Blender Tutorial: Chocolate Bar Animation

in this video I'll be demonstrating how to use blender to make this chocolate bar animation i'll be using blender version 2.7 3 a let's start by creating a new project so from the file menu select new and then click on reload startup file now we're going to reshape this cube into a chocolate bar so right click on it to make sure that it's selected then scale it up in size on the x-axis by pressing s then X then 3.5 then enter then scale it down in size on the z-axis by pressing s then Z then point to then enter now press tab to enter edit mode next we'll shape the top of the chocolate bar by creating a ridge around it so press a once or twice until nothing is selected then make sure that vertex select is selected this will allow us to select individual vertices then right-click on one of the topside vertices to select it then while holding down the shift key right click on the three other topside vertices to add them to the selection next press e to extrude you can see it extrude if you move your mouse we're going to extrude to the same position as the original vertices that we selected to do that just click the right mouse button our extruded vertices should now be the only vertices that are selected so let's scale them on the x-axis so press s then X then point 9 5 then enter now scale it on the y-axis by pressing s then Y then points 8 then enter now we're going to extrude downward so press E then - point 2 then enter later on we're going to add a subdivision surface modifier and smooth out the edges to prevent the object from losing its overall rectangular shape when we do this we're going to add more geometry near the corners so hover the mouse over the end of the object and press ctrl are to add a loop cut then click the left mouse button drag it to the left until it's close to the edge and then click the left mouse button again when it's in place then repeat this for the other edge press ctrl R then left click drag to the right and left click again now let's do this on the front so hover the mouse over the front and press control R then left click drag to the left and left click again then press control R again left click drag to the right and left click again now we're going to add the top surface of the chocolate bar we're doing the top separately from the main body because the top will have more geometry so press shift a and select plane then scale on the x-axis by pressing s then X then 3.4 then enter then scale on the y-axis by pressing s then Y then point 9 then enter now use the arrow and drag it up until it's a little below the top edge then press 7 on the number pad to switch the top view and make sure that it's centered next we're going to add more geometry to the surface we're doing this because later on we'll be using dynamic paint to make waves on the surface to add more geometry make sure that the tools tab is selected and then click the subdivide button set the number of cuts to 50 now press to object mode now let's add a subdivision surface modifier so click the object modifiers button then click Add modifier and select subdivision surface set both the view and render values to 2 then click the smooth button this is a good time to save what I have so far so from the file menu I'll select save as I'm going to name it chocolate docked blend now let's add some text so press shift a and select text I'll drag it up so that we can see it to make the text stand up let's rotate it on the x-axis so press R then X then 90 then enter to edit the text press tab to enter edit mode now use the backspace key to delete the text and enter in your own text now press tab to return to object mode next let's add some thickness to the text so click on the object data button I'm going to use an extrude value of 0.1 now let's bevel the edges by entering a bevel depth value I'm going to use point zero two I'm also going to set the resolution to two to round out the beveled edges later on we're going to be using dynamic paints with the text to create waves on the top surface of the chocolate bar so we need to convert the text into a mesh to do that press all to see and select mesh from curve Metsa surf text during the animation the text will appear as if it's flowing out of the chocolate bar onto the surface for this effect will be distorting the shape of the text so it will help if the mesh that the text is made out of is more uniform so we'll be using the remesh modifier because it produces a fairly uniform mesh to see this switch the wireframe mode you'll notice that currently the geometry is not uniform the curved portions of the text have more geometry than the straight portions now click the object modifiers button then click the add modifier button and select re mesh since the text is made up of disconnected letters we need to remove the check mark that's next to remove disconnected pieces this will allow the remesh modifier to be applied to all of the letters also add a check mark next to smooth shading to make the text smoother next increase the resolution by increasing the octree depth value set the values to 7 now you can see that the geometry is more uniform now switch to solid view you'll notice at the edges of the text or a little rough but this is the look that I want I think that it helps make the text look like it's actually made out of chocolate one last change to make to the remesh modifier is to set the sharpness value to zero this can help hide some imperfections now let's resize the text and position it over the chocolate bar I find it easier to do this on orthographic mode so I'm going to press 5 on the number pad to switch to orthographic mode then press 1 on the