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Blender Bootstrap Animation Classes

[edit] Introduction

This header document links to all the classes developed by the Blender community to teach animation. Animation skills are a blend of artistic and technical skills, and have to be applied by using a particular package (Blender in this case) and problem domain or purpose. Once you have acquired an animation skill, you can apply that skill to any package you use throughout your lifetime, even if your tool is a pencil. We will cover all problem domains, ranging from animating the movement of simple objects, comic characters for "toon" motion, and real-life characters for "realistic, believable motion".

Our approach will be to focus on teaching an Artistic skill topic, both explaining the artistic aspects, technical information and details about mechanics and physics, and asking the student to use Blender and apply that knowledge through practice in one or more domains or practical applications. This practice can be viewed and critiqued, and the student can improve. The design of the Blender Bootstrap Animation Class is based on animation skills applied to blender models using blender tools and techniques. We cannot eliminate the tools and technology aspect of animation, but the more we can set it to the side, or handle it in sidetrack threads, the better focus we can maintain.

Our purpose is to create the illusion of living, breathing, thinking actors on our screens. As one of our earlier participants showed us, this is even possible with a simple ball as a model. Game animation is yet another topic, although all the skills are directly transferable. Having an enemy do a realistic hack and slash at you is the same issue as character animation in a movie/film/commercial whatever. Developing a great game involves not just animation, but also storytelling, filmmaking, gameplay and marketing all wrapped up into one big project.

So, the question becomes, what artistic skills should be covered in such a course? For each skill, what are the technical underpinnings and fundamental learning that needs to take place to master the skill? What features and functions within Blender can be used to demonstrate and accomplish the skill? How can the student practice this skill and apply this knowledge that results in a quality animation? Lastly, what order should we learn skills in, so that they build on one another?

The remainder of this document deals with these topics, in a heuristic manner, laying out a series of fundamentals that can be easily learned, and which are then used to accomplish and learn more advanced animation concepts.

Those are all animation skills that can be transfered to any other animation systems, even ink and cells or pencils and papers or Flash.

[edit] Assumed Blender Knowledge

We all have to start somewhere, and we want to focus on the skills of animating, and not how to build an armature. So, we will NOT cover the following, and assume the student has these skills already:

• navigating in 3D and in the Blender application, and basic modeling,
• shading and lighting
• basic rigging - how to create an armature and assign it to a mesh
• how to key poses and animate bone movement
• how to render an animation and post it on youtube, vimeo or polorix

Modeling is not absolutely required since already modeled models are used. If some people want to build their own model, then that is fine but knowing how to model should not be a requirement for those specific classes. Some of the classes may require basic modeling such as building an obstacle for an object but this could also be achieved by importing objects. Same for shading, lighting and compositing/sequencing. You should not have to know sequencing because the animation is of only one shot, lasting a few seconds in length, and there are no cuts or multiple shots involved. You can film the animation from different perspectives, but that is more of learning the art of cameraman/photography, than animation. In animation, you want to film the scene so that the animation can clearly be seen and observed/critquied. No dramatic camera angles please! Same with lighting - you want the scene to be very clearly and evenly lit, almost with like AO. You do not want dramatic lighting that creates shadows that may hide errors or cover up problems/incorrect motion. Same with Materials - we want bland off-white materials so that we are not distracted by swirling colors and the like.

Since scenes are already supplied and lit and shaded and composited, then those skills cannot be requirements. Of course, someone, somewhere needs to have those skills in order to setup the practice scenes. I trust that several participants already possess those skills and they could possibly want to participate in building those sets though.

While it would be nice to totally avoid the tools/technology aspect of learning animation, it is not practical for this world, the world of Blender. Our students want to learn animation, but they also want to use Blender and we are using Blender-sponsored resources for these classes. Ideally, the people participating in animation bootstrap should use already rigged characters and not have to worry about the technologies that make them move. I would like this set of classes to address the needs of those who want to learn to animate but don't want to become modelers and riggers. Modeling and rigging can be learned in other parts of the forum or with the wiki or even by analyzing the supplied characters or props rigs. I don't want to be sidetracked into explaining how shape keys work and how to set them up and how to use them.

I can foresee that we will need to start appendix threads where we would discuss how to better setup and rig a given set and where we will learn skill that are more tool and technology oriented but those threads would be sidetracks, necessary evils but not considered part of the animation bootstrap classes per se. Some very limited use of the BGE may be put to use, for example, using the simulation capabilities of the physics engine to get complex motion curves.

[edit] Blender Knowledge to be Gained

Along the way, specific Blender aspects to be learned and used include:

• Keyframing Objects and Poses (LocRotScale)
• IK and FK Posing
• Ghosting
• Using background video and reference video sequences
• Shape keys, Lattice, and Hooks for deforming meshes (facial rigs)
• Using pre-existing rigs
• Bone deformations (scale and stretch)
• Rendering Animations
• Simulations(?)

