Starting my journey into 3D animation using blender has been both exciting and overwhelming. Learning the ropes of this style of animation has given me a new appreciation for intricate details behind this style of digital art, and it has helped me acknowledge the amount of work and effort that truly goes into making much larger and much more detailed pieces of 3D animation. From learning the basics of manipulating basic shapes to understanding more detailed aspects such as texturing and UV mapping, each task has been a valuable lesson and has helped me navigate the basics of 3D animation. 

For our first week, we were introduced to blender. We learnt all the basic controls and shortcuts that would prove crucial for beginners. Our first homework task was to create and animate a snowman. This task wasn’t too difficult, and I would even say it was probably the perfect beginner level task to help me learn how to use the program. I had a lot of fun animating the snowman, however I will admit that I struggled a lot with the controls at first. It did feel a little awkward with trying to insert keyframes as they wouldn’t work sometimes, and it did take some trial and error before I got the hang of it. All things considered, I found this first task to be one of my favourites as I enjoyed the animation aspect of the task and also am quite proud of my final product.

Our next task involved creating a tie fighter from Star Wars. Admittedly, I was weary that it would be much more complex than it had actually turned out to be. I watched some beginner blender videos to help me with learning how to create some other shapes necessary for the type of tie fighter I was aiming to create. Initially, I wasn’t sure if there was a way to create a hexagonal shape in blender, but it was through sources online that I quickly learned just how easy this was. I also learnt about using paths to animate the object moving. This was quite simple yet interesting, and the flow of the path made the animation of this specific object seem much more natural. 

screenshot of my tie fighter

In our third week, we were tasked with modelling a zubat from Pokemon. Personally, I found this task to be the most challenging. I followed the video tutorials that we had been provided, however I struggled to make my own model look comparable to the model that had been achieved by the end of the lecture videos. I think my main issue here is that I struggled with some of the shortcuts, as well as the fact that when I did attempt to follow the steps in the lecture, it didn’t work quite the same in my own version. I do think this is likely due to having a newer version of blender, however I did still find the issue to be rather frustrating. I did manage to complete the zubat model, however I definitely do not think it’s one of my best pieces. I am very aware that this could be improved and I do think I should’ve done more research on how to achieve the outcome I was aiming for. This is something I will keep in mind going forward with future assignments.

screenshot of my zubat

Our next task was to create our own sword model as well as create our very own texture to apply to the model. I will say, I found this task to be very enjoyable. I liked the creative freedom that came with the task, as well as the fact that everybody was allowed to work at their own level. Truthfully, my own sword model was definitely a little less extravagant than I would have liked, and if I could redo the task, I would definitely put a lot more effort into designing the sword. I think I was too afraid to risk going too drastic as I was fearful of failing the model entirely. However, I am now aware that sometimes these failures are necessary in achieving a better final outcome, so if I were to retake this task I would design something a lot more detailed and intricate.  I used photoshop to create the texture as I am semi familiar with the controls of photoshop, and overall I do think this turned out quite alright, but of course I do still see room for improvement.

screenshot of my textured sword

Our final task was to create a helmet and use substance painter to colour it. This process was quite similar to the previous task, and so I was able to reapply my knowledge with exporting UV maps and such for this task too. Substance is definitely a very unfamiliar program for me, so I did spend some time learning it and trying to adjust to the unfamiliar controls of it, and I found myself learning it surprisingly quickly. I found this task to be very exciting as well, and I enjoyed this unique way of applying texture to my 3D models. I had some difficult with returning the model to blender, however I eventually figured out how the nodes worked and applied my knowledge here to get the outcome I wanted.

screenshot of my textured helmet

To help me understand a little better, I looked into some 3D animated characters to research that held a fairly basic design that a beginner level animator could perhaps accomplish as well, and how these designs are effective as well as the techniques perhaps used.

Kirby
Kirby’s is a rather basic round spherical character. Kirby’s body can be made using a basic UV sphere and his hands and legs could either be extrusions of this very sphere or alternatively separate spheres for limbs. Kirby’s animations are rather basic, but give a very distinct feel to his character. Animators would have utilised squash and stretch principals in order to give Kirby the bouncy and friendly dynamic he holds today. Due to Kirby’s spherical shape, it is likely that a seam based unwrap would be used, a form of unwrapping that I have used myself. A seam would be placed around the middle, and another from top to bottom in order to flatten the sphere and result in less stretching, this ultimately helps when texturing on Kirby’s face. Kirby’s texture map would be very simple yet effective, only a small image texture of his face would be needed whilst the rest of his model can be coloured using base materials.

Kirby model sheet for Smash Bros animation

Overall, I have found my journey into 3D animation to be very informational and interesting. This was my first time ever trying to animate in this medium, and so I will admit that I have made many mistakes throughout the entire process, however I firmly believe that I can only continue to work on these mistakes with time and throughout my future assignments. While this approach sometimes led to temporary fixes, it ultimately hindered my understanding of the core tools and concepts. Moving forward, I’ve recognized the importance of taking the time to properly research and understand the problems I face, rather than simply looking for shortcuts. I have surprised myself with my enjoyment of UV mapping and texturing, and I found both of those tasks to be very enjoyable due to both the creative freedom involved in the tasks as well as the learning opportunity of something so intricate. Personally, I think modelling and texturing a sword was my personal favourite task, and I hope that I get the opportunity to create more UV textured models like this in the future. Another issue that came to light was my own  time management. I do not have a computer that can handle 3D software, and so if I am to work on anything related to blender, I am only able to do so within classrooms with the proper equipment. I realised too late how crucial it is to supplement my in-class work with thorough research and planning from home. By better preparing myself before class, I could have tackled tasks more efficiently and produced stronger final pieces. Of course, this is something I shall keep committed to memory when considering the upcoming tasks.