What Cascadeur does

Cascadeur is a standalone 3D character animation software product developed and published by Nekki Limited, a privately held Cyprus-incorporated company headquartered in Limassol. The software enables keyframe animation creation as well as cleanup and editing of imported animations, with particular strength in physics-accurate body mechanics for games, film, and VFX. Its core technology combines a proprietary control rig structure that avoids Euler angles (eliminating gimbal lock) with AI-assisted features including AutoPosing (a neural network trained on Nekki's own game animation data for natural pose prediction), AutoPhysics (physics-based animation correction using fulcrum points and collision), AI Inbetweening (learned keyframe interpolation), Animation Unbaking, Video Mocap, and the newer Root Motion Tool for motion style transfer.

The product is built around a tiered subscription model: Free (proprietary .casc export only, non-commercial), Indie (full FBX/DAE/USD export for users under $100,000 gross annual revenue), Pro (unrestricted commercial use, retargeting, scene linking, environment interaction), Teams (4+ seats with admin tools and dedicated Discord), and Educational (free for verified students and teachers). Yearly subscribers receive a perpetual license covering all versions released during their subscription period. Distribution runs through the cascadeur.com website, Xsolla as global payment processor, Microsoft Store, and direct enterprise sales.

Cascadeur serves a horizontal customer base spanning indie game developers, VFX and VR studios (e.g., VRFX Realtime Studio, Corridor Crew), educational institutions, content creators, and enterprise studios, with 40%+ of users on Unreal Engine. The product supports export to Unreal Engine, Unity, Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini, Cinema 4D, and Roblox Studio, with native one-click rigging templates for Daz3D, Character Creator, Mixamo, MetaHuman, and Ready Player Me skeletons. Go-to-market is primarily product-led via the free tier, supplemented by community-led growth across Discord, YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, and LinkedIn, with sales-led enterprise outreach for Teams plans.

Name

Cascadeur

Legal name

Nekki Limited

Website

https://cascadeur.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cascadeur is a standalone AI-assisted 3D character animation software, built by Nekki Limited in Cyprus, that lets indie game developers, VFX studios, and animators create and clean up physics-accurate character animations using neural-network-powered posing, physics correction, and video mocap tools, sold via freemium subscription tiers with global distribution through Xsolla.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

3D Animation Software

NAICS

Computer and Computer Peripheral Equipment and Software Merchant Wholesalers (423430)

akta.pro primary industry

Animation Pipeline, Asset & Render Services (MPADACAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Animation Pipeline Tools & Technical Direction (Scripts, Plugins, Automation) (MPAHACAL)

Keywords

• 3D animation software
• Character animation
• AI animation tools
• Motion capture
• Physics-based animation

Headquarters

HQ city

Limassol

HQ country

Cyprus

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Subscription (Pro): Annual or monthly subscription for Pro license with full feature access including all tools, export formats (FBX, DAE, USD), and unrestricted commercial use. Perpetual license included upon subscription expiration for annual subscribers.
2. Software Subscription (Indie): Annual or monthly subscription for indie developers with gross revenue under $100,000/year. Includes FBX, DAE, USD export and most Pro features. Excludes Animation Retargeting, Scene Linking, and Environment Interaction features.
3. Teams License: 4+ licenses on a single admin account with all Pro features plus dedicated admin account and private Discord channel. Additional perks for teams with 15+ and 30+ members.
4. Educational License: Free Pro license for verified students and teachers at educational institutions, renewable annually with eligibility verification.
5. Perpetual License: Available exclusively to yearly subscribers (Indie and Pro). Grants lifetime access to all versions released during subscription period. Commercial use permitted without active subscription.
6. Free Tier: Free version with limited export (proprietary .casc format only), no commercial use permitted. Serves as entry point for product-led growth.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Cascadeur is a standalone 3D animation software for creating keyframe character animation and cleaning up or editing imported animations. It combines AI-assisted posing tools (AutoPosing neural network) and physics-based tools (AutoPhysics) to produce realistic character motion. The software supports .FBX, .DAE, and .USD file formats for integration with major game engines and DCC pipelines.

