Cartoon 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.
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Kerkythea
Score 7.1 out of 10
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Kerkythea is a free graphical rendering software designed to produce graphics without requiring image licensing.
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.
Kerkythea is a powerful, yet simple to use rendering package that integrates seamlessly into SketchUp and other modeling programs. My experience is only with SketchUp, but the combination of these two packages (I bought SketchUp Pro and use Kerkythea for free!) is the best bang-for-your-buck way that I have found to produce high quality images of 3D models. I have seen some extremely photo-realistic images online, but I am not sure if a paid rendering engine would be able to produce higher quality or be easier to use. If you are looking for a free way to get higher quality images from your SketchUp models I would highly recommend Kerkythea.
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.
Kerkythea seamlessly integrates with SketchUp, eliminating the need for costly and complex 3D modeling software.
Kerkythea has a simple to use interface and does not require extensive training to learn how to use.
Despite being easy to use out of the box, Kerkythea is also very powerful for advanced users. This allowed us to achieve fast results, but also to constantly improve the quality of our rendered images as we have gained knowledge and experience
The Kerkythea plug-in for SketchUp has an incredibly easy to use lighting feature. Spot lights and flood lights can be added, adjusted and manipulated easily, giving a much more professional looking end product.
The user community support for Kerkythea is vast. From tips and tricks to free, downloadable materials packages, there are an incredible number of peer-to-peer assistance options available.
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.
The default viewing mode for Kerkythea is wireframe. This makes it hard to view the model upon opening, however it is easily changed using "View/Adjust/Solid Rendering" in the menu bar. My preference would be for the software to default to Solid Rendering from startup, or to have a way to save the interface settings (If that option exists, I am not aware of it).
When exporting a model to Kerkythea from SketchUp, it usually takes a very long time to open the Kerkythea software. This only happens when selecting "Yes" in the dialog box that asks, "Open exported model in Kerkythea?" The quickest way I've found is to answer "No", open Kerkythea manually and then open the desired file from Kerkythea.
While there are many free, user contributed materials packages available online, it would be nice to have a larger materials library pre-installed in the software.
At this point, I have not found myself limited by using Kerkythea. It is easy to use and has not required a huge amount of time investment to get results. I have been able to utilize 3D modeling software that I am already familiar with and that is also cost effective. The quality of the finished product that can be achieved using Kerkythea is still beyond the abilities that I have, however I continue to learn and grow in my competency as I use the software.
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.
Blender is a free 3D modeling and rendering package. What I liked about Kerkythea is that it integrates with SketchUp, while Blender does not. This allows me to use modeling software that I was already familiar with rather than having to learn something new.
Autodesk 3D Studio Max and Autodesk Maya are also very powerful 3D modeling and rendering packages, however they are not free. They do have free trials, and the software is excellent and powerful. Guaranteed these are both better modeling packages than SketchUp, however with the work I do, SketchUp is easier to use and lower cost. If you're looking at doing more free-form modeling as opposed to basic rectangular buildings like me, you will need different modeling software than SketchUp. While Kerkythea can be used for many model types (*.kzx, *.xml, *.obj and *.sia at the time of this review) from any modeling package, it might be easier to use the rendering features built into 3DS rather than exporting to Kerkythea.
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.
While it is impossible for me to give a firm number, I can definitely say that the images produced by Kerkythea are an excellent selling tool for projects presented to potential clients.
As freeware, Kerkythea has allowed me to achieve quality results without spending a fortune on software. Being self-employed, this is wonderful.
Kerkythea has allowed me to display professional materials without a major cost or time investment in training. This has allowed me to focus on creating floorplans and designs rather than spending all of my time getting the presentation of said designs to look good.
