## Instructions - Use Rigify for humanoid rigs: Add Armature > Human Meta-Rig, adjust bones in Edit Mode, then Generate Rig. - Always name bones and controls clearly: CTRL_, DEF_, MCH_ prefixes to keep rig organized. - Block out animation first with stepped keyframes on every 4-8 frames before adding polish. - Work Dope Sheet for timing/blocking, then Graph Editor for easing and polish — never polish too early. - Use 12 principles checklist on every shot: squash/stretch, anticipation, staging, follow-through, arcs, timing. - Animate at 24fps for film or 30fps for YouTube; set frame rate before keyframing anything. - Use Cycles for photoreal final renders, Eevee for previews, previz, and stylized/fast-turnaround work. - Link character rigs via Library Override (not Append) so model updates propagate to animation files. - Save versions incrementally: shot010_block_v01.blend, never overwrite blocking with polish pass. - Bake actions to NLA strips for walk cycles and reusable loops; keep root motion on separate bone. - Render to PNG image sequence first, then assemble to MP4 with ffmpeg — never render direct to MP4. - Keep viewport playback at 24fps by enabling Simplify and using solid/wireframe during blocking. ## Examples - Example 1: Walk cycle — 32-frame loop, contact at 1/9/17/25, hips bob 2cm, arms counter-swing, bake to NLA. - Example 2: Bounce ball — squash on impact frame, stretch on fall, 3 bounces decaying 75%/50%/25% height. - Example 3: Talking head — body mechanics on frame 1-48, lip-sync via Papagayo JSON markers, eye darts every 60 frames. - Example 4: Product turntable — 120-frame rotation, linear interpolation, Cycles 128 samples + motion blur. ## Workflows - Workflow A — New character shot: 1. Link rig override 2. Set fps + range 3. Blocking pass stepped 4. Spline pass 5. Polish graph 6. Playblast review. - Workflow B — Graph polish: 1. Open Graph Editor 2. Set handles to Auto-Clamped 3. Add breakdowns 4. Offset overlapping action 5. Check arcs with motion paths. - Workflow C — Render delivery: 1. Set output to //renders/shot010/####.png 2. Render image sequence 3. ffmpeg assemble 4. Review MP4 5. Archive .blend. - Workflow D — Rigify setup: 1. Add meta-rig 2. Align bones to mesh 3. Apply scale 4. Generate Rig 5. Parent mesh with Automatic Weights 6. Test FK/IK switch. ## Templates - Render settings block (Cycles final): ``` Render Engine: Cycles, Device: GPU Compute Resolution: 1920x1080, 100%, 24fps, Frame 1-240 Samples: 256 render / 64 viewport, Denoise: OpenImageDenoise Output: PNG, RGBA 16-bit, //renders/shot010/####.png Motion Blur: ON, Shutter 0.5, Cryptomatte: Object+Material Color Management: Filmic, Look: Medium High Contrast ``` - Render settings block (Eevee preview): ``` Render Engine: Eevee, Resolution: 1280x720 50%, 24fps Samples: 32, Ambient Occlusion ON, Bloom OFF for playblast Output: //previews/shot010_preview.mp4, H.264 High, 8000kbps Simplify: Max Subdiv 1, Shadow 1024, Child Particles 0.3 ``` - ffmpeg assembly recipe: ``` ffmpeg -framerate 24 -i renders/shot010/%04d.png -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -crf 18 -preset slow shot010_final.mp4 ffmpeg -framerate 24 -i renders/shot010/%04d.png -c:v prores_ks -profile:v 3 shot010_master.mov ``` ## Tools - Rigify — built-in auto-rig; enable in Preferences > Add-ons, fastest path to production rig. - Dope Sheet + Graph Editor — core animation editors; use Dopesheet Summary for retiming, Graph for curves. - Motion Paths + Onion Skin — visualize arcs; enable in Pose overlays before polishing. - Papagayo / Rhubarb — free lip-sync phoneme breakdown to Blender markers. - ffmpeg — assemble PNG sequences to MP4/ProRes, no re-render if encode fails. - PureRef — reference board for poses and video reference side-by-side. ## Advanced - Use Drivers for corrective shape keys: knee bend drives thigh fix, elbow drives bicep bulge. - Layer facial rig with Rigify face bones + shape keys driven by custom properties for FACS-style control. - Animate on 2s for stylized shots: key every 2 frames, hold breakdowns for snappy cartoon timing. - Cache heavy cloth/hair with Alembic export before final render to lock sim and speed viewport. - Use NLA + Action blending for crowds: one walk action, vary NLA strip scale 0.9-1.1 and offset for variety. - Color-manage Eevee to match Cycles by using same View Transform and testing with false-color look. ## Documentation - Blender Manual — Animation & Rigging chapter: editors, keying sets, NLA official reference. - Blender Studio — Sprite Fright rigging breakdown and Animation Fundamentals training series. - The Animator's Survival Kit (Williams) — timing charts and walk-cycle frame counts to copy. - Blender Secrets e-book — 200-page quick tips for graph editor and Rigify shortcuts. - ffmpeg docs — image-sequence muxing flags for lossless master vs H.264 delivery.