number pad to switch to front view now press s to scale the text and drag the mouse to resize it until it's a little shorter than the chocolate bar then drag the text to the center now rotate the view down a little then drag the text down until it's just above the top surface I'm going to save what I have so far now let's make the text appear as if it's flowing out of the chocolate bar onto the surface we'll do this by using a curve modifier so click the add modifier button and select curve this modifier lets us specify a curve that will shape the text so let's add a curve to do that press shift a and select curve and then bezzie a I'll drag it down so that we can see it now rotate it on the x-axis by pressing R then X then 90 then enter we're also going to reverse its direction so rotate it on the z-axis by pressing R then Z then 180 then enter now we're going to resize the curve you might want to experiment with different sizes but I'll show you what I think works well so scale it on the x-axis by pressing s then X then point 3 then ENTER then scale it on the z-axis by pressing s then Z then 8 then enter now right click on the text to select it then in the object entry box select the Bezier curve that we just added then make sure that the X button is selected now you can see how this deforms the text now right-click on the curve to select it if you move it back and forth you can see what it does to the text now we're going to make a change to the curve so that the text will be horizontal when the curve is moved to the right so drag the curve to the right until the last letter of the text is in line with the rest of the text then press the tab key to enter edit mode right click on this handle to select it then drag it to the left then drag it up until the text is horizontal then press tab to return to object mode now I'll move the curve back and forth so that you can see what the text does now next let's animate the position of the curve the length of the animation is going to be 150 frames long so set the end frame value to 150 then make sure the current frame number is set to 1 now drag the curve to the left until the tip of the text is just under the chocolate bar now we'll set a keyframe to make this the position of the curve at frame 1 so press I and select location now if I move the time cursor you can see that there is a yellow line at frame 1 which means that a keyframe has been set for that frame next set the frame number to 100 then drag the curve to the right until the text is completely visible and the last letter is not deformed then press I and select location again this will set a keyframe at frame 100 now if I set the frame number to 1 and press the play button you can see the animation now let's set dynamic paint to create waves on the chocolate bar when the text moves through it to use dynamic paint objects are set up is canvases and brushes in our case the chocolate bar will be a canvas and the text will be a brush let's set up the chocolate bar first so right click on it to select it then click on the physics button you may need to resize this panel to bring the physics button into view now click on the dynamic paint button make sure the canvas button is selected and click Add canvas these values set the start and end frames that will be used for the dynamic paint make sure that they are set to the same values that are used down here for the animation frames next open the dynamic paint Advanced section if it's not already open there are different surface types that can be selected for this value select waves we can also set a damping value which controls how long the waves will last the lower the number the longer the waves will last a value of 0.3 seems to work well for this project also we want the chocolate to look thick and so I'm going to set the timescale value to 0.1 to slow down the speed of the waves next let's set up the text so right-click the text to select it then click the dynamic paints button next click the brush button and then click add brush now let's try it out so set the frame number to 1 and press the play button as the text moves through the chocolate bar you can see that the top surface of the chocolate bar deforms in a downward direction however we want the surface to move in an upward direction this can be accomplished by changing the direction of the normals to do that right-click on the chocolate bar to select it then press tab to enter edit mode make sure that the top surface is selected if it isn't then press a once or twice until everything is selected now click the shading u V's tab then in the normal section click the flip Direction button next press tab to return to object mode now I'll set the frame number to 1 and press the play button so now the surface of the chocolate bar is moving in an upward direction but you'll notice that it's not very smooth we also have something spilling over on the left side to fix this click on the object modifiers button you'll notice that the subdivision surface modifier is being applied first and dynamic paint is being applied second so click this button to move dynamic paint to the top now I'll set the frame number to 1 and press the play button again this time the surface of the chocolate bar is smoother now we're going to make a change that will make the chocolate on the surface rise up even higher when the text passes through it so to do this right click on the text to select it then click the physics button then open the dynamic paint waves section make sure that this value is set to depth change and then change the factor value to 2 now I'll set the frame number to 1 and press the play button again this is looking good I'm going to say I