Introduction to 3D Animation

Rendering Process

1. Add lights; 2. Add cameras; 3. Render

Using Move Tool

1. Click and move the object along the axis. 2. Click on square to move parallel to a specific plane (ex. only move in X/Y plane)

Mapping Multiple Images on an Object

1. Combine all images into one file. 2. Define which surface each image will be mapped to

Add Lighting

1. Configure render properties; 2. Toggle quad view. 3. Add > Light; 4. Toggle camera on; 5. Enable viewport shading mode; 6. Configure Light Properties; Use orthographic views to position light

Create Multi-Patch Objects

1. Connect edges of multiple patches; 2. Create a curve on the original patch as a primer for a connection to second patch (ex. fin on surfboard)

Rendering in Blender

1. Highlight perspective view and toggle quad view; 2. Render Properties > Render Engine = Cycles, Render Output = 50-100%; 3. Configure light paths, volumes, motion blurs, exposures and performance; 4. Render Top Menu > Render Image

Adding Color

1. Properties Panel > Materials. 2. Modify or Create New Material. 3. Enable "Viewport Shading Mode". 4. Change base color, metallic, roughness, specularity.

Adding Bitmap

1. Properties Panel > Materials. 2. Modify or create new material. 3. Enable "Use Nodes." 4. Enable "Viewport Shading Mode". 5. Select any left side dot (node). 6. Image Texture > Select image. 7. Add more nodes to add shiny attributes etc.

Using Rotate Tool

1. Rotate along colored X, Y and Z axis. 2. Rotate along grey axis to rotate perpendicular to the camera. 3. Rotate at will by clicking between axises (not recommended)

Using Scale Tool

1. Scale along colored X, Y and Z axis. 2. Scale along planes. 3. Click on middle for uniform scale. 4. Scale cage

Apply Material to Multiple Objects

1. Set desired material on one object. 2. Select multiple objects and shift click to add object with material last. 3. Viewport Tabs "Object" > "Make Links" > "Materials"

Sculpting Setup

1. Subdivided to many fine points; 2. Normal Map Mode; 3. Select push/pull, relax or stamp sculpting tool

Change Camera Positioning

1. Toggle quad view; 2. Select camera in perspective view; 3. Use move and rotate tools to move the camera in the other orthographic views and see effect in perspective view

Viewport Shading Controls

1. Wireframe; 2. Shaded without textures; 3. Textures; 4. Renders

Viewport

2D window into 3D world

Polygonal Modelling

3D modelling method by which a polygonal model represents multiple points in 3D space (called vertices) and which are connected by line segments to form a so-called "polygon mesh"

Select All Objects in Scene Shortcut

A

Patch

A flat rectangular sheet that can be bent into simple shapes and combine to create a complex shape

Shader

A mathematical model that determines how the object interact with light (ex. matte, shiny)

Refractive Index

A measure of whether light bends in or out as the light hits the surface

Edge Loop

A ring of edges that defined the outline of the surface to model with

Area Light

A soft box that generate the light from a specific area, affecting shadows in the room

Environment Sphere

A sphere that defines the world and object is placed in (usually mapped by a 32-bit depth image)

Subdivison Surface

A surface that automatically smoothies itself to create organic models out of objects with little detail

Normal

A triangle perpendicular to understand surface direction

Image Map

A visualization of the flattened surfaces of a 3D object (ex. the fabric of a stuffed animal flattened)

Cage Mode

A wireframe of the original model allows you to control the subdivided surface

Viewport Add Menu

Add additional objects to the scene; create some of the basic objects (ex. surface, text)

Planning Geometry

Add just enough detail to define the shape of the model to minimize computer resources

Normal Mapping

Adds details to shading on an object's surface without increasing the number of polygons by allowing you to apply a map of a higher res object's surface on a lower res version

Bump/Normal Maps

Adds roughness to a surface

Radiosity

Advances raytracing by allowing objects themselves to become light sources which simulate ambient and balanced lighting

Final Render

After lighting and cameras are set, start off with small images and low quality to display final image

Cameras in 3D

Allow control change field of view/ trucking camera, focal length, aspect ratio, depth of field and which objects the camera sees

Blur Function

Allows you to blur the edges of a depth map shadow

F-Stop

Allows you to control the depth of field effect, with the bigger the F-stop, the less depth of field and less blurring

