Finally, we arrived to "animation" topic! EXCITING!
So far, YOU should be more familiar with how AN nodes can custom control your 3D object: - Tranformation (translation/position, rotation, scaling) - Loops - Numbers - Text / String - Instances
All these components and concepts not easy, but once understand everything makes sense. You could skip previous articles, and make this article your start, however I want you think as a whole.
SIMPLE ANIMATION SETUP
Above is my recommendation for absolute beginner node setup to create animation using AN. Imagine a single 3D object transform that you will control using AN. Later on, you will learn how to control and animation ANY attribute of an object.
(I am actually very curious how AN will handle Blender Bones / Armature Skeleton, if it gets developed into that area. We will wait and see.... it's my wishlist for Jacques and AN developers :D)
OK let's break down the network above.
Our main focus node is "Animate Matrix" node. It has every INPUT slots we need for now.
If you Ctrl+A and search-create AN node, it will give you list of nodes that deal with animation.
Animate Matrix deals with whole transform (translate, rotate, scale)
Animate Vector deals with vector / 3 values.
Animate Float deals with a floating value.
Animate Color deals with color.
Animate Euler and Quaternion, my guess, is dealing with angle.
Like mentioned in previous blog post, animation will deal with Time, Start, End, Interpolation and Duration. All those data will be handled by AN animate nodes to create animation.
TIME: For Time input, we can just plugin the "Time Info" node. That is the simplest. However, I like to use "Repeat Time" node as well, so that we have more control on the behaviour of animation. I set it to "Loop" so that the animation will loop overtime.
START and END: For "Animate Matrix" node obviously we will need Matrix start and Matrix end, so we use "Compose Matrix" node. Don't be scared by the name, just think of this as a node that will provide a transformational data for an object. Think: translation, rotation, scale.
INTERPOLATION: You can use your own curve drawing using "Interpolation from Curve Mapping" node. Or for simplicity, you can use Blender's own interpolation curve presets shown under "Construct Interpolation" node.
Now, the Curve presets we have are like below:
I am very tempted to try to describe each and every curve interpolation preset here, but it is best when you view it yourself animating the object.
I will create Animated GIF to give example result.
ANIMATION GIF EXAMPLES
(I will add GIF later... maybe)
The idea is really to "trace" or project a single motion of attribute, and so you can really see how the curve actually looks like, to cause a particular motion (fast, slow, slowing in, bouncing, etc) when the value travel over time.
Of course, if you are animating a character, your pose, silhouette, you probably care less about the graph or animation curve between keyframes. However, for lots of procedural animation, this basic curves are something you want to know really well.
You see,"Debug Interpolation" node here is also used so that we can see the resulting anim curve in a bigger picture. For interpolation such as "Bounce" we can have the effect for both at the easeIn and easeOut, OR either easeIn and easeOut.
Remember to think simple for now: ANIMATION = INTERPOLATION between 2 VALUES over TIME.
Like I mentioned last time, Text Object manipulation is very interesting. I am always fond of text, font, typography, and recently I am into Emoji, but that's probably another story. But you might want to try using text that is not alphabet ABC, maybe Japanese characters, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Arabic maybe.
Basic Text Input
The most basic text input is the one we type into "String Input" node, that can be created by selecting Text - Input.
STRING TYPE CONVERSION
In programming, text is often called String type which is made up of Characters. String is a more correct term, but we get used to Text so in AN often we found String and Text are interchangeable, with same meaning. Depends on the context I guess.
Also, Number type (Float, Integer, etc) is not String, but we can convert Number into String and usually String back into Number when evaluated. I do not know yet if AN can convert String back into number, but we will find out soon. For now, it seems like converting other types into String is more easy.
JOINING STRING
Like Numbers, we can combine, split, join multiple Strings. For joining, my guess is that we use "Join Text" node. Which is correct, but interestingly, we get "Create List" node automatically created by AN. Which is make sense.