Product overview

Cascadeur is a standalone 3D animation software product developed by Nekki, designed for creating physics-based character animation for games and movies without motion capture. The core product is Cascadeur software with integrated AI-assisted tools including AutoPosing (neural network-powered pose prediction), AutoPhysics (physics-based animation optimization), AI Inbetweening (automatic intermediate frame generation), Animation Unbaking (converting baked animations to editable), and Video Mocap (video-to-animation conversion). Additional features include Quick Rigging Tool for one-click character rigging, Copy/Paste Retargeting for animation transfer, Python Scripting API, and Node Editor for advanced rig customization. Cascadeur is offered through multiple subscription tiers: Free (limited export, non-commercial), Indie (up to $100K revenue), Pro (full features, unrestricted commercial), Teams (4+ users with admin features), Educational (free for verified students/teachers), and Trial (14-day evaluation). Yearly subscribers receive a Perpetual License granting access to versions released during their subscription period.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cascadeur Standalone 3D animation software for creating keyframe animation and cleaning up or editing imported animations. Features AI-assisted posing (AutoPosing), physics-based animation tools (AutoPhysics), physics simulation, Quick Rigging, Animation Unbaking, Video Mocap, AI Inbetweening, Root Motion Tool, and Copy/Paste Retargeting. Supports .FBX, .DAE, and .USD file formats and runs on Windows, macOS (ARM), and Linux.
• Cascadeur 2026.1 Major version release of Cascadeur animation software introducing the Filament Rendering Engine, Unreal Engine Live Link integration, and the AI Root Motion Tool.

Quantifiable outcome

• Animation creation significantly faster compared to traditional tools
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration19 records

AI capability8 records

Feature11 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• XsollacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized global payment distributor handling all Cascadeur license purchases, subscription management, and invoicing. Processes payments through their platform at account.xsolla.com.
• Aron Nemeth (Community Developer)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCreated the Blender bridge addon for Cascadeur, enabling workflow integration between Cascadeur and Blender. Community-contributed tool supported but not officially maintained.
• Nathaniel Albright (Community Developer)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCreated the Maya bridge addon for Cascadeur, enabling workflow integration between Cascadeur and Autodesk Maya. Community-contributed tool available on Gumroad.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Reallusion iClone: Reallusion iClone is a standalone character animation software with motion capture cleanup, retargeting, and physics tools targeting the same indie/professional character animation workflow as Cascadeur. Both compete for VFX, game development, and content creator users.
• Blender: Blender is the leading free and open-source 3D creation suite with full character animation, rigging, physics, and increasingly AI-assisted features. It directly competes with Cascadeur for indie game developers, students, and budget-conscious studios as a free alternative.

Broad incumbents

• Autodesk Maya: Maya is the industry-standard character animation suite used across VFX, film, and games. While a much broader DCC tool, its character animation, rigging, and physics capabilities position it as the dominant incumbent Cascadeur must differentiate against in professional studios.
• Adobe Mixamo: Adobe's Mixamo provides AI-powered character rigging and motion capture cleanup within a browser, targeting game developers with a freemium model. Cascadeur's Quick Rigging tool and Video Mocap compete head-on with Mixamo's automated workflow.
• Adobe Character Animator: Adobe Character Animator is a real-time character animation tool focused on live performance capture, part of Adobe's Creative Cloud suite. While targeted at streaming/live content rather than keyframe animation, it competes in the same accessible character animation category for content creators.

Emerging players

• Plask: Plask is an AI-powered motion capture and animation platform that extracts animation from video — directly overlapping with Cascadeur's Video Mocap feature. Both target indie creators and small studios seeking accessible AI-driven animation.
• DeepMotion: DeepMotion provides AI motion capture and character animation tools via web and SDK, including video-to-animation and physics-based motion generation. It competes with Cascadeur's Video Mocap and AutoPhysics capabilities for game and metaverse developers.
• Move.ai: Move.ai offers markerless AI motion capture from video, with sample-character integration directly supported in Cascadeur. Both serve the same mocap-to-game-engine workflow and compete for the indie and pro indie game developer segment.
• Unreal Engine MetaHuman: Epic Games' MetaHuman and Unreal Engine's built-in animation tools (Control Rig, Sequencer, Motion Library) increasingly offer AI-assisted character creation and animation. As Cascadeur's largest ecosystem partner and 40%+ user base, Epic's own animation tooling represents both opportunity and competitive threat.
• RADiCAL: RADiCAL provides AI-powered video-to-3D-animation motion capture in the cloud, targeting game developers and content creators. It overlaps with Cascadeur's Video Mocap and Animation Unbaking workflows for indie and pro indie use cases.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cascadeur3d
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCwF6yYbIFJmB5ynAkzq9Psg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cascadeur3d
• Instagraminstagram.com/cascadeur3d
• TikToktiktok.com/@cascadeur3d

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cascadeur