3D render of a tree stump.

Discover the Magic of Animation

Learn the fundamental skills required to create professional level 3D character animation in Blender.

Get started with animation the right way, in this free course.

Watch the introduction
  • Course duration: 4 hours
  • Number of lessons: 10
  • Software used: Blender
  • Prerequisites: Basic Blender Knowledge
  • Self paced learning

About the course

I believe that all good character animation is a combination of three key elements, Foundations, Mechanics, and Performance.

Each of these builds upon the last and, if any of them are not working well, the animation suffers.

Learning the foundations of character animation involves gaining a solid knowledge of the 12 Principles of Animation, as well as understanding how to create believable and appealing motion.

3D animation displayed on a graphics tablet.

Chapter 01: The Principles of Character Animation

A 3D tennis ball

The first chapter of this course consists of a series of lessons and simple exercises which will help you understand how to apply the 12 Principles of Animation to create believable, and appealing, animation within Blender.

All of the rigs and demo files required are included with the course.

Chapter 02: The Magic of Character Animation

A 3D toadstool

In the second chapter, I'll cover my animation workflow before demonstrating, step-by-step, how to put all of the principles into action to create a simple, fun, piece of character animation.

By the end of the course, you'll have all of the knowledge necessary to start animating simple characters of your own.

Good to know

Blender logo

This course is designed for anyone who wants to learn how to create high quality character animation within Blender.

Whilst no animation experience is necessary, a familiarity of Blender’s interface would be very helpful.

The latest version of Blender can be downloaded for free from: blender.org

Ready to get started?

  • 4 hours of lessons
  • All resources included
  • Instant streaming access
Free
Profile picture of John Knowles

Your instructor

Hi, I'm John!

Before building Into Animation I worked as an animator and animation director in children's television for over 15 years.

I love animation and my goal is to give you the best start possible in this exciting and rewarding craft.

Meet your instructor