The Nuts and Bolts of Blender's animation system

Рет қаралды 40,762

Күн бұрын

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In this video, I cover some of the most fundamental concepts in Blender's animation system. I made this video to cover some basics that will be necessary for the next video which will be all about the NLA editor.
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In this lesson, you'll gain a basic understanding of
-Transforms
-Keyframes
-Keyframes interpolation
-Actions
And the following editors:
-the Timeline
-Dope Sheet
-Graph Editor
-Action Editor
-NLA
0:00 Intro
1:46 Transforms
2:47 Keyframes
5:15 Keyframe Interpolation
6:13 Actions
12:50 Dope Sheet, and Curves, and Actions, oh my!
17:10 NLA
18:27 Recap
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Пікірлер: 171

@patryk9806 Жыл бұрын

There is a lot of tutorials where they teach you something and make you only even more confused or opposite, after watching one you feel like you didn't even scratched the surface of presented subject. And you seem to balance it perfectly, after watching your tutorial I feel that I know what actually all those tools really are, how they work together and how to use them

@fabbrobbaf 3 жыл бұрын

This video should be linked in the home page of Blender.org

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Glad you liked that much, Fabrizio.

@bjaanderson Жыл бұрын

Just after watching this, I'm way less intimidated by animation in Blender. It has a clarity that none of the other videos I've watched on the subject had. You really have a gift for teaching.

@CGDive Жыл бұрын

Awesome, thank you very much!

@DaneTheBeast 3 жыл бұрын

This has to be the best channel out there for Blender tutorials

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Haha, thank you, appreciate this :)

@b0gie 3 жыл бұрын

reading ma mind brooooo🔥😭❤️

@bilosofie 3 жыл бұрын

i swear!

@dantescanline 3 жыл бұрын

could not agree more!

@DamjanB52 3 жыл бұрын

Wasn't there a Beginners playlist on this channel too ?

@CG_MIGHTY 3 жыл бұрын

This is the best tutorial. I can't believe after many months learn blender animation, I dont even know about NLA at all. You enlighten me! Thanks a lot.

@user-wx4pv9hc4n 2 жыл бұрын

I really appreciate your use of captions to explain when something is unclear in the narration.

@CGDive 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, while I am editing the videos, I often realize that I missed important info so I add it as annotations. Glad it's helpful.

@rickwalters8553 Жыл бұрын

I think this is one of the best tutorials I've ever seen on any subject. So many parts in the UI, interconnected in such a complex way, and after watching this I 'get it' enough to start experimenting confidently!

@CGDive Жыл бұрын

Thnak you, Rick!

@MarkRobinsonMBopo 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for this! I've found it difficult to find tutorials that will answer my noob animation questions but you really cover the basics!

@RunescapeGod 3 жыл бұрын

Really looking forward to these, there’s hardly any content about animating full scenes

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

I also asked on twitter but let me know what you mean by a "full scene" :)

@MelvilleG 3 жыл бұрын

@@CGDive Not sure what the guy meant, but personally I would like more on handling the curve editor and action editor in complex scenes, where you need filters and isolation of separate tracks. Because it is a real pain, especially without knowing the fundamentals. BTW truly appreciate what you do man, acquired your Rigify course and still not done watching it. Amazing job!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

@@MelvilleG Did you watch the other two videos in the series? kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qqefaqup3d6lYGw.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/i96Ug9eHpuCadKM.html

@joubiejoba8189 3 жыл бұрын

I finally understood "fake users"... After all this time! Thank you a lot!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

That's awesome, it is a very important concept in Blender even if I wish there would be a better solution for it!

@ModernDayGunSlinger 3 жыл бұрын

I've been going through your Rigify course, and I have to say you're the best I've encountered when it comes to actually teaching how Blender works. There is so much to learn, but you are able to break it all down in an easy to understand manner. You're amazing!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Hey thanks, man! Always great to hear that the tuts are useful.

@b0gie 3 жыл бұрын

straight facts

@grzegorzabedzki3466 3 жыл бұрын

I did not animate a lot so this tutorial will surely help me get those basics at last. Keep doing excellent work

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Glad to hear that. Basics are super important. More to come!

@tunaroll3957 4 ай бұрын

best explanation of NLA & Actions - everyone else just jumps right in doing things whereas CGDive clearly explains the high level reasoning and bigger picture, thanks a lot!

