by Andrew Combs Desgins·Motion Graphics
Images © Andrew Combs Desgins. Used for product review; image policy.
Animation Extras earns its spot in the superhive library by focusing on a single, well-implemented job: true 3D onion skinning that draws straight to the viewport without cluttering the scene with extra meshes or materials. Being open source under the MIT license adds to its appeal.
Animation Extras, also known as AnimExtras, is an open-source addon that adds ease-of-use animation features to Blender — the kind the software either lacks or could improve. The current feature set centres on animation aids and is set to grow over time.
Its headline feature is true 3D onion skinning. Meshes are drawn directly to the viewport using Blender's BGL and GPU modules, so there are no extra meshes and no extra materials to manage. A later update introduced an inbetweening mode, which shows frames with direct keyframes in a different colour than interpolated frames. Turning off overlays also switches the onion skins off automatically.
Released under the MIT license, Animation Extras runs on Blender 2.8 through 2.9, packaged as a single install. A demo video is available for a closer look.
Animation Extras is best for blender animators who want 3D onion skinning and other ease-of-use animation aids without adding extra meshes or materials to their scene.
Animation Extras is completely free to download and use.
Animation Extras supports Blender 2.8, 2.81, 2.82, 2.83 and 2.9. Since version 1.0.2 these ship as a single package that covers 2.8 through 2.9 along with certain alpha versions, so you don't need to match a separate download to your Blender release. Support for the 2.8x branch was added in version 1.0.1. For versions outside that range, check the developer's page for current details before installing.
Animation Extras draws its true 3D onion skinning directly to the viewport using Blender's BGL and GPU modules. That means it does not create extra meshes or extra materials to produce the effect, keeping the scene uncluttered. An inbetweening mode, added in version 1.1.0, shows frames with direct keyframes in a different colour than interpolated frames. A separate behaviour also turns the onion skins off automatically when you disable viewport overlays.
Animation Extras is listed as free in this catalog. It is also an open-source project released under the MIT license, so you can review and reuse the code within that license's terms. For current licensing and any options offered by the creator, check the developer's page. The addon has been available for over five years and is distributed through the developer's own channels.
Animation Extras added an inbetweening onion skinning mode in version 1.1.0. It lets you see frames that have direct keyframes in a different colour than interpolated frames, separating keyed poses from the in-between interpolation. That same release also included general code cleanup, more consistency and fewer try-except statements. The mode builds on the addon's true 3D onion skinning, which draws directly to the viewport. Check the developer's page for the full change log.
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