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https://github.com/tokejepsen/awesome-vfx

A curated list of awesome CG tools.
https://github.com/tokejepsen/awesome-vfx

List: awesome-vfx

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A curated list of awesome CG tools.

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# awesome-vfx
A curated list of awesome vfx tools.

[VFX Reference Platform](http://www.vfxplatform.com/)

DCCs
==========

| Name | OSS | Free | Link |
| ------------- | --- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Blender | Yes | Yes | [Site](https://www.blender.org/) |
| Fabric Engine | No | Depends | [Site](http://fabricengine.com/) |
| Houdini | No | Depends | [Site](https://www.sidefx.com/) |
| Maya | No | Depends | [Site](https://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/maya) |
| Nuke | No | Depends | [Site](https://www.foundry.com/products/nuke) |
| Modo | No | No | [Site](https://www.foundry.com/products/modo) |
| Katana | No | No | [Site](https://www.foundry.com/products/katana) |
| Mari | No | No | [Site](https://www.foundry.com/products/mari) |

2D Paint and Comp
==========
| Name | OSS | Free | Link |
| --------- | ---- | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Fusion | No | Yes | [Site](https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/ca/products/fusion/) |
| Krita | Yes | Yes | [Site](https://krita.org/en/) |
| Mischief | No | No | [Site](https://www.madewithmischief.com/) |
| Natron | GNU | Yes | [Site](http://natron.fr/) |
| OpenToonz | BSD3 | Yes | [Source](https://github.com/opentoonz/opentoonz) |

Engines
==========
| Name | OSS | Free | Link |
| ------------- | --- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| GoDot | MIT | Yes | [Site](https://godotengine.org/) [Source](https://github.com/godotengine/godot) |
| Unity | No | Depends | [Site](https://unity3d.com/) |
| Unreal Engine | Yes | Depends | [Site](https://www.unrealengine.com) |

Cross App Libraries
==========
| Name | OSS | Free | Link |
| ---------------- | ------- | ---- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| ACES | Yes | Yes | [Source](https://github.com/ampas/aces-dev/) |
| Alembic | Yes | Yes | [Site](http://www.alembic.io/) [Source](https://github.com/alembic/alembic) |
| cross3d | MIT | Yes | [Source](https://github.com/blurstudio/cross3d) |
| MaterialX | Apache2 | Yes | [Site](http://www.materialx.org/)[Source](https://github.com/materialx/MaterialX/) |
| Open Color IO | Yes | Yes | [Site](http://opencolorio.org/) |
| Open Image IO | BSD | Yes | [Site](https://sites.google.com/site/openimageio/home) [Source](https://github.com/OpenImageIO/oiio) |
| Open Subdiv | Apache2 | Yes | [Site](http://graphics.pixar.com/opensubdiv/docs/intro.html) [Source](https://github.com/PixarAnimationStudios/OpenSubdiv) |
| Open Timeline IO | Apache2 | Yes | [Site](http://opentimelineio.org/) [Source](https://github.com/PixarAnimationStudios/OpenTimelineIO) |
| Qt.py | MIT | Yes | [Source](https://github.com/mottosso/Qt.py) |
| USD | Yes | Yes | [Source](https://github.com/PixarAnimationStudios/USD) |

Blogs
==========
| Author Name | Description |
| ------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Cesar Margotta](http://www.cesarsaez.me/) | Prior Rigger, now Software Dev. |
| [Chris Offner](http://chrisoffner.eu/) | Generalist, Maya/Modo/Blender |
| [Dhruv Govil](http://dgovil.com/) | Pipeline Developer, posts a lot about processes and projects. |
| [Jonathan Cooper](http://www.gameanim.com/) | Game Animator, posts _a lot_ about animation. Nicely laid out side. |
| [Marco Giordano](http://www.marcogiordanotd.com/) | Rigger, Developer. |
| [Morgan Loomis](http://morganloomis.com/) | Technical Animator. |
| [Ryan Porter](https://yantor3d.wordpress.com/) | Rigger, does a lot of development and rigging work. |
| [Siew Yi Liang](http://sonictk.com/) | Cinematic TD, posts a lot about rigging tools and development. |
| [Steve Theodore](https://theodox.github.io/) | Technical Art, pretty much covers everything. |