Push/Pull Sculpting Brush

Allows you to create bumps or in reverse mode, create a dent in the object

UV Editor

Allows you to map a 2D image to specific faces of a object and control the 2D image mapping with vertices functioning as seams of the 3D object

Grid

Allows you to precise position objects

Test Renders

Allows you to render parts of the scene so you can gauge quality before rendering the whole image

Specularity and Texture

Allows you to see the surface quality of the object

Transparency/Opacity Map

Allows you to see through objects

Relax Sculpting Brush

Allows you to smooth over the object face

Normal Mapping

Allows you to take the bump information and place it on a simpler mesh

Deselect All Objects in Scene Shortcut

Alt + A; double tap A

Types of 3D Lighting

Ambient lighting,

Area Light Controls

Angle of area light, distance between light and the scene, size of light (displaying as intensity)

Bit Mapping

Applying a 2D image or texture onto 3D object, essentially wrapping it around an object

Origin

Arbitrary point in space (usually 0,0,0) but can be reassigned

Y Standardized View

Back or front view

Refractions

Bend the light as it passes through a semi-transparent object

Z Axis Color

Blue

Render Exposure Settings

Brighten scene without affecting the lights

Bounding Box

Broad outlines of the scene

Stamp Sculpting Tool

Brush a pattern over the surface (ex. make the character bumpy or scaly)

Sculpting Tool

Brush based interface to interactively change the shape of the model

Patch Based Modelling

Builds surface out of curves with NURBS modeling or Bezier patch modeling for organic surfaces

Add Detail to Model with Materials

Bump displacement and normal mapping

Final Gather

Calculates the bouncing of light through the scene by allowing the light to bounce off the walls or artificial objects that you create (ex. an object that glows can become a lamp that lights the scene)

Spotlight

Casts light in a specific direction with a specific "cone" lighting only a defined area

Camera Properties

Change focal length (zoom), depth of field, etc. in the properties panel of the selected camera

Render Performance Setting

Change how many threads of CPU used in render

Hierarchy

Child/Parent relationships to transform an object alongside another

Directional Light Controls

Color and light direction

Point Light Controls

Color and point of origin

Spotlight Controls

Color, point of origin, light direction, cone size and penumbra

Material Qualities

Color, texture, reflectivity and transparency

Union

Combines/joins two objects together

Toggle Quad View Shortcut

Command + Alt + Q

Make Links Shortcut

Command + L

Bezier Surface

Composed of lines that are shaped by moving the endpoints angle and position

NURBS Surface

Composed of points that sit off the surfaces connect by pre-defined curve ("hulls") and shaped by only moving the points position

Increase Curve of Subdivided Object

Compress a subdivided object face in from the cage, resulting in more room to curve

Refractions Index > 1

Concave lens effect

Custom Materials

Connect nodes that create a shader

Parenting in Blender

Connecting objects so they move together; 1. Select child object first; 2. Shift + select parent object; 3. Right click above the objects > Parent > Object; 4. Expand parent in outliners to transform all the objects

Set Render Aspect Ratio & Resolution

Context Tab Icon > Resolution; 1920 by 1080 for HDTV Resolution

Zoom

Control + middle mouse button + drag; Middle scroll

Time Slider

Control playback and scrub through animation

Viewport Object Menu

Controls the objects in the scene

"Use Nodes" Materials Setting

Controls whether you have advanced texture options or just basic colors

Refractions Index < 1

Convex lens effect

Local Coordinate System

Coordinates are taken relative to an object

4th Level of 3D Resolution

Create patches along a small curve

Ambient Lighting

Creates a general level of light in the scene (non-directional)

Depth Map Shadows

Creates a shadow by casting a bitmap over the image; less accurate but faster render

Subtraction

Creates a whole in one object from the shape of another

Parenting Shortcut

Ctrl + P with first selection of the children and last selection of the parent

Patch Based Surfaces

Defined by curves and those curves are then used to define surfaces

Ways to Generate Shadows

Depth-map shadows; raytrace shadows

Blender Workspaces

Different ways to organize the scene, affecting arrangement of windows

Shader Components

Diffuse channel and specularity of object (with shiny shaders)

