Software Used in 3D Animation

     3DS Max (Autodesk) - originally called 3D Studio MAX. 3ds Max is used in many industries that utilize 3D graphics. It is used in the video game industry for developing models and creating cinema cut-scenes. It is used in architectural visualizations because it is highly compatible with AutoCAD--also developed by Autodesk. Additionally 3ds Max is used in film production, one contemporary film being Kaena: The Prophecy. With its price of around $3500 USD, it is one of the more expensive products in the market for this type of work. 3ds Max is available for Windows.

     AC3D (Inivis) is another 3D modeling application that began in the 90's on the Amiga platform. While it is used in a number of industries, MathWorks actively recommends it in many of their aerospace related articles due to price and compatibility. Additionally it is the first commercial 3D modeler to integrate full support for exporting models to the metaverse platform Second Life. AC3D is priced in the range of $79 USD and is available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. While AC3D does not feature its own renderer, it can generate output files for both RenderMan and POV-Ray among others.

     Aladdin4D (DiscreetFX), first developed for the Amiga, was originally developed by Adspec Programming in Ohio. It developed an enthusiastic following and sold over 18,000 copies on the Amiga platform alone . After being acquired by visual effects company DiscreetFX, the package has finally been repositioned as a multi-platform product for Mac OS X, Amiga OS 4.1, MorphOS, Linux, AROS and Windows. It is priced at $99.95 USD and is available for Windows, Linux, MorphOS, Amiga OS 4 and AROS.

     Blender (Blender Foundation) is a free, open-source, 3D studio for animation, modeling, rendering, and texturing offering a feature set comparable to commercial 3D animation suites such as Maya, 3ds Max, or Cinema 4D. It includes features such as multi-resolution sculpting; retopology painting. Additionally it supports 3D view texture painting; stack based modifier system; flexible particle system with particle based hair; cloth/soft body dynamics, rigid body dynamics and fluid simulation; node based texturing and node based compositing; an integrated non linear video editor; and integrated game engine. Blender is developed under the GPL and is available on all major platforms including Windows, OS X, Linux, BSD, Sun and Irix. It is currently the only 3D animation suite that is supported both on super computers as well as handheld computers such as the Pocket PC (Pocket Blender).

     Cinema 4D (MAXON) is a slightly lighter package than the others in its basic configuration. The software is claimed to be artist-friendly, and is designed with the less-technical user in mind. It has a lower initial entry cost due to a modular a-la-carte design for purchasing additional functions as users need them. For example, a module called MoGraph allows the user to create motion graphics titles more easily. Originally developed for the Commodore Amiga, it is also available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.

     Electric Image Animation System (EI Technology Group) is a 3D animation and rendering package available on both Mac OS X and Windows. Mostly known for its rendering quality and rendering speed it does not include a built-in modeler. EIAS features the ability to handle very large polygon counts. Recently, the blockbuster film "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and the Television hit "Lost" utilized the software.

     form•Z (AutoDesSys, Inc.) is a general purpose solid/surface 3D modeler. Its primary usage is modeling, and it also features photo realistic rendering and object-centric animation support. form•Z claims users involved in architecture, interior design, illustration, product design, and set design. Its default renderer uses the LightWorks rendering engine for raytracing and radiosity. form•Z also supports Plugins and Scripts and has rendering support via Next Limit's Maxwell Renderer. It has Import/Export capabilities and was first released in 1991. It is currently available for both Mac OS X and Windows. The price for this software ranges from $1495–$1995 USD based on output quality.

     Houdini (Side Effects Software) is used for visual effects, and character animation as well as used in Disney's The Wild[5]. Houdini uses a nonstandard interface that it refers to as a "NODE system". Commercial licenses of Houdini include unlimited copies of Side Effects Software's hybrid micropolygon-raytracer renderer, Mantra, but Houdini also has built-in support for commercial renderers like Pixar's RenderMan and mental ray. There are two versions of Houdini, Houdini Escape ($1,995 USD) and Houdini Master ($7,995 USD). For non-commercial users, Side Effects Software offers the free Houdini Apprentice personal learning edition, which places a small watermark on images, and Houdini Apprentice HD, a $99 USD package that does not watermark renders.

     Hypershot is used for photo realistic rendering of 3D models with a high resolution background and environment allowing realtime adjustments and visual feedback. The possibility to include high resolution backdrops has had extensive take-up by the automotive photography industry and with the animation of the model has moved into engineering and product design areas replacing or delaying the need for prototyping.

     Inventor (Autodesk) The Autodesk Inventor product line provides a comprehensive and flexible set of software for 3D mechanical design, product simulation, tooling creation, and design communication that help you cost-effectively take advantage of a Digital Prototyping workflow to design and build better products in less time.

     LightWave 3D (NewTek), first developed for the Amiga, was originally bundled as part of the Video Toaster package and entered the market as a low cost way for TV production companies to create quality CG for their programming. It first gained public attention with its use in the TV series "Babylon 5". Contemporary use in TV production can be seen with the 2004 recreated Battlestar Galactica series and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation[8]. Other well known TV series to use Lightwave are Star Trek Enterprise, Voyager and Deep Space Nine. Lightwave is also used extensively in film production including for recent movies such as 300[10] and Iron Man. It is priced at $795 USD and is available for both Windows and Mac OS X.

