Liftworks – Crane Generator for Blender

ZEG in Modeling


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Liftworks builds real cranes inside Blender, ready to animate. Pick one of 52 designs and drop a hammerhead tower crane on a building site, a ship-to-shore container crane on a quay, a rubber-tyred gantry in a container yard or an all-terrain crane with its outriggers out, then change anything: every size, part and color is a slider, a picture or a switch, and the crane rebuilds live.

Every crane moves like the real one. The slewing unit turns, the boom or luffing jib raises, the trolley runs along the jib or gantry and the hook drops on its wire ropes. Ropes, pendants and hydraulic cylinders follow every pose by themselves, so you only keyframe four simple transforms, or press Animate Work Cycle and get a full lift: lower, pick up, raise, slew, set down and return.

Ready to animate

Ready to animate
Slew, trolley and hoist: one click on Animate Work Cycle keys a full lift. Ropes follow every pose by themselves.

52 crane designs

52 crane designs
Tower, ship-to-shore, gantry, portal, harbor, all-terrain, truck and crawler cranes. Pick one and change anything.

Any size, any colors

Any size, any colors
Mast height, jib length and every part are sliders; the crane rebuilds live. Eight color schemes or your own.

Port cranes at work

Port cranes at work
Ship-to-shore cranes run the trolley out over the ship and lower the spreader onto the container.

Tower Cranes

  • Hammerhead, flat-top, luffing jib and self-erecting cranes
  • Lattice masts with angle, tube or box members and four bracing patterns
  • Anchored, cross base, rail travelling and climbing bases, building ties and climbing frames
  • Counter-jibs with concrete ballast, walkways, winches, cabs and aviation lights

Port Cranes

  • Ship-to-shore container cranes in high profile (A-frame, raising boom) or low profile
  • Rubber-tyred and rail-mounted yard gantries with box or lattice girders
  • Level-luffing portal cranes and mobile harbor cranes

Mobile Cranes

  • All-terrain, rough-terrain and truck-mounted telescopic cranes with outriggers and fly jibs
  • Lattice-boom crawler cranes with tracks, gantry and boom pendants

Hooks and Loads

  • Hook blocks with any number of falls, overhaul balls, ramshorn hooks, container spreaders, grabs and lifting magnets
  • 20 ft and 40 ft containers, concrete buckets, steel beams, pipes, brick pallets and precast panels

Built Like the Real Thing

  • Cabs with seats, joysticks, wipers and split glass; machinery houses with louvres, doors and ladders
  • Winches with rope drums, motors and brakes; sheaves, slewing rings with gear teeth, railings with toe boards and caged ladders
  • Hook blocks with cheek plates, sheaves and load plates; tyres with tread lugs and wheel nuts; crawler tracks with real shoes
  • Brand boards, load signs and warning plates printed as image decals, sharp and ready for export

Finish

  • PBR paint with gloss, grime streaks and rust, hazard stripes, glass cabs and glowing lights
  • Eight color schemes or your own colors; works in Cycles and EEVEE and exports to game engines

Picture-driven sidebar, Surprise and Vary buttons, Shift+A menu and Static Copy for export.

Requires Blender 4.2 or newer. Tested on Blender 4.2, 4.5 and 5.2 LTS.


  • For one individual: personal and freelance projects.

    $9
  • For one person or small company using it in commercial client and product work.

    $18
  • For teams and studios: use by up to 100 artists in one organization.

    $90
$9

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Details
Blender Extension Compatible Yes
Published about 9 hours ago
Blender Version 4.2 - 5.2
Extension Type Add-on
Render Engine Used Cycles, Eevee
License GPL