The crankshaft is one of the main engine components directly affected by the permanent demand for increased specific output of combustion engines. In order to achieve reliable designs, simulation tools providing accurate results are required to analyze crankshaft dynamics behavior and durability. AVL EXCITE Power Unit has proven its ability to calculate results close to the real ones in many projects and when compared with experimental results. The use of two distinct categories of crankshaft 3D dynamic models is offered: either a condensed volumetric FE model obtained by combined static and dynamic reduction using commercial FE solvers or a novel modeling technique developed by AVL, the crankshaft ‘structured model’. For the latter a fully automated procedure for the model set up starting from CAD has been implemented.