USD
==========
| Name | OSS | Free | Description |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | ---- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| [AL_USDMaya](https://github.com/AnimalLogic/AL_USDMaya) | Apache2 | Yes | Animal Logic's USD Plugin for Maya. |
| [LumaUSD](https://github.com/LumaPictures/luma_usd) | ????? | Yes | Plugins for USD. |
| [USD Arnold](https://github.com/LumaPictures/usd-arnold) | Yes | Yes | USD schemas, exporters and importers for Arnold renderer. |
| [USD QT](https://github.com/LumaPictures/usd-qt) | Apache2 | Yes | Reusable Qt components for Pixar's USD. |
| [USD URI Resolver](https://github.com/LumaPictures/usd-uri-resolver) | Yes | Yes | Pluggable URI ArResolver for USD. |

Maya
==========

Libraries
----------
| Name | OSS | Free | Description |
| ------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | ---- | ---------------------------------- |
| [AL_USDMaya](https://github.com/AnimalLogic/AL_USDMaya) | Apache2 | Yes | Animal Logic's USD Plugin for Maya |

Tools
----------
## Animation
| Name | OSS | Free | Description |
| ----------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------- | ---- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Blue Pencil](http://zurbrigg.com/blue-pencil) | No | No | Sketchpad for Maya |
| [KeyFrame MP](http://zurbrigg.com/keyframe-mp) | No | No | Playblast and Reference Viewer. |
| [KeyFrame Pro](http://zurbrigg.com/keyframe-pro) | No | No | Professional Media playback and review tool. |
| [ml_tools](https://github.com/morganloomis/ml_tools) | CC4 | Yes | Animation and Rigging tools from Morgan Loomis. |
| [pyGhost](https://github.com/coxevan/pyGhost) | ????? | Yes | Ghosting for animators. |
| [Tradigitools](https://github.com/kattkieru/tradigiTOOLs) | BSD3 | Yes | Plugin for Maya (and now Cinema 4D) that promotes a more traditional workflow for animation with digital tools. |
| [tweenMachine](https://github.com/alexwidener/tweenMachine) | Yes, license TBD | Yes | The easiest way to create breakdowns in Maya |

## Modeling
| Name | OSS | Free | Description |
| -------------------------------------------------------- | --- | ---- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [polySymmetry](https://github.com/yantor3d/polySymmetry) | MIT | Yes | Maya tool for finding the symmetry of a polygon mesh based on the topology. |
| [polyReorder](https://github.com/yantor3d/polyReorder) | MIT | Yes | Maya plugin with tools to reorder the vertices on a mesh to match the order of another match. |

## Pipeline
| Name | OSS | Free | Description |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [animx](https://github.com/Autodesk/animx) | Apache2 | Yes | A project to make it easier for people to use Maya animation in their tools and pipelines. |
| [mayaTaskServer](https://github.com/chrisevans3d/mayaTaskServer) | ????? | Yes | A standalone Maya Task Server. |
| [maya-alembic-export](https://github.com/tokejepsen/maya-alembic-export) | LGPLv3 | Yes | Alembic exporting made easier. |
| [uExport](https://github.com/chrisevans3d/uExport) | ????? | Yes | uExport is a simple tool to automatically export complex characters from Maya to Unreal Engine 4. |