Increasing Light Reflections

Dims light in the scene

Trim Surface

Drawn a shape on a rectangular patch to create an intersection or subtraction cut and can be manipulated by the original patch cage

Properties Panel

Edit properties of the current selection

Flatten Curve of Subdivided Object

Expand a subdivided object face to the cage, resulting in less room for curve thus flattening

Render Image Shortcut

F12

Scanline Renderers

Fast and for most simple animations rather than advanced optics

Longer Lens Effect

Flattens out the scene

Move Tool Shortcut

G

Environment Lighting

Gaining light from the environment; allowing you use realistic lighting from an image

Wireframe

Geometry of the scene

Complex Materials

Glass, car paint, skin shaders

Y Axis Color

Green

HDRI Image

Hi bit depth image

Specularity Controls

Highlight size; roll off; color; shape (with anisotropic shader);

Light Paths

How much light bounces through the scene, affecting reflectivity and transparency

Ambient Colors

How the object glow or shading look in ambient light

Dull Sheen Specularity

Increase the highlight size and decrease the roll off to make it look matte

Hard Edged Shadows

Increase the resolution of the shadow and then blur

Revolve

Lathe; takes a shape and revolves it around an axis to create a surface

Specularity Layer

Layer of a bright highlight on the object to show its reflectiveness, smoothness or emphasize curvature

Intersection

Leaves just the surface that is overlapping between the two surfaces

Viewport Navigator

Left click and drag to orbit the scene or click on X, Y, Z to get standardized views

Deselect

Left click off the objects

Select Objects

Left click on object in Viewport (shift for multiple); Left click on object name in Outliner; Draw Select Box over object; Paint Select Circle over object's center; Draw Select Lasso over objects

Ambient Lighting Controls

Level and color

Reflections Controls

Light reflection blurs and amount of times the light bounces

Point Light

Like a light bulb, it emits light across the room but the source can be moved around, affecting where shadows fall and intensity of lighting in specific areas of the scene

Edges

Lines that connect vertices on a polygonal surface

Increased Ambient Color

Lowest color is above black

Boolean

Manipulate two objects in relationship with each other

Planar Mapping

Mapped along a flat plane

Lamberts

Matte shaders that add color

Viewport Menus

Menus at the bottom of the viewport

Shiny Attributes

Metallic; Roughness (amount of reflectivity of the object); Specularity (shininess of object)

Orbit Shortcut

Middle mouse button + drag

Create New Material

Minus sign to delete existing material, then click "new"

Soft Select

Move vertices manipulating them in relation to object organically (like clay)

Change Object Pivot

Move when the pivot point so it rotates around a different point in the object

Using Transform Tool

Move, rotate and scale in one tool.

Transform Objects

Move, rotate, scale on a single or multiple axes in object or world space

Trucking Cameras

Moving the camera closer to the object by zooming the viewport

Refraction Index = 1

No refractions

Shader Controls

Object color, object texture/bitmap, ambient color

Default Interface

Object controls on left; Outliner on the upper right; Properties Panel on the lower right; Time Slider on the bottom

Self-Shadowing

Objects throwing shadows onto themselves rather than just onto the scene

Shadows Controls

On/off, color,

Diffuse Channel

Overall color or shading of the object

Outliner

Panel where you select specific objects in the scene

Shiny Shaders

Phong, blinn and anisotropic shaders allowing control for color, highlights, specular highlights size, specular highlights shape

Textures

Photographs/illustrations, opacity maps, bump/normal maps

Light Types

Point, spot, sun and area

Vertices

Points that make up a polygonal surface

2nd Level of 3D Resolution

Polygons composed of triangles to build the surface

UV Mapped

Polygons on the character have been mapped to specific points on the image

Truck In

Pushing camera back and forth to zoom in and down (moving inwards in the Z direction)

Render Settings

Quality (higher quality, the longer the render); size of the image; type of image format

Composite Render Layers

Rather than having to run multiple render tests, render layers and composite it later in Photoshop or After Effects where you can still affect colors or opacity of the layers

Raytrace vs. Depth Map

Raytracing creates self-shadowing and handles transparent layers better

X Axis Color

Red

Refractions Controls

Refractive index control

Renderer Properties

Render Tab Icon; 1. Set Render Engine (Eevee used for modeling and interaction; Cycles for more accurate view of final render); 2. Set Device (CPU or Graphics Card)

