Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
9
Animation Basics
9.1 Introduction to Animation
9.2 Moving, Rotating, and
Scaling
9.3 Viewing Your Animation
9.4 The Graph Editor Window
9.5 Editing the Curve
9.6 Other Types of Curves
9.7 Modifying Curves
9.8 Automatic Key Framing
9.9 Animating Other Features
9.10 Keying Sets
9.11 Wind Strength Animation
9.12 Animation Following Curves
9.1 Introduction to Animation
In this chapter, I will explain how to make objects move about in the scene. This is a big sec-
tion in Blender with many features. Many of the features will become easier to understand
with practice, which will then allow you to progress beyond the basics. This is a highly
developed section and new features are being added all the time so it is likely that before
this manual is published, new features will be available. We will therefore only attempt the
basics.
Before you start, make sure you understand Chapter 8 and the section on rendering.
Next, consider what an animation is. Blender uses a certain method of making something
appear to move on a computer screen, which may later be transformed into a movie file.
This is accomplished by creating a series of still images, each one slightly different from
the next, which, when displayed one after the other in quick succession, create the illusion
of movement. Each still image is a single frame of the animation. Each frame (image) is
rendered, which means the data you enter in the Blender program is correlated and turned
into the digital image; this is usually in a JPEG format. Finally, all the images are compiled
into one movie file.
After you set up your scene with the object that you wish to animate (the actor), consider
what the actor is required to do and how long it should take to do it. Also consider what
format you will use in the final render. The render format determines how many frames per
second the animation should run at (NTSC for the US at 30 fps, PAL for Australia at 25 fps).
