Creating Motion Graphic Elements in Blender Without Shapekeys or Addons: Part 2

What You'll Create

Creating Circle Bursts

Step 1

In a new file, press A to select all default objects.

Press 1 in numpad to get into front view. Press Del to delete them.

Press Shift-A and add a Circle (Mesh > Circle)

In the Tool Options panel, which located at the bottom of the tool shelf—press T to toggle on if it is not there— select Nothing for Fill Type.

Check Align to View so that the circle is not facing upwards.

Step 2

With the object selected, press Tab on the keyboard to get into edit mode.

Press A to select all vertices.
Press E to extrude them and then secondary-click or press Esc or so that the extruded vertices stays in their place of origin.

Step 3

Press Tab to exit edit mode. With the object selected, click on the modifiers button in the properties window. Click on Add Modifier button.

Step 4

Select Solidify from the modifier list.

Step 5

Drag and increase the Thickness slider value until the circle is filled.

If the normals appear inverted, for instance the mesh appear darker, then check the Flip Normals tick box.

Step 6

Click on the materials button in the properties window, and then press the New button.

Step 7

Rename the material to anything you want. I named it burst-white.

In the diffuse panel, click in the colour bar and select a colour.

In the shading panel, tick the Shadeless checkbox.

By doing so the materials will be rendered as flat colour.

Step 8

Press Shift-Left Arrow to go to first frame. You can also use the playback controls.

Step 9

With the object selected and in the modifier panel, move the mouse over the Thickness slider. Press I to insert a keyframe for that value.

Step 10

Go to frame 21. You can either drag the green marker in the timeline or directly click and type 21 in the frame counter.

Step 11

Click the Thickness slider, type 0 (zero) and press Enter.

With the mouse over the Thickness slider and press I to create another keyframe.

Press Shift-Left Arrow to go to first frame.
Press Alt-A to play the animation.
Press Esc to stop.

Step 12

Go to frame 21 again. Left click on the frame counter and type 21.

With the circle selected, press I on the keyboard to bring the Insert Keyframe Menu. Select Scaling. This will create a keyframe for the current scale and size of the object.

Step 13

Press Shift-Left Arrow to go back to frame one.

Step 14

Select the object and press S to scale and then 0 to scale it down to the full.

Step 15

Press I in the keyboard to bring out the Insert Keyframe Menu, and select Scaling.

Press Alt-A to play the animation. The circle will now grow from point to full and then disappear.

Step 16

On the top bar, click on the layout button and select Animation.

Step 17

Change the Dope Sheet mode to Action Editor. Rename the Action to burst or anything suitable.

Step 18

Secondary-click on the first keyframe of the Thickness value of the Solidify modifier.

Press Shift-D to make a duplicate and offset it a little bit to the right. This will delay the start of the animation of the thickness value.

Go to first frame and press Alt-A to play the animation. The animation will look much better now.

Step 19

Change the bottom part to NLA Editor. Click on the editor type button and select NLA Editor.

Step 20

Press the button with two down arrows, to convert the action to NLA strip.

The action is now converted to a strip which can be moved in the timeline as when and where the animation is needed.

Secondary-click on the strip to select it. Press G to move it where ever you want the animation to start and end.

Move and adjust the strip just like in a video editor

Adding Variations

Step 1

You can add some variety by duplicating the original object and then tweaking it. Secondary-click on the object to select it and then press Shift-D to make a duplicate.

Secondary-click or press Esc so that it stays at the origin. The new object will also have the modifier and the action strip. It will share the same material data with the original object.

Step 2

Press 3 in the numpad to get into sideview. Press G and move it away a little bit away from the first object.

Step 3

Since it shares the same material, click on the + button to make a new copy of the material settings, which is needed for the new object.

Step 4

Rename the material to burst-red. In the Diffuse panel, click on the color bar and choose a colour. Make sure the Shadeless tickbox is checked.

Step 5

In the NLA editor, secondary-click on the action strip associated with the new object—which was automatically duplicated— and select it. Press G and move it just a little bit to the right of the timeline.

Press Shift-Left Arrow to go to first frame. Press Alt-A to play the animation.

Step 6

This whole setup can be applied to objects of different shapes. You can also tweak the mesh anytime in the edit mode, which is difficult to do if you are using shapekeys.

Creating Circle Swipes

Step 1

In a new file, press A to select all default objects and press Del to delete them. Press 1 in the numpad to get into front view. Press Shift-A to add a plane (Mesh > Plane).

In the Tool Options panel, which is located at the bottom of the tool shelf—press T to toggle on if it is not there—check Align to View. This will rotate the plane.

Step 2

Secondary-click on the cube to select it.
Press Tab to enter edit mode.
Hold Shift key and secondary-click on the bottom two vertices one by one to select them both.
Press Alt-M to bring out the Merge menu and select At Center to merge them.

The two vertices will merge at the center of the distance between them

Step 3

Similarly select the top two vertices and press Alt-M to Merge them At Center.

Step 4

Press A to select all vertices. Press G to move them and Z to move them along the Z axis. Move the mouse until the bottom vertex is at the centre point (orange dot) of the object.

Step 5

Press Tab to exit edit mode. With the object selected, click on the modifiers button in the properties window. Click on the Add Modifier button.

Step 6

Select the Screw modifier.

You'll notice that the object has been transformed into a circle.

Step 7

Reduce the angle to 0 degree. This will return the object into its original form. Increase the Steps and Render Steps to 24. This gives a smooth edge.

Step 8

Press Shift-Left Arrow to amke sure you are in the first frame. Move the mouse over the Angle settings of the modifier and press I. This will insert a key frame for the angle value which will then be animated.

Step 9

Go to frame 21. Click on the frame counter and type 21 or drag the marker to frame 21 in the timeline.

Step 10

Click on the Angle slider and type -360. Move the mouse over it and press I and this will insert a keyframe.

This means that the value will change from 0 to -360 in the first 21 frames.

Go to first frame and press the Play button.

You'll see the angle value being animated and thus giving a nice effect.

Step 11

With the object selected, click on the materials button in the properties window. Click on the New button to add a material.

Step 12

Rename the material. I have named wit swipe-red.

In the Diffuse panel, click on the colour bar and choose a colour. In the shading panel, tick Shadeless. This will render the material with flat colour.

Step 13

In the top menu bar, change the layout mode to Animation.

Step 14

By default the top left window is the Dope Sheet Editor. Change it to Action Editor so that we can see only the action associated with the selected object.

Step 15

Left click and rename the action to Swipe or anything else you want.

You can move the keyframe across the timeline to adjust the speed. Right click to select the keyframe marker and G to move. Click to confirm.

Step 16

Change the bottom window to NLA Editor.

Step 17

In the NLA editor, click on the button with two arrows facing down. The action is converted into a strip.

Step 18

The action now appear as a single strip.

You can now move this strip in the timeline as when and where you need the animation to start. Secondary-click to select it and G to move.

Duplicating and Adding Variations

Step 1

You can add more circle swipes for variety by duplicating the original object. The duplicate will also have the same material and animation properties, so you done need to animate it again.

Secondary-click on the object and press Shift-D to make a copy. Secondary-click again so that the object is placed back to its origin.

Step 2

With the new object selected, click on the material button in the properties window, Press the + button to make a copy of the material for the new object.