Character animation is the process where animated images are generated. This uses 3D graphics or even 2D graphics. This character animation software is used for virtual production. You can edit, capture as well as play back different kinds of complex character animation.

This is great for animators as well as directors. Using this software 2D characters can be given 3D motions. They can be viewed from different angles and with a single click of the button. They can be lip synced and so much more.

MotionBuilder

motion builder

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Rating: 4.3/5

Price: Free

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This animation software offers advanced camera options, layers can be added, there is blending with previous scenes and combining of pre visualised scenes that is possible. This has nonlinear editing which is possible as also motion capture. It allows for smooth interoperatibility. This works for Linux Operating Systems.

CrazyTalk Animator 2

crazytalk animator

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Rating: 3.5/5

Price: Free

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This is used by movie and video creators for automatic animation. Artists and illustrators too use it to bring their characters to live as also web and game designers. This is available in Windows and Mac versions. This supports both 3D and 2D animation, photos as well as videos.

Mixamo

mixamo

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Rating: 4/5

Price: Free

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Mixamo allows you to create 3D animated characters without having any prior knowledge of 3D. When it is used, a walk cycle need not be reanimated for each character. The right animation can be chosen from the store and used. Using this even skinning weights as well as adjusting of bones is possible.

Pencil 2D animation

pencil animation

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Rating: 3.3/5

Price: Free

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This helps in creating hand drawn cartoons using vector graphics as well as bitmaps. This is open source and can be used on Windows, Mac and Linux Operating Systems. This allows for importing of videos and sounds and also for exporting of gif images.

Synfig Studio for Linux

synfig studio

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Rating: 3.4/5

Price: Free

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This is an open source free 2D animation software and it can be used to create animation with film like quality. It uses vectors and bitmap artwork. Using this there is no need to create frame after frame and so fewer resources and people are required to create the 2D animation. It can be used for Linux, Mac and Windows Operating Systems.

Cheetah3D for Mac

cheetah3d

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Rating: 3.8/5

Price: Free

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Cheetah3D is used for 3D Modelling and for making animation applications for Mac Operating Systems. There is a set of subdivision surfaces and spline modeling tools. Using this the artists can create 3D models with ease. The characters can be brought to life using this in a matter of just a few clicks.

Most Popular Character Animation Software for 2016 – Akeytsu

akeytsu

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Rating: 4.8/5

Price: Free Trial Available

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This software has been designed for animators and it is solely dedicated to rigging as well as character animation. It can be used everywhere in the animation industry but it targets the video game market. It has an animation bank, one can make use of the spinner, stacker, mixer, picker, transformation and so much more.

What is Character Animation Software?

Character animation software helps decrease time and effort of the animators. It provides solutions for film, games, motion graphics and more. These help with creating rigs and offer various effects as well as camera tools, layering and skins. It tricks the eye into thinking that the object is moving smoothly.

How to Install Character Animation Software?

Based on the platforms which the software supports and the functionality that is offered, one can choose either an open source free software or a paid one. Once that has been chosen, the software needs to be first downloaded and only then can it be run and used.

Benefits of Character Animation Software

Character animation software has two major advantages. It helps saves time and it offers reusability. Automating the workflow allows the artists to do other tasks instead of wasting their time on it. The modeling tools which are there help in creating, editing as well as transforming the models easily. It is possible to have physically accurate shaders and open shading language.

Mirroring, bone layers, colored groups, weight painting is all possible with this. Using these software there is a lot of prestored and preloaded animations which can be applied to the characters, thus saving even more time.This is a boon to amateurs, film directors, artists, creators of models and more.

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