Red Ninja, make a simple animated character in Blender 3D

242 Pages·2017·29.62 MB·English

by  Ken Beyer

Make A Simple Animated Character -
The Red Ninja
A KatsBits Tutorial Exercise
Make A Simple Animated Character -
The Red Ninja
Copyright © 2017 KatsBits.
All Rights Reserved.

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Table Of Contents
Title
Copyright
Chapters
Chapter 1 - Editing The Mesh
Chapter 2 - Materials, UVs & Textures
Chapter 3 - Rigging & Inverse Kinematics
Chapter 4 - Animation
Chapter 5 - Video
Images & Illustrations
Chapter 1 Images & Illustrations
Chapter 2 Images & Illustrations
Chapter 3 Images & Illustrations
Chapter 4 Images & Illustrations
Chapter 5 Images & Illustrations
Further Readng
Additional Resources
Part I: Editing The Mesh
Using basic tools and techniques it's possible to make an
individualistic, rigged and animated character even though it may only
comprise a few polygons and bones; the challenge in doing so is in the
User developing an eye, not for detail, but for expression, the ability of a
'thing' to convey an action or emotion that has easily readable meaning.
With this in mind the ensuing tutorial explains the process of making a
simple animated character, the Red Ninja cubie™, essentially nothing
more than a primitive cube with arm and leg protrusions. With a well
placed rig and animation however, it can be highly expressive despite
its structural simplicity. A basic understanding of Blender is useful, but
not required, to get the most from the following.
Design note: New users to Blender may also find it beneficial to work
through the Snowman and/or Gingerbread character tutorials.
Introduction
The general process for making any sort of animated object, be it a
simple moving platform or a complex character, can be broken into four
core steps; 1) making the mesh, 2) applying textures, 3) rigging or
giving the object an underlying skeletal structure; and 4) animation.
Design note: there is an additional fifth step, 'export', which, although
not covered expressly in this tutorial, has the model built with it in
mind.
Each helps inform the process and subsequent steps, so how the
model eventually articulates after being rigged depends entirely upon
how the mesh was initially built; joints and parts of the mesh that move
may need additional structure to prevent collapse for instance, an
important consideration for very low-poly objects especially, as is the
case with the Red Ninja Cubie™.
Design note: because additional structure can't be included, the
model is essentially designed around it being a 'cube', attention will be
paid later during animation to prevent.
Before starting, as the character has arms and legs, thought should be
given to the initial pose in which the model will stand; a "T", with arms
out to the side; a "Y", arms raised above the shoulders, or inverted "Y",
hands below waist (illus. 1), as this determines how flexible the mesh is,
how well it will deforms when articulated, at the major 'joints' in
particular, the knees, hips, elbows and shoulders. For the Red Ninja, its
low-poly nature, and its overall design, biases towards use of the "T"
pose, so that will be used throughout.
Design note: limbed characters are rarely constructed with their arms
and legs flat against, too close to, the body, or closed together,
because doing so tends to cause mesh deformation problems during
articulation, especially when arms and legs are posed at their
extremes; arms above the head for example, can result in surface
collapse or severe stretching to accommodate a pose, which might
then mean altering the mesh and rigging after-the-fact as a fix, an act
that might itself cause further problems where implemented as a
corrective measure later in the process. Such late-stage changes can
generally be avoided or mitigated by considering the type of
movement expected of the character beforehand and planning ahead
(this is why a degree of forethought and pre-planning is useful before
starting).
Step 1: Initial Object Set Up
As a general rule of thumb character models tend to be symmetrical,
both left and right are the same. From a construction point of view
knowing this, that characters are often in effect mirrored, means it's
possible to significantly reduce the amount of work necessary by
actually doing this, mirroring the mesh. What this essentially means is
the one side acts as a 'master', the other a 'duplicate', when the former
is changed or modified, the latter automatically updates. The
mechanism to do this varies depending on the complexity required in
terms of the build process, but at its essence using a simple 'linked
duplicate' is all that's needed. This will be the first step to be done in
preparation of mesh editing.
Design note: it's generally preferable to set this up before doing any
significant modification to the mesh to eliminate alignment issues early
on - if not corrected at this point misalignments can go on to cause