Below, I have 4 strings: "Apple", "Banana", "Mango", and "Durian". So I combine them, and it takes 2 steps: - Create LIST of those String Elements - Combine the LIST into a single String to pass to Text Object Output
If you do Python programming, this should be familiar to you. For non-programmer, you can follow along and try to understand what each node does. Below I am using "Debug" node to see the output of each step.
You may notice the option of "Joint Text" node, there is this Separator field, where you can type in the "in between" for text string elements. Normally you put black space " " for example. Below, I am using capital "X" in between those elements.
SPLITING STRING If we can combine String, we can also split string.
Very often, we have a sentences made up of "words" separated by space and sometimes we want to split them into each separate "words".
We can do that very simply by using Split Text.
Now here, we are breaking text / sentence into their elements / words. So we get this automatic "Get List Element" created, when we want to pass it into Text Object Output. Change the Index number and see what word you get.
Split Text has few handy options, feel free to try it yourself. It is pretty useful.
TEXT IN & TEXT OUT
Blender always has this awesome Text Editor feature that talks to every part of Blender. AN can talk to Text Editor easily.
"Text Block Reader" can bring any text from Text Editor, and vice versa "Text Block Writer", we can output text! All these kinds of pair nodes in AN is handy and you can understand both at the same time just by doing the opposite.
Let's try "Text Block Reader" node. Since we are also already know "Split Text" node, we can use that to break the text into each separate element, using "Lines" separator.
Ok, I realized here that we really want to see all the words in the screen. How do we do that? You guess what? Loop? Yes.
We need to use Loop. Don't worry, it's rather simple, once you understand it. Not easy, but learnable.
My step by step thinking process is like this: 1. Create "Loop Input" node. 2. Next, you either click on (+) New Iterator and create Object List and String List (because we know that we will be needing duplicate instances of Text Object, and also we will bring in list of String elements). OR... another way is to backward noodle plug from "Text Object Output" Object and Text into the "Loop Input" node. 3. Then, we will Invoke our Subprogram. Our "Invoke Subprogram" will then be able to accept multiple or array of elements.
Above, you see, there is one important thing, we need to enable "Deep Copy" option, for "Object Instancer" node. Deep Copy allows us to actually insert out "String" element into each Text Object instance copy.
At the moment, all our text will be jumbled up on top of each other at 0,0,0 World Origin.
We can use our previous knowledge to place text in positions. For that we need "Object Transform Output" node. And we just need to add those via Loop Input and Invoke Subprogram.
CHALLENGE: See if you can recreate the top most image of this article. Random rotate the text, and based on your own words supplised via Text Block, perhaps you can "replicate" it.
"Text Block Writer" node can output data, for example, below I am writing Edge Indices information of Suzanne.
OTHER TEXT NODES
There are many other nodes that deal with Text / String data. Feel free to try them yourself, while seeing the output.
It is a long story in itself, but the whole 39 episodes are a great work experience for me, having to work with some talented amazing animators, lighters, vfx artists and developers, taking care of the layout assets until it is ready to be lit.
For The New Adventures of Figaro Pho animations, LUMA TOONS is using Maya for modeling, animation, lighting, pipeline, layouts, vfx, Arnold for rendering and Nuke for compositing.
Is Blender being used at work? Unfortunately not. Pity. Maybe one of the devs are using it, but I don't have access to it. Most of the pipeline are built on Maya, Houdini, Mari, ZBrush, Nuke, and lots of Python scripts.
All in all, I really think Blender Foundation really should be looking into making Animated TV Series like Figaro Pho. While FIGARO PHO is truly "Australian made" (a work of International artists and local born Australian) that one can be proud of.... any works made in BLENDER is even something that everyones can be proud of even more. It's the result of collaboration.
So, Figaro Pho is around 7-8 minutes length per episode, not too long, solid story, fun characters, well directed, with soundtrack, etc.
Blender is certainly more than capable of creating such awesome works, and I know some artists out there are already doing it. Moreover, Blender is such an open collaborative tool, it can be used anywhere.
