by LIGHTARCHITECT·Simulation
Images © LIGHTARCHITECT. Used for product review; image policy.
Horde stands out in the superhive library for pairing Blender's geometry nodes and boids with ready-made human and zombie characters, wrapped in a four-step panel designed in collaboration with Carlos Barreto.
Horde Add-On: Procedural Crowd Tools is a crowd system for Blender that adds customizable crowds of animated 3D characters to any scene. It's built on two of Blender's crowd approaches — geometry nodes and boids — and its UI panel was designed in collaboration with Carlos Barreto. It serves 3D renders and live-action VFX alike.
Setup runs in four steps: choose a character genre, pick an animation mode, select a system type, then add or draw the crowd directly into the scene through the UI panel. Horde ships with four character sets — Human Professional, Human Casual, Zombie Bare, and Zombie Clothed — created by artist Elliot Feys, each working with Walk, Run, and Static animation modes. The geometry node system handles precision placement, while boids produce organic emergent crowd behavior.
Because Horde builds its parameters on Blender's native geometry node and boid particle systems, crowd setups stay fully customizable afterward, both through the panel and inside Blender itself, with no proprietary formats or locked settings. Assets are optimized for Cycles and EEVEE, and the add-on scales to hundreds of characters.
Horde Add-On: Procedural Crowd Tools is best for filmmakers and 3D artists adding customizable crowd systems with animated characters to Blender scenes for 3D renders and live-action VFX.
Horde Add-On: Procedural Crowd Tools is completely free to download and use.
Horde is verified for Blender 5.1.1, so it runs with that version. The add-on builds on Blender's native geometry node and boid particle systems, which means the crowd systems it creates stay inside tools already present in Blender rather than any proprietary format. Version 1.0 was released on October 14, 2022, and future updates are provided free with purchase. For the current list of supported Blender versions, check the developer's page before installing.
Horde version 1.0 includes four character sets created by artist Elliot Feys: Human Professional, Human Casual, Zombie Bare, and Zombie Clothed. Each set works with the Walk, Run, and Static animation modes. The developer notes that more assets will be added in future free updates based on customer recommendations. All included assets are optimized for both the Cycles and EEVEE rendering engines.
Horde's assets are optimized for both Cycles and EEVEE, so crowd systems can be used with either engine. Because Horde builds its parameters on Blender's native geometry node and boid particle systems, the resulting crowds remain fully customizable after setup, both through the add-on's UI panel and directly inside Blender. Everything stays inside the native tools you already know, with no proprietary formats or locked settings involved.
Horde uses a four-step setup. First, select a genre from Human Professional, Human Casual, Zombie Bare, or Zombie Clothed. Second, pick an animation mode: Walk, Run, or Static. Third, choose between the geometry node system for precision placement or boids for organic emergent crowd behavior. Fourth, add or draw the crowd system directly into the scene, then dial in further settings in the UI panel after placement.
Horde is listed as free here in our catalog. Licensing and pricing can change, so check the developer's page for the current terms before downloading. The add-on carries a commercial license, and all future updates are provided free with a purchase, accessible by logging into your Superhive account. Version 1.0 is the original release, packing the geometry node and boid crowd systems along with the human and zombie character sets.
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