3D Animation Softwares List

For the most part 3D is considered to be software for professionals, although the following applications are seeing use at home.

Blender
Blender is a free, open-source 3D rendering program that puts the power of the medium back into the hands of the artist. Blender features a laundry list of animation essentials that can be broken down into categories: Interface, Modeling, Rigging, Rendering, Animation, UV Unwrapping, Shading, Physics and Particles, Imaging and Compositing, and Real Time 3D/Game Creation. The interface, though loaded with complicated tools, is remarkable for neither obscuring nor interfering with the image being worked on. A brief sampling of tools and functions includes 3D paint for vertex weighing, polygon meshes, 2D and 3D procedural brushes, edge rendering, textures, collision simulation, and support for around two dozen 2D and 3D file formats. Extras can be added with Python scripting, and since it's open source, many scripts can be easily found for download in the user forums. Blender has recently made a pretty impressive splash when it was used to create the impressive cartoon Big Buck Bunny. This entertaining and professional cartoon should be all the reason you need to try out this open source animation program.

Anim8or
Truly a personal labor of love, this 3D animation program is the creation of Steve Glanville, a software engineer for NVidia. Anim8or, besides being difficult to spell, is a Windows-only application. It is a good introductory animation program, especially if you’re interested in learning how to animate in 3D. Anim8or is a great program to begin using when you talk about 3d modeling. Anim8or is the perfect way for the inexperienced users to model and to animate their objects and characters. It is very simple to install and use for newbies, who never dreamt that they can afford to enter in modeling animation world.

iClone4
One of the most impressive features offered by iClone 4 Pro by Reallusion that allows users to easily create professional quality films without a great deal of experience with other software. The intuitive interface allows one to implement physics effects, particularly in terms of movement of cloth and set elements. One of the enhanced features of iClone 4 Pro is the motion capture ability. When characters are dressed in the clothing you have selected and designed from the extensive amount of cloth available, you can have them dance run and walk without having their clothing appear stiff or unyielding to their movements. One of the coolest features is the ability to implement an application called music sync that automatically keeps your character in tune with the beat, thus making them able to dance to music exactly as it is being played on the soundtrack. This is a truly amazing future, especially for software that is only $200. Even five years ago this would have been completely unthinkable, thus Reallusion’s IClone software has been a huge hit among casual animators and filmmakers.

Swift 3D
The ultimate 3D software for graphic and rich media designers using Adobe Flash and Microsoft Expression Blend. Swift 3D is the only 3D software to directly integrate with Flash through the Swift 3D File Importer and SmartLayer Technology and exports to Microsoft XAML. Swift 3D's toolset and interface allow anyone to quickly create 3D content, while providing a full set of advanced tools to grow into. Swift 3D is a powerful, easy-to-use 3D solution that delivers high-quality results for an unbeatable price. The original intention of the Swift 3D software was to offer a 3D alternative to Flash users. This animation program will let you model and animate directly in the software, and then export to the Flash-friendly .swf format.

Lightwave 3d 10
Lightwave is a truly professional 3D program, used to create many movies and TV special effects. Tackling Lightwave is not something you should enter into lightly. LightWave 3D graphic design software package for modeling, animation, rendering, particle FX and dynamics. Its available both for Windows 32 or 64-bit and Mac platform. The program has been used in films, game, visualization industries as well as commercial television. Feature films such as Dark Knight, Iron Man,Jumper, Serenity Pan’s Labyrinth, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. And features games including Quake IV, The Chronicles of Riddick, Doom III, Halo, Age of Mythology.

3D Studio Max
3D Studio Max wins the dubious honor of being the most exspensive animation software program on this list. You many notice that this and the next program, Maya, are both owned by Autodesk. While it’s a popular program for industrial designers and architects, 3D Studio Max is an acknowledged heavyweight in the 3D design world. It has a large user-base in architectural modeling and virtual walkthroughs, but is also the dominant player in 3D games development. 3D Studio Max is also the only major 3D product that has not bothered developing a Mac version. Probably thinking, not without reason, that the Mac market is already saturated. 3DS Max comes fully featured out of the box, but has gained a huge user base largely due to the enormous amount of third party plug-ins available for it. For example, it was one of the first packages to be able to export directly to Flash, as the result of plug-in development.

Maya
Increasingly Maya is becoming the 3D tool of choice for film, as it allows for a vast array of shading and lighting effects. Maya is also extremely customizeable, allowing for easy integration with third party software. This makes it an easy choice for animation production houses. There’s a Personal Learning Edition that you can download for free, which we recommend if you’re considering this software. Autodesk’s software has a long and prestigious following. Maya, one of their leading programs for digital 3-D creation, has been used in every movie that has won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects since 2001, and is also a favorite of top video game manufacturers. The much anticipated release of the Maya Entertainment Creation Suite 2010 brings some new features and updates to Autodesk’s popular digital 3-D creation software.