Day 9: Blender tutorial for making illustrations - Animated Text for Illustrations

Objective: Learn how to create and animate text in Blender to enhance your illustrations, making them more engaging and informative.

---

Step-by-Step Tutorial

1. Open Blender:

• Launch Blender. You’ll start with a new project, so ensure you’re in the Layout workspace.

2. Add a Text Object:

• Press Shift + A to open the Add menu.
• Navigate to Text and select it. A default text object will appear in the center of the scene.

3. Edit the Text:

• With the text object selected, press Tab to enter Edit Mode.
• Delete the default text (usually “Text”) and type your desired label (e.g., “Biology Concept”).
• Press Tab again to exit Edit Mode.

4. Position the Text:

• Use the Move tool (shortcut G) to position the text in the desired location within your scene.
• Adjust the height and depth by moving the text along the Z-axis if necessary.

5. Style the Text:

• With the text object selected, go to the Object Data Properties panel (the icon that looks like a letter 'A').
• Under the Font section, you can change the font style, size, and alignment. Choose a font that matches the theme of your project.

6. Animate the Text:

·        Insert Keyframes:

• With the text object still selected, go to the Object Properties panel (the orange square icon).
• Locate the Transform section.
• Right-click on Scale and choose Insert Keyframe. Set the initial scale to 0 (to make it invisible).
• Move the timeline marker to frame 10 (or any frame you choose).
• Change the scale to 1 (normal size) and insert another keyframe.

·        Optional: Animate Opacity (if using a material):

• If you want to animate opacity, you can create a new material for the text.
• Go to the Material Properties panel (the red sphere icon).
• Right-click on Alpha in the material settings and insert a keyframe at 0 at frame 1.
• Move to frame 10 and set the Alpha to 1, then insert another keyframe.

7. Preview the Animation:

• Press Spacebar to play the animation and see how the text appears in your scene.

8. Refine the Animation:

• Open the Graph Editor to adjust the keyframes for smoother transitions.
• Select the keyframes and press T to choose different interpolation types (e.g., Ease In, Ease Out) for smoother animations.

9. Add Additional Text Elements:

• Repeat the process to create and animate any additional text labels you want in your illustration, adjusting timing and placement as necessary.

10. Save Your Project:

• Regularly save your project by pressing Ctrl + S to avoid losing your work.

---

Outcome

By the end of Day 9, you will have created and animated text labels in your Blender project, making your illustrations more dynamic and engaging.

 

Source:

ChatGPT