If you have always dreamed of becoming an animator, visual effects whizz, video game creator or 3D model artist then you must have scoured the internet and done research to find out what software is the best to help you get started. Even if you’ve only just become interested in creating this form of art, you’ll need all the help you can get to create beautiful and professional animations or 3D models.
One of the best softwares available for this is the Blender Animation software toolset which was created especially for this purpose. It is much more flexible than most 3