The image files used in this 2D animation are the same as the files shown above.Ĭustom reveal / texture using Blender shader editor The final example shows how a image mask can be used to show bullet holes in a plane. There are other textures that can be applied to the image and material. The Shader Editor provides a way of performing mathematical operations on the alpha value which changes the transparency on a pixel by pixel level of details. This solution also works well with keyframes and as well as rendering better.

This provides a way of hiding the 2D images, but also shows how different textures can be used including using an image mask to hide parts of another image, all within blender. This video gives a much better way of manipulating images in blender by using the Shader Editor to manipulate the material output.

Download the images used in the Blender 2D animation video.

I will provide details of how to use the Shader Editor in a future video. This is a simple technique for beginners, but does not offer much flexibility. The technique used for hiding the image is to exclude it from the render. It also demonstrates how text can be used in a 2D animation. The example shown is of a airplane which flies across the screen.įor the images it uses the Blender Add-on 'Import-Export: Import Images as Planes', which makes importing the images easier. The tutorial is a beginners tutorial video which goes step-through-step explaining the process needed to create the animation. It does not work with Blender 2.7 or earlier. This is a relatively new feature which was introduced in Blender 2.8. This is particularly useful for creating 2D animations which can be included in your YouTube videos. This isn't a separate tool, but a different workspace, and arrangment of the tools and camera to make it easier to create 2D animations. It's always been possible to create 2D animations in Blender, but the video above introduces the new 2D Animation option on Blender 2.8 and Blender 2.9. I've also created a video on using the shader editor for those ready to take the next step towards mastering 2D animations. If you don't know what that means then hopefully this video for beginners will provide a useful introduction. It includes the ability to create timeline based animations using Keyframes with automatic tweening and fine control over all the objects. Blender is well known as a 3D modelling tool, but it is also good for creating 2D animations.

Blender animation 2d