Employing two sublattice model, quantum nucleation has been studied in ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic thin film by applying an external magnetic field at an arbitrary angle. For antiferromagnetic film with non-compensated sublattices the crossover from the ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic quantum nucleation is discussed. It is found that quantum nucleation is more pronounced in antiferromagnetic film than in ferromagnetic one. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.