Want to create a cool 3D animation without having any knowledge of 3D software, good news. You don’t need to be a pro using expensive animation software like Maya, Cinema 4D,3DS Max, or Blender. Believe it or not, there are several free 3d animation software available online that you can use to make your own awesome animations such as sci-fi and action. Here we have listed the best free 3d animation software for you.
Here are free 3D Motion Graphics Software that can help you out!
GIMP
The first in this series is GIMP, which is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for tasks such as photo retouching, image composition, and image authoring.
Adobe Photoshop has been the king of this photo retouching and manipulation field for the last two decades and with its costly subscription-based payment system. So if you’re looking for a free alternative then you can use GIMP. One more reason to replace Adobe with GIMP is that it’s not a free trial or a freemium model, it’s just free and you can download it for free at any time from gimp.org. Adobe has notoriously switched over to a subscription model and charges a minimum price of 9.99 per month whereas GIMP is open-source software and you can use it without any barrier
GIMP has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, or an image format converter. So, if you are a beginner motion graphics designer you must check out this software.
SKETCHBOOK MOTION GRAPHICS SOFTWARE
Do you love to draw your own characters and animate them or just want to create concept art or nice storyboards for the animation? But you don’t want to use Adobe illustrator or Coreldraw due to their expensive payment model then the sketchbook from Autodesk is the answer.
It is a motion graphics software free to use and the best thing is it is from Autodesk the creator of Autocad. From doodle to concept art, Sketchbook is used by product designers, architects, automobile, and industrial designers to iterate quickly and communicate their ideas.
You can export your work as jpg, png, VMP, Kiff, and of course PSD. Layered PSDs are fully preserved including layer names, groups, and blending modes. The best thing is this software available to download on almost all the medium from your phone to the desktop and absolutely free.
BLENDER
Do you love 3d software to create models, animate the characters or elements for your motion graphics? But scared of the huge subscription charges to buy 3D software? The most expensive subscription is for 3d software in the market. It’s almost impossible to bear such an amount of money for newbies or students. They need something cheap but the best or maybe totally free.
Here comes Blender. In our opinion Blender is the only full 3d creation suite open-source application available online. It supports the entirety of the 3d pipeline. Such as modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, motion tracking, and video editing. Further, it supports the 2d animation pipeline, an all-in-one solution for VFX artists and motion graphics designers.
Blender is free software. You are free to use it for any purpose including commercial or for education. Blender is cross-platform and runs equally well on Linux windows and macintosh computers. Its interface uses OpenGL to provide a consistent experience. They have a huge community of animators who are ready to help one another.
Download this software now and start working without thinking about crack software or spending money or buying a license.
DAZ 3D
So you have downloaded blender but don’t know where to get amazing models or pre-made environments. You can try das 3d and download the bridge for Blender. A bridge is a cross-platform port that converts 3d assets. In this case, amazing DAZ content and brings it to another software complete with rigging, textures, and other studio modifications. Get DAZ studio for free, the premiere 3d creation and rendering software.
DAZ studio unlocks your imagination so you can build your own universe. Powerful for professionals easy enough for beginners and available for free. The DAZ Studio software comes with a starter package and a free 3d model so you can start creating. Though the software is free and you will get lots of free-to-use models as well. But for advanced models and other stuff, you need to buy from the online marketplace. But for first-timers, it is worth trying. So let’s get into the universe of editing and compositing.
DAVINCI RESOLVE
When it comes to getting free-to-use best motion graphics software Davinci Resolve comes to mind. Davinci Resolve 16 features a revolutionary new cut page specifically designed for editors that need to work quickly and on tight deadlines.
The new Davinci neural engine uses machine learning to enable powerful new features such as facial recognition speed warp and much more. Adjustment clips let you apply effects and grades to clips on the timeline below. Quick export can be used to upload projects to youtube and Vimeo from anywhere in the application. Also, new GPU accelerated scopes provide more technical monitoring options than before. In addition to that fusion is dramatically faster and fairlight adds immersive 3d audio.
Davinci Resolve 16 is a massive release with hundreds of features customers have asked for. It is free to use for all. However, if you need more advanced features then you can upgrade to DaVinci Resolve Studio.
NATRON MOTION GRAPHICS SOFTWARE
A newbie in this market, Natron is a powerful digital compositor that can handle all of your 2d, 2.5d, or motion graphics needs. Its robust audio file formats and open fx architecture is what makes Natron one of the most flexible open-source compositors for the visual effects community.
Natron’s interface and functionality are the same across all platforms such as macOS, Windows, and Linux. Natron has powerful keying roto or roto paint 2d tracking tools that are stable for all current film production projects that require visual effects.
It has some strong keying or mat generation tools. They have been developed from the main ofx software developers and a plethora of tools from the open-source plug-in developing community.
AUDACITY
Sound is an important part of motion graphics so you need audio editing software to create, modify and add audio effects on it. Audacity is a free easy to use multi-track audio editor and recorder for windows, mac os, Linux, and other operating systems.
You can use audacity to record live audio. Audacity can record computer playback on any windows vista or later machine. It lets you edit wave, iflack, mp2, mp3 sound files. Further, you can cut, copy, splice, or mix sounds together with numerous effects including changing the speed or pitch of a recording. You can also write your own plugin and more. All you need to do is go to the website and download the software from the link provided there.
HITFILM
Another boss in this free editing software world is Hitfilm express. From editing to creating VFX this is the software that you can use freely. Hitfilm Express is a free video editing software with professional-grade VFX tools and everything you need to make awesome content films or gaming videos.
Perfect for beginners, film students, gamers, YouTubers, or any creative without a budget Hitfilm Express takes your workflow to the next level. Threaded rendering allows the interface and video to work independently, allowing for a smooth and lightning-fast workflow. Users of intel and Nvidia hardware will notice the incredible power of its GPU decoding.
Hitfilm expresses over 400 unique effects and presets each of which can be pulled apart, altered and put back together again to create something entirely new. Also, you will get free training and tutorials from their website. So, don’t delay and get the software now.
SYNIFIG
When it comes to free 2d animation software Synfig studio is one that has almost all the features of a full 2d animation studio software. Do you want to create your own animated movie or just an animated postcard or animation for a game? Synfig can do that for you.
You can use Synfig anywhere without limitations at home at work or at school. Synfig is free and open-source software available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. It has a full-featured bone system that allows creating cut-out animation using bitmap images or controls your vector artwork. You can use an additional skeleton distortion layer to apply complex deformations to bitmap artwork. Synfig provides 50 plus layers to create artwork and animation of any complexity. Choose from various layer types geometric gradient filters, distortions, transformations, fractals and others.
DUST 3D MOTION GRAPHIC SOFTWARE
The last one we want to mention here may be a little out of your league but very useful software to practice 3d modeling. Dust 3d is a cross-platform open-source modeling software. It helps you create a 3d model in seconds. Use it to speed up your character modeling in game-making 3d printing and so on.
With dust 3d you’ll see yourself finish a game asset in a blank. It also supports exporting your model in fbx and gltf format. So that you can then import the files into software like unreal engine, unity, and gotto for further development. Believe it or not, you don’t need any experience to make a 3d model with Dust 3d. All you’ll need are good reference photos.
Conclusion
The best way to find the right 3D software for you is to decide what your animation production will look like from start to finish. Do you have a vision already? For example, do you want to learn how to create 3D games? If that is the case, then a powerful game engine would be the best choice for you. Game engines are created specifically for creating interactive experiences, so they offer lots of features perfect for that purpose.