Day 5: Blender tutorial for making illustrations - Basic Animation Techniques in Blender

 

Objective:

Learn the basics of animating simple elements in Blender, such as moving or rotating a shape, to create an engaging animated diagram.

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Step-by-Step Guide:

1.     Open Blender and Set Up Your Workspace

• Open Blender and ensure you're in the "Layout" workspace for animation.
• Familiarize yourself with the Timeline panel at the bottom, where you'll control the animation sequence.

2.     Create a Basic Diagram

• Use 2D shapes (circles, squares, etc.) to create a basic diagram. You can reuse the mind map from Day 3 or create a simple flowchart with a few shapes.
• Add Text to label your shapes (e.g., “Start,” “Process,” “End”).

3.     Switch to Animation Mode

• Select an object (shape or text) in your diagram.
• Go to the Object Properties tab and focus on the Transform section (for moving, scaling, or rotating the object).
• Move your playhead to Frame 1 in the Timeline.

4.     Set Keyframes for Movement

• To animate the position of an object, press I while hovering over the Location property in the Object Properties tab. This creates a keyframe for the starting position at Frame 1.
• Move the playhead to a later frame (e.g., Frame 40). Now, move the object to a new position using G (Grab) to drag it to the desired location.
• Press I again to insert a keyframe for the new position at Frame 40.

5.     Animate Rotation

• Select an object and press R to rotate it. Insert a keyframe for Rotation at Frame 1 using the I key.
• Move to a later frame (e.g., Frame 60), rotate the object, and press I again to create another rotation keyframe.

6.     Preview Your Animation

• Press Spacebar to play the animation. You should see your objects move and rotate between the keyframes.
• Adjust the timing or smoothness by dragging keyframes in the Timeline.

7.     Add More Animation (Optional)

• You can animate text appearing or disappearing by keyframing its Visibility (use the Outliner or keyframe the object's scale to make it “grow” from nothing).

8.     Refine the Animation

• Use Interpolation Modes for smoother motion:
• Select your keyframes in the Timeline.
• Right-click and select Interpolation Mode > Bezier for a smooth curve in the motion.

9.     Render Your Animation

• Once satisfied with the animation, go to the Render Properties tab.
• Set the Output Format to FFmpeg video (to export as a video).
• Choose a file destination under the Output section.
• Press Ctrl+F12 to render the animation.

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Outcome:

You will have created a simple animated diagram with moving and/or rotating elements, ready for use in your illustrative videos!

Let me know if you need further help!

 

Source:

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