Working in the industry is nice, you get paid regularly, you meet some nice people, you work as a team, you produce works that you can be proud of, you drink coffee/beer a lot, you do celebrate good times... But I think, apart from that, as individual, you also need to stay and stick and a place where you can continue to learn and study new skills. You do not always get this opportunity or motivation out there. Your attitude and self drive is really important.
I highly recommend you to watch all the NEW 39 episodes of Figaro Pho. There are also some older episodes of Figaro Pho done at different place and time, a bit darker, quality is not as great as latest Figaro but still worth watching. You probably can find on YouTube.
This season 2 of Figaro Pho also has some great VFX, animation and lighting works, it is a good case study for CG artist and storytellers. Maybe you can see it on Netflix soon. At the moment it is only showing on Australian ABC3 TV, can watch it on iView app.
That's my little thought on the whole thing. Now let's get back to the topic...
*ANIMATION NODES (AN) IS ... AN AMAZING TOOL
Just the other day, I stumbled into Jacques Lucke's ANIMATION NODES Showreel 2015 on Vimeo (now the video is also on YouTube --- better for sharing and streaming, as you can watch yourself above). I was hooked.
AN was first launched in September 2014 (first post at Blender Artist), I am really curious of when actually he started writing this AN add-on for Blender. A quick search you will find that the creator of AN is a young brilliant artist, 18 years old from Germany (!).
TIP: Download the add-on as ZIP. In Mac, sometimes Safari automatically uncompressed the zip into normal folder, you just re-compress it and then install the add-on from Blender Preferences.
SVERCHOK x AN?
While Sverchok was born with procedural modeling in mind (I think that's what Nikita envisioned), AN seems to focus more on procedural animation. They both are similar, but with differences. One is so curious what will happen if all Sverchok developers and AN developers put on stage and battle each other, it would be so eye-opening.
Actually both add-ons can "talk" to each other already. Like Zeffi said, "Scripted Node" can help you with this. They both have Script Node too.
You could really make some bunch of points or some procedural MESH construct and let AN takes over the MESH data and do something with it. It's weird how they two works together.
I don't know if anyone can answer this, but in Houdini, I believe we can assign custom attribute to a Point / Vertex, and then that custom attribute gets carried around different node-network. Maybe such thing can happen.
Conceptually speaking, I remember Sverchok developers talked that Sverchok is like the Russian Matryoshka dolls, nested lists and Python. It is beautiful and bad-ass way of thinking data in Python and how Pythonic Sverchok is.
AN probably has its own way of thinking, which we will explore and found out. Maybe "LOOP" and "ITERATION" is key in Animation Nodes.
As soon as you understand that concept, you can make "subprogram". It sounds a bit scary, but it will take you far to advance level from the basics. You can quickly create your own node that iterates or repeats a certain function that process input and output.
Sverchok actually does this too, but the emphasis is different. Not as obvious.
Later on, if I have time to write about this loop and iteration in depth, maybe we will figure out more things together. Because eventually the aim of using tool like Animation Nodes is being able to ANIMATE many objects at once whether using f-curve, or using your own generated values.
In that past, one might have tried to do this using Python scripting and Blender's Drivers. Or perhaps using Particles and Instancing. Then one also tried to use Sverchok, remember that time when we drive Objects using Vertices of Mesh? Yep, you can somewhat do that using this ANIMATION NODES and quite elegant way too... like you always dream of.
So you can tell Blender to do this using this AN: - Hey I have 5 spheres and I want to wiggle them all in random ways - I want to scatter and scale the faces of this polygon mesh at random frames. - Can you drive these objects and automatically animate them to follow this music - Paint objects based on proximity with another object - Open up and animate these hundreds of doors or flaps at slightly offset time - Use "eyedropper" tool, get object in the scene, create clones that follows
If you ask me which one you should learn, Sverchok or AN, you probably should try both and see which one clicks with your brain.
Sverchok handles the mesh components more deeply, while Animation Nodes (AN) will make objects in motions rather quickly and easily.