@CGDive 4 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

@Morty-rd9yr 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I really need the NLA video lol. I cant wait!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

NLA is tough to cover well but I am working on it. Coming soon!

@Gren17 3 жыл бұрын

Really looking forward to follow up videos about the various editors. Great work!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Coming soon, mate :)

@MrToogood 2 жыл бұрын

ohhhh wow... thats the stuff i don't know. I mention your channel in my channel features... It's a very detailed video...Fan of yours from today

@CGDive 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, man!

@volt5 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for this. I have had trouble finding a clear summary of how all the animation tools relate to each other.

@pentlinear 2 жыл бұрын

Far the best explanation of Blender animation system. Love it.

@WoTHeck 2 жыл бұрын

Great condensation of all of the basic animation tools in one place.

@AlberTesla1024 3 жыл бұрын

Although I knew how to work with dope sheet and others but I didn't know about action storage just like materials and Action editor.

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, that's a good analogy!

@dillondeer4371 7 ай бұрын

THANK YOU! I needed this simple and clear explanation so much!

@mahsal7314 2 жыл бұрын

That cleared a lot of doubts about the animation in Blender. Thank you.

@workflowinmind 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot for making those intros, it saves so much time knowing what the video truly contains!

@lodgechant Жыл бұрын

Wow! Thank you. That was such a clear introduction to the topic.

@3dmonkeybizz 3 жыл бұрын

Absolutely fantastic tutorials! Thanks so much for this!!!!

@michaelnunez7129 Жыл бұрын

amazing explanation of a complex topic. Well done!

@mr52pickupgm 3 жыл бұрын

Great breakdown of animation features! I'll be watching the following tutorials also. Thank you so much for making this simpler!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it! :) Happy watching.

@mouzerofficial Жыл бұрын

Great explanation, you break things down nicely and to the point. Subbed

@karankumar-bn4yq 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for this. A little complicated at the beginning but most effective.

@racheleprojects 2 ай бұрын

Easing myself into the world of animation. You are the perfect channel for this - thank you! 💃

@CGDive 2 ай бұрын

Wow, thank you! Keep learning ~~

@racheleprojects 2 ай бұрын

@@CGDive I will! 😁

@Kimb4000 Жыл бұрын

You are an excellent teacher! I learned so much in this video.

@user-tt9tr4vx1n 2 жыл бұрын

Very clear, thank you for sharing.

@CleisonRodriguesComposer 3 жыл бұрын

You're the best! This year I will study animation and I will learn a lot with your channel. Thank you!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks and best of luck with your animation study!

@tdtrecordsmusic 2 жыл бұрын

bro , omg ,, I should have watched this the first time I opened blender !! So many things I could have been paying attention to, but just not aware.

@CGDive 2 жыл бұрын

Glad you liked the video, man!

@UKSteveM100 2 жыл бұрын

Great tutotials, many thanks

@AlberTesla1024 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks once again like always you help us. I have been using blender for almost a year but still I hope I will learn everything in proper order from this video.

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

That is my hope too :)

@jamesmcgrath472 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent tutorials. Thank you.

@DevGods 3 жыл бұрын

Ready for the next video thanks for this!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! Next vid coming next week or so :)

@DevGods 3 жыл бұрын

@@CGDive Quick question.. What do you think about the "Animation Layers" add on for additive animation editing? Have you used it? How does it contrast to doing it the vanilla way with NLA?

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

@@DevGods Haven't used it sorry. I know Luciano did a review on it. I think that is it kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qrWokrZyrJ3LnGg.html

@DevGods 3 жыл бұрын

@@CGDive yea I watched that one just wanted to see if you had any thoughts.. I went ahead and bought the addon after the developer answered a question I had about it’s workflow.. Thanks

@carlosedubarreto 3 жыл бұрын

Great tutorial. Learned some new stuff Thanks!!!!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Carlos! Always nice to hear from ya 😊

@tobiasschmuecking4958 Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much! Learned a lot today!!!

@lxic-bz8hf Жыл бұрын

great tutorial, thank you 🙏🏻

@jemjoe8833 3 жыл бұрын

On time. Thank you so much. Waiting for next video

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

You are most welcome.

@nategreyson6014 3 жыл бұрын

this is gold, man. You are amazing.

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Nate!

@oscarpatatan8133 Жыл бұрын

great video, thanks!

@stephen285 Жыл бұрын

great video! so helpful

@RealGaryGibson 11 ай бұрын

Great tutorial!

@makia.7440 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much!!

