Top 3 3D Animation Software

Ever wondered what is the mantra that helps create the magic of lets say ‘Bee Movie’, ‘X Men’, ‘Ghost Rider’ and such computer generated graphics (CGI) supported movies? The answer – 3D Animation Software. 3D Animation Software is like any other software, with an interface and programming, which gives the mind-blowing final effects that we see on the large screen. There are some factors one should consider before opting for 3D animation software:

Before You Buy 3D Animation Software

However, 3D animation software requires quite a few different things as compared to a normal, every-day-use desktop computer. For one, people running 3D animation software should have a colossal machine, with a one GB of RAM being the minimum to run any good 3D animation software.

The computer should also have a good enough and competent graphics card, now termed as the Graphics Processing Unit, (GPU). Such cards are not sometimes termed as Gaming Processing Units in jest. They do really work wonders for the graphics of a computer game.

Last but not the least, of course, all processes of a computer depend on the speed of the central processing unit, the CPU. To put it more simply, one should have a higher-end graphics oriented machine, to make a full usage of 3D animation software. If not, they may have problems in ‘rendering’ and other processes in 3D animation software.

There are quite some 3d animation software available in the market today, both commercial and free. Of course, every animation software comes with their own price tag, feature lists and spec ops. Here is a briefer on the top three 3D animation software available in the market today:

Top 3D Animation Software:

MAYA: This is the software that actually uncrowned 3ds Max from the throne of being the best 3D software around. Ever since Maya was released, it was preferred over 3D by professionals around the world. Maya had an easy interface and had as many, if not more, features as compared to 3D Max 5. Maya can be used for linear as well as non-linear animation, character building and character animation.

One feature that it beat all its competitors with was the extensive shading and lighting effects and options. Graphics and animation professionals for various media like television and movies use Maya extensively. In 2003, it won an Academy Award for scientific and technical achievement.

Maya has now been bought over by AutoDesk, it was previously owned by Alias Systems.

3ds Max: One of the first massively used 3d animation software. Even today, it is used extensively for budget videogames, movies and television serials. 3Ds Max has, as of today, lost out to Maya as far as the most popular 3D animation software war is concerned. 3ds Max allows the user to form characters, animations and character animation. AutoDesk owns it. While Maya was head and shoulders about 3Ds Max when it was released (Maya was released during 3ds Max 5 version), 3ds Max did give it a good competition with the release of 3ds Max 6.

Poser: Poser is a strong contender in the 3D animation software market. While Maya and 3Ds Max do not necessarily concentrate on character rendering and animation, Poser can be compared with both the other two software in pure character rendering. Poser software is in its seventh version currently (Poser Version 7.0).