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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Autodesk Maya

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AAutodesk offers Maya, a 3D animation, modeling, simulation and rendering tool available to artists, animators, and educators, used to create realistic characters, models, and scenes, as well as effects such as explosions, cloth movement, etc.

    $234

    per month

    Cartoon Animator

    Score9.8 out of 10
    N/ACartoon Animator 4 (formerly CrazyTalk Animator) is a 2D animation tool designed to allow users to create professional animations easily. Users can apply motion effects to static images, turn videos of human faces into animated avatars, etc.N/A
    Pricing
    Autodesk MayaCartoon Animator
    Editions & Modules
    Monthly
    $235
    per month per user
    Yearly
    $1875
    per year per user
    3-Year
    $5625
    3 years per user
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Autodesk MayaCartoon Animator
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsMaya is also available through Autodesk's Flex plan and pricing. Tokens expire 1 year from date of purchase. Not all products and features are available with Flex. Students and teachers at qualified academic institutions worldwide are eligible for free access to Autodesk software for one-year through the Autodesk Education Community.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Autodesk MayaCartoon Animator
    Considered Both Products
    Autodesk
    No answer on this topic
    Reallusion
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    60%
    Delivers good value for the price
    3 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Autodesk MayaCartoon Animator
    Small Businesses
    Autodesk 3ds Max
    Score9 out of 10
    GIMP
    Score8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Navisworks
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Adobe Illustrator
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Navisworks
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Adobe PhotoShop
    Score9.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Autodesk MayaCartoon Animator
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Autodesk MayaCartoon Animator
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Autodesk
    Autodesk Maya is a great software, it has so many tools that you can create a full movie without even jumping to any other software. Although it's pretty hard to learn but there is nothing more fun, once you get a hang of it. In general, its tools are best for modeling and animation.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reallusion
    This is a difficult question to answer. This software can be used for a hobbyist or professionals alike. On one hand, you can make fun, simple animations for things like YouTube or Facebook. However, on the other hand, you can use this tool for professional looking animations that can be used in marketing, presentations, etc. I am someone who uses the program for both - as a hobbyist and also professionally. The first time I took it upon myself to make an animation for something job-related, it impressed my colleagues so much that they bought the company their own copy of the software and encouraged me to make more. There have been numerous times where I have used the program to entice new clients. I would even take it a step further by using a potential client's logo or CEO as a character in the animation. In 2015, CrazyTalk Animator (CTA) has even helped me land a new job. I had been laid off and was out of work for a few months. I saw a job opening I was interested but had learned that the position had literally hundreds of potential applicants. Basically, I created a video using CTA of me performing the job as if I already had been offered it. I even included the company logo. In the video, I made an animation explaining why it was a good idea to hire the company. Once I finished the video I included it along with my resume. To make a long story short, I got the job.
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    Pros
    Autodesk
    • Easy to build workflow due to strong customizability.
    • Industry share. Easy to collaborate with other companies.
    • Strong cooperation with other software.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reallusion
    • The main pro of the entire program is that it makes animation incredibly simple. You are not required to even know how to draw. Once you grasp the gist of the software it is extremely simple to use.
    • Another great aspect of CTA is the online community. There are a vast amount of online tutorials and an online forum for anyone who has questions. They even provide a content store in which users can sell their own content to other users.
    • A recent update has allowed Photoshop integration. This allows even more customization of aspects of the animation you are working with.
    • A characters mouth movements are automatically synced with voiceover audio. I felt this gave me one less thing to animate and has saved me time on more than one occasion.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Autodesk
    • Right now Maya has no good viewport like Blender 2.8 has. It is good that Maya 2019 devs focused on performance and stability but it's strange to see that mainstream soft aren't on trend in developing really cool and helpful tools.
    • Maya LT is very good for artist who don't need complex FX tools. So the devs must add python API to Maya LT.
    • Add more helpful tools to modeling section especially for retopology.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reallusion
    • Other products made by this company (Namely their 3D animation software) have a character creator. I would love to see something like this with CTA.
    • I would like to see a bigger integration with social media. Having the ability to live broadcast a CTA character in real-time (like mo-cap) would be amazing. If this were a possibility you could live stream a video chat or Facebook live portrayed as your CTA character.
    • Allow more in-depth settings for exporting media.
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    Usability
    Autodesk
    As Autodesk Maya was one of the first softwares I learned, so I feel very fun to work with it. The overall usabilty feels very natural to me and I felt it's easy to learn but tough to master kind of software. Some people find it very difficult to learn, so I deduced some rating points.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reallusion
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Autodesk
    We were evaluating the products within the Adobe portfolio like Adobe Animate, Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe After Effects majorly among few others before finalising on the Autodesk Maya. One of the major reasons for that was earlier experience with the Autodesk Maya tool for the engineer and also it has more to offer than Adobe with multiple products.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reallusion
    CTA was a program that got me interested in 2D animation. After about a year of using the software, I began looking for other similar products. I had come across a program called Toon Boom. This was another 2D software somewhat similar to CTA. Toon Boom is a fantastic program however the price was higher than CTA. Aside from that, learning how to use Toon Boom had a much higher learning curve. Eventually, I purchased Toon Boom and learned the program. It is definitely a powerful 2D animation platform however I always seemed to bring myself back to CTA. I felt CTA was much more simple to use. It was also easy enough for other people to contribute to my animation projects. Having to reteach my coworkers another program was not going to work for us. Not being solely responsible for animations is a huge relief.
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    Return on Investment
    Autodesk
    • Effectively able to get the designs created and visualised
    • Video creation for concepts has become easy
    • ROI has been good, but if the costing is brought down then its even more amazing
    Incentivized
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    Reallusion
    • Since my company discovered that I was an animator, they are constantly wanting me to make videos. If the company were to outsource someone to create animations like the ones I am creating, they would be extremely pricey. CTA was only a one-time purchase. I have even trained several other employees of the company how to use the software. That way, if I ever exit the company they can continue to create marketing animations without me.
    Read full review
    ScreenShots