1st Edition

Blender 2D Animation The Complete Guide to the Grease Pencil

By John M. Blain Copyright 2022
    244 Pages 453 Color Illustrations
    by A K Peters/CRC Press

    244 Pages 453 Color Illustrations
    by A K Peters/CRC Press

    244 Pages 453 Color Illustrations
    by A K Peters/CRC Press

    This book describes how to access the Grease Pencil component in Blender and create 2D Animation within the Blender 3D environment. It is assumed that the reader has no previous knowledge of the Blender program and treats 2D Animation using the Grease Pencil as a standalone application.

    Grease Pencil is a component of the 3D modeling and animation program, Blender. Blender is a free open-source 3D Computer Graphics software toolset used for creating animated films, visual effects, art, 3D printed models, motion graphics, interactive 3D applications, virtual reality and computer games.

    Key Features:

    • The first comprehensive beginner's guide to the Grease Pencil component of Blender
    • Facets of operation are explained in short concise chapters with cross references
    • Written instruction is accompanied by diagram illustrations in reference to the program's Graphical User Interface

    The book is also available in a discounted set along with The Complete Guide to Blender Graphics: Computer Modeling & Animation.

    Introduction
    Preamble
    Download & Install Blender
    Starting the Blender Program


    The Graphical User Interface
    1.1 The Graphical User Interface (GUI)
    1.2 Editors
    The 3D Gui Diagram
    1.3 The 3D Animation Workspace
    1.4 Drawing with the Grease Pencil
    1.5 The Grease Pencil
    1.6 Hiding Annotations
    1.7 The Transition to 2D Drawing
    The 2D GUI Diagram
    1.8 Changing to the 2D Animation Workspace
    1.9 The 2D Animation Workspace
    1.10 The 2D Viewport Editor
    1.11 Editor Controls – Buttons, Icons and Sliders

    Drawing Strokes
    2.1 Drawing a Stroke
    2.2 Drawing a Stroke (Continued)
    2.3 Erasing Strokes
    2.4 Stroke Lines and Fill
    2.5 Stroke Colors - Material Color Mode
    2.6 Stroke Colors - Vertex Color Mode
    2.7 Mixing Colors
    2.8 Texture Strokes
    2.9 Stroke Color Workspace
    2.10 Tinting Strokes
    2.11 New Stroke Types

    Strokes Tools
    3.1 The Tool Panel
    3.2 The Fill Tool
    3.3 The Cutter Tool
    3.4 The Eyedropper Tool
    3.5 The Line Tool
    3.6 The Polyline Tool
    3.7 The Arc Tool
    3.8 The Curve Tool
    3.9 The Box Tool
    3.10 The Circle Tool

    Strokes Brushes
    4.1 Brush Type
    4.2 Brush Types
    4.3 Adding New Brush Types
    4.4 Customising a Brush Type
    4.5 Downloading and Appending Brushes

    Using a Drawing Tablet
    5.1 Emulating a Three Button Mouse
    5.2 Blender Preferences Editor
    5.3 2D Viewport Editor Controls
    5.4 Tablet Properties
    5.4 Wacom Intous 3D Table Properties

    The Canvas Explained
    6.1 The Canvas
    6.2 The Canvas – Another way
    6.3 Renaming and Adding Layers
    6.4 Adding Preconstructed Strokes
    6.5 Appending Strokes
    6.6 Using Appended Stroke Types
    6.7 Browse Material to be Linked
    6.8 Adding 3D Objects
    6.9 Adding a Canvas
    6.10 The Canvas Grid

    Stroke Placement
    7.1 Placing Strokes
    7.2 2D Viewport Header Stroke Placement Controls
    7.3 Object Origin
    7.4 Origin: Stroke Placement
    7.5 3D Cursor: Stroke Placement
    7.6 Surface: Stroke Placement
    7.7 Stroke: Stroke Placement
    7.8 Aligning and Locking Strokes
    7.9 Drawing Guides

    Background Image Tracing
    8.1 Tracing
    8.2 Drag and Drop Method
    8.3 Add Image Method
    8.4 The File browser Editor
    8.5 Tracing