[edit] Resources

First, there is this wiki. Use it and love it. Second, the classes can be conducted on-line through the BlenderArtists Animation forum. For each topic, a "Blender Bootstrap Animation xxx" thread will be started, where XXX is the topic name. To participate,

1. read the appropriate section of the wiki below, conducting whatever research is indicated.
2. Second, read the thread on the BA forum, and learn from what others have done.
3. Third, develop your own animation and simply post your animation link there for critique and review.
4. Fourth, learn from the constructive criticism to improve your work.

[edit] Standard Rigs

In order to maintain some consistency and comparison between results, we provide the following rigs

1. Bouncy Ball
2. Bobby Walker
3. Blendy Hopper
4. Bigwig Ludwig

These rigs are public domain and freely available.

[edit] Bouncy Ball

[edit] Bobby Walker

1) walk/run cycles and IK, and 2) the importance of bouncing the ball around and positioning for realistic motion, and then filling in leg movements that look right. So I think the reason beginner student have to start with the legged ball is because of its inherent simplicity. The student don't need to animate the arms and hands, or the head or the face or the spine. And this is a good thing. Beginer animators tend to not know what to do with the arms and hands. They animate the arms and the hands much much more than necessary and they end up doing a lot of arm flailing. Animating a ball with legs shows that emotion is much better communicated from body posture than from arms and faces. Arms and faces are important too but the legged ball model forces the student to focus on the other aspects of the body language. Another reason for animating a legged ball when starting to animate. It is a very good way to practice balance and center of gravity. That means counter balance for dynamic poses too.

This rig is by Francal of Italy. He reminds me of Sonic, but with a Blender attitude.

[edit] Blendy Hopper

[edit] Bigwig Ludwig

[edit] Bipedal Mancandy

[edit] Session Topics/Outline

In no particular order, a set of topics was presented at a SigGraph conference in my youth. Great companies like Pixar, and books written by members of the Nine Old Men of animation teach these topics as well.

The outcome of each exercise is a 3 to 5 second animation, up to 15 seconds

Animation skills are developing an eye for observing and replicating :

   * plausible movements / motion,
   * timing and pacing,
   * weight, force, strength, mass, hardness / softness, resistance, opposing forces,
   * speed, acceleration / deceleration, stop and start, ease-in / ease-out
   * arc smoothness / snappyness,
   * floating vs tight snappy motion and acting, holds and moving holds,
   * body language / body dynamics,
   * follow through, overlaping / secondary motions, anticipation,
   * line of action, opposing curve and straight,
   * composition, silhouette,

Shape shifting shape keys hooks and lattices

"Animation" dimension Stills Object motion Shape shifting Simulations Armature animation

"Duration" dimension Stills (1 frame) Poses (2-10 non-continuous frames) Shot (2-100 continuous frames)

Existing / Possible episodes:

colliding billiard balls ricochets, ease out, speed and direction changes

swings (simple harmonic motion) pendulums, springs arcs, ease in and out, regaining balance follow through

cycles

All motion should be 5 to 8 second asymmetrical motion, no twinnings or cycles.

Possible Exercises: crawl cycle (Indie inch worm) turns left turns right reverses course hop cycles (Blendy) turns left turns right goes uphill, goes downhill reverses course walk cycle (otto, lil fella, mancandy, something new?) turns left turns right climbs stairs climbs ladder jumps off cube trips and falls down trips and recovers balance sits on chair gets out of chair

5 to 8 second emotional animated gestures

Suggested Series:

1. Squash and Stretch symmetrical motion bouncing ball gravity, trajectories 1.a. Bouncy Ball 1.b. Inchworm 1.c. Bobby 1.d. Blendy 1.e. Ludwig

2. Timing

3. Antici-...-pation (Rocky Horror)

4. Staging

5. Follow-through

6. Straight-Ahead

7. Pose-to-Pose There are a lot of skills to be acquired and practiced when posing. the body language is an obvious one. But composition, line of action, force, dynamism or statism, balance, stability, center of gravity, twining and silhouette, to name a few, are all important concepts and skills to develop in animation. And all those are more easily workable with still poss because we can concentrate on those details. Once you know how to get good poses that speaks by themselves, then stringing poses together in a pose-to-pose animation becomes much more efficient both in term of workflow and in term of communication of the character state. still pose gesture revealing state of mind gesture showing key positions silhouette 7.a. Single Character 7.b. Character interaction

8. Slow in/out

9. Arcs

10. Exaggeration

11. Secondary Action

12. Appeal

13. Facial Animation 10 or 11 second lip synch

14. Acting 14.a. 10 to 30 second interaction with environment 14.b. 10 to 30 second scene characters interacting with each other 14.c. 10 to 30 second scene characters interacting with each other and environment

[edit] Sequence / Exercises

As a sequence of learning, we could just proceed sequentially through the Siggraph topics. I have no better list than that for a list of animation skills to be learned/practiced/tutored. Along the way, we cover the topics using the tools Orinoco listed. I had not thought about Mancandy and Ludwig, but yes, they are "advanced" rigs, but we should use them when talking about an aspect of animation, like squash and stretch. If the student can comprehend two bones, then four bones, then 10 bones, then they should be able to extend that to 20 or 50 bones. Or we just focus on a body part, like a hand, for the exercise. I see a demo reel in my head with just that progression in turntable fashion, showing off the Squash and Stretch skill.

