Learn Grease Pencil in Blender 3.X A Guide to 2D Animation, Illustration, Storyboarding, and 3D Hybrid Pipelines Using the Grease Pencil Tools

Get to grips with the fundamentals of great drawing, illustrating concept art and planning a cartoon production by learning the principles of animation in a Grease Pencil environment

Key Features

• Learn the foundations of 2D Animation and Grease Pencil to create concept art and storyboards with key images in color
• Create Game Engine Animation and Tiles with 2D Sprites
• Animate Explosions, Sparkles, and other effects using Geometry Nodes and Modifier combinations

Book Description

Grease Pencil is the ideal 2D animation tool to sit in the direct center of many creative pipelines. Its integration with Blender's other features and the newest Blender 3.0 features are very versatile, and everyone can put Grease Pencil to use as a storyboarding and planning tool.

This book will provide a foundational education in not only Grease Pencil but also animation fundamentals, solid drawing, and Grease Pencil's Blender integration. The full scope of a finished 2D production will also be demonstrated, from storyboard to final compositing, and serve as a template for setting up a robust 2D animation pipeline. You will begin by exploring the core Grease Pencil concepts, and use those tools as a medium for creative execution. This will be supplemented by using the tools in practice with a full animation pipeline: Storyboards, concept art, pencil tests, cleanup, color, and lighting. You'll primarily learn the core DNA of Grease Pencil's tools, followed by exercises where you must execute their usage with professional quality. Occasional exercises and chapters will then dive into a scaffolded project-based approach, culminating in a polished, complete animation product.

By the end of this book, you will be able to create beautiful artwork and 2D animations, run an efficient Grease Pencil pipeline, incorporate these tools into hybrid scenarios, craft 2D rigs, and generate strokes through several generative tools.

What you will learn

• The primary conventions of Grease Pencil, a 2D animation suite that can integrate with all the 3D tools of Blender
• The principles of animation in a Grease Pencil environment
• The fundamentals of great drawing, illustrating concept art and planning a cartoon production
• The layers, materials, effects, and compositing that build a final animation look
• Advanced 2D animation setups, such as rigs and effects
• Rendering finished animation, combining Grease Pencil with live-action, and making game sprites for use in a game engine

Who This Book Is For

This book is for experienced Blender 3D generalists with general proficiency in Blender but haven't explored Grease Pencil, and now have a perfect project to do so. Also, animators who gravitate toward the variety of animation possible beyond 3D and want to know more about the different production methods would find the book useful. Technical artists familiar with complex rigging setups would be excited at the potential of 2D and hybrid rigging, thus finding this helpful. Readers should have some background in drawing and animation to make the most out of this book.

Table of Contents

1. The Basics of Grease Pencil and Blender
2. The Fundamentals of Animation
3. Solid Drawing and Brushes
4. Materials and Layers
5. Concept Art and Storyboards
6. The Pencil Test
7. Turning Video to Animation With Rotoscoping
8. Repeating Animation with Walk and Run Cycles
9. Acting and Takes
10. Mixing 2D and 3D
11. Line Art and Coloring
12. Building 2D Rigs
13. Explosions, Sparkles, and other Effects
14. Building your Final Animation
15. Game Engine Animation and Tiles with 2D Sprites
16. Advanced Setups