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IntroducingCharacterAnimationwith BlenderTony MullenAbout me College lecturer in computer science, TsudaCollege, Tokyo– Courses have included courses on Blender,Python Former professional cartoonist, illustrator,graphic designer Independent filmmaker, animator (stopmotion and CG) Writer (magazine articles and tutorials,academic papers, screenplays, fiction)About the book Blender foundation endorsed Foreword by Ton Roosendaal Technical editing by Roland Hessand Bassam KurdaliIntroduction About me About the book Some general thoughts onBlender related publishing Preview of ICAWB The GalleryAbout the book Introducing Character Animation withBlender Published by Sybex/Wiley A broad view of character creation andanimation– Modeling, texturing, rigging, skinning– Animation– Study of Blender in actual animationproductions Approx 450 pages, b/w with color galleryWhy a book? I wanted one There wasn’t one already Summer of Documentation hadn’tbeen announced, but even if ithad, it still wasn’t a book yet Great excuse to spend loads oftime doing Blender stuff.1
Who’s the book for? People who know Blender, but notanimation People who know animation, but notBlender Highly motivated newbies to both Should complement the Summer ofDocumentation material---someoverlap but a lot of different coverageOther books (yours?) A lot of potential in Blender-relatedpublishing. Other CG packages have manybooks each. There’s plenty of material. Learning styles vary, but there are still a lotof people who want a proper book. Especially important to focus on areaswhich require deeper attention than can begiven in most online tutorials. Few people read a whole book online.How does a book benefit theBlender community? There may be direct financial benefits for the BFacting as a vendor or having some otherrelationship (this varies depending on the case) High-profile publications raise awareness ofBlender in the industry and among the public– Professional marketing and promotional support– Respected publishers lend credibility More skilled users means more high-qualityBlender work Increases Blender’s potential to be the basis ofprofitable workWhat other books? A few titles from my fantasy Blenderbookshelf:– Rendering and Ray Tracing with Blender,YafRay, and Indigo– Advanced Compositing and Video Effects withBlender– Mastering Blender Python Scripting andSource Development– Creating Games and Interactive Content withBlenderKeeping Up with Blender Speed of Blender development achallenge for all forms of documentation Trade-offs may be necessary, but thespeed of development is overall a goodthing On the other hand, the fundamentals don’tchange that fast Online docs vs offline docs, pros and cons A book can foster anticipation even bywhat it doesn’t coverIntroducing CharacterAnimation with Blender2
Table of ContentsI.Creating a character in Blender1.2.3.4.5.II.Basics and InterfaceWorking with MeshesMaterials and TexturesArmatures and RiggingShape Keys and Facial RiggingBringing it all to life: Animation6.7.8.9.10.11.12.III.Blender in Production13.14.15.16.IV.Intro to Animation: Keyframes and IPOsArmature AnimationFacial Animation and Lip SyncNon-Linear AnimationOther Issues in AnimationLighting, Rendering and EditingUsing Python ScriptsBlender ProductionsElephants DreamIntroducing FeifiBlender in the PipelineBeyond Blender17.18.Goals and Approach To cover all of what I considered thenecessary topics for character animation. To take a practical, hands-on tutorialbased approach, but at a more leisurelypace and more in-depth than online tuts. To include as many suggestions, shortcuts,“secrets” and cool tricks as I could stuff inalong the way. To explain why certain choices were madeand what some other alternatives are.Other SoftwareFurther ResourcesGoals and Approach Much of the book centers aroundcreating and animating a singlecharacter, Captain Blender Can be followed in several ways:– Most intensive, do all the tuts from thebeginning– Less intensive, follow selected tutsusing the included .blend files on theDVD (at various stages)Working with MeshesInterface and Objects Overview of the Blender interface,windows, hotkeys, 3D navigation, etc. Introduction to objects and datablocs;the difference between a mesh objectand the mesh datablock itself, etc.Working with Meshes Overview of meshes and modifiers Step-by-step extrusion modeling of afemale face. Box modeling the Captain Blendercharacter Common problems with meshmodeling3
Modeling Captain BlenderMaterials andTexturesCommon modeling problemsMaterials andTextures Captain Blender’s suit materials andtextures UV mapping/texturing CB’s head Bump mapping Particle hair, eyelashes Weight painting for hair control Making eyeballs with procedural texturesRiggingRigging Simple introduction to rigging and FK/IKposing Rigging Captain Blender with a completearmature (based on the Ludwig rig byJason Pierce with some modification.Thanks also to Bassam Kurdali’sMancandy rig) Skinning and weight painting Action constraints, stretch bones, etc.4
Shape Keys and Facial RiggingShape Keys and Facial Rigging Simple introduction to bone-driven shapekeys on a cube Facial rigging with bone-driven shapes Using vertex groups to create asymmetry Armature rigging for eyes and tongue (IKconstraints, eyelid control, stretch bones) Improved joint deformations with drivenshape keysAnimation Basics:Keyframesand Ipos Simple introductionto keyframes andIpos: a bouncingballArmature Animation Posing and keying poses IK vs FK posing; arcs and curves A simple jump action– Line of action, exaggeration, squash and stretch, etc. A walk cycle A run cycle Pose-to-pose and straight-ahead– Using a combination approach to make the characterwalk forward Another example of pose-to-pose gesturingmatched with soundArmature AnimationLip Sync and Facial Animation Creating facial expressions with facialarmature posing Lip syncing to a sound file5
Lip Sync and Facial AnimationNonlinear Animation Introduction to the NLA Editor, strips, etc Relationship between NLA Editor and ActionEditor A simple example of combining several cyclicalanimations to sync together: Camera rotationaround a walk cycle Using the stride bone to prevent foot slippagewhen following a path Walking and talking: combining actions in theNLA editorOther Issues in Animation Other useful or interesting tools:– Lattices– Softbody simulation– Metaballs Interacting with propsOtherIssues:LatticesOther Issues:MetaballsOtherIssues:Soft BodySimulation6
Other Issues:Interacting with propsInteracting with propsLighting and renderingLighting and rendering Basic concepts in lighting forcharacter animation How to render How to use the Sequence Editor Composite nodes basics? Not yet.Space permitting Rendering, Compositing,and the Sequence EditorUsing PythonScripts7
BlenderPeople MySQL based crowd simulation byRoland HessBlender in ProductionThanks to the Orange Team forcreating the world’s first open movie!The movie and production files areincluded on the DVD accompanyingthe book.Thanks to the producers of Plumiferos,and very special thanks to ClaudioAndaur for all his help!Inside Elephants DreamConclusion I hope to see– more people become encouraged to writeabout Blender (or produce othereducational materials)– that ICAWB helps people learn moreabout character creation and animation– Blender’s profile continue to rise in the CGworldIntroducingFeifiThank YouAnd special thanks to MauroBonecchi, Tomohiro Akutsu, Roland Hess, the OrangeTeam and the Plumiferos team, whose artwork I used inthis presentation8
About the book Introducing Character Animation with Blender Published by Sybex/Wiley A broad view of character creation and animation – Modeling, texturing, rigging, skinning – Animation – Study of Blender in actual animation productions Approx 450 pages, b/w with color gallery About the book Blender foundation endorsed
