Blender Tutorial: Text Transformation Animation

in this blender video I'll be demonstrating how to make this animation of text that transforms between two different words I'll be using blender version 2.7 6b let's start by creating a new project so from the file menu select new and then click on reload startup file to make it easier to see the scale and location of the text that will be adding switch from perspective to orthographic view by pressing 5 on the number pad now delete the cube by right-clicking on it to make sure that it's selected and then press X now let's add the first word that will be in the animation so press shift a and select text to make the text stand up let's rotate it on the x-axis so press R then X then 90 then enter now press tab for edit mode and enter in the text that you want to appear first in the animation now press tab to return to object mode next let's give this text a name so click the object button and name it text dot blender will be referring to this name later now let's add some thickness to the text to do that click on the object data button and set the extrude value to 0.1 then bevel the edges by entering a bevel depth value of 0.2 0.4 in the paragraph section change the letter spacing to 1.1 next let's duplicate the text so that we can make the second word that will be in the animation so press shift D to duplicate and then right-click to drop it at the same location as the first word then drag it to the front now press tab for edit mode and enter your text now press to return to object mode next let's give this text a name so click the object button and name it text animation a little later we're going to be adding a particle system to the text so we need to convert the text to a mesh to do that press alt C and select mesh from curve meta surf text next we're going to add a remesh modifier to the text if you go to the viewport shading menu and select wireframe you'll be able to see the effect of the modifier to add the modifier click the object modifiers button then click add modifier and select remesh this will replace the mesh with a new one that's more uniform 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 auth tree depth value I'm going to use a value of 7 if you have more letters in your text then you may want to increase it to 8 now let's add the remesh modifier to the word blender so right click on it to select it then convert it to a mesh by pressing alt C and select mesh from curve meta surf text then click add modifier and select remesh remove the check mark from next to remove disconnected pieces and add a check mark next to smooth shading then increase the octree depth value and again I'm going to use 7 now let's switch back to solid mode next we're going to add a particle system so click on the particles button you may need to resize this panel to bring the particles button into view now click the new button to allow this particle system to recognize the Ramesh modifier that we previously added add a checkmark next to use modifier stack this value controls the number of particles that will be used I'm going to use 500 these values control when the particles are created keep the start value set to 1 and change the end value to 50 in this animation particles will be moving from the word blender to the word animation and we're going to set this up so that the particles start moving at frame 100 the particles that will actually be moving will come from the word animation so we need the particles that come from the word blender to start disappearing at frame 100 so set the lifetime value to 100 in the velocity section the emitter geometry normal value controls how fast the particles will be emitted set this value to 0 because these particles will not be moving now open the field weight section and set the gravity value to 0 so that gravity will not have an effect next we're going to add a modifier that will break up the text into pieces the number of pieces that will be created is controlled by the number of particles that we specify the position of the pieces will also be controlled by the particles so click the object modifiers button then click add modifier and select explode we only want the pieces to be visible during the lifetime of the particles so remove these two check marks then add a check mark next to cut edges to make the edges look nicer now when I move the time cursor you can see that the pieces start to appear at frame 50 all of the pieces will be visible and then they will start to disappear at frame 100 now let's thickness to these pieces so click add modifier and select solidify I'm going to keep all of the default values 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 transform dot blend now let's work on the word animation so right click on it to select it then drag it back until it's aligned with the word blender then drag it to the side until it's centered over the word blender now let's add a particle system so click on the particles button then click new now add a checkmark next to use modifier stack so that the particle system will recognize the remesh modifier that we previously added now set the number of particles to 500 this is the same number that we used for the other word next let's set the start and end frames since the word blender starts disappearing at frame 100 set this start value to 100 this will cause the word animation to start appearing at the same time that the word blender starts disappearing then set the end frame to 150 so that the word will continue appearing for 50 frames we're going to be setting up this particle system to use key to physics when we use it in this way the lifetime value will control how long it will take for the pieces to move from the word blender to the word animation so set the lifetime value to 50 now move down to the physics section and click the key button this allows the particles to move based on the position of particles and other particle systems in our case the location of the particles will begin at the word blender and will end at the word animation to set this up click the plus button to add a key then click in this entry box and select text dot blender this will be the starting point of the particles then click the plus button again and from the entry box select text dot animation so now the particles will start at the location of the word blender and will move to the location of the word animation next we're going to add a modifier to break up the text into pieces like we did with the other word so click the object modifiers button then click add modifier and select explode we don't want the text to be visible before the particles are created so remove the checkmark from next to unborn then add a check mark next to cut edges to make the edges look nicer now let's add a thickness to these pieces so click add modifier and select solidify I'm going to keep all of the default values now when I move the time cursor between frames 100 and 200 the word blender will gradually disappear and the pieces that belong to the word