Planning your animation

You've done a bit of modeling now, and you're doing great. However, it's time for a little break, time to think ahead about animation again. In addition, now that you are organized to never lose a Blender file or image of your animation, you are ready to focus on what you want to do. You want to tell a story.

Discovering the story you want to tell with your animation

Whether you are setting up a game, doing scientific visualization, or making an animation to show on YouTube, odds are that there's a story involved. In addition, I'm sure you want it to be a good one. I can't give you all the rules here. According to Gene Deitch, director of Tom Terrific, Tom and Jerry, and Krazy Kat cartoons, you start with a premise or an idea. The premise breaks down into three parts—a character, a conflict, and a resolution. Think about how your favorite animation breaks down into these three parts.

There are plenty of books and online sources,...