Lots of capability, clumbsy user interface

This is very much, to the point, a powerful animation package that allows the user to mix 2D and 3D objects (or nodes as Aurora calls it) together. For that reason alone, I do not regret the purchase. I only wish I would have found this application earlier. I have noticed no stability problems during an 8 hour working session. Good luck trying to find any other 3D animator that does not take a century to use for day-to-day tasks. It also takes in both flat images (bitmap or vector) and 3D objects, as well as allowing use of built in primatives and text, which is a major plus. You can group nodes together easily. It renders high quality HD video if you want it to, and its reasonably fast.

Saying it’s just a 3D titler is really selling it short. I used this application to create moving 2D desktop user interface mockups, complex titles, etc. I can even import 3D objects off thiniverse!

The application’s biggest weakness is the clumbsy user interface. It is hard to know exactly what properties take effect and when without experimentation. For example, a property just called “Alpha” applies to the node globally, where “Node Alpha” is keyframe specfic. The automatic keyframe feature, while on the surface a good idea, can really drive a novice crazy when it creates a keyframe every time you shift around a node. The properties tabs do not make much sense and it is hard to really know what does what. The manual is a little bit more help, but it mainly contains a list of icon pictures and a short text description.

My biggest complaint is that it is also very difficult to select and drag a node without the application thinking you want to move the node behind it or accidently spinning or resizing the node. There is a couple pixel sweet spot and I still haven’t figured out this one.

AnotherAppleFanBoi about Aurora3DAnimation