Mesh2Motion – Open-source web application to animate 3D models
22 comments
·October 24, 2025raincole
scottpetrovic
genAI doesn't seem to scale very well without large costs and subscriptions to pay for it. Doesn't seem good for an open source project.
fleischhauf
why? aren't you desperately longing for trying to put into a prompt how a model should be animated? /s
d0100
As a dev trying to create 3D games on my spare time, I actually am (I'm also eager to use stableprojector once I upgrade my 10yo pc)
It's really hard having to be a 3D modeler, animator, art director, developer and having good enough taste to know you're never going to have the time to build what you find acceptable
tantalor
> Supports humanoid, four-legged, and bird creatures.
Man is a featherless biped
- tantalor
seanwilson
This is cool! I was confused how to get going at first and didn't realise it was a step-by-step wizard I had to follow, plus I only watched the demo video briefly. I loaded the human then clicked around the main area and couldn't get anything to happen, and almost gave up.
Suggestion to help with this: Instead of starting with a blank slate, start right at the end of the process with the human model loaded and animated, then the user can go "back" and change things once they've seen the kind of results they can get.
scottpetrovic
The next release I have for this has an "explore" page to start. What exists now is more of a 'build your own' page...which isn't great when visiting for the first time. See this small video of the new UX.
retSava
I can see this being huge for 3d-printing. Apply on a sculpted .stl, reposition and download/save the new pose. There is already stuff in Blender to do stuff like that, but Blender is almost like a hobby in itself, just like the actual printing is like a hobby (to learn and master).
devJdeed
This is defo a well needed project. The only other alternative I can think about is Mixamo. Goodluck and hope this projects overtakes Mixamo
reactordev
Yessssssss......
This and more mocap's plz. Keep going! The multiple animation export to glb saves me a ton of time. This is great! Combine this with ArmorPaint and you're almost there. Blender is great but it's so heavy.
Great job.
stefanka
Great project! It uses the motion library from the artist quaternius. He has some wonderful free and low-cost models.
jdauriemma
I just wanted to thank the creators of this app for making it usable without having to create an account. It's a breath of fresh air!
scottpetrovic
Yes. I really have sign up and subscription fatigue, so I don't want any of that happening. There is too much of that on the web already.
eps
Having the skeleton be auto-deduced (through the ML or otherwise) would've been a very natural fit here as a feature. Knowing that it's basically possible to do, selecting the skeleton type and then adjusting it manually, joint by joint, seems ... archaic?
nusl
Have you done 3D modelling/rigging/animating yourself before?
iammjm
nice, animating spinning wheels or tracks on vehicles would be cool!
scottpetrovic
can you give an example for clarification of what you are wanting to do? This web app is pretty flexible, so other types of rigs or animations could be added?
jackallis
i need to map out tree house plans - can this be used?
fsloth
I'm sorry I can't quite parse what you are asking.
"map out" - do you mean you want to digitally design tree houses?
theossuary
No, use sketchup
Pleasantly surprised to see a project like this without genAI nowadays.
And for people inevitably asking "why not Blender," my answer is that the field of 3D content creation is so vast that some people need "gateway drug" like this (and SketchUp, and Daz3D, etc) before trying to throw themselves into Blender/Maya/Houdini's throats.