Blender is known for being nice for 3D, however do you know that it’s also superb for 2D animation? It is a comparatively new characteristic launched in Blender 2.8, and it contains quite a few distinctive functionalities and instruments that work extraordinarily nicely for creating 2D animations.
What You will Be taught in This Blender Tutorial
On this tutorial, we’ll undergo the fundamental instruments and workflow you will want to create a profitable 2D animation in Blender. Subjects we cowl will embrace:
- The way to use the Grease Pencil
- The way to use Keyframes in Blender
- What 2D animation instruments can be found in Blender
1. The way to Enter Draw Mode
Step 1
Create a brand new 2D Animation file by deciding on it from the intro window. You may also go to File > New > 2D Animation.
This would be the fundamental mode you can be utilizing when creating your drawings and animations.
Step 2
This may create a brand new clean doc that we are able to work from. For some primary navigation across the viewport, you should utilize the gizmos situated on the proper of the display screen.
Step 3
You’ll create most of your drawing throughout the Draw Mode. That is the one mode that permits you to create 2D strokes. You possibly can change modes inside Blender utilizing the top-left dropdown menu.
Strokes which have already been created can’t be chosen in Draw Mode. If you wish to edit strokes, you have to use the Edit Mode or Sculpt Mode as an alternative.
2. The way to Create a Grease Pencil Object
Step 1
The Grease Pencil is the principle device that you can be utilizing in Blender to create 2D animations, and it’ll mean you can attract 3D house.
Blender extremely recommends utilizing a pill or touchscreen show while utilizing this device.
To create a brand new Grease Pencil object, you have to first go into Object Mode by deciding on it from the top-left dropdown menu.
Step 2
Then go to Add > Grease Pencil to see just a few completely different choices to select from.
- Clean: Creates a null Grease Pencil Object
- Stroke: Creates an instance stylized stroke demo
- Monkey: Creates a monkey face instance
Step 3
Create the clean grease pencil object, after which return to the 2D Animation workspace to return into draw mode.
3. The way to Use the 2D Drawing & Animation Instruments
Step 1
On the left, you will discover all of your primary instruments, which embrace the Draw Instrument, Fill Instrument, Eraser Instrument, and many others. These work in the same solution to what you will discover in some other picture enhancing software program.
Step 2
The essential Draw Instrument will embrace all of your primary settings similar to brush stroke and color, which you’ll regulate on the proper of the display screen.
Step 3
With the Draw Instrument chosen, you possibly can change the comb by clicking on the pencil icon situated on the highest menu bar.
Step 4
Alongside the highest bar, you additionally produce other choices to vary the fundamental settings of the Draw Instrument, similar to color, radius, energy, and many others.
These settings are additionally obtainable on the proper facet of the display screen underneath the Energetic Instrument & Workspace Settings.
Step 5
To make use of the Draw Instrument, merely click on and drag as you’ll utilizing some other picture enhancing software program. Grease Pencil strokes in Blender are 2D, however they exist as a 3D object.
As soon as you’re finished drawing, you possibly can then edit these strokes additional by going into Edit Mode.
4. The way to Put together Your Animation
Step 1
In Blender, the Grease Pencil object might be animated within the following methods:
- Inherited Animation: Utilizing the motion of one other object as its mother or father
- Transferring as a Entire Object: Altering the place, orientation, or dimension
- Deforming: Animating their factors
- Drawing Body by Body: drawing one body at a time, like conventional animation
To begin a brand new animation, go to File > New > 2D Animation to start out a brand new animation template. This template ought to have already got a Grease Pencil object already created and Auto Keyframes enabled.
Draw a ball and rename it “Ball”. You may also use the Circle Instrument to do that in case you desire. For an ideal circle, you possibly can hit the Shift key as you click on and drag.
Step 2
When you’re proud of the form, hit Enter on the keyboard. This may create the Grease Pencil object and add a keyframe for you within the timeline.
You may also delete the Fills as we’ll solely be utilizing traces for this tutorial.
Step 3
Create a brand new Grease Pencil object for the ground by going into Object Mode, after which go to Add > Grease Pencil > Clean. Rename it “Flooring” after which draw the ground in Draw Mode.
Step 4
Use the identical course of to attract out the motion path on your bouncing ball. You possibly can rename this Grease Pencil object “PathGuide”. We are going to use this as a information on your ball animation.
5. The way to Animate With the Grease Pencil
Step 1
Go to Edit Mode and transfer the ball to the beginning of your path.
Step 2
Choose the keyframe for the ball and duplicate it by urgent Shift-D. Then transfer the keyframe ahead by about 10 frames.
Step 3
Do that 6 occasions for the ball to bounce 3 occasions. Change the top body of the animation to finish similtaneously the final keyframe.
Step 4
Go to Edit Mode and transfer the timeline ahead to the following keyframe. Then transfer the ball to the place you need it to be at that second.
Step 5
Repeat the steps for every keyframe till you attain the top of the animation.
Step 6
Now, in case you press the play preview button, you will see that we now have a primary animation!
To make the animation smoother, that you must fill within the house between every of the present keyframes with new keyframes. So repeat the identical course of as earlier than to fill within the lacking keyframes.
Step 7
You possibly can then organise your keyframes. Choose the “filler” keyframes, hit R on the keyboard, and choose Breakdown so that you simply now see a visible distinction for the several types of keyframes.
Step 8
Add some last changes for every body, similar to ‘squashing’ and ‘stretching’ the ball form, to enhance the look of the animation.
Congratulations! You are Performed!
Congratulations! And that’s how one can create primary 2D animations in Blender. Be happy to create your individual drawings and animations, and I am going to see you subsequent time right here on Envato Tuts+!