animation will gradually appear and move into their final position to make the animation a little more interesting let's add a force field so press shift a and select force field and then turbulence then drag it to the center of the text we currently have the animation set up so that the text pieces start moving between the two words at frame 100 so let's set up the force field to start applying a force at frame 90 this will give the text pieces in the word blender some motion 10 frames before the pieces start moving between words so set the frame number to 90 then click on the physics button this value controls the strength of the force field make sure that it's set to 1 and then right-click on it and select insert keyframe now set the frame number to 89 then set the strength value to 0 then right click on it and select insert keyframe now the force field will not apply any force until frame 90 we don't need to keep the force field on for very long so set the frame number to 120 then set the strength to 0 then right-click on it and select insert keyframe now the force field will decrease in strength and only apply a force for 30 frames now if I move the time cursor between frames 90 and 120 you can see the effect that it has next let's add a floor for the text to sit on so press 1 on the number pad to switch to front view then press shift a and select mesh and then plane then drag it just below the bottom of the text then scale it up in size by pressing s then 100 then enter to prevent the text pieces from moving through the floor click the physics button if it's not already selected and then click the collision button now let's set the material for the floor 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 I'm going to use a mixed shader to mix a diffuse and a glossy shader together so set the surface type to mix shader' then set the first shader to diffuse then set the second shader to glossy change the roughness value to zero so that the surface will be shiny then set the color of the diffuse shader if you want to use the same color that I'm using then click the hex button and set the color to 8 9 8 9 8 9 now let's set up the lighting so press 3 on the number pad to switch the right side view and zoom out until you can see the lamp then right-click on the lamp to select it then press G and move it over here I put it about 5 grid divisions above the bottom of the text and about 3 grid divisions to the left now press 1 on the number pad to switch to front view and drag the lamp over to the centre of the text now we'll set up the type of lamp and the brightness so click the object data button if it's not already selected then select the spot lamp and set the size to 1 now click the use nodes button and set the strength to 3000 then set the spot shape size to 45 these dashed lines show where the lamp is pointed we're going to line it up with the centre of the text so press R to rotate and line up the centre dashed line with the centre of the text then press 3 on the number path to switch to right side view then press R to rotate and line it up with the centre of the text again now let's set the background colour so click the world button and set the color to black 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 n to open the properties panel and put a check mark next to lock camera to view then press n again to close the properties panel now I can zoom pan and rotate while looking through the camera I want to position the view while I'm looking at the longest word so I'm going to set the frame number to 200 so that I can see the word animation now I'll set up the view that I'd like to use now we're going to set the material for the text so right click on the word animation to select it then click the material button and then the new button we're going to use a mixture to mix a diffuse and glossy shader together so set the surface type to mix shader' then set the first shader to diffuse then set the second shader to glossy change the roughness value to point zero five to get a preview of how this will render click the viewport shading menu and select rendered next set the color of the diffuse shader to be two zero zero zero zero now click the small button on the side of the factor value scroll up and select facing from the layer weight section this will control how the diffuse and glossy shaders are blended together the surface areas that are angled away from the camera will use more of the glossy shader than the surface areas that are angled toward the camera now set the blend value to 0.15 now let's set the material for the word blender so set the frame number to 100 so that we can see it then right click on it to select it then click the little button on the left side of the new button and select the red material this is the same material that we used for the other word now let's finish setting up the animation so set the start frame of the animation to 50 we're starting the animation at frame 50 because in the earlier frames not all of the pieces in the word blender are visible set the end frame to 230 all of the pieces will be done moving at frame 200 so this will give us 30 frames at the end with no movement now click the render button I'm going to make the size of this animation 1280 by 720 pixels so from the dimensions section click this button and select HDTV 720p and make sure that this value was set to 100% now open the sampling section I'm going to set the number of render samples to 25 the larger this value is the better the final animation will look but the longer it will take to render sometimes you can get unwanted bright speckles in the rendered image these are sometimes referred to as fireflies to help prevent this I'm going to set the clamp indirect value to 1 now come up 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 Gigi Thea 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 stop the rendering process before it's done you can press the Escape key or you can click the X next to the render progress bar now I'll pause the video until it's done the animation is done rendering now it took my computer about 30 minutes to render this is the final frame that was rendered if you want to return to the previous view you can click this button and select 3d view now if you open up Windows File Explorer or something equivalent you can navigate to your movie file now assuming that you have a video player that will play the movie format that you specified you can now play your video I've set up this player to repeat the video in a loop so that it will keep playing well that conclude this video thanks for watching and please subscribe and leave a comment

Channel: tutor4u

Views: 423,574

Keywords: blender, animation, 3d, text, morphing, morph, keyed physics, particle system, cycles, cycles render, nodes, blender version 2.76b, how to, tutorial, tutorials, 2.76, tips, tricks, beginner, intermediate, Blender (Software), 3D Modeling

Id: do0jF3zb5_U

Length: 18min 23sec (1103 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 14 2016