@frankwas586 3 жыл бұрын

Excellent tutorial. Thanks for sharing.

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

And thank you for watching!

@artichokeenthusiast 3 жыл бұрын

Your tutorials and explanations are the best, thank you so much! Really excited for the upcoming videos. I've been learning so much from your gumroad Rigify courses. I bought the Ogre and Dragon advanced rigging courses and they are FANTASTIC and 100% worth the reasonable price. Will you be mentioning the Pose Library at all? I noticed that it uses actions too!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Glad you like my stuff and thanks for buying the course! As for Pose Library... yes, it is on my list but the list is long haha But yeah, I am keeping it in mind.

@OnyxIdol Жыл бұрын

this was helpful, thanks

@lexit100 2 жыл бұрын

Very helpful!

@Sant182 11 ай бұрын

Very clear, thank you

@CGDive 11 ай бұрын

Glad to hear that, Calavera! :D

@rossknowles5608 2 жыл бұрын

this is excellent

@christuusgnosis 3 жыл бұрын

This is the best explanation I've found for this poorly documented system thank you for demystifying it the nla actions are integral to the UE import

@Sirin111 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the effort!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

No prob! :D

@rodneykhill Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@v1duk4 6 ай бұрын

Really good explained, thank you ! Keep it up =)

@hugagagePersonal Жыл бұрын

잘 보고 갑니다. 좋은 설명 감사합니다.

@SimonGangl 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Todor!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Any time!

@Krentiles 3 жыл бұрын

I cant wait for NLA editor.

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Working on it. Will be out very soon. :)

@ChrisIves 3 жыл бұрын

Very good! Thank you.

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you too!

@work3d5971 3 жыл бұрын

thank you

@anishalamansari9887 3 жыл бұрын

Nice tutorial..❤️❤️ Plz make full detailed explanation video on NLA,

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Working on it. ;D

@RadioOchess 2 ай бұрын

v good tutorial series!

@eddieandersson5570 3 жыл бұрын

Thx mate. Keep em coming as fast as you possible can churn them out. I'm just about to start messing with actions and NLA myself. I have a suggestion for you though. Please make a video where you explain why most Blender rigs comes with their control bones (AKA control curves in other apps) set to quaternions instead of Euler rotations? I find Quaternions super hard to work with on rigs. So if I'm doing something wrong I need to learn how it works fast. Luckily if the rig is made with Rigify we can use a special tool to switch to Euler even after we have started animating without loosing any work. To bad it only works with Rigify rigs though.

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, mate! Oh euler vs Quaternions. That's a rabbit hole for sure. :D The general rule I follow is that I keep joints with a lot of freedom of rotation (e.g. the shoulder) to Quaternions, otherwise I use Euler. But I'll put this topic on my list. Oh, and by the way, the tool that comes with Rigify for converting between Euler and Quaternions is not only for Rigify. As far as I know, it was a separate addon, it was then added to Rigify for some strange reason... and now the devs want to separate it again :P

@nandandas3312 3 жыл бұрын

you are the best teacher, thanks

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you~

@question_mark Жыл бұрын

woooooooooooow you are the best blender teacher imo

@yvesmolina 3 жыл бұрын

Nice one ! THX

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

No problem 👍

@gypsyfrank4826 Жыл бұрын

Is there a video where you explain how to combine Mixamo animations in a sequence, eliminating the "origin jump back"? Is this possible with the NLA? And I agree with another comment, these videos should be on blender's website. Logical, concise and to the point.

@CGDive Жыл бұрын

I don't have such a video yet. There are some on KZfaq tho.

@millarfamilyandfriend8714 3 жыл бұрын

Here is a very gifted teacher

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you, my freind!

@TheKiwiCoder 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the summary. What things are possible in the dopesheet editor that aren’t available in the action editor? I’ve been using the action editor solely and never needed the dope sheet yet

@CGDive 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, in recent versions they are quite similar. Even the Timeline has a lit of the features. I'll try to point out difference when/if I make a video about the dope sheet.