They both can get complex and create amazing procedural works, but do not worry because if you know what you are trying to achieve, you will get it, someone out there will provide the answer.
While learning this node-based system, you also want to get serious with Python scripting. It is (not) too much to ask, but really by doing so, it will help you a lot to grasp many of the basic concepts such as Data Types, Data Conversions, etc. You will be dealing with values, numbers, float, boolean, integer, strings, matrix, vectors, rotation, list... all those alien stuffs.
If you don't know, there is also tool out there called Processing, now already Processing version 3 that also can help you with learning the concept of programming: https://processing.org
The advantage of nodes is of course you can see 3D objects moving around when you are playing with nodes. It is more interactive and everything is neatly contained as a node that you can noodle together. So much fun:
Ok, I am still figuring out this AN nodes, but potentially I can see this thing go bigger. It already capables of driving and animating thousands of objects procedurally. You can create a complex setup so quickly under few minutes.
MY NODE LEARNING METHOD
Normally when I am looking at yet another new node based environment, I would start by looking at the available examples and video tutorials. Any documentations will help.
Luckily there are quite a few tutorials and demos already from Jacques himself. Lots of silent videos, just the way I like (it makes the user works harder and think about what happening!).
Remember that Node-Based workflow is a visual thing, so normally you can see how things work if you get the BLEND file.
Of course the node-tree WILL get super complex at some point, when it does stuck, you are looking at the wrong examples. You need to understand and start building basic simple node tree first.
STRAIGHT JUMP INTO IT Create a new node tree and Shift+A to check the available nodes. There are 170+ nodes already (Jacques said 179 animation nodes).
Ctrl+A allows you to quick search node by letters or words. Useful when you are more familiar with the nodes and remember it by name or if you want to guess the node name.
At this point, I think the node does not come with help or decription (?). There might be already documentations written only for every single node, one just need to find it. Some nodes are self explanatory, if you have some coding/programming background.
Object Replicator (OLD) is now Object Instancer:
Watch Out: Mind you that this Add-On keeps getting updated from time to time, and some node network might change. This is the nature of the beast.
EXAMPLES AND TEMPLATES
In latest AN add-on, which I installed yesterday, it comes with lots of useful "Templates". I actually missed this until I watched one of videos. Anyway, I should point this out:
KNOW HOW TO DEBUG (AND ASK)
I have only tested this AN add-on for a day. However, I found that it does fail sometimes, need refreshing or re-invoked in order for the setup to work.
There are some "debug" nodes in AN that you can use to see the data. This is very helpful.
Eat your Apple...
I will definitely get stuck and need to ask the developers, or ask other artists. Blender Artist forum, especially the AN thread is a good place to ask. It is so easy to lose track sometimes.
DO WRITE YOUR OWN NOTES Blogging is good, especially if you are learning something. Very likely you will help yourself to keep in track of what you are learning, and helping others at the same time.
Really, lots of ideas come out of the blue when writing. Sometimes I still write and draw using pen and paper too. It is strange how our brain works, that.
I recommend you to do this, go to local public library, immerse yourself amongst strangers, get a good computer, download Blender, and start doodling there. Show off what computer and Blender can do in public.
TEST, MAKE MISTAKE, AND DO IT AGAIN UNTIL IT WORKS (REPETITION) Just like writing programs, you learn by writing it. Not so much of memorizing how to write the program, but to understand the concept of what is going on, spot a problem, solve the problem. You will soon find out that there is not one way to accomplish one thing, but many ways.
Collect bit and pieces of simple good node networks, and combine them to do something complex. Every little bit you make can be useful for others.
WHAT IS NEXT Of course, the only "issue" is to find time and aim to learn and re-learn all this. The tools that Blender has provided, and this kind of awesome node-based add-on, is seriously under utilized sometimes.
Hopefully I could dedicate my time in the next few months to study this AN, sharing some findings, and make some use of it. I am a year behind of following the ANIMATION NODES thread. There are already some others Artist Developers with big interest with AN development, already sharing lots of cool stuffs.