## Rigging

| Name | OSS | Free | Description |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Angular Nodes](https://github.com/yantor3d/angularNodes) | MIT | Yes | Library of Maya nodes to do arithmetic on angles without polluting the scene with unitConversion nodes. |
| [Array Nodes](https://github.com/yantor3d/arrayNodes) | MIT | Yes | Set of Maya nodes for operating on arrays of values. |
| [Bake Instancer](https://www.gum.co/rjBakeInstancer) | GPL | Yes | Bake an instancer node to individual animated pieces of geometry. |
| [boneToMesh](https://github.com/yantor3d/boneToMesh) | MIT | Yes | Maya plugin for creating proxy geometry for rigs. |
| [Channel Box Plus](https://gumroad.com/robertjoosten) | GPL | Yes | Add searchability to the channel box attributes. |
| [CommandSearch](https://gumroad.com/l/rjCMDSearch) | GPL | Yes | Read all buttons in Maya's native menu and make them searchable and executable. |
| [cvShapeInverter](https://github.com/chadmv/cvshapeinverter) | MIT | Yes | A script and deformer that can invert a shape through a deformation chain so the shape can be applied as a front of chain shape. |
| [cvWrap](https://github.com/chadmv/cvwrap) | MIT | Yes | A Maya wrap deformer that is faster than Maya's wrap deformer, can be rebounded, has a GPU implementation, and supports inverted front of chain blend shapes. |
| [deformerWeightsPlus](https://github.com/chrisevans3d/deformerWeightsPlus) | ????? | Yes | Fast Maya skinCluter Save/Load. |
| [grimIK](https://github.com/kattkieru/grim_IK) | GPLv3 | Yes | Non-iterative two-bone IK plugin with Soft IK, IK / FK switching, reversing, and elbow pinning in one node for Autodesk Maya 2016+. |
| [maya-capture](https://github.com/abstractfactory/maya-capture) | MIT | Yes | Playblasting in Maya done right. |
| [maya-capture-gui](https://github.com/Colorbleed/maya-capture-gui) | MIT | Yes | GUI front-end for maya-capture. |
| [maya-math-nodes](https://github.com/serguei-k/maya-math-nodes) | MIT | Yes | Collection of math nodes for Autodesk Maya |
| [maya-pymetanode](https://github.com/bohdon/maya-pymetanode) | MIT | Yes | A simple solution for storing python objects as data on a node in Maya. |
| [maya-pulse](https://github.com/bohdon/maya-pulse) | MIT | Yes | A rigging framework for Maya. |
| [maya-quickmenus](https://github.com/bohdon/maya-quickmenus) | MIT | Yes | A set of marking menus all related to workflow efficiency in Maya. |
| [maya-quicksearch](https://github.com/bohdon/maya-quicksearch) | MIT | Yes | A popup-style search box for Maya for quickly finding nodes or commands. |
| [maya-resetter](https://github.com/bohdon/maya-resetter) | MIT | Yes | A util for easily resetting transform or other node attributes to their defaults in Maya. |
| [maya-rmbmenuhook](https://github.com/bohdon/maya-rmbmenuhook) | MIT | Yes | A util for hooking into and extending the right mouse button marking menus in Maya. |
| [Mesh Info](https://gumroad.com/robertjoosten) | GPL | Yes | Query the volume of a mesh and with the node you can query not only the volume but also the surface area of all the faces. |
| [mgear](https://gumroad.com/l/mgear) | MIT | Yes | Rigging framework for Autodesk Maya. |
| [ngSkinTools](http://www.ngskintools.com/) | No | Depends | ngSkinTools is a skinning plugin for Autodesk Maya, introducing new concepts to character skinning such as layers, any-pose-mirroring, enhanced paint brushes, true smoothing, and more. |
| [PySignal](https://github.com/dgovil/PySignal) | MIT | Yes | A pure Python implementation of the Qt signal system with no QObject dependencies. |
| [quatExtras](https://github.com/yantor3d/polySymmetry) | MIT | Yes | Quaternion utility nodes that are missing from Autodesk Maya's quatNodes plugin. |
| [quicklauncher](https://github.com/csaez/quicklauncher) | ?????? | Yes | A minimal Qt based menu to quickly find and execute Maya commands and user scripts. |
| [Reorder Attributes](https://gum.co/rjReorderAttr) | GPL | Yes | Reorder attributes. |
| [Retarget Blendshapes](https://www.gum.co/rjRetargetBlendshape) | GPL | Yes | Retarget your blendshapes between meshes with the same topology. |
| [Simplex Solver](https://github.com/blurstudio/Simplex) | LGPLv3 | Yes | The Simplex Solver is cross-package plugin and tool for dealing with complex blendshape combos in for high-end facial rigs. |
| [Shapes](http://www.braverabbit.com/shapes/) | No | No | Easy to use blend shape editing tool providing a unified workflow to create and edit blend shape targets and related dependencies for character articulation. |
| [skonverter](https://github.com/coxevan/skonverter) | ????? | Yes | Simple skin converter for Maya. |
| [skinWrangler](https://github.com/chrisevans3d/skinWrangler) | Yes | Yes | A skinning tool for Autodesk Maya. |
| [Timeline Marker](https://www.gum.co/rjTimelineMarker) | GPL | Yes | Create coloured markers and comments on top of Maya's native timeline. |