     MASSIVE is a 3D animation system for generating crowd-related visual effects, targeted for use in film and television. Originally developed for controlling the large-scale CGI battles in the Lord of the Rings, Massive Software has become an industry standard for digital crowd control in high end animation. Recently, the software has been utilized for blockbuster feature films including Happy Feet, King Kong, and I, Robot. It is available for various Unix and Linux platforms as well as Windows.

     Maya (Autodesk) is currently used in the film and television industry. Maya has a high learning curve but has developed over the years into an application platform in and of itself through extendability via its MEL programming language. A common alternative to using the default built in rendering system named mental ray is Pixar's Renderman. In 2005, Autodesk (makers of AutoCAD), acquired Alias--the original creator of Maya. Maya comes in two versions: Maya Complete ($1999 USD) and Maya Unlimited ($4995 USD).

     Modo (Luxology) is a subdivision modeling, texturing and rendering tool with support for camera motion and morphs / blendshapes. It is priced in the area of $895 USD and is available for both Windows and Mac OS X.

     NX (software) ( Siemens PLM Software) is an integrated suite of software for computer-aided mechanical design (mechanical CAM), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and computer-aided engineering (CAE) formed by combining the former Unigraphics and SDRC I-deas software product lines.[14] NX is currently available for the following operating systems: Windows XP and Vista, Apple Macintosh OS X, and Novell SUSE Linux. NX is considered to be Siemens high-end mechanical engineering product line.

     Silo (Nevercenter) is a subdivision-surface modeler available for Mac OS X and Windows. Silo does not include a renderer and is priced at $159 USD for the professional version and $99 USD for the core version. Silo is the bundled in modeler for the Electric Image Animation System suite.

     SketchUp Pro (Google) is a 3D modeling package that features a sketch-based modeling approach. It has a pro version which supports 2-D and 3-D model export functions among other features, which is currently priced at $495 USD. It also has a free version that is integrated with Google Earth and limits export to Google's "3D Warehouse", where users can share their content.

     Softimage (Autodesk) is feature-similar to Maya and is sold as a competitive alternative. It is used in the production of professional films, commercials, video games, and other media. Softimage (formerly Softimage|XSI) is a 3D modeling and animation package that integrates with mental ray rendering. Prior to its acquisition by Avid and later Autodesk, Softimage, Co. originally promoted its predecessor (under the name Softimage 3D) for use in the video game industry and secured its promotion as part of the Nintendo N64 SDK.

     solidThinking (solidThinking Ltd) is a 3D solid/surface modeling and rendering software which features a Construction Tree method of development. This is explained as the history of the model construction process allowes real-time updates when modifications are made to points, curves, parameters or entire objects. solidThinking is available in four versions: MODELER, MODELER XL, DESIGN, and VANTAGE.

     Solid Edge ( Siemens PLM Software) is a commercial application for design, drafting, analysis, and simulation of products, systems, machines and tools. All versions include feature-based parametric modeling, assembly modeling, drafting, sheetmetal, weldment, freeform surface design, and data management.[19] Application-programming interfaces enable scripting in Visual Basic and C programming. The Solid Edge Velocity series is Siemens' mid-range CAD software product family.

     SolidWorks (SolidWorks Corporation) is an application used for the design, detailing and validation of products, systems, machines and toolings. All versions include modeling, assemblies, drawing, sheetmetal, weldment, and freeform surfacing functionality. It also has support for scripting in Visual Basic and C. The licenses/packages are: SolidWorks Standard, SolidWorks Professional, SolidWorks Premium, SolidWorks Simulation, SolidWorks Student Design Kit, SolidWorks Education Edition, and SolidWorks Student Edition.

     Swift 3D (Electric Rain) Swift 3D is a powerful, approachable, and relatively inexpensive 3D design, modeling, and animation application targeted to entry-level 3D users and Adobe Flash designers. Swift 3D is the de-facto Mac OS X & Windows application for vector and raster-based 3D animations for Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight XAML. Swift 3D is the only 3D software to directly integrate with Flash through the Swift 3D File Importer and SmartLayer Technology, which separates the exported 3D animation into different layers (Colors, Outlines, Shadows, Highlights, Reflections and Transparency), giving designers additional creative control. Initially a pioneer in the 3D-to-vector Flash world, Swift 3D is now accepted as a highly-capable and versatile 3D authoring application, while maintaining its reputation as the marquee tool for producing vector-based 3D content for Flash and Microsoft Silverlight. It is priced at $249 USD.

     trueSpace (Caligari Corporation) is another 3D program available for Windows, although the company Caligari first found its start on the Amiga platform. trueSpace features modeling, animation, 3D-painting, and rendering capabilities. TrueSpace is now available for free download.

     Vue 7 (E-on Software) Vue 7 is a tool for creating, animating and rendering natural 3D environments. It was most recently used to create the background jungle environments in the 2nd and 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean films.

     ZBrush (Pixologic) is a digital sculpting tool that combines 3D/2.5D modeling, texturing and painting tool available for Mac OS X and Windows. It is priced at $595 USD.