Crowd Simulation Software with Free Download

Reading time icon 5 min. read


Readers help support Windows Report. We may get a commission if you buy through our links. Tooltip Icon

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial team Read more

Key notes

  • Create multiple characters scenes, just like in the movies, using the best crowd simulation software with 3D effects.
  • See what tools can help you build graphics based on real-life physics techniques in order to enhance motion.
  • Adobe comes with an intelligent tool that allows you to duplicate people and so much more.
  • Don't miss out on all the options for free crowd simulation software with built-in AI. Check the guide below. 
3d crowd simulation

We all love watching movies that involve large armies fighting epic battles, with great special effects and stories.

We can appreciate the effort that goes into some of our favorite movies, but have you ever wondered how those effects are created? If you have, then you came to the right place.

These amazing battle scenes are created using specialized design software that contains all the tools required to create armies, environments, etc.

Of course, behind the scenes, a large number of designers work around the clock to offer you the best and most realistic visual effects. These applications are called crowd simulation software.

In this article, we will discuss the best crowd simulation software options on the market that allow you to create epic battle scenes with thousands of warriors, and add multiple realistic effects on your PC.


What are the best crowd simulation tools for PCs?

Adobe After Effects

Adobe After Effects is a feature-rich digital visual effects software used in the production of movies and games. Chances the special effects in the movies you watched last week were created using After Effects.

If you’re looking for a 3D crowd simulation, you’ll definitely love Adobe After Effects.

There are plenty of built-in tools you can use to duplicate crowds and get the effects you want without spending too much money on extras and background actors.

Thanks to the Duplicate feature, you can multiple the people in the initial crowd as many times as you want and place them in different areas of the footage to create the illusion of a large crowd.

Other key After Effects features include:

  • Fast and responsive shapes
  • Content-aware fill
  • Advanced pins and bend pins for extra precision
  • Plenty of color curve adjustment tools for stunning visuals
Adobe After Effects

Adobe After Effects

Create the most outstanding visuals with an industry standard tool that comes with versatile features.
Free trialVisit website

Golaem Crowd

Golaem software - best crowd simulation software

Golaem Crowd is one of the best Autodesk Maya plugins that allows you to create incredibly life-like renderings of crowd dynamics.

You can use this software to change, and create behaviors for groups of virtual characters that are based on real-life physics, and also set shading and behavior values for the elements found in the scene.

The latest version of Golaem gives you all the tools required in order to create particle-based crowds of virtual characters that can interact with the environment they are in.

Golaem 6 was modified based on the feedback received from users. One of the best features found in Golaem 6 is the new Layout tool.

This free crowd simulation software allows you to modify the way a scene is played out even after the components of the scene have been saved.

This feature allows you to focus on other important tasks and saves you important processing time. Here are some other features found in Golaem 6:

  • Trigger Editor – allows you to easily modify the behavior by using presets
  • Blind data – allows you to import items like muscle or morph deformers
  • Can create bipedal, quadrupeds, flocks, swarms, etc.
  • Full integration with Maya
  • Very powerful motion re-targeting and motion mixing

⇒ Download Goalem 6


Massive

Massive is another incredibly powerful software that uses the autonomous AI Agest system that works as a plug-in for Maya.

For this reason, this software uses Maya particles that can be connected to animated characters, allowing you to create beautiful and complex war scenes easily.

What makes Massive stand out from the crowd is its ability to use AI to make the characters you create interact with each other freely.

Compared to Golaem (which only works by setting specific rules and characteristics for your characters), Massive can create fluent movements and interactions automatically.

Here are some other notable Massive features:

  • Perfectly integrated into Maya
  • Can preview scenes in both single and batch render
  • Can create characters with the capability of reacting to the environment using artificial intelligence capabilities

⇒ Try Massive


Miarmy

Miarmy - best crowd simulation software

Miarmy is another very powerful plug-in for Autodesk Maya that gives you the power to create incredibly realistic batches of characters to populate your virtual army.

If you want a crowd simulation software for free, then this tool is perfect because it provides AI behavioral animations, and can help you create physical renderings.

Even though this app is on the 3rd place in this list, that doesn’t mean Miarmy is any less capable than the previously mentioned software options.

Here are some of the most notable features found in Miarmy:

  • Can build character logic networks without the need to use any programming or node connecting
  • Perfectly integrated with PhysX – force field, cloth, RBD emitters, wind, etc.
  • Creates crowd VFX using Maya particles, field, fluid, and transform capabilities
  • Completely free to use – allows access to tutorials, samples, and presets

⇒ Download Miarmy


In this article, we explored some of the best crowd simulation software options on the market that allow you to easily create life-like renderings of crowds.

The tools mentioned above will surely offer you all the tools you require in order to create incredible battle scenes, with an incredibly wide range of realistic SFX effects.

You can also create complex pattern behaviors of characters by using the included artificial intelligence features.

Please feel free to share which software option you chose from this list in the comment section below.


More about the topics: software