larger issue later on in the process (subject to the characters
complexity).
To begin, right-click select the default Scene Cube and press "Tab" to
enter Edit Mode. As mirroring is a duplication only half the object is
needed so, left-click the "Loop Cut & Slide" button in the Tool Shelf
and mouse back over the mesh.
Design note: "Loop Cut & Slide" is found within the "Tools" tab,
"Add" sub-section. Alternatively press "Ctrl+R"; activating loop cut
automatically places Blender into "Edge" select mode, normally
available using "Ctrl+Tab" or the "Mode Selector" in the 3D Views
header.
The pink loop cut guide appears. Position the cursor over the leading
edge of the mesh (upper or lower edge of the front face) and left-click
to select and set the cuts orientation. When the orange line appears
right-click to have Blender automatically place the loop centred on the
mesh (illus. 2).
Design note: when placing a loop cut Blender provides two options as
to how that is done once the orientation has been set/selected; 1) the
cut can be set based on User input when left-click is used - indicator
slides back and forth, or 2) automatically centred when using right-
click - centre-line is determined based on surface information and cut
automatically placed.
Next, using "Shift+" right-click ("Shift+RMB"), select the right side of
the mesh (toggle "Face" select mode "Ctrl+Tab" to make this easier to
do) and either delete the selection outright, "Del", or detach it using
"Separate", "P".
Design note: keeping the detached elements is not specifically
required and can be kept for reference, especially so if mesh mirroring
is done later - the character is built up a degree before being mirrored.
As an alternative to using "Shift+RMB" to multi-select, "Border
Select", "B", or "Circle Select", "C", can also be used but will typically
necessitate the mesh being in "Wireframe" view (press "Z"), or that
"Limit selection to visible" be disabled in the 3D Views header - it's
often easier and quicker to "Shift+" multi-select, taking advantage of
the Scene defaults rather than switching between various modes of
operation.
Press "Tab" exiting Edit Mode and with the remains of the object still
selected, in the 3D Views "Object" menu left-click "Duplicate Linked"
("Object » Duplicate linked" or alternatively use "Alt+D"). A new
instance appears moving with the mouse. Right-click to release and
reset the new object to its default position on the same side and
coincidental with the original.
Design note: for linked duplicate to work meshes should be in Object
Mode because the procedure is replicating the entire item and
associated properties, not just the mesh data/structure.
This new item needs to be flipped to the opposite side so whilst its still
selected, from the "Object" menu again select "Mirror" then "Y Global"
("Object » Mirror » Y Global", alternatively "Ctrl+M » Y"). The object
will flip across the selected axis, "Y" in this instance, mirroring the
original. Left-click or press "Enter" to confirm and set in place. With this
done modifying either Object instantly mirrors across to its partner (illus.
3).
Design note: linked duplicated objects are just that, linked; either
object of the pair can be edited with those changes duplicating across
to the other (non-selected object) without user input.
Step 2: Blocking Out
With the base unit duplicated and mirrored editing can begin. With the
original half (still) selected (right-click if not), "Tab" back into Edit Mode
and left-click the "Loop Cut & Slide" button again to add another cut,
this time positioning the mouse over a vertical edge so the cut loops
around the horizontal. Left-click to select the orientation then right-
click to confirm and auto-centre the cut, essentially dividing the mesh in
two, creating an upper and lower section. Once done, the basic
structure needed to define the character can be blocked out, namely the
arms and legs.
Design note: the number of loop cuts initially made should be kept to
a minimum to maintain the characters overall simplicity; additional cuts
can be made when needed or determined by the build process.
The first section to define is the shoulder and hip, an intermediary
'buffer' between limbs and torso that accommodates better articulation
of the former without unduly deforming the latter, important in limiting
mesh collapse when the character is moving.
Design note: without the additional structure the mesh might collapse
at the shoulder and /or hip when the arms and legs are articulated; the
'buffer' alleviates this by localising deformation to the region.
To do this switch selection mode to "Face select", "Ctrl+Tab » Face"
(alternatively from the 3D Views header left-click the mode selector
button displaying the face icon), then using "Shift+RMB" multi-select
the underneath and lower-side faces of the mesh, essentially an "L"
shaped selection that wraps around the lower side corner, before then