38: Lip Syncing

Probably the first thing I learned at Disney was the different mouth shapes for lip syncing. Here is a chart similar to the ones they used at Disney some 20 years ago. There would usually be a person who would scrub the audio using a jog shuttle and they would write each shape by its corresponding letter on a dope sheet.

Nothing much has changed since I learned these shapes other than it can now be done on computer using software like lost marble's Papagayo. This great little tool is able to scrub the audio and then all you do is put in the right mouth shape for the corresponding sound yourself. When you are all done then you can export a data file and then import that into Blender. So long as you have the corresponding shapekey names to the Papagayo files, Blender will set up all the right mouths on your character to the correct sound. This tutorial by bugzilla2001 shows you how.

37: Re-topology

You all may have seen models created with Sculptris, Mudbox, Zbrush or Blenders own Sculpt mode. These can be really beautiful and detailed models and 9 times out of 10 they are unusable for animating. So understanding the reasons for edge loops as by now you should. You will find this next YouTube tutorial by Jjannaway3D,really helpful in finding a way to get these models back to an animatable form. Retopology is by far the best process for doing this. Now all your creations will be able to be used in your animations.

36: Rigging With Rigify

Addons are a great way of making everything you do in Blender that much easier. My favourite so far is Rigify. Its a lot like 3ds Max's Biped and can be used in virtualy the same way. This quick tutorial by Blender Cookie is a fantastic starter for anyone just wanting to start animating their character without to much fuss.

35: If You Need More Panels Create Them

I know sometimes I want a panel that has just the right set of tools in it that make my work-flow go smoothly. Blender's Python script allows you to make them yourself. For advanced users this can be a real boon as you will over time develop your own way of working. this tutorial by Jonathan Williamson Is a great help in that direction.

34: Using Drivers With Shape Keys

Facial expressions really make a character. Just having your character open and close their mouth doesn't cut it as good animation. You really need them to say something with their face. This tutorial, at the RivenPhoenix YouTube channel although part of a series of other tutorials. Will give you an insight into how to use shape keys to do exactly that.

33: Drivers and Custom Properties

One thing I found very useful in 3Ds Max was the ability to create a unique slider that controlled shape keys or bones. The freedom this gave when animating a character was liberating. This tutorial at Peripheral Labs YouTube channel shows exactly how to do this in Blender. It is a little fast but the results will open up a whole new world of possibilities for animation in Blender.

32: Mastering Lighting in Blender

This tutorial by Blender Guru is a gift. It has lots of useful theoretical examples.

31: Another Text Tutorial.

Another great tutorial by Blender Guru to help you along with "Flying Text".

30: Flying Text

For the most part of my career in animation I earned a quid doing tops and tails for TV commercials. Its what I call my "vanilla bread and butter".  Blender is a great tool to do text effects in and here is a great tutorial about how to do a simple text tittle.

29: Foot Rigging Tutorial 1 to 10

Animating in Blender starts getting more powerful from here on. As soon as I learned advance rigging in 3DS max there was no looking back. I was able to deliver anything my clients asked me to do from talking characters to spacecraft landing gear, everything was possible . This set of ten tutorials on leg rigging will set you on your way to the happy animator space. I am grateful for tobuslieven putting together such easy to follow, forward and inverse kinematic mix, tutorials.

John Lasseter Q&A Any advice for aspiring animation student?

If you are lost as to who John Lasseter is, think Pixar and all it stands for "Story is King" etc. This man is a hero of mine and many others in the animation industry. John started in traditional animation and experimented very early on with CG vector animation. This short YouTube video is testimony to his and others early experimentation. It should be an inspiration to anyone starting out in animation with Blender 3d. It takes a little experimentation and creativity to make you an expert in time.

28: Modifiers...Yay!

There is nothing better than knowing what your modifiers do. If ever you needed to know something about any modifier in blender you should look no further than BlenderDiplom's Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE8021F9820C6FB9C I am forever going back to this channel to not only find out what each modifiers capabilities are. but to get some great tips on how to use them. I love finding complete sets of tutorials like this and I am happy to tell you all about them.

27: Advanced Texture UV Mapping

When you get the hang of texturing in the first tutorial at No 26:. You are going to want to explore this technique of baking many textures into one. This will give you loads of new options for texturing small areas quickly without having to create a specialist map in Gimp or Inkscape. Enjoy, this is a great process


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26: Basic UV Mapping

I know there are other ways to put textures onto a model but UV mapping is by far the most powerful. This tutorial demonstrates the basic way to mark seams and create a template to texture your model. Once you have mastered this you can really start creating amazing textures in Blender.

25: Moving On Now, To Rigging

As I have lost a hard drive ( the one containing my head tutorial ) I think to get the momentum back into this blog I thought it would do best to move on to rigging a character. I like rigs to be simple at first and then with experience and time, create more complex rigs  as I learn more. So far in my career my characters have been done in Max so I have been looking for a tutorial for Blender 3D that does something similar in the way I rigged in Max in the early days. Luckily for me Sebastion Lague has made this tutorial.

Great Tutorial Seb.

24: Slow and Whenever

Its been a slow and steady process to get this head happening. I have been moving house and starting new jobs through out. Lucky for me the company I am working for now has decided that I can have a "Blender Day" to improve my skills. So I have had the chance to begin work on the head topology. This image shows the first attempt. I have chosen a very simple method for building the head. The one described above by Joshua Alger is by far the simplest.



The ISSUU tute will be available soon. But to give you a sneak preview here's a screen capture.