ANIMATION

 ANIMATION-2

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

 Here we shall learn about some additional  features of animation in Blender. When we want to animate a character(say a Cube), apart from changing its location, its angle of rotation and size(scaling) can also be animated. Again combinations like location and rotation, location and size,rotation and size or all three location-rotation-scale can be varied. Further these changes can be effected on all three axes - X,Y and Z.
 Further not only the objects in Blender like the Cube, Cylinder,Cone, UVSphere can be animated, the Camera and Lights can also be animated .  Further, the different shades of colour of an object or the brightness level can also be animated.  
 If there are more than one object in the 3D Screen, when we animate, we must set key frames for each Object. Again when the movement of the object is complex, (when we make a robot to walk like a man) then the number of keyframes would also increase very fast. This can be a very daunting task. To simplify the keyframing process and to speed it up, we can use Auto keyframing.

BLENDER ANIMATION

 ANIMATION 1 -INTRO

The word "Animation" is derived from the word "Animate" , which means to make an object come alive or to move like a living being. Cartoon characters are a good example of animation where the characters are made to walk, jump,slide,laugh or do  any other motion.


ANIMATION CONCEPT

Let us understand the basic concept of animation. Look at the image of an arrow facing upwards in Fig-1. 

                                                      Fig-1


We want this arrow to smoothly turn to the horizontal position as shown in Fig-2.

 Fig-2

To animate this arrow, we draw images of the arrow at in-between positions as shown in Fig-3.

                                                                         Fig-3

 The whole set of image, from beginning to end,  would then be as shown below in Fig-4.

                                               Fig-4


When we animate these images the computer will generate images for all in-between positions and show all the images in  sequence. The arrow will appear to turn smoothly from Vertical to Horizontal position as shown in the video, whose link is given below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1krmBTsjkgH9fgMNc59FPzZn7MZxIsxkb/view?usp=sharing

 In animation, one basic idea we must know is that when a sequence of images are run quickly at a minimum rate of 24 images per second the human eye sees the image movement  as a continues movement. This   idea is used in all animation, videos and movies.

 In Blender each of this image, where some change is made, is called  a Keyframe. We must set the key frames in Blender. In the Arrow animation example we discussed above, we have set four keyframes.  When we animate, Blender generates all the intermediate frames.

Now we shall learn to animate a Cube in Blender. The steps are given below:

1. Open Blender and then a new file and add an object(Cube)  at x,y location(0,0) in the Top view(Press Numpad 7).
2. In the Timeline window as shown below, set the frame number to 1.

2. Position the cursor in 3D window and press "I" key. In the "Insert keyframe Menu" panel which opens, select "Location".

 

 

An yellow line will appear in the Timeline window which indicates that a key frame is inserted.

3. Next set the frame number to 125 in the Timeline window as shown below. 

 

In the 3D window move the cube to x,y location (5,5). Hit "I" key, then select Location in the "Insert Keyframe Menu" panel. An yellow line will appear in the time line window which indicates that a key frame is inserted at frame 125.

4. Next set the frame number to 250 in the Timeline window as shown below.

 

In the 3D window move the cube to x,y location (10,10). Hit "I" key, then select Location in the "Insert Keyframe Menu" panel. An yellow line will appear in the time line window which indicates that a key frame is inserted at frame 250.
5. Now set the frame number to 1 by pressing |<< key in the TimeLine window. This can also be done by entering 1 in the window as shown in the image above. To play the animation, press > key.
6. Save the Blender file.

UNITS IN BLENDER

 UNITS IN BLENDER(Blender Version : 2.79b)

 Units of measure in  Blender are as default set as Blender units. When we open the default screen and then press "N" key to open the properties window where we can see the dimension of the default cube is 2 units along all X,Y and Z axis. These units are defined as Blender units which serves as a general  unit of measure to set dimensions of any object or to compare their dimensions.
 

