Recommended sources for animations

There are thousands of animations in the Marketplace for sale (even many of them free), and a beginning designer—or even a seasoned one—may have difficulty knowing which sources to trust. So many of the cheap ones are worth exactly what you pay for them. 

For the sake of helping out my fellow furniture makers in SL, I offer the following list as my personal recommendations (with notes for further clarification). All of these offer full-perm animations for builders to use and re-sell; please note that each has its own TOS and you will need to follow these closely. I included the MP store link wherever possible, for two reasons: (1) so you can browse them quickly before going shopping in-world, and (2) for permanence, in the event that their in-world store should move.

In-world Top Picks:

• Anja's Animations: I really like Anja's work, and used many of her animations in various builds over the years. She only does PG animations, but she has good ones for a variety of scenarios and is really good for RP-oriented builds. (MP Store)
• Black Tulip: As with pretty much everything they offer, Black Tulip's animations are very good in quality. They don't have a huge selection—and sometimes it seems like they shuffle their inventory around so that some animation that you saw one time isn't there the next. Get them when you can (and shop around the rest of their store for other goodies). (MP Store)
• Kabuki: Not quite as wide a selection as at RNP, but he's very actively creating more so the inventory is always growing. He's invested a LOT of attention in creating Bento-compatible animations, which is nice. Great selection of adult animations too. (He also includes help with AvSitter settings in most/all of his sets.) (MP Store)
• K&S: Katya only does static poses, NOT full animations—but her static poses are the best ones I've found in SL. She offers great sets for very reasonable prices. My go-to source for photo props for the first year or more that I made them. (MP Store)
• LDK: All adult animations, with many hardcore and specialty selections available. The group is pricey, but worth the investment if you are going to make adult furniture. In my opinion, LDK is the spiritual successor to Sylva's as the go-to place for adult animations (and she's actively making more!). Worth the trip. (MP Store)
• Move with Holly: Focusing pretty exclusively on the RP world (and especially the BDSM niche of the RP world), Holly has put together some very nice animations that are both top-quality and fairly priced. Another source for some of those quirky ones that you can't find as easily elsewhere. (MP Store)
• RNP: Really great selection of animations, great quality, and a good variety on sale. RNP used to have a weekly sale, which was an amazing way of building up an inventory; I don't know how often they do sales now. They also have an all-adult animation store. (MP Store)

Secret Finds (stores you would probably only know about if you've been at this for a long time—until NOW!):

• Kamala Animations: They once had a HUGE store in-world, with every animation available to demo; now you can only get them in the Marketplace. Kamala has a ton of animations, and many of them are difficult to find elsewhere; a lot of great stuff for RP, especially for family and work/job-related RP. You'll just have to trust me that these are well worth the money and risk.
• Zambooki: Paige Parx was widely regarded as one of the best creators in SL, and her full-perm animations are still some of the best ones around. (She's still in-world actively creating under a different name/brand, by the way.) Now the Zambooki animations are only available in the Marketplace, but they are worth both the money and the risk of not getting to try them in-world before buying. Take my word for it. 

Others to know about:

• 101 Delmations: Fair prices (not bargains) for a lot of good-quality basic animations (different types of sitting, lying, etc.). Nothing really stands out here, but especially for a starting designer this would be a good place to stock up on well-made staples. (The owner/designer is a real sweetie too.) But frankly there's nothing here that you can't also get at RNP, Kabuki, or the others listed above.
• Animation Station: These animations are good, not great, in quality. But they are VERY affordable. This is a good source for some of those basics when you're trying to get started—and, they also have some quirky specialty animations that are hard to find anywhere else. Worth a look especially for newer designers. (MP Store)
• Animatri-X Studio: These are all adult animations, and many of them are very good ones. There's also a strong selection of harder-to-find animations here. The rub is: if you're not in the "Pro Builder Group" (same group as with Sylva's below) you can't shop for full-perm animations here. If you're already a member or can figure out a way to get in, it's worth the trouble. (MP Store)
• Clutter for Builders: Mainly a mesh and textures resource, they've branched out more recently into animations. Theirs are good quality, but for the most part there's nothing they have that isn't available elsewhere—with the possible exception that their animations are custom-made to fit their meshes, so if you're using Clutter mesh then you might consider their animations as well. (MP Store)
• Niamhinations!: Not the best in quality, but sometimes they will have just what you are looking for that nobody else offers. A quirky selection of both animations and static poses. This is actually a pretty good source for stuff like walking and standing animations if you need to assemble a simple AO for a project. (MP Store)
• R.a.W.A.g.e.: This long-time maker of furniture also offers some of their adult animations for sale full-perm. Good-quality adult stuff, mostly the same kinds of things you can find elsewhere. There are one or two harder-to-find animations here, though. (MP Store)
• Sylva's Animation Factory: I mentioned this one indirectly in a previous post. They have a fantastic selection of very high-quality animations; they also sell a few sub-brands in the same store, from what I understand (Alterior Motions is one of them). Unfortunately, Sylva herself died a number of years ago, and her business partner (Pips Fetid) is apparently no longer actively in-world. That's a bummer, because they only sell full-perm to group members, and the only way to become a group member is to be approved by one of the group moderators. If you're already in the group, though, you're golden. (MP Store)
• vMotional Animation Store: Another one much like Sylva's, where the quality is top-notch and you can get some really great animations (some that are very hard to find, too)—except, it's for group only, and the group managers aren't actively adding new people. At least, I never could get them to add me. If you can get in, definitely shop here.
• X-Clusives: Here's another maker that sells their own furniture as well as offering their animations for sale. These are mostly fair-to-good quality; almost none of them are really outstanding. However, they have two things going for them that make them worth a look: first, they have a huge selection for just about anything you're looking for, and second, they regularly offer their full-perm animations on a sale that makes them a great source for building up a basic inventory. When I was first starting, I dropped a lot of Lindens on one of their sales and instantly had the capacity to make whatever I wanted, even if I eventually quit using more than half of them in favor of better animations from others. (MP Store)