BLENDER ANIMATION

THE CHALLENGE

In these tutorials, you will learn how to animate in Blender 3D. A special Thank you and credit to ALEX NAGY who has created an awesome youtube channel for Blender and animation. I have personally curated the selection of tutorials and projects for you to complete using Alex Nagy’s Ball Rig.

ANIMATION HISTORY:

What is Animation?

Animation is a filmmaking technique by which still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Steamboat Willie is especially notable for being one of the first cartoons with synchronized sound, as well as one of the first cartoons to feature a fully post-produced soundtrack, which distinguished it from earlier sound cartoons, such as Inkwell Studios‘ Song Car-Tunes (1924–1926), My Old Kentucky Home (1926) and Van Beuren Studios‘ Dinner Time (1928). Disney believed that synchronized sound was the future of film. Steamboat Willie became the most popular cartoon of its day. ~ wiki

You can see the film below:

Fantasmagorie is a 1908 French animated film by Émile Cohl. It is one of the earliest examples of traditional (hand-drawn) animation, and considered by film historians to be the first animated cartoon. You can see the film below:

Émile Cohl created Fantasmagorie in 1908. To make this film, Cohl placed each drawing on an illuminated glass plate and then traced the next drawing-with variations-on top of it until he had some 700 drawings. In 1908, chalkboard caricaturists were common vaudeville attractions and the characters in the film look as though they’ve been drawn on a chalkboard, but it’s an illusion. By filming black lines on paper and then printing in negative Cohl makes his animations appear to be chalk drawings.

BEFORE YOU START …

Before we get to the Animation process, you must demonstrate the understanding of Move Rotate and Scale as it relates to Animation. This is crucial in order to move onto Lesson 01 of the Ball Animation. See the video below to gain understanding and demonstrate this by animating a simple box. FIRST, you will also be required to use the KEYMAP provided which can be found in the link below:

DOWNLOAD KEYMAP HERE

Watch the video to install the KEYMAP here:

LESSON 01 – Basic animation of a Ball

Download the BALL RIG and all contents using this link:

Here you will learn the basics of the animated ball and how to use the animation windows. Setup is crucial for starting your animation flow. You can use the setup file already or set it up yourself using the video. If you choose to use the setup file skip the setup process and go straight to the animation component.

LESSON 02 – LIP SYNC & ACTING

Here you will be able to do a full Lip sync using the ball rig by Alex Nagy.

DOWNLOAD THE LIP SYNC HERE

LESSON 03 – STORY TIME

Using the Ball, create yourself a story and export your Animation using the LESSON tutorial below.

RENDERING ANIMATION

You need to know how to render your animation. Below is a video that allows you to gain that information and make your very own playblast and final MP4 video for youtube, your phone or any other screen.

ANIMATION COMPETITION

In this challenge you get a month to complete an animation.

LINK HERE TO THE DETAILS