Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

I am thrilled to share with the Medium community that I've successfully completed the online course, "Blender Character Creator v2.0 for Video Games." In my previous reflections on transitioning from engineering to becoming a novelist and 3D artist, I mentioned my goal to finish this course by the end of 2023.

After a hiatus, I resumed my studies just two weeks ago. Since I had paused midway through the animation chapter back in July 2023, I opted to revisit the entire section. The initial lessons focused on the fundamentals of keyframes, involving basic movements like rotating and scaling a cube. Though simple, this exercise is crucial for grasping the essentials of animation. As is typical for me, I wanted my models and animations to be more engaging, so I chose to animate my bunny mech alongside a futuristic tank, both of which I designed during the course.

Section 1.1: Learning Animation Basics

From the course, I learned the techniques for moving and rotating objects. When I applied this knowledge to my tank, I realized that the wheels moved without spinning. Fortunately, with just a click on YouTube, I found a solution to enforce the wheel rotation using a transformation constraint. While it may seem minor, I was pleased with the outcome. I had envisioned turning the lights on and off, but I decided to save that for later to stay on track with the course completion.

Subsection 1.1.1: Understanding Armatures

Next, I delved into the basics of armatures, which consist of multiple bones that allow you to pose your character. For instance, if you want your character to look to the right, you start by positioning the character facing forward at the first keyframe (t=0s). Then, at the second keyframe (t=1s), you rotate the head to look right. Blender will automatically interpolate the movement between these keyframes to create a smooth transition.

Depending on the complexity of the action, you may need to insert additional keyframes to ensure fluid motion. Throughout the course, the instructor encouraged us to explore the materials further, challenging us to personalize an animation featuring a striking snake. Naturally, I aimed to add a unique touch to this assignment. I imported another model and dedicated time to crafting a simple environment. While the snake's slithering wasn’t perfectly realistic, I was proud of my first armature animation, rendered using cycles and captured from two different angles.

Chapter 2: Exploring Human Rigging

After mastering the basics of snake rigging, I shifted focus to human rigging. Until now, we had only examined forward kinematics, but Blender's Rigify system simplifies rigging and posing by allowing the use of both forward and inverse kinematics for character animation. While I won’t dive into the intricacies here, I utilized Rigify to animate an orc, creating various poses for different keyframes. I decided to make my orc perform the Haka.

The first video, "I FINALLY DID IT," showcases my journey as I completed the course, reflecting on my experiences and challenges along the way.

Mixamo automatically generates rigs for characters and offers a library of animations. While this sounds appealing, it often requires adjustments to work properly. I encountered issues with weight painting, which caused parts of my orc's loincloth to stretch and create unwanted gaps in some keyframes. Despite these challenges, I managed to produce some entertaining animations, including an orc standing idle and walking through a park.

The second video, "We FINALLY did it!" highlights my progress and the fun animations I created, including a hip-hopping orc—yes, you read that right!

Section 2.1: Final Touches

The remainder of the animation chapter focused on integrating characters into Unity and manipulating them within that platform. As I’m not currently interested in developing my own game, I only watched this segment. The final chapter provided additional tips on lighting and rendering, which I applied to my orc animations.

With 17 hours of content and 120 lectures across 13 chapters, I finally completed the course!

Chapter 3: Looking Ahead

While I enjoyed the course, I found the animation section somewhat basic. I aspire to learn more about managing stretching and clothing in animations and hope to explore how to control lighting and special effects. To further my skills, I’ve invested in a more advanced lecture by Grant Abbitt titled "Blender Animation & Rigging: Bring Your Creations To Life." I am eager to deepen my understanding and enhance my capabilities in Blender animation.

If you'd like to support my journey, feel free to engage with my stories or even buy me a soda. Your encouragement is greatly appreciated!