Getting Started With 3D Animation

While every software has its own UI and hotkeys, the foundational logic of 3D animation—bones, skinning, and constraints—is universal. Whether you are in Blender, Maya, or moving data into a game engine, the "why" behind a movement remains the same.

🎨 Do you need to be an artist?

You do not need to know how to draw or be a 2D animator to succeed in 3D. However, basic sketching helps with storyboarding and quickly iterating on ideas before you spend hours pushing keyframes.

My workflow is centered on Blender for authoring animation sets, which are then exported to Unreal Engine and Unity for implementation.

Where to Start: The "Ball" Test

If you understand the Blender UI but have no clue how to make things move, start with the Bouncing Ball. It sounds simple, but it teaches you about squash, stretch, and weight.

• The Classic Bouncing Ball Workflow
• Advanced Ball Physics

Timing, Style, and Study

After you learn the basics, it is important to realize that you aren't just learning how to move a mesh; you are entering a specific area of study.

How a mesh is stretched and how the movement is timed is exactly how you recreate styles like Claymation or Pixar-style animation. That is really what you are learning: how to manipulate timing and physics to create a specific "feel." This can be exported to a game engine and used to create games that feel exactly like those films, but it is incredibly complex. I might go over some of that at a later date.

The 12 Principles of Animation

Before diving into those complex styles, you must master the 12 Principles of Animation. While you might think these only apply to 2D—you're wrong. We use the same ideas in 3D, we just have to account for an extra axis of depth and vertex deformation.

• The Bible: The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.
• Video Overview: Alan Becker’s 12 Principles Overview.
• Deep Dive: Full 12 Principles Breakdown Series.