Grease Pencil is the new 2D-looking side of Blender that I highly recommend you explore, as it is very exciting indeed. When I started Blender I just focused on this element solidly, more specifically rigging a GreasePencil object. I like to say that I used to make work that’s 2D but looks like 3D, now I say I make 3D work that looks 2D 😉 Moho controller rigs from short film ‘Betty’ Rigging is the secretīeing an animator, and a character animator most of the time, I know all too well that having an efficient rig is totally essential in getting the best performance out of something… and keeping your sanity (as this is where you will spend most of your time), among the thousands of keyframes, scrubbing back and forth on timelines.

But we don’t learn by sitting tight and not looking at other options, do we?!… Bear in mind I’m coming from 2D here, so everything I outline will be in relation to 2D looking design. It’s a fantastic, intuitive rigging and animation software that suits my 2D aesthetic of pretty graphical work perfectly. Almost entirely before Blender, I was using a 2D animation software called Moho Pro. A lot of the skills are transferable between applications, so having experience with the rigging of characters and how all that works was definitely a plus, but shouldn’t intimidate you. Hopefully, it comes in useful for artists who are new to it and are looking for a little intro to just a tiny bit of some of the exciting things that it can do.įirst things first… I am not pretending I am a pro with Blender (I’m actually a total newb) only really properly jumping in mid-2020 in the height of a Scottish Covid19 lockdown. That said, I’m not here to bang on about all that, I’m here to talk about Blender, my recent fascination with it, and some things I’m finding exciting about interfacing it with my work. I also collaborate with stop-frame animator/filmmaker Ainslie Henderson, making lots of different works for tv, web, game & theatre projects.

These include BAFTA-winning shorts ‘ The Making of Longbird’, ‘ Have Heart’, and more recently ‘ Betty’. I’ve been making character-driven animated films for a solid 10 years professionally now. I’m Will Anderson, a Scottish animator & filmmaker.

Blender 2d animation