and 3D printing.
In a way, Tinkercad is AutoDesk's answer to Sculptris and Sketchup and is meant to interest beginners in 3D without the tremendous learning curve of their Autodesk's flagship applications: CAD, Maya, Max, and Mudbox.
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Daz Studio
What We Like
- Includes lots of props and models to use.
- Strong in animation, image, and film creation tasks.
What We Don't Like
- Limited sculpting, modeling, and surfacing tools.
- Easier to create new models in other 3D software and import for use.
Daz Studio is an image creation tool that comes with a wealth of characters, props, creatures, and buildings that you can arrange and animate to create still images or short films. The software is primarily meant for users who want to create 3D images or films without the overhead of creating all their models and textures by hand.
The software's animation and rendering toolset is fairly robust, and in the right hands, users can create impressive shots. However, without a full range of modeling, surfacing, or sculpting tools built in, your content can become limited unless you're willing to buy 3D assets in the Daz marketplace or create them yourself with a third-party modeling package.
Still, it's a great piece of software for people who just want to jump in and create a 3D image or film without a whole lot of overhead.
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Mandelbulb 3D
What We Like
- Create impressive fractal objects and scenes.
- Can play around with formulas to see what you get.
- The website offers downloadable examples to experiment with.
What We Don't Like
- Takes some time to acclimate to this software.
- Interface is overwhelming at first and not as intuitive as other 3D software.
If you're interested in fractals, Mandelbulb 3D should be right up your alley. The application certainly takes some getting used to, but the result is stellar once you know what you're doing. The 3D fractal environment includes color, lighting, specularity, depth-of-field, and shadow and flow effects used to generate amazing fractal objects. If the concept of fractals is Greek to you, visit the featured artists' section of the Mandelbulb website to see the types of things you can do with this software.
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Autodesk Software (Free but Limited)
What We Like
- Free top-tier 3D design software if used only non-commercially.
- Powerful and feature-rich software tools that are industry standards.
What We Don't Like
- Steep learning curve when starting to use these complex software packages.
- Software can have hefty system requirements and be resource intensive.
Autodesk offers virtually its entire software line free for non-commercial use to 'students and community members.' However, you don't have to be enrolled in a school to download them. If you want to work in the industry eventually, knowing Autodesk software is a valuable skill, so this is a highly recommended path. The only limitation is that you can't use any of the software in commercial projects. Among the educational downloads are 3DS Max, Maya, Inventor Professional, and AutoCAD.
Posted by4 years ago
Archived
Thanks! I compiled the Pros and Cons for the software of choice and tagged the user(s) with their Pros and Cons. There might be some overlap.
After Effects:
- Pros: Industry standard and workflow with Adobe Creative Suite, integration with c4d, resources like tutorials are easy to find, scripts can be useful and found easily online.
- Cons: Steep learning curve, expressions can be difficult, random errors.
/u/absolutelybatty, /u/edlike
C4D
- Pros: friendly user interface, industry standard for motion graphics, nice rendering settings, integrates with After Effects
- Cons: Harder to find tutorials for it.
- Note: Lynda courses on it as well as greyscalegorilla
Toon Boom Animate Pro 3
- Pros: Great for tradition animation
- Cons: intermediate learning curve, interface is kind of dated
Maya
- Pros - Industry standard if you want to work with mocap. Very easy to use with mocap, lots of nice things such as easy rigging, IK/FK on every joint, posing tool. As the software is pretty limited in functions, it doesn't take too long to learn. Good for modeling and animation, lots of tutorials are out there (Lynda for example) Industry standard when it comes to 3D character animation, plenty of rigs, scripts and tutorials available. Widely used shortcuts. Found Maya to be versatile and rugged for various animal and humanoid body types. The Graph Editor just makes sense and timing can be further refined with the Dope Sheet or straight on if one chooses.
- Cons - Motionbuilder is adapted to work with mocapped humans, for use with games. Don't have any dreams of animating something that's not standard biped, or having a fancyschmancy facial rig. Don't get me started on doing anything that's not related to animation, such as assigning textures. Rending can be difficult, learning curve.
/u/Steenah, /u/Absolutelybatty, /u/Banecroft/u/evilanimator1138
Adobe Flash CS3
- Pros: Easy to navigate timeline and can instantly test and view animation. Great timeline and animation features. Great shortcuts for cycles or mouthcharts inside symbols. I like symbols and the timeline
- Cons: Drawing tools are annoyingly limited. Pencil tool over-smooths curves and strokes, or makes them jaggy if I turn smoothing all the way off. Commonly having to draw the same stroke over and over again to get it the right width if I use the brush tool. The brush is atrocious and the current flash program is worse for animating than when macromedia ran it, adobe has abandoned flash.
