Top AI Animation Tools You Need to Know in 2024

In today’s ever-evolving world, animation has become one of the important mediums for storytelling and engagement. With the advancement in AI, animation is no longer limited to highly skilled animators; now, anyone can bring images and ideas to life with AI-driven animation tools. Animators and designers are constantly in search of innovative and efficient tools to enhance the quality of their work. These tools not only make the animation process faster and easier but also offer diverse options, from free apps to premium software, to suit creators at all levels. Animation and AI have come a long way over the years and there is a constant need to stay updated with the latest trends and technologies.

In this blog, we will explore the top AI animation tools of 2024, with unique features to help both beginners and professionals enhance their animation projects. To learn AI in animation at a deeper level, enroll in an animation course from the top animation institutes in Kolkata. 

Top AI Animation Tools in 2024

The development of AI technology is advancing and revolutionising the animation industry in a number of ways. In the year 2024, tools supported by advanced AI are not only enhancing the production rate but they are also changing the whole definition of creation by relieving creators from tedious and intricate processes and making the outcome more realistic. 

Whether bringing an animated character to life with realistic movements or drawing complex interconnecting 3D shapes, these tools are made for modern-day animators, whether they are creating an epic cinema, developing a computer game, or doing a small independent film. 

Here are the best AI animation tools that you should be looking out for this year, they are very interesting and each of them helps enhance the animation process differently. An animation course in Kolkata from Arena Animation is equipped with the required skills to land in a successful animation career. 

DeepMotion

An AI-driven motion capture tool that transforms 2D video footage to 3D.

Key Features:

• Body and facial motion capture is powered by AI.
• No physical suits are needed for real-time tracking.
• Characters do not require manual rigging.

Best used for:

The designing of games, character animation, and avatars.

Pros:

• It is so easy to set and use, that one would think even a baby can do it.
• Eliminates the need for traditional capture methods, thus accelerating the prototyping process.

Cons:

• Little to no personalisation for elaborate character emotions.
• Great results only when video quality meets the required standards.

Pricing:

• A free version which comes with limited features.
• A paid version starts from $49 per month.

RunwayML

A creative-focused services suite aimed at the production of animations, video editing, and visual effects.

Key Features:

• Generation of images and videos from texts.
• Cutout backgrounds and chroma key process.
• Syncing real-time collaborative editing.

Best used for:

Bloggers, social media animators, video makers, editors, and content creators.

Pros:

• Seamless use of other creative tools.
• Good for quick visual tests and effects.

Cons:

• Some advanced capabilities are processor-demanding.
• For professional users not all visuals created can be manipulated.

Pricing:

• The free plan offers some basic tools.
• Domestic plans begin from $12 per month onwards.

NVIDIA Omniverse

A collaborative and real-time production 3D platform enhanced with Artificial Intelligence tools.

Key Features:

• The Audio2Face tool to animate humans’ faces to render when only audio is presented.
• Use of Physics Engines (PhysX) and Material Definition Language (MDL) for simulating real life.
• Live Sync connectivity which allows workflow integration across platforms (i.e., Maya, Blender).

Best used for:

Productions, intricate animation, games builders, and so on – studio level.

Pros: 

• Amazing for team projects with different team members.
• Simulations and rendering are at par with the industry standard.

Cons: 

• Works only on high-range computers and laptops. 
• Takes time for users unfamiliar with complex 3D software to get accustomed to it.

Pricing: 

• Free of charge for the individual and student users. 
• Enterprise pricing is available on request.

Reallusion’s Character Creator & iClone

Character Creator is a robust tool designed for the creation and animation of characters. It features built-in AI that can assist in this process. 

Key features: 

• Inbuilt lip-syncing and body motion-capturing technology to facilitate character animation. 
• Tools for character customisation are plenty in number. 
• Animatics editing is easy with the support of iClone which allows you to animate everything created with the Character creator. 

Best used for:

Designing characters, storytelling, and film production. 

Pros: 

• A well-designed character will have thousands of templates and customisation options. 
• Makes it easy to go from creating a character to animating them. 

Cons: 

• Expensive to buy all the features. 
• Preferred mostly for projects that revolve around character creation however restricts projects where non-character animation is the focus. 

Pricing: 

• A basic licence costs $199. 
• The pricing for iClone begins at $199 and there are additional purchases containing tools that are more sophisticated.

Adobe Sensei (Integrated in Adobe Animate and After Effects) 

Adobe’s platform for improving animation and visual effects is offered in Animate and After Effects. 

Key Features: 

• Auto-restructure the content to the desired dimensions without altering its content. 
• Content-aware fill-in to change the background without the figure present. 
• A feature used to animate a real face with computerised images. 

Best used for:

Social media content, 2D Cartoon motion, and video editing at a professional level. 

Pros: 

• Works well with the rest of Adobe Creative Cloud enhancing users’ experience.
• Brings timely changes and offers new features based on AI. 

Cons: 

• A subscription to Adobe is necessary, the price of which may be out of reach for certain individuals. 
• Specific tools might not be easy for beginners. 

Pricing: 

• It is a new app in the creative clouds by Adobe, where each app plan costs $20.99 monthly for US clients.

Ebsynth

A software which takes multiple images as input and transforms them into computer-aided, hand-drawn or painted-out pictures as an animated video.

Key Features:

• All styles are applied conceptually and practice for frame-by-frame artwork.
• Has a simple and easy user interface, is light, and can work on most computers.

Best used for:

Individual projects, stylised animated films, and the box visual treatment.

Pros:

• Best suited to recreate artsy illustrations and paintings in animated films.
• Barely any requirements, simple to operate.

Cons:

• Focuses only on stylised animation. Realistic 3D animation is out of scope.
• Inability to perform more complicated or scaled commercial animations.

Pricing:

• Accessible free of charge which encourages nondescript intentions and young creators.

How These Tools Are Shaping Animation in 2024

The animation sector is undergoing tremendous change as AI animation tools change the way artists work and their creativity. A new generation of animation tools incorporates AI-powered innovations such as motion capture, facial recognition, and text-to-image making, which serve to simplify the traditionally intricate processes and make the production of animated content of better quality easier. Moreover, AI helps operate digital characters in real-time, changes backgrounds easily and generates scenes swiftly leading to a decrease in the time and resources put into production. Furthermore, the AI animation tools are helping in creative growth as they are giving artists the tools to play around with different styles and effects hence among other things, visual storytelling goes to different levels. As it progresses further, such tools are improving output and more importantly, making way for inventions in animation that are interactive and engaging.

Arena Animation – one of the best animation colleges in Kolkata follows a curriculum that is designed to provide students with the best knowledge as per the demands of the current industry. 

Enroll in an animation course today at Arena Animation, their courses are not only the best animation courses in Kolkata, but they also offer an affordable animation course fee making it accessible for everyone.