3D Art 1: Modeling Lesson 7.1.4

mp3 file from todays edio lesson

Blender

Materials:

• Be kind and respectful
• Ask questions
• Don't spam the chat
• Have fun

CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS

7.1.4 Camera Languages & Storytelling

Adding music Rendering animation

Today's Agenda

The first day back from break is a Unit 7 Test

After break, class ends in about 3 weeks

If you have overdues- catch up plan

Announcements:

• Basic blocking out
• Adding texture, colors, and lights
• Creating an interior or exterior
• A rigged character

• Parenting the camera to create cool angles
• Adding music

• Reviewing keyframes
• Adding audio
• Rendering

What could we combine to make a cool animation?

What are we doing today?

An essential part of animation is storyboarding. Creating a storyboard allows the artist to visualize the entire story before the animation is created. Before creating an animation of your own, you must master the process of creating a storyboard.

storyboards

spiderman 2 (2004)

the sound of music (1965)

Think about your favorite animated film of all time. What do you think are some of the things which stood out? Maybe you liked a character? Or, perhaps the art style made an impact on you. More often than not, the audio is what brings a movie together. Many movies have iconic soundtracks which stay with the viewer long after they have seen a movie. After this lesson, you too will be able to add sound to any animation.

soundtracks

Before adding the sound, the first step is to set up your animation.

• Open Blender and go to General. Start with the default cube.
• Press Animation to get to the animation workspace.
• Enable autokeying by pressing the little white circle icon toward the bottom of your screen. Autokeying adds keyframes automatically to the set frame if the value for transform-type properties changes. Keyframes signify the start and end points for actions in animation.
• Select the cube, press ‘S’ to scale, and then immediately press the cube to confirm the operation to keep the scale at the default 1.0 value in order to set the keyframing.
• Go to frame 90 in the timeline at the bottom, select the cube, and press ‘S’ to scale, and using your keyboard type 'S' '3' 'Enter'.

simple animation

Set Up the Camera

• Use your middle mouse wheel button to orbit around your viewport on the right side of your split screen to locate your camera. To make it easier to move your camera, you will change your viewpoint.
• At the top of your screen go to View, then press Viewpoint, and select Top.
• Use 'G' on your keyboard to Move, drag along the colored arrows for each axis, and press 'R' to rotate if you need to rotate slightly to get the best angle.
• Adjust the camera to make sure to keep the cube in the frame, balanced, and aesthetically pleasing according to the principles of design.

Adjust Camera and Scene

Setting Frame Amount

• On the bottom right of your screen, change the total amount of frames in this animation. Leave Start set at 1 and change the End frame amount from 250 to 150 instead and press 'Enter'.
• Go to your start frame of 1 to ensure the cube is within view of the camera frame and adjust accordingly by selecting your camera and moving it using your keyboard shortcuts.
• Move to your next keyframe of 90 to ensure that the camera allows your cube to be within view of the frame as well. Continue the process of moving your camera to fit the cube within the frame.
• Add another keyframe at 120 by selecting your cube, pressing 'G' to move it, and then repeating the process of ensuring it is within the camera's frame.

Adjust Camera and Scene

Adjustments to Camera Add in objects, light, and adjust the camera as needed according to any changes made. Simply roll your middle mouse wheel to zoom in and zoom out, press your middle mouse-wheel button, and drag it to orbit. Be mindful of when you are inserting objects on the keyframes, they will begin their journey in your animation on those very keyframes, so if you'd like to add a new object from the start, ensure you return to your first keyframe before adding it.

Adjust Camera and Scene

What do you think the storyboard for this animation would look like? The image on the right shows you the storyboard for the simple cube animation in this lesson. Scene 1 is where the animation began, Scene 3 is where it ended, and Scene 2 is the time in between. The keyframes for these scenes are 1, 90, and 120 respectively. From now on, while making storyboards, your keyframes should be noted on your storyboard to help you note when these scene changes should occur.

storyboards review

Now that you have your animation, let's add some sound! You can download clips from today's edio lesson, page 7. Make sure to always use copyright-free audio.

• Press the Compositing tab at the top and open up the sequencer at the bottom of your screen. Press the icon on the bottom left of your screen that looks like an action sign or clapboard for a film set. Select Video Sequencer.
• At the bottom of your screen, above the word sequencer, hover your mouse on the line until you see a double arrow cursor. Press and drag the cursor to make the panel taller so you can see it. You can also do the same on the panel that says Dope Sheet. Simply find the double arrow and press and drag it higher up.

adding sound

• At the top left of your screen, underneath File and the Blender icon, there is an icon directly to the left of Object Mode. Press it and make sure it is set to 3D Viewport. Go to View then press Cameras and select Active Camera.
• At the bottom of your screen where you set the Video Sequencer, go to the Add menu, select Sound, locate the sound on your computer, and add this as a sound strip. Now you have this in the first track spot for the sequencer.
• Press Play and you will notice the music plays as the animation plays.
• You can adjust where the music starts by clicking and dragging it on the track to the left or the right.

adding sound

Now it's time to share your work with the world!

• Press on the little printer icon on the far right side of your screen entitled Output Properties. Under Output, press the folder icon and choose a destination for your rendered results, perhaps on the desktop of your computer. Give the file a name, like 'cube animation'.
• Under File Format, select FFmpeg Video as the video format.
• Press Encoding, and for the container make sure MPEG-4 is selected.
• Go to Audio and select MP3 as the final audio codec. An audio codec is a program that compresses the audio file for transmission and decompresses the received audio files during playback - MP3 is an example of an audio codec. Now, you are able to render this animation with video and audio!

Rendering your work

• Press on the Render menu at the top left, go down to Render Animation, and let it run for a minute until it has rendered all of the frames of your animation, and this should be exported as the full video file.
• You can find the MP4 file on the desktop. Double-press it to play it to make sure everything is running properly. You should be able to hear the audio.

Rendering your work

Share!

Try it out yourself! If you're feeling brave you can share your work on the class Padlet.

Now, it's your turn!

Unit 7 Test - Review games!

next class

MATERIALS NEEDED

• None