## Scripting

| Name | OSS | Free | Description |
| ------------------------------------------------------ | --- | ---- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Charcoal Editor](http://zurbrigg.com/charcoal-editor) | No | No | Professional Maya Scripting. |
| [MayaCharm](https://github.com/cmcpasserby/MayaCharm) | MIT | Yes | Maya integration for PyCharm. |
| [MayaSublime](https://github.com/justinfx/MayaSublime) | MIT | Yes | Send selected Python and MEL code snippets from SublimeText to Maya via commandPort |

Tutorials
----------

## Rigging
| Name | Free | Link |
| ----------- | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Cult of Rig | Yes | [YouTube](http://youtube.com/cultofrig) [Twitch](http://twitch.tv/cultofrig) [Site](http://www.cultofrig.com/) [Calendar](http://www.cultofrig.com/streamcalendar/) |

## Scripting
| Name | Free | Link |
| --------------- | ---- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Python for Maya | No | [Site](http://dgovil.com/blog/2016/11/18/python-for-maya-course/) |

Nuke
================
| Name | OSS | Free | Description |
| ------------------------------------------------- | --- | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [connect](www.cragl.com/connect) | No | Yes | Manage Cragl tools. |
| [smartRender](http://www.cragl.com/smartRender) | No | No | Multithreaded background rendering and super fast feedback for NUKE. |
| [smartLook](http://www.cragl.com/smartLook) | No | No | Fast look development inside NUKE, Infinite global toolsets. |
| [smartMessage](http://www.cragl.com/smartMessage) | No | No | Instant messenger for NUKE and MAYA. Communicate with other artists, share data and connect locally and world wide. |
| [smartLib](http://www.cragl.com/smartLib) | No | No | Project and shot management for Nuke. |
| [smartShelves](http://www.cragl.com/smartShelves) | No | No | Manage your node menus including nodes and gizmos in a clever and simple way. |
| [smartRecents](http://www.cragl.com/smartRecents) | No | No | Quickly jump to your recent Nuke projects and keep track of your work |

Fabric Engine
================
| Name | OSS | Free | Description |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Vray For Fabric](https://github.com/ChaosGroup/vray-for-fabric) | ????? | Yes | A wrapper of the V-Ray App SDK for Fabric Engine. |
| [Kraken](https://github.com/fabric-engine/Kraken) | BSD3 | Yes | Modular character rigging framework built on top of Fabric Engine. |
| [SpliceMaya](https://github.com/fabric-engine/SpliceMaya) | BSD3 | Yes | Allows you to make use of the Fabric Core inside of Maya and use KL to perform computations inside of Maya using a custom node. |
| [SpliceModo](https://github.com/fabric-engine/SpliceModo) | BSD3 | Yes | Allows you to make use of the Fabric Core inside of Modo and use KL and the Fabric graph to perform computations inside of Modo using a custom Mesh item, a custom Schematic node etc. |

Modo
===============

| Name | OSS | Free | Description |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Modo_Popups](https://github.com/tcrowson/Modo_Popups) | ????? | Yes | A collection of plugins featuring a pop-up search field. |
| [Modo_ProjectManager](https://github.com/tcrowson/Modo_ProjectManager) | ????? | Yes | Modo 901. Basic Project Managment Kit. |
| [Modo_LightBank](https://github.com/tcrowson/Modo_LightBank) | MIT | Yes | For Modo 801 Linux. Custom Viewport for accessing light channels. |

Mari
===============
| Name | OSS | Free | Description |
| ---------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---- | --------------------------------- |
| [stkMariTools](https://bitbucket.org/sonictk/stkmaritools) | GPLv3 | Yes | Collection of utilities for Mari. |

Blender
===============
| Name | OSS | Free | Description |
| ----------------------------------------------------- | ------- | ---- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [blendergltf](https://github.com/Kupoman/blendergltf) | Apache2 | Yes | Addon for Blender that adds the ability to export to the gltf format |