 Measuring units in Blender can also be set as mm(millimetre), cm(centimetre), m(metre) or as inch, feet, yard etc. To set the units with these units, the procedure is as follows:

 In the Properties window click on the "scene" BUTTON.(the third button from the left). You will see the drop down panel with heading "Units" and the button marked "None" which  would be highlighted with Blue colour. Click on Metric. Now move to 3D window and make sure you have added an object(let us say a Cube). Now hit "N" key to open the panel which would display the location, scale and dimension of the cube. Under Dimension, enter 10cm for x,y, and z dimension. The background  grid would change accordingly and the unit as  cm will be displayed at the top left corner of the 3D window.

 If you select the option "Imperial", then you can set the unit as inches or feet.

BOOLEAN MODIFIER

 BOOLEAN MODIFIER

 Boolean Modifier can be used to do the following three operations on an object- ie, union, intersect or difference.
 

  When we apply  an union operation then the end result is the combined shape of the two objects. Intersection is the the shape of the two objects where they commonly intersect. In case of difference, it the shape of the second object is removed from the first object. As an example if you consider a cube and a cylinder. when you do an union operation it will be the combined shape of the two objects. If you do intersection then it will be length of the cylinder which is intersecting with the cube will be the result. In case of difference the end result will be a cube in which the volume up to which the cylinder intersects with the cube is removed as if a hole is drilled in the cube body.

 To apply the Boolean Modifier, the steps are as follows: In the 3D window, add a Cube scale it 3 time along the X and Y axis. Add a cylinder and scale it 5 times along Z axis only.
To do the union operation, locate the Cube a convenient location, the position the cylinder on the Cube such that about 3 units length of the cylinder is inserted into the Cube.

 Now go to the Properties window and click on the spanner icon to open  the Add Modifier drop down menu. Click on "Add Modifier" . Under Generate heading,click on Boolean, under operation select Union. Select the Cube in the 3D panel, under Object click inside the window where you see an ink dropper icon. Select the cylinder. Then click on the Apply
button. Click on the cylinder to select it and drag it away. You will the Cube and cylinder joined as a single object.

 Follow the same procedure for intersect or difference. Corresponding to this operation the setting under "Operation" should be selected as Intersect or Difference.Then click on Apply. After the operation move the cylinder away to see the end result.

NOTE: When you are positioning the two object in the 3D window, under "View Port shading"  select wire frame. This will give wire frame view of both the objects.This view option is preferable over the solid view option.

 

ARRAY MODIFIER

 TO CREATE MULTIPLE OBJECTS OF THE SAME TYPE(BLENDER 2.79b)

 If you want to create, let us say 10 cubes of the same size , placed side by side with some spacing between the cubes Array modifier can be used.
 

  First open the 3D window and a cube.To active the Array modifier, go to the Properties window and clip on the spanner icon.A window with a  heading "Add Modifier" will appear. It has a drop down menu with a number of modifier options. Under the Generate heading click on "Array" to open the Array modifier option. In the window which opens, set count to 10 and under the Relative option, against x axis set it to 1.1 . Then click on Apply button to create an Array of 10 cubes.

 You can try out different settings by varying the count setting, and offset settings. Similarly set the offset along Y or Z axis and  see the result.For more details on Array modifier, see some video tutorial on the subject.

 Once the array is created, go to edit mode and hit "P" key and then click on Separate  by loose parts. Then go to object mode,select all the cubes and click on Ctrl+Shift+Alt+C to move the origin to the centre of each cube. Now each cube can be moved separately. Before you did this, all the cubes would move together.

Array modifier can be used to create a row of cubes(any object), which we may define as 1X5 for a row of 5 cubes in one row. Two dimension layout of cubes can also be created, which we may define as 5x5 and three dimension can be defined as 5x5x5.

To create a 2D array of say 5x5, first create an array of 5 cubes. Select all the 5 cubes, again open Array modifier set the count to 5 and the offset against y axis as 1.1 and click on Apply button.

To create a 3D array, select all the 25 cubes created above, set count to 5 and the offset against Z axis to 1.1 and click on Apply button.

SAMPLE WORKS DONE WITH BLENDER

Image-Animation2 Some of the art work created with blender are made available for viewing.The links for the same are provided below. Click on the  link  to  see/play the image/video.