have so far now let's make a surface for the chocolate bar to sit on so press shift a and select mesh and then plane then scale it up in size by pressing s then 100 then enter now press 1 on the number pad to switch to front view and then drag the plane to the bottom of the chocolate bar now let's set the material for it so click on the material button and then click the new button then come up here and change this from blender render to cycles render then click the use nodes button we're going to be combining two shaders so set the surface type to mix shader' then set the first shader to diffuse then set the second shader to glossy now set the roughness value to zero to make the surface look shiny then set the factor value to 0.75 next let's set up the lighting so press seven on the number pad to switch to top view then right-click on the lamp to select it then press G and move it to the center of the chocolate bar and click the left mouse button when it's in place now press 1 on the number pad to switch to front view the lamp is located about five grid divisions above the top of the text now click on the object data button if it's not already selected make sure that the point lamp is selected and set the size to 3 then click the use nodes button and set the strength to 5000 we're also going to use the background to light the scene so click on the world button then click here and set the color to white next let's set up the camera view so press 0 on the number pad this is the view looking through the camera I'll zoom in a little now I'm going to lock the camera to the view to do that press in to open the properties panel and put a check mark next to lock camera to view then press in again to close the properties panel now I can zoom pan and rotate while looking through the camera so now I'll set up the view that I want to use now let's set up the material for the chocolate bar so right click on it to select it then click the material button then click use nodes and set the surface type to mix shader' then set the first shader to diffuse and click here to set the color if you want to use the same color that I'm using then click the hex button and enter a value of 4/5 to a1c I'll select rendered from the viewport shading menu so that you can see what this looks like so far to help make the chocolate bar look more realistic we're going to make some parts of it more reflective than other parts the surfaces that are facing the camera like the front of the chocolate bar will not be very reflective the surfaces that are angled away from the camera like the edge of the bar will be more reflective this is how real objects tend to look so to accomplish this set the second shader to glossy then set the roughness value to 0.1 leave the color set to white this shader will give us our reflections now we need a way to blend the diffuse and glossy shaders together to give us the reflections that we want one way to do this is to use the layer weight facing output so click the little button on the right side of the factor value and select facing from the layer weight section if you don't see it then you may need to scroll to bring it into view next the blend value to get the look that you want I've found that a value of 0.2 0.1 to the chocolate bar are not very reflective but the surfaces that are angled away from the camera like the edge of the bar are more reflective now let's give this material a name I'm going to name it chocolate now we'll apply this material to the text so right click on the text to select it then click this little button that's next to the new button and select chocolate now let's set up some rendering options so click on the render button then open the sample in section I'm going to set the number of render samples to 100 the larger this value is the better the final animation will look but the longer it will take to render now go to the output section this is where you set the directory where your animation will be saved click on this button and select a directory next click here to set the file format there are multiple movie formats that you can choose from I'm going to use oh GG C Ora now we're ready to render the animation but I'm going to save the project first it's a good idea to save the project before rendering in case something goes wrong during the rendering process to render the animation click on the animation button if you want to abort the rendering before it's finished then press the Escape key since this is going to take a while I'm going to pause the video until it's done the animation is done rendering now and this is the final frame it took my computer about 45 minutes to render if you want to return to the 3d view you can click this button and select 3d view to view the animation go to the render menu and click on play rendered animation or you can press ctrl f11 the animation will play through to the end and then start back at the beginning again if you open up Windows Explorer or something equivalent you can navigate to the directory where you saved the movie now assuming that you have a video player that will play the movie format that you used you can now play your new movie I've set up this player to repeat the video in a loop so that it will keep playing well that concludes this video thanks for watching and please subscribe and leave a comment

Channel: tutor4u

Views: 290,159

Keywords: blender, animation, Dynamic Paint, text, 3d, cycles, cycles render, blender version 2.73a, how to, tutorial, tutorials, 2.73, tips, tricks, beginner, intermediate, Blender (Software), 3D Modeling, Animated

Id: FobiaqiIcY0

Length: 22min 13sec (1333 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 27 2015