@CosmicComputer 3 жыл бұрын

I NEED this! Having so many issues getting my animations into Unreal, I don’t know/understand the NLA stack/editor at all so I’m just exporting my actions but in UE4 I have to go in and manually remove empty frames because it imports from blender with too many frames and won’t seamlessly cycle like in blender 😔

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

I'll cover this in the next videos but if you can't wait, try this. Push your action to NLA, go to the strip options and under Action Clip reduce the End frame by 1. So if End is 73 by default set it to 72. See this image because there are two Start/End settings. You want the lower one. More info in the next videos. :) imgur.com/a/n4vOZ9i

@CosmicComputer 3 жыл бұрын

@@CGDive Wow! Thank you!!! You’re a life saver, I’ve been pulling my hair out on this one for days! I really appreciate this!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

@@CosmicComputer CGDive - it's good for your hair! :P

@bilosofie 3 жыл бұрын

ur awesome man ..

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

You too man! :D

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Wow, awesome animations on your channel! Congrats!

@bilosofie 3 жыл бұрын

@@CGDive thanks alot man .. it really means alot to me .. i will keep uploading better ones .. and u keep making wonders with these perfect tutorials .. i will tell everybody i know about ur channel .. ur the best .. cheers

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

@@bilosofie Keep rocking, mate!

@ugoangeletti3556 3 жыл бұрын

This feels illegal watching. Soo much of my confusion was resolved by simply watching this video. That being said, I can't be the only one who thinks Blender's Animation system needs to be simplified, I mean 4 different panels are needed to be open in order to animate anything... Anyways great tutorial!

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Haha thanks! As for the editors, I get it but at the end each one is needed. I tried to show this in the video but what you'll use depend on your needs. For very simple stuff you can just use the timeline. For more complex stuff add dope sheet and graph editor. Then NLA if needed. I hope the video didn't make you think that all have to be used and open at the same time. Only use what is necessary at the time.

@bilosofie 3 жыл бұрын

respect..

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

the respect is mutual :)

@Drockyeaboi12 3 жыл бұрын

do you think we can do procedural animation in blender like we can in godot? i just want to control my rig like a video game

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Not sure what your mean by procedural animation. Can you give an example from Godot? Blender has animation curve modifies which can create certain type of procedural anims.

@davisb69 3 жыл бұрын

Is there an easier way to animate a rigged character than Keyframing the individual controls on the rig?

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

The only thing that comes to mind is to use motion capture. Other than that I can't think of alternatives to keyframes.

@rimonmath Жыл бұрын

Your videos are awesome. I am searching for a feature in blender for weeks, Found no answer. Can you help me a bit. I want to save a material change animation as action for later use in blender. e.g. I want to change the color of default cube from green to red. And I want to save this animation as action. How can I do this? what are the steps?

@CGDive Жыл бұрын

Ah, good question. The animation of a material property is part of the material itself. I guess you could create a custom property on a mesh object or rig and make it drive e.g. the color of the material. That way it will be part of the object or armature action...

@rimonmath Жыл бұрын

@@CGDive Can you you make a video tutorial on this topic please?

@CGDive Жыл бұрын

@@rimonmath hmmm, probably not. There is a huge list of problems that people ask me about over and over and these have higher priority.

@rimonmath Жыл бұрын

@@CGDive Is my problem not a high priority topic? There is no video tutorial on KZfaq about saving material animation as action for later use. Actually I was looking to 2d face speak animation in 3d characters. There are lots of tutorials with image sequences. But I don’t find any work around for saving that animation as an action for later use. It would be a great tutorial.

@DevGods 3 жыл бұрын

Hello again. So I've finished a rig up and began animating it. I set keys using the gizmo inside the viewport.. Say I set a key for a Z location moving the selected bone up and down on the global axis. The key gets set properly, However when I got to tweak that key in the graph editor moving it up and down translates the bone on the local z axis which is killing my workflow.. I basically cant use the graph editor with this happening. Does anyone know what that is and how to fix it using a rigify rig?

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Hey there. This is normal. All animations are recorded on the local axis only. Global axis when moving a bone or an object are there just for convinience. One of the many technicalities of 3d animation that you have to get used to, I am afraid. 😟

@DevGods 3 жыл бұрын

@@CGDive is there a way to get the controllers to follow global space so things are more predictable in the graph? I feel like this should be an important feature to have. Or will I just have to get used to moving things in local space in the view port? which is pretty awful imo. Can I gain more control by having better bone rolls? Or does this not have anything to do with the bone set up?

@DevGods 3 жыл бұрын

@@CGDive this means I basically have to adjust 2 keys to move on one axis.. that can’t be right there gotta be better way lol

@DevGods 3 жыл бұрын

@@CGDive I found the answer! Since I only want the transforms you follow global space the solution was to create a bone on the control rig that is lined up with world space and constrain the transforms of the IK control to that bone.. that way in the graph editor all the transforms will line up correctly

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Good to hear you figured it out. And yeah, good rigs would have the controls aligned with the world or something else that makes sense.

