Hello everyone, it's Jen from Olde Tinkerer Studio
In this tutorial, we will be learning how to animate curves in Blender 2.9
So, let’s get on with the tutorial
In this tutorial I will be showing you how to animate curves in Blender
This tutorial uses Blender 2.9, but you can also follow along in Blender 2.83
We will first animate a curve without any modifiers
We will then set up the lighting
Next, we will export the animation as a PNG sequence
Lastly, we will use Blender’s image sequencer to export a final video of the animation
We will start off animating a curve without the use of modifiers
Delete the cube and add a Bezier curve
Rotate the curve around the X-Axis 90 degrees and apply the rotation with CTRL + A
Open the Object Data Properties tab
Under the Geometry section, increase the depth of the bevel [.07]
This will allow us to go from a flat curve to a 3-dimensional tube
Rename the curve in the outliner [Main]
Add a second Bezier curve and move it back along the Y-Axis
Rotate the second curve around the X-Axis 90 degrees and rename it in the outliner – this will be our taper object
Select the original curve
Under the geometry section of the Data Object Properties tab, select the Taper Object (the second curve)
To smooth the curve’s geometry, change the Resolution Preview [30]
Under the geometry section, you can now change the bevel to get a curve that you like [.33]
Tab into edit mode and extrude and move the points to further refine the curve
When you have the curve refined, under the bevel section, use the Bevel End option to move the curve
You will notice that there is no cap on the end of the curve
We can fix this by turning on Map Taper under the geometry section –
this applies the taper to the beveled part of the curve only
Tab into object mode and apply the scale with CTRL + A
On frame 1, change the Bevel End to 0
Hover your cursor over the Bevel End field and insert a keyframe with I
Move to frame 48 and change the Bevel End to 1
Hover your cursor over the Bevel End field and insert a keyframe
Change your end frame to 48 and play the animation
Now we will move onto lighting
Add a plane and place it under the curve
Scale the plane so the curve fits on top of it
Tab into edit mode
Extrude the back edge of the curve up along the Z-Axis
Select the bottom-back edge and add a bevel using CTRL + B – increase the number the segments using your scroll wheel
Tab into object mode and apply the scale with CTRL + A
Right-click on the plane and choose “Shade Smooth”
Under the Materials tab, make a new material and change the color to black
Open the Properties Panel (N)
Under the View tab, choose “Lock Camera to View”
Select the taper object
Under the Object Properties tab, under the Visibility section, de-select Renders –
this way it won’t render in the final animation
Go into camera view (zero on the numpad)
Adjust the curve and background to your liking
Go into Rendered view
Under the World tab, set the background color to black
Select the light and under the Light tab, change it to an area light
Move and rotate the light so it interacts with the curve
Change the color as you desire [#C97A45]
Duplicate the light and move it to the other side of the curve
Change the color as desired [#11777D]
Play the animation and make any needed adjustments to the light
In order to render the animation, open up the Output Properties tab
Choose a file format under the Output section –
a PNG series is usually best in case Blender crashes because you won’t lose the entire render sequence
Choose a place to save the render to
Under the Render menu, choose Render Animation
We will now use the Video Sequencer to export a video
Change the timeline to the Video Sequencer
Under the Add menu, choose Image/Sequence and import your PNG images
Change the setting in the Output section of the Output tab
We now want a video file format [FFmpeg] and an encoder (if you use FFmpeg) [MPEG4]
Under the View menu, choose Sequence Render Animation to render the video
I hope you found this useful
Thanks for watching Have a good day