01
Film or pick a video
Any single camera works: a phone, a webcam, existing footage. One person, full body in frame.
Video to 3D animation
Turn any video into a 3D animated character.
MotionTale reads the movement in an ordinary video and gives you a finished, animated character scene for Blender. It runs on your own computer, with nothing uploaded.
One payment. No subscription. Windows and Mac.
Real MotionTale output from a two-second clip, processed on an Apple Silicon Mac. Preview background recoloured to match this page.
100% localNothing is uploaded
Pay onceNo credits or meter
Windows and MacNVIDIA or Apple Silicon
Blender-readyScene, BVH and MP4
How it works
From camera to character in three steps.
02
Let MotionTale work
A five-step wizard takes the clip. Tracking, motion solving and retargeting run on your own graphics card.
03
Open the finished scene
You get a Blender scene with the character already animated, ready to light, edit and render.
What you get
Three files. Ready to use.
Every job saves an editable Blender scene and a standard motion file. Add a rendered preview when you want to check the take first.
A finished Blender scene
The character is rigged, animated and framed. Open it and keep working; nothing to retarget by hand.
The motion on its own
A standard motion file you can bring into other animation tools and apply to your own rigs.
A rendered preview
Optional video of the character performing, so you can judge the take before opening Blender.
Why MotionTale
Motion capture that stays with you.
Runs on your computer
Processing happens locally on your own graphics card. It keeps working without an internet connection.
Your footage stays private
Videos are never uploaded. That matters for client work, unreleased projects and anything under NDA.
Pay once
No subscription, no credits, no per-minute meter. Process as many clips as your machine can handle.
A finished scene, not raw data
Most tools hand you motion data to apply yourself. MotionTale delivers the animated character in Blender.
No suit, no markers
One ordinary camera is enough. No sensors, no calibration, no studio.
Built for commercial work
MotionTale is built on components whose licenses permit commercial use, so you can use the results in paid projects.
Compared
Local software versus cloud services.
| MotionTale | Typical cloud mocap service | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your video goes | Stays on your computer | Uploaded to the provider's servers |
| Cost model | One payment | Monthly subscription or credits |
| Clip length | No fixed cap | Often capped per clip |
| Works without internet | Yes, after activation | No |
| If the service shuts down | Your copy keeps working | Access ends |
| What you receive | Animated Blender scene, BVH, MP4 | Motion data to apply yourself |
Cloud column reflects common terms on public pricing pages of online video-to-motion services, October 2026. Individual services differ.
Speed
Know the wait before you start.
Measured on a mid-range NVIDIA RTX 3060, animation only. Rendering the optional MP4 preview adds time. Apple Silicon Macs are noticeably slower.
What it does not do
- Body only. Fingers and facial expressions are not tracked.
- One person per video.
- One bundled character. Use the BVH file for your own rigs.
- Not real time. It processes recorded clips.
| Video length | Processing time |
|---|---|
| 5 seconds | 3 min 20 s |
| 10 seconds | 5 min 59 s |
| 30 seconds | 13 min 34 s |
| 1 minute | 27 min 13 s |
| 2 minutes | 52 min 8 s |
| 5 minutes | 2 hr 22 min |
Pricing
One price. Yours to keep.
Everything is included. No plans to compare, no subscription, no credits.
MotionTale
$99one time
- The full app, with all outputs
- Active on two computers at a time
- Unlimited clips, processed on your machine
- Commercial use of your animations
By buying you agree to the Terms and the License Agreement. 14-day refund.
Secure checkout by Stripe. Your license key appears as soon as payment completes.
Requirements
What you need to run it.
Windows
- System
- Windows, 64-bit
- Graphics
- NVIDIA graphics card (tested on RTX 3060)
- Storage
- About 20 GB free for the app and models
Mac
- System
- Apple Silicon (M-series). Intel Macs are not supported
- Memory
- 16 GB or more
- Storage
- About 20 GB free for the app and models
Questions
Straight answers.
Does my video leave my computer?
No. Video is processed on your own machine and is never uploaded. The only things MotionTale sends over the internet are your license key and an anonymous computer code, once, when you activate.
Does it track fingers and faces?
Not today. MotionTale captures full-body movement of one person. Fingers and facial expressions are not tracked.
Can I use my own character?
The app ships with one character, Snow. The exported BVH motion file can be applied to your own rigs in Blender and other tools.
How long does processing take?
On an NVIDIA RTX 3060, roughly 25 to 30 times the length of the clip for the animation, plus extra time if you ask for the rendered preview. Apple Silicon Macs are supported but noticeably slower.
What makes a good input video?
One person, whole body visible, a steady camera, decent lighting and clothing that stands out from the background. Heavy occlusion and very fast spins are harder.
How many computers can I use it on?
Each license key can be active on two computers at a time. Deactivate one in the app to move it to another.
Do I need an internet connection?
Only to activate, once. If the computer has no internet at all, you can activate it from another device using the offline activation page.
Can I use the results commercially?
Yes. The animations you create are yours. The bundled Snow character is licensed CC BY 4.0, so credit the Blender Foundation if you publish renders that show it.
Do I need Blender?
MotionTale includes what it needs to build the scene. To open and edit the resulting .blend file you need Blender, which is free.
Something else? Write to contact@pictorytale.com.