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Game Editing => Tutorial Talk => Topic started by: kat on December 08, 2014, 05:59:11 PM

Title: Make an animated Gingerbread Character (beginner)
Post by: kat on December 08, 2014, 05:59:11 PM

Make a simple Low-Poly Gingerbread Character in Blender - suitable for beginner with basic understanding of Blender (how to move, select etc.).
Duration: c.1hr. Video not narrated


Accompanying written tutorial
Make a simple animated Gingerbread character in Blender (https://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/blender/gingerbread.php)


Additional Support Materials
- n/a
- n/a

Description
Using a background image loaded into the Scene, its used as a guide to first blocking out and then shaping the initial Scene cube into a Gingerbread character. An Armature is added and the mesh Parented to it using an Armature Modifier and the Parent function, creating a series of 'named' Vertex Groups linking vertices with bones. Finally some basic "IK" are added to specific bones before a simple 'walk' cycle animation is made.

Chapter list
Times are approximate

Notes
[1] When setting up the material because the actual image to be applied to the mesh was loaded into the Scene as the background its already available for use (association with the Material).

[2] UV Unwrapping is done 'twice', once to show the initial unwrap and then again after some adjustments are made to the mesh, although the second attempt is better, it may not be the easier option. Choosing either or in most instance will depend on the shape of the mesh and whether problematic areas (between the legs) can be 'hidden' from view.

[3] Although for this simple animated model the addition of IK may not be needed, it's often a good idea to include it to save time during Pose manipulation (not shown is the way IK allows a chain of bones to bend and contort 'naturally' - this can save time when posing).

[4] characters used for games generally 'cycle' on the spot with WASD movement being provided by game mechanics.



Project Files
Project files are available to KatsBits forum members below - ZIP archive includes a set of *.blend files and the (2048px) texture asset. File order, first to lastNon-commercial use only.