iClone Character Creator!

MakeHuman is a free, open source, interactive modeling tool for creating custom 3D human characters. These characters can be modeled in minutes and can then be used with many other modeling and rendering programs to incorporate realistic human figures into computer generated images and animations. Features that make this software unique include the tetra-parametric GUI© and the Natural Pose System©, for advanced muscular simulation.

Adobe Fuse CC is a data-driven tool for modeling 3D characters. It was developed in collaboration between Mixamo and Vladlen Koltun's research group at Stanford University, with Siddhartha Chaudhuri as the chief architect and programmer, then bought by Adobe. With Fuse, Mixamo aims at democratizing character modeling and assembling, giving the user full control over the uniqueness of the character while keeping quality of the assets high. Mixamo enables a seamless and direct integration with the Mixamo Auto-Rigger and animation collection. »

messiahStudio is a powerful animation & rendering software package specifically designed to handle the most demanding character animation & rendering needs. It has been quietly used in feature films, commercials, games, music videos and print ads for over 10 years; and is now one of the fastest growing CG packages on the market. It's innovative animation centeric workflow is first priority in every aspect of the program, which makes for a unique and fun experience. People have reported feeling "giddy" and "inspired" after seeing just a small sampling of what the program can do. messiahStudio can be used as a complete stand-alone animation and rendering package, or as a powerful addition to Modo, Maya, 3DMAX, SoftImage XSI, LightWave, Cinema 4D or an in-house proprietary application; through extensive animation export capabilities (fbx, mdd, collada), Host Connection plugins and Host API. Maya users love it's powerful and easy rigging capabilities, such as the ability to setup custom control rigs with visual Armatures, without the need to write MEL scripts. And messiah's "smart bones", that work the way you want, immediately, without requiring weight maps (though weighting systems can be used too)."messiahStudio is all the power you've wanted, but thought you couldn't afford." »

Animation:Master is a 3D character animation application offered by Hash, Inc. that includes tools for modeling, rigging, animating, texturing, lighting and rendering. The software uses a proprietary spline mesh technology to perform modeling and animation, and it is different in this sense from polygon mesh or NURBS-based programs. The system used is called patch-based modelling. It uses multiple intersecting splines to create areas, called patches. Windows version is here: http://download.cnet.com/Hash-Animation-Master-2004/3000-6677_4-38622.html?tag=mncol »