Mastering Realistic Camera Animation in Blender

do you like cameras of course you do because without them it would be pretty dull we wouldn't have films games animations not even a darn picture but what sets apart an awesome picture or animation from a bwing one before we dive into that let's take a quick look at setting up cameras in blender if you're already familiar feel free to skip this part first off when you start blender you've got a camera already if you want to add another just click add in the drop down menu if dealing with multiple cameras switch between them in the scene properties each camera has its settings in the camera properties if your scene is a bit larger adjust the clip end to a higher value same settings apply to your viewp press n Go to view and set the clip end for a clear project view you can switch to your camera view with numad zero or go to view cameras and select active camera before we jump into different camera animations we take a fast look to different aspect ratios choosing the right one depends on the platform and the intended visual effect the first one and also the classic one is the 16 to9 ratio it's widely used for platforms like YouTube and TV shows 4 to3 is an order format his torically used for TV and early films and it can be employed for a vintage effect or specific artistic purposes 21 to9 is the classic cinematic format for feature films it offers an even wider view emphasizing Landscapes and action scenes and lastly we have the mobile formats for Tik Tok Instagram or YouTube shorts It's 1: 1 or 9 to6 now that we have covered the basics let's explore various animation Styles the first one is the classic path animation it simulates drones or Dolly shots create a curve and position it for your desired result prioritize realistic movement to avoid an unnatural feel at a path follow constraint to your camera and reset the camera's position and rotation if needed and if the camera behaves weird adjust the acccess settings to change the speed of your animation set key frames for the offset value alternatively parent the camera to an empty and add a path constraint to the empty for more control like a dolly arm and there you go nothing simpler than setting up awesome drone shots and Dolly movements in blender the second one is the fake cameraman you can simulating a walk working person with camera or phone in blender select your camera go to view navigation and right click to walk navigation to create a shortcut switch to camera view select auto key which stores every camera change as key frames press space and then your shortcut now you can click G to enable gravity and V to jump if needed walk like in a video game and your movement is recorded you you can exit the work navigation by clicking the white mouse button for a specific camera height lock the Z AIS of your camera in the graph editor fill gaps with key frames by clicking key density and sampling key frames smooth them out by also clicking key smooth and gusion and adjust the intensity with your mouse cursor you can also move and scale the key frames to change speed and position on your timeline and boom you've got crazy fast animated third and first person movements like your own character controller it's probably the easiest way to create realistic human camera works third one is the attached camera to an object position the camera select the object to be parented then your camera press RP and choose keep transform and that's it if you want dash cams or body cams this is the way to go and the fourth one is freestyle it's all about creativity to create manual key frames can be handy but keep it simple starting with positioning the camera for main shots like key poses in a character animation feel the motion you want to achieve when blending shots and use fewer key frames for smooth animations but avoid over complicated movements as it's easy to mess up smooth smooth motion Additionally you can lock the camera to focus on a specific object making it easier to control the movement select your camera add the track two constraint and choose your target if the direction doesn't match adjust the AIS animate the influence slider if you want your camera to track an object for a specific duration and of course you can combine different animation styles to create unique looks once your camera movement is set we are not done yet check your focal length and sensor size to match a wheel camera longer focal length compress the background while shorter focal length widens the field of view and death perception sensor size determines the equivalence of focal length and impacts low light performance fine-tuning these settings allows you to mimic specific camera characteristics lastly add camera Shake it's crucial for for a sense of realism depending on your scene you may need more or less but you need it especially Dynamic scenes benefit from this there are two ways to create it in blender as far as I know the simplest one is to use the free add-on called camera shaky FY to use it select your camera open the drop down menu and press plus choose a preset and tweak the settings to fit your idea you can blend multiple presets together but don't overdo it however you don't have 100% control over it that's why you can also create manual Shake select your camera open the graph editor and open object Transformations select one go to modifiers and add noise adjust the scale and strength for a natural Shake copy the noise modifier if needed and paste it on the next location but don't forget to change the offset to avoid generic movements enable restrict frame range to blend the camera shake to specific time stamps or between multiple ones keep in mind real camera movement to create realistic noise-based camera shake and if you have additional points to consider please share them in the comments below now enable death of field and select the object or scene that needs to be in focus it gives your final render more Dimension and directs attention to the right place motion blur adds a great sense of speed and is crucial for achieving realism especially in animations in addition to these points before W there are some to cover after the ring process to access PR processing and blender and a will use notes in the compositing tab press shift a and search for a viewer note to see your final window this also works for animations several noes can be useful for different effects depending on your focal length and sensor size you need lens Distortion it's necessary in many situations and can be set up right here use an eclipse mask to set up a vet effect adding even more Focus to your scene the exposure note helps faking outdoor exposure or regulate your animation for fade out or whatever effect you want to achieve of course you can add various filters for different looks or simp ulate film grain We R view or more color correction is also essential in this workspace in conclusion mastering the art of camera animation and blender opens up a world of creative possibilities so go ahead dive into the world of cinematic camera work and let your creativity unfold but most importantly don't forget to have [Applause] fun and as always I'll catch you in the next one

Channel: David Kohlmann

Views: 7,364

Keywords: car animation, cam, cinematic, aspect ratio, auto keying, path follow

Id: E2jnT7dUWAM

Length: 9min 14sec (554 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 27 2023