Rendering in Pieces

Render layers individually such as foreground, background, shadow layers etc. to allow you to fix things in post production (ex. in after effects or photoshop)

Animation Rendering

Render multiple images and may require network rendering to render on multiple machines across a network

Tessellation

Resolving a patch surface into triangles

The Sharpness of the Curve

Results in more complex geometry (more smaller polygons defining the shape)

Orbit Control

Rotates "virtual camera" around the scene to truck in/out, rotate around a scene or move its position

Bevel

Round off the corners of the 3D shape

Scale Cage

Scale tool setting that allows you to view axises to scale through a cage lens

Different Renderers

Scanline, raycasting,

Reshaping Objects

Select and transform one or multiple vertices, edges or faces

Camera View

Select camera in Outliner to see scene through camera

Viewport Select Menu

Select everything from the scene etc.

Polygonal Extrude

Select face, edge or vertex to bring out away from or into the surface (creating a cavity)

Pan Shortcut (X Axis)

Shift + middle mouse button + drag

Smooth Shading

Shows shape of the objects by providing 3D basic fills

X Standardized View

Side view

Camera Depth of Field Effect

Simulates the blurring that happens in real cameras

Caustics

Simulates the light passing through or reflecting off of materials (ex. glass)

Lighting in 3D

Simulation of the real world allowing for customization of shadows, which objects are affected etc.

Snapping

Snaps objects to grid point or other objects

Penumbra

Soft edge on a spotlight

Indirect Lighting

Soft lighting that comes from environment lighting or bounce lighting

Subdivided Object

Subdivided the faces of the object, creating a curvature of the model

3rd Level of 3D Resolution (Subdivision Surface)

Subdividing polygons to become a smooth surface

Directional Light

Sun; A light that is coming from a specific direction but lights the entire room.

Viewport View Menu

Switch between cameras; switch between orthographic and perspective; frame everything or frame selected

Extrude

Takes a simple shape and extrudes it along a path to create a curved shapes (good for wires etc.)

Global Illumination

Technology that allows you to bounce lighting through the scene to give visibility in a shadowed area even thought the light source doesn't directly penetrate the specific area

Material

Tells the renderer how the surface interacts with light

Primitive

The basic 3D shapes to use to build complex objects

World Space

The coordinate system for the entire scene/world

Object Space

The coordinate system of the object

Light Placement Affect on Depth Map Shadow

The further the light, the more of the bitmap is used by the car and thus the effective resolution of the bitmap will be less

Highlight Size

The larger the highlight, the shinier smoother the objects (dependent on light position)

Pivot

The object origin relative to the world

Highlight Roll Off

The strength of the highlight

Polygons/Faces

The surface of the object defined by edges and vertices

Loft

Ties together multiple curves by stretching a surface along the curves

Reasons for Adding Edge Loops

Tightens curvature and add point to allow you to manipulate at that point (ex. edge for bending arm)

Use of World Space

To move an object's placement in a scene

Uses of Object Space

To pivot an object

Z Standardized View

Top view

Raytracing Renderers

Traces the rays as the bounce throughout the scene, allowing for more advanced optical effects (ex. reflections and refractions) and realism

Raytrace Shadows

Traces the rays of light through the scene to create shadows; more accurate by handling transparency but slower render

Object Control Toolbar

Transform objects with left side tool bar

1st Level of 3D Resolution

Triangles

Light Properties

Type of light, color of light, power of light (go 10,000+), shadow size, shadow softness

Anistropic Shader

Use if the object highlight will not be circular (ex. hair)

Raycasting Renderers

Uses camera as a source of rays that is cast into the scene and is fast for realtime and gaming

Bump Map

Uses image map to create illusion that the surface has been deformed without changing the edges of the object

Displacement Map

Uses image to deform object (changing the surface and edges) by adding geometry (thus heavier on render)

Orthographic View

Viewing scene from a 2D view from a side or the top

Rendering

Virtually taking a picture of the final image after setting it under lights and a virtual camera

Shorter Lens Effect

Wider lens; Fisheye effect making the scene look more rounded

Red Axis

X Axis

3D Axis

X, Y, Z

Green Axis

Y Axis

Blue Axis

Z Axis

Change Focal Length

Zoom in/out camera onto the scene