    Smoothing and Editing Strokes
    9.1 Editing Strokes
    9.2 2D Viewport Editor Modes
    9.3 Editing in Object Mode
    9.4 Editing in Edit Mode
    9.5 Proportional Editing
    9.6 Edit Mode Manipulation Tools
    9.7 Edit Mode Editing Tools
    9.8 Editing in Sculpt Mode
    9.9 Editing with Modifiers

    Stroke Effects
    10.1 Viewport Shading Options
    10.2 Stroke Effects
    10.3 Viewport Display
    10.4 Flip Effect
    10.5 Blur Effect
    10.6 Pixelate
    10.7 Shadow
    10.8Wave Distortion
    10.9 Multiple Effects

    Animating Strokes
    11.1 Dope Sheet and Timeline Editors
    11.2 Timeline Animation Play Buttons
    11.3 Animation Action
    11.4 Animation Time
    11.5 Number of Frames
    11.6 Set up the Scene
    11.7 Interpolation
    11.8 Onion Skinning
    11.9 Timeline Manipulation
    11.10 Perpetual Motion
    11.11 Remember the Outliner Editor
    11.12 The Walk Cycle and Animation
    11.13 Keyframes and Posing


    Animating a Character
    12.1 The Storyboard
    12.2 Organising the Outliner Editor
    12.3 Animating a Character
    12.4 Movement in the Scene
    12.5 Walk Cycle Reference Image
    12.6 Create a Dedicated Sketch Material
    12.7 Sketching a Pose
    12.8 Playing the Animation
    12.9 Scaling and Positioning Keyframes in the Timeline
    12.10 The Time Offset Modifier.
    12.11 Animating the Scene Background
    12.12 Background Image
    12.13 In Perspective

    Armatures in Animation
    13.1 The Armature
    13.2 Multiple Bones
    13.3 Armature Display
    13.4 Armature Posing
    13.5 Parenting with Automatic Weights
    13.6 Understanding Parenting
    13.7 Cancel Parenting
    13.8 Parenting with Envelope Weights
    13.9 Vertex Groups
    13.10 Animation Keyframes

    Wrap up and Render
    14.1 Eevee Render in the Properties Editor
    14.2 Render Preview
    14.3 Rendering an Image
    14.4 Rendering a Video Clip
    14.5 Video Codecs

    Navigate and Save
    15.1 Files and Folders
    15.2 Creating a Folder
    15.3 Saving a File
    15.4 Windows File Explorer
    15.5 Windows File Explorer Diagram
    15.6 Blender File Browser
    15.7 Opening Files
    15.8 File Browser Header Features
    15.9 Make a New Folder
    15.10 Display Options
    15.11 Saving Your Work
    15.12 The Concept of Files
    15.13 The Append or Link Command
    15.14 Importing Objects

    Creating New Scenes
    16.1 The Storyboard
    16.2 Extend the Sequence
    16.3 Adding a Scene
    16.4 Create Video Clips

    Movie Making
    17.1 Video Editing Workspace
    17.2 Placing Files in the VSE
    17.3 Audio Files – Sound
    17.4 Precision File Placement
    17.5 Viewing the Video File
    17.6 Video File Properties / Modifiers
    17.7 Erasing (Deleting) a File from the VSE
    17.8 The Add Button
    17.9 Cutting Video Strips
    17.10 Rendering the Movie
    17.11 Summary

    Grease Pencil Modeling
    18.1 Modeling using the Grease Pencil
    18.2 Modeling a Stroke
    18.3 Shaping Strokes
    18.4 Combining and Converting Strokes
    18.5 Modeling From Strokes
    18.6 Modeling Workspace.
    18.7 Modeling a Dragon

    Using Add-Ons
    19.1 Add-ons From the Internet
    19.2 Download the Add-on
    19.3 Installing the Python File
    19.4 Add-on – Another Way

    Internet Resources
    Index

    Biography

    John M. Blain has become a recognised expert in Blender having six successful prior editions of The Complete Guide to Blender Graphics to date. John became enthused with Blender on retirement from a career in Mechanical Engineering. The Complete Guide to Blender Graphics originated from personal notes compiled in the course of self learning. The notes were recognised as an ideal instruction source by Neal Hirsig, Senior Lecturer (Retired) at Tufts University. Neal encouraged publication of the First Edition and in doing so is deserving of the author's gratitude. Gratitude must also be extended to the author's wife Helen for her continuing encouragement and patience as new editions of the book are compiled.