/u/toonholeryan, /u/atc593, /u/KovonMolebock
Toon Boom Animate Pro 8
- Pros: easy to navigate & export. Toon Boom is made for animation
- Cons: Less people use Toon Boom so there's a smaller community with less tutorials.
Motionbuilder
- Pros - Industry standard if you want to work with mocap. Very easy to use with mocap, lots of nice things such as easy rigging, IK/FK on every joint, posing tool. As the software is pretty limited in functions, it doesn't take too long to learn.
- Cons - Motionbuilder is adapted to work with mocapped humans, for use with games. Don't have any dreams of animating something that's not standard biped, or having a fancyschmancy facial rig. Don't get me started on doing anything that's not related to animation, such as assigning textures…
Blender 3D
- Pros: Open source development, free, surprisingly full featured, great community, many great tutorials and learning resources, very stable for what it is (3D programs are known to crash a lot), platform independent (except mobile, but that could be on the way), game engine is fun, The Blender Foundation is very committed to development. Incredible development team. Features are developed and improved on much, much faster than any closed-source program like maya or C4D. Really fast modelling workflow. Keyboard shortcuts for literally anything allow me to keep my mouse over the model and do actions instead of hunting for buttons. Fantastic professional-quality physically based rendering engine. You can control literally anything with a Python script if that's how you roll. Cons: the interface is a pain to learn, but once you learn it, you can make it do whatever you want. (only half of a con) Some of the features are only half-baked and seriously need a lot of work or need to be removed.
- Cons: Not industry standard, some features come slowly or are hard to find, many say the interface is difficult to learn, but is being rapidly improved (I like it better than Maya), not as specialized as some professionals would like. Needs Alembic support.
/u/hi22a, /u/timh26, /u/BurnetRhoades
TVPaint
- Pros: Great program for hand drawn animation, closest thing I've used to pencil and paper stuff, relatively user friendly once you've spent a little time with it. Starting to be used by a lot of 2d studios now. Excellent software. Intuitive. Great tablet support. Very responsive, minimal lag. Stable program, almost no crashes. Bitmap based. Lots of different tools and brushes built in. Can customize and create your own brushes, even use clips of animation as brushes. Relatively fast rendering. Very natural feeling once you get used to it. Excellence customization light table (onion skin) features. Customization UI. Perfect for any FbF animation
- Cons: Could do with a little more functionality and a few extra tools like a basic move tool. Feels like there is a lot more to the program beyond it's basic functionalities, but is overly complicated to use and mostly unnecessary. Price restrictive. Requires USB dongle. Bit of a learning curve at first. Not too many english tutorials available. Non Vector. Overly complicated process for simple movements, like having a drawing move across the screen, or panning a background. (no simple move function, you have to add a keyframed effect... took me forever to figure it out.)
/u/Gaucster, /u/madafaku
Anime Studio Debut 10
- Pros: Easy to use, Cheap Can make intermediate animations
- Cons: Restrictions because it's not the Pro version
Houdini
Cartoon Animation Software For Mac
- Pros: fully procedural and always has been while other packages have been tacking on or trying to become more Houdini-like; the answer is always 'yes', it just comes down to implementation; you don't have to be a programmer to extend the package; designed to play nicely with other tools; designed to work the way real production works; the backbone of visual effects at most larger production houses; great renderer (REYES + PBR); high signal:noise in the community
- Cons: intimidating to new users; not as tuned for interactive modeling; not considered a contender for character animation though its capable; built-in compositor isn't very good
Flip a Clip
- Pro: Practice animating on the go
Softimage (XSI)
Best Mac Animation Software
- Pros: Simple UI, great library system, the ability to save and reuse animation, the ability to rig any character in a couple of minutes. The ability to rig a face in a couple of minutes. Great additional modeling, texturing, rendering, etc.
- Cons: UI is a bit dated, not widely supported, not a lot of tutorials, importing models is tedious, you will never find 3d models in its propietary format, have to use .obj or .fbx.
Anime Studio 10 pro
- Pros: Easy to use. Beginner Friendly. Plenty of tutorials. Most dynamic 'Bone' system of any 2d animation program I've seen. Great camera controls. Great complexity in easing and bezier transitioning. partial 3d support. Vector Based.
- Cons: No Frame by Frame support. (though you can import image sequences) Slow rendering times. (Almost) no tablet support. Vector Based.
Free Animation Software For Mac Osx
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