Creating a Finished Character Animation in Blender 2.9

On November 28, 2020

Release date:2020, November 11

Author:David Andrade

Skill level:Intermediate

Language:English

Exercise files:Yes

With its free, professional-grade toolset, Blender gives 3D artists the ability to animate and tell stories they only dreamed of in the past. In this course, learn to use Blender 2.9 to breathe life into a character and tell a story with animation and dialogue. The goal of the course is to combine video references with the principles of character animation to create a walking, talking animated person: Arthur, a disgruntled office worker and thwarted musician. Learn how to use the animation tools in Blender, work with a dialog track, and flesh out and light the scene. Your guide, David Andrade, provides tips to help you imagine your own character’s inner life and an overview of the post-production process for rendering the final video.

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1 – Introduction
01 – Explore the magic of character animation
02 – How to use the exercise files
03 – Set up Blender and prerequisites

2 – 1. Where It All Begins, Planning Your Animation
04 – Listen to the dialog and sketch out ideas
05 – Exporting your sketches from Blender
06 – Learn how video reference helps guide your animation

3 – 2. Meet Arthur
07 – How to set up your animation file in Blender
08 – How to use character rigs in Blender
09 – How to animate in Blender
10 – Troubleshooting animation errors in Blender
11 – Challenge – Set a couple of keyframes in Blender
12 – Solution – Set a couple of keyframes in Blender

4 – 3. Character Animation
13 – Set up audio and reference
14 – Block out the characters key poses
15 – Timing is everything
16 – Useful animation tools in Blender
17 – How to preview and share your animation
18 – Challenge – Breaking up your animation
19 – Solution – Breaking up your animation

5 – 4. Refine the Details
20 – Refining the body movements
21 – Refining the arms, hands, and fingers
22 – Refining the face
23 – Animating the mouth to the audio
24 – Using Graph and Dope Sheet Editors to refine your animation
25 – Polish off the end result
26 – Challenge – Add a blink
27 – Solution – Add a blink