InstantRig vs Mesh2Motion

InstantRig is a modular auto-rigging tool for Autodesk 3ds Max, intended for keyframe cartoon animation. It offers auto rigging and skinning, automatic overlapping action, and a pose manager for copying, pasting, and flipping poses. Users can configure fingers and toes and add tails, hair, ears, and breasts to rigs; characters can be resized, and body parts can be stretchy. Animation tools include IK/FK matching and sliding, soft IK, knee and elbow snapping, and customizable controllers. The maker says animations can be baked to deform bones for export to game engines, using formats supported by 3ds Max. InstantRig does not support mocap data. Once a rig is created, it can be used with native 3ds Max versions 2014 or higher without InstantRig installed on that computer. Installation instructions cover dragging the installer into the 3ds Max viewport, manual installation, and quick launch. The free plan is free and provides one license for one user; each additional user needs a separate license.

Mesh2Motion is a 3D animation library and auto-rigging tool for web and game engines. Users can browse over 170 animations, preview them on a sample model, and upload a model for auto-rigging or use one that is already rigged and skinned. It imports GLB, GLTF, DAE and FBX models, with listed rigs for humans, birds, dragons, spiders, kaiju, foxes, horses, fish and snakes. Editing tools include skeleton positioning, undo and redo, and animation imports for compatibility checks. Multiple animations can be exported together in one GLB or FBX file. The maker says an offline desktop version for Windows, Mac and Linux has the same features as the online version. The tool is free for personal or commercial use, and the models, rigs and animations are CC0. Source Blender files are available for study and improvement. The September 25, 2026 update added mirrored animation export and FBX 7.4 export formats for Unity3D and Unreal Engine.