Bachelor Maths/Physics/Computer Science

University Paris-Sud

Digital Imaging Course

Blender 3D Animation
Christian Jacquemin

Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
Introduction to Computer Animation
● Animation Basics
– animation consists in changing the parameters of a 3D
scene over times:
– location and orientation parameters
– shape parameters
– visibility
– … and any specific parameters that can be animated
over time

Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
Introduction to Computer Animation
● Human Visual System and Animation
– the human visual system requires approx. 1/25 second
to transform light into nerve signal → persistence of
vision
– it is possible to make the brain believe in animation by
sending discontinuous images
– it should be fast enough, so that the brain does not
perceive the discontinuity
– video, film, computer animation produce one image at
least every 1/25 s

Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
 Blender Animation Timeline
● Timeline window
– used to play/navigate/define the animation
– begin frame
– end frame
– current frame
– markers
– play/stop/replay...

Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
 Blender Animation Keyframing
● Basic notion:
Keyframe
– stores parameter
values of animated
objects
– interpolates between
two KF
– can be placed at any
frame of an animation
– the more dense, the
more accurate the
animation
– I: insert Keyframe
Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
 Blender Animation Curves
● Basic notion:
Animation curve
– the parameter values
interpolation
between keyframes is
displayed as curves
(values over time)
– here location (red)
and rotation (blue) of
the camera
– the current
interpolation is Bezier
curves

Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
 Blender Animation Interpolation
● View menu of
animation curves:
– all/selected
● Key menu of animation
curves
– interpolation mode:
● linear (uniform speed)
● Bezier (slow dieown at
keyframes if horizontal
tangent)
● constant (value changes
abruptly at keyframes) Example of linear interpolation (a car at
constant speed)
– smooth keys (for fluid
animation)
Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
Blender Animation Overview

Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
 Blender Rendering: Properties
● Render Properties
– defines the format, size, length... of the
image, sequence of images or movie for
rendering
● Render Menu
image F12
– sequence Ctrl F12
– play rendered sequence Ctrl F11

Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
 Blender Animation: Path
● Add Curve/Path
– move control points to place path
in 3D
– in path Object data
● check Path animation checkbox
● define the number of frames that
animation should last
● Add Object
● add constraint: follow path
● select the curve that the object
should follow
● select follow curve if the object
should be oriented along the curve
tangent
Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
 Blender Animation: Path
● Path Keyframe Animation
– in path Object data
and for each selected frame in the
animation,
● right click on evaluation time value
● insert keyframe
– keyframes are associated with
positions along the curve
according to the ratio evaluation
time/number of frames
– note: if the path is oriented the
wrong way:
in path edit mode,
Curve/Segments/Switch direction
Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
 Blender Animation: Bones (simple)
● Add Armature
– place the bone inside the body at
the place where you would like it
to influence the mesh
– use Wireframe shading to better
view the bone inside the mesh
– other bones can be added
(independently) or extruded (for
joint connections)

Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
 Blender Animation: Parenting
● select First mesh
● select Second
armature
● Ctrl P or
Parent
/ Armature deform
/ With empty groups
– in case of a full skeleton
it can be quicker to use
automatic weights

Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
 Blender Animation: Weighting
● select the mesh and go
into Weight Paint
mode
● select the bone of
interest
● paint in red the
vertices of the mesh
influenced by the
bone and in blue the
non displaced vertices

Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud
 Blender Animation: Posing
● select the bone of interest
● go into Posing Mode
● move the bone (translation
and rotation) to give the
mesh the desired shape
● insert keyframe for the
corresponding frame of the
animation

Christian Jacquemin, Master in Computer Science, OpenGL & GLSL, University Paris-Sud