In the ever-evolving world of motion design, creativity is only half the story. The other half lies in the tools. Whether you’re creating slick social animations or immersive brand storytelling, a modern motion design agency must be equipped with a versatile software stack.
Here’s a look at the essential tools every top motion design agency should be using in 2025, from industry standards to emerging newbies.
No surprises here. After Effects remains the go-to for 2D animation, motion graphics, and compositing. Its seamless integration with Illustrator, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro makes it a staple in any motion designer’s toolkit.
If you’re working with a motion design agency and they’re not using After Effects in some capacity, that’s a red flag.
For 3D animation, Cinema 4D seems to be a clear favourite among agencies. It’s powerful yet accessible, ideal for motion designers who want to create slick 3D visuals without diving into overly complex workflows. Plus, its MoGraph toolset is a dream for data-driven or procedural animation.
Pair it with Redshift for GPU rendering, and you’ve got a production-ready 3D pipeline.
Cavalry is shaking up the 2D animation space. Think After Effects, but built for motion designers from the ground up — with real-time playback, procedural animation, and a powerful timeline system that’s more intuitive for complex animations.
Forward-thinking agencies are using Cavalry to prototype and animate faster, especially for campaigns that demand rapid iteration and flexibility.
Rive is a game-changer for interactive motion. It allows designers to create animations that run in real time on the web and in apps. No rendering, no export, just clean, code-ready motion.
Agencies working in UI animation, gaming, or branded digital products are increasingly adopting Rive to create lightweight, responsive animations that developers can implement directly.
Though not built for animation, these are still core tools for asset creation. Illustrator is perfect for creating scalable vector graphics, while Photoshop handles textures, matte painting, and raster image work.
Most motion design workflows start with clean, layered files from these programs. Photoshop also remains a favourite for many motion designers who specialise in frame-by-frame, cel animation or stop motion techniques.
Motion design is often part of a larger creative ecosystem. Figma makes it easy for teams and clients to collaborate, review designs, and export layered assets. With plugins like Figmotion, even basic animation prototyping is possible inside Figma.
A motion design agency that uses Figma can work more efficiently with marketing, product, and development teams.
For teams pushing visual boundaries or working within budget constraints, Blender is an increasingly popular choice. It offers advanced modelling, rigging, rendering, and VFX tools and it’s completely free.
Agencies that want total control over their 3D pipeline (and no licensing headaches) are adopting Blender more than ever.
Agencies juggle multiple stakeholders, deadlines, and versions. Frame.io simplifies this process with time-coded feedback, version history, and easy sharing, all in the cloud. It’s now baked into Adobe Creative Cloud, making it even more powerful.
Runway ML is leading the charge in AI for video. With tools for rotoscoping, inpainting, and style transfer, it’s becoming a secret weapon for agencies looking to speed up tedious post-production tasks or experiment with bold new styles.
From real-time interactive tools like Rive, to procedural animation platforms like Cavalry, motion design software is evolving fast and agencies must evolve with it. Whether it’s 3D, mobile-first, or browser-native animation, the best motion design agencies know how to pick the right tool for the job.
