Overview

DeepMotion Animate 3D turns video into character animation through markerless motion capture, making it a fit for animators and game teams that need to bring recorded movement into a 3D workflow. Its broad tracking and export options are useful, but credit consumption and the personal-use-only free account make licensing and production volume central to the choice.

Key features

Animate 3D accepts MP4, MOV and AVI video and tracks full-body movement, facial expressions, hand gestures and multiple subjects. Depending on plan, a clip can include two to eight people. That range is a practical advantage for group scenes, while clip-duration caps—from 20 seconds on Freemium and Starter to 360 seconds on Studio—shape whether it suits short movement takes or longer sequences.

Users can animate default characters, upload FBX, GLB or VRM characters, or create avatars with Ready Player Me and Avaturn. Face and hand tracking, physics simulation, foot locking, hand-to-ground contact, motion smoothing and a Rotoscope Pose Editor offer several ways to refine captured motion. Motion transfer is supported; image-to-animation is not.

Exports include FBX, BVH, MP4 and GLB, with GLB export available for custom characters; JPG, PNG and GIF are also supported. One animation credit covers one second of animation or one 3D pose. Face and hand tracking each add 0.5 credit per second or pose, so richer tracking reduces the amount of footage a fixed monthly allowance can cover.

DeepMotion says uploaded videos are private to the account holder and inaccessible to the public and other Animate 3D users. Teams integrating capture into an application can use the Animate 3D API or real-time SDK, with pricing by contacting sales. Account help and troubleshooting are handled through a support form and Discord.

Pricing

Animate 3D uses a freemium model, but the free account is limited to personal, non-commercial use. Licensed animation requires a premium subscription. There is no free trial, and monthly plan credits reset each month without rollover. Plan pricing is custom pricing.

Plan	Monthly credits	Clip and production limits
Freemium	25	20 seconds per clip; 2 people; 3 custom characters; 1080p; 100 MB upload
Starter	180	20 seconds per clip; 3 people; 5 custom characters; 1080p; 150 MB upload
Innovator	480	30 seconds per clip; 4 people
Professional	1,500	120 seconds per clip; 6 people; 20 custom characters; 2160p (4K); 400 MB upload
Studio	Unlimited	360 seconds per clip; 8 people; 50 custom characters; 4320p (8K); 1.5 GB upload

Freemium is useful for personal evaluation, but its small credit pool and two-person cap are restrictive for sustained or licensed work. Starter raises the credit and subject limits while retaining a 20-second clip cap. Innovator extends clips to 30 seconds and supports four people, though its stated limits do not include character, resolution or upload allowances. Professional is better suited to longer, higher-resolution work and larger casts. Studio is the option for the longest clips, largest groups and highest stated resolution; its unlimited credits have a priority caveat: the first 7,200 monthly credits receive highest job priority, with later jobs at low priority.

Platforms

Animate 3D is available on web and through an API. The real-time SDK and API support integration into applications, but integration pricing requires contacting sales.

Who it's for

It suits animators and game teams that want to transfer movement from video to their own characters, especially when facial, hand or multi-person tracking matters. The choice is less compelling for image-driven animation, short-budget projects needing commercial rights, or workflows that depend on predictable monthly credit capacity without checking the added tracking costs.

Pros and cons

Pro: Full-body, face and hand tracking, plus support for up to eight people on Studio, covers more than single-performer capture.
Pro: FBX, BVH, GLB and video exports give teams several ways to carry animation into downstream workflows.
Pro: Custom character uploads and avatar creation options make it possible to target existing or newly created characters.
Con: The free account is non-commercial, so licensed work requires a premium subscription.
Con: Face and hand tracking consume extra credits, and unused monthly credits do not roll over.
Con: Clip and upload caps vary by plan, and Studio's low-priority queue applies after its first 7,200 monthly credits.

Alternatives

For a wider range of software categories, browse AI Animation Makers, Game Animation Software, 3D Animation Software, Game Motion Capture Software, 3D Character Animation Software and AI Motion Capture Software.

Move AI is worth considering when a free allowance of 30 credits that do not expire and video clips up to 30 seconds better match the workflow. Plask Motion offers a web-based free plan with a 15-second daily limit and 1 GB of storage, while its Standard plan lists 10 minutes per month and 3 GB storage. Choose Krikey AI if its listed mobile and web platform coverage and monthly Pro credits are a better fit; its free plan includes 20 one-time credits. Spritix has a free plan with 20 credits per month valid for 30 days, plus a stated monthly Starter plan.

Melted Crayons TV has a free, image-only Sketch plan with 30 monthly credits and static comic video export, rather than panel animation. Viggle offers a free plan capped at five videos per day, one simultaneous generation and seven-day storage. Artiroom offers a one-time Starter Pack and a monthly Creator plan. LTX Studio has a free tier with 800 one-time credits for personal use.

Verdict

Choose DeepMotion Animate 3D when video-based motion capture, custom characters and multiple export routes matter more than a simple fixed-cost allowance. Its strongest case is the combination of body, face and hand tracking with multi-person support and practical animation refinement tools. Look elsewhere if you need image-to-animation, commercial rights on a free tier, or clearer price and credit economics before committing.

	DeepMotion Animate 3D	iStopMotion
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	Free	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	api, Web	iOS, macOS
Free plan	Yes	No
Export formats	FBX, BVH, GLB, MP4, JPG, PNG, GIF	—
Supported platforms	—	macOS, iOS, iPadOS

DeepMotion Animate 3D vs iStopMotion

DeepMotion Animate 3D

iStopMotion