@aadittilak106 4 ай бұрын

So the Timeline isn't like a master Timeline like other programs where all your data sits after all? Cause my keyframes keep disappearing

@CGDive 4 ай бұрын

Yeah, I think so but I have to say that I have all but forgotten how it works in other apps I had some experience with (e.g. MAX).

@aadittilak106 4 ай бұрын

@@CGDive Haha I thought after doing everything the final key frames will end up on the timeline like most video/audio editing softwares but they kept disappearing after I switched to a new animation. SO I'm using NLA instead of the timeline keyframes since a lot of bones are present and it's not just a simple location keyframe. Thanks for the quick reply 🙏🏼

@bahshiking8018 Жыл бұрын

have you tried making shorts out of your videos ?

@CGDive Жыл бұрын

I have a couple of shorts already... and yes, I have an idea to take some time and just turn some of my existing videos into shorts. :)

@Manas-co8wl 5 ай бұрын

Sigh.. thanks. None of this except the Action Editor and maybe Graph Editor matters if you're exporting for games does it? I came here because the NLA was interfering with my actions - and I thought action animations were separate from the general dopesheet (world animation). Although, I still don't really understand why creating an action alone creates a strip on the NLA automatically - perhaps for preview purposes? Regardless, thank you for the rundown. I was about to pull my hair out - I understand Blender is an animation tool first, but for a simple game character loop this was very confusing.

@kloa4219 3 жыл бұрын

you have a workspace for animation ?

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

I am not sure if you're asking a question or suggesting I use the Animation workspace. The Animation workspace is nice but it wasn't exactly what I wanted for this video.

@kloa4219 3 жыл бұрын

@@CGDive oh mean, I mean the custom workspace that you've made

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

@@kloa4219 Ah.. no :) I tend to reorganize my main interface as I go. This is probably not the best approach so do create your own workspaces :)

@RomboutVersluijs 3 жыл бұрын

I find that default behavior of actions weird compared to other parts in blender. Every else in blender if you do something on a material or object, it automatically gets a user. I dont understand when creating these keyframes, why the action does not get a user. I really messed up my beginning days of Blender. because in most placed when something doesnt have a user it is still stored. Except here in the action editor, i find that very strange and very inconcistent. Wonder what the idea behind that is.

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Hmmm... not sure what you mean. The way actions are handled is consistent with materials etc. When you create a new action it's automatically linked to the object you're animating. When you unlink it (X button), then it no longer has a user and it can be lost. This is exactly what happens with materials and other data that is linked to objects, isn't it?

@RomboutVersluijs 3 жыл бұрын

@@CGDive i dont always see material gets cleaned automatically by Blender. But perhaps im mixing things up then.

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

@@RomboutVersluijs Yeah, there is like 84% chance that a piece of unlinked data will be deleted after reloading. So random :D I hope things will become easier to manage with the asset manager.

@stephen285 Жыл бұрын

please help my dumbass, I have already created all my actions, that part is done completely, I have deleted the action instances from the nla window, now I want to start recalling and arranging my saved action clips back into nla and arrange them- how do I get the action clips back into the nla without using pushdown(which just creates new action instances I don't need)?

@CGDive Жыл бұрын

Hey hahaha I am not sure how you got them in the NLA in the first place but one way is to set them as active action, then push them down. Another one - a more professional approach - press shift+a in the NLA. That brings up a menu and you can choose your actions from there.

@VortexArtLab 3 жыл бұрын

Всегда создаю фейкового юзера для своих анимаций, так как был болезненный опыт потери данных. Спасибо за видео. С нетерпением жду туториала по NLA 👍

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Dima. Yeah... always save your Action with Fake User. Blende really needs to improve the User experience in this area.

@yogesh124 3 жыл бұрын

Please make videos on video editing in blender

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Oh.. like the VSE or another editor? It's a bit outside of the scope of the channel at the moment but I'll think about it.

@Kermitable 3 жыл бұрын

nla's that new crypto thing right

@CGDive 3 жыл бұрын

Not sure if you're joking, trolling or actually asking a question haha Don't get me wrong, it's just hard to say on the internet. So I'll assume it's an actual question. NLA is the Nonlinear Animation Editor in Blender. It has nothing to do with Crypto.