HEXAGON ANIMATION

TWO-SPHERES

CUBES-GRID ANIMATION

QUADCOPTER-GENERIC 6 DOF CONSTRAINT

BALL-LAMP -TRACK TO CONSTRAINT

CAR ANIMATION-GENERIC 6 DOF CONSTRAINT

GEARS ANIMATION -COPY ROTATION CONSTRAINT

 DUPLIVERTS-ANIMATION

ELECTRON-SPIN

DUPLIVERTS-PLANES 

DUPLIVERTS-ICOSPHERE 

DUPLIVERTS-ICOSPHERES1 

PARTICLES SIMULATION 

PARTICLES-ASTRO-SIM1 

PARTICLES-ASTRO-SIM2

Thermo-Electric 

DNA-HELIX

Scientific Visualization

Scientific Visualization-3

Scientific Visualization-4

Scientific Visualization-5-Magnetic Field

Scientific Visualization-6-Graphene Tube

Scientific Visualization-7-Galaxy

Multiple Gears Animation

 Drones

Swarm Drones 

Image Animation 

Cubes Animation 

Image Animation 2

SCRIPT TO DELETE ALL OBJECTS IN 3D WINDOW

Script to delete all objects in 3D window:

import bpy


bpy.ops.object.select_all(action='TOGGLE')
bpy.ops.object.delete(use_global=False)

BPY SCRIPT TO ADD A CUBE AND A MATERIAL TO IT

The following script can be used  to add  a cube and a material to it:

 

import bpy

bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_cube_add(location=(0,0,0))
obj_matl=bpy.data.materials.new("obj_clr")
obj_matl.diffuse_color=(1,0,0)
mesh=bpy.context.object.data
mesh.materials.append(obj_matl)

GETTING YOUR FEET WET

 EDIT MODE

Open a new 3D window, change to front view by clicking on "1" key (in number pad), hit Shift+C to move the cursor to the 3D origin. Press Shift+A to add an object, then go to Mesh and then click on Cube. A cube object will be added. Press Tab key to go to edit mode, press "A" key to deselect all.

To select a vertex click RMB on it. If you  want to select another vertex also, hold the Shift key down and then keep the cursor on the second vertex and then press RMB.

If you want to select an edge, first click on the edge select button in the horizontal panel in the bottom.It is positioned to the right of the edit mode  button. Then position the cursor on the edge you want to select and press RMB.

TO select a face, first select the face select option then select the face in a similar way.



SAVING FILE IN BLENDER

In Blender, the file you are working on must be saved when ever some substantial change is done in your file. Blender DOES NOT auto-save your file. Choose the proper directory where your Blender files are saved. Blender files are saved with the extension ".blend".


DUPLICATING AN OBJECT

To duplicate an object, select the object in object mode, press Shift+D.Then move the mouse, the duplicated object will move in the direction of the mouse movement. Click LMB to confirm the location of the duplicate  object.


STEPS FOR PROPER WORK FLOW

When you want to create a simple object (like a metallic bowl)  or a more complex one,it is worthwhile to spend some time to plan your steps to achieve the desired result. Working as you think would not help you move forward in a focused manner. "Set a target . Achieve it" This would be a better approach.

 
Basic steps for a proper work flow are listed below. You may adapt it to your specific needs:

1. Make a pencil sketch of the model you want to create.
2. Think of the tools in Blender which you would use to design your model.
3. Create the mesh of your model.
4. Add material.
5. Add texture..
6. Add light.
7. Set world horizon colour, if you want.
8. Position camera to get a good view of your model.
9. Render the image.
10.Save results.


CAMERA VIEW

If you want to set the camera position to a desired view which you have already got on your 3D screen, press Ctrl+Alt+0 (Zero key on Number pad).

 

EXTRUDING IN BLENDER

To extrude a set of vertices, select them using Box select option, then press "E" key then "z" key to extrude along z axis. Once you have extruded to desired length, click LMB to confirm.