So, if the first animation concept (2.1) is Squash and Stretch, I see we have a few threads necessary:

1. a rubber ball (s&s in silhouette) 2. Indie the Inchworm (s&s using two(?) stretchy bones). 3. Bobby (without tail) to show body mass and compression, like Luxo 4. Blendy (s&s in terms of body length (the tail) 5. Ludwig's (Hand reaching out for a glass of water, or his full body leaping into a forward roll) 6. Buck getting beaned.

All of these would progress conceptually from one another in a heuristic fashion, I would think, with no great intellectual leaps required. Also, S&S lays a great foundation for arcs (2.8). By doing all five episodes(?) for the S&S skill, we cover tools such as shape keys (for the rubber ball), armatures with Blendy, stretchy bones with Indie, rigging and driving for the ManCandy/Ludwig. I think that would cover the topic well, and fully explore all of Blender's abilities to to Squash and Stretch.

@technojoe: the still is the pose aspect of animation. there is pose-to-pose, where you first define the poses you want the character to have, as stills, and then you tween to get from pose-to-pose. So, first you have to learn how to pose your character (like to show intent and to draw the audience eye to something) before you can introduce the motion. The still is also the way you create your outline or silhouette, and examine it - kind of a storyboard snapshot. The outcome of each exercise is a 3 to 5 second animation, up to 15 seconds

Assumed blender skills navigating in 3D, modeling, shading, lighting, compositing

Animation Skills Learned:

Shape shifting shape keys hooks and lattices Armatures used: Indie the Inchworm (a two-bone rig) Bobby Blendy Ludwig

"Animation" dimension Stills Object motion Shape shifting Simulations Armature animation

"Duration" dimension Stills (1 frame) Poses (2-10 non-continuous frames) Shot (2-100 continuous frames) Existing / Possible episodes:

colliding billiard balls ricochets, ease out, speed and direction changes

swings (simple harmonic motion) pendulums, springs arcs, ease in and out, regaining balance follow through

cycles

Rigs used: Indie inch worm (two bones) crawl cycle cycle combined with change in location Bobby (rigged to squash and stretch invisible body parts) bounce cycles volitional bounce, squash and stretch Blendy (single leg rig) hop cycles otto, lil fella, mancandy, something new? walk cycle run cycle various walking styles

All motion should be 5 to 8 second asymmetrical motion, no twinnings or cycles.

Possible Exercises: crawl cycle (Indie inch worm) turns left turns right reverses course hop cycles (Blendy) turns left turns right goes uphill, goes downhill reverses course walk cycle (otto, lil fella, mancandy, something new?) turns left turns right climbs stairs climbs ladder jumps off cube trips and falls down trips and recovers balance sits on chair gets out of chair

5 to 8 second emotional animated gestures

[edit] Straight-Ahead

The goal of this exercise is to teach the animator how to mimic the most simplistic real-world physics. Sequence of exercises: Rolling pool ball Colliding pool ball Bouncing pool ball Bouncing Ping-Pong ball

[edit] Skills checklist

symmetrical motion bouncing ball gravity, trajectories

[edit] Squash and Stretch

Now that we know how to bounce a real ball, let's apply that to cartoon and artifical modeling by bouncing a toony rubber ball. Then we expand that concept to make Blendy hop. Bobby jump. Ludwig Leap

[edit] Timing

[edit] Anticipation

[edit] Staging

[edit] Follow-through

[edit] Pose-to-Pose

In the film Kaena, The Prophesy, the heroine enters what Blake Snyder calls "the dark night of the soul." Deserted by her family, her tribe, her boyfriend, on the run, chased by bad guys of her own and another species, she slides down a tunnel, falls through branches of the world tree, catches herself at the last second and drops to the ground. There she slumps, in defeat, and holds the pose for a few frames.

That pose sums up all that she has gone through in the film, in her life, up to that point. That pose is the moment when she summons up the internal will to persevere against all odds. That pose is the turning point of the film. That pose took the animators several days to get right. That pose is a still.

Other than a stills' possible dramatic effect in an animation, still poses teach a lot about balance, anatomical structure and movement, and portrayal of emotion. In working with pose to pose animation, the still pose becomes a target pose. In animating scenes, having stills of the key storytelling poses allows one to put together an animatic to work out timing and sound. Making still poses also teaches you how to manipulate whatever rig you're using. They're very useful.

still pose gesture revealing state of mind gesture showing key positions silhouette Single Character

Character interaction

[edit] Slow in/out

[edit] Arcs

[edit] Exaggeration

[edit] Secondary Action

[edit] Appeal

[edit] Facial Animation

Basic Emotions

Sadness Disagreement/Frustration Happiness Mouth Phenomes 10 or 11 second lip synch

[edit] Acting

14.a. 10 to 30 second interaction with environment 14.b. 10 to 30 second scene characters interacting with each other 14.c. 10 to 30 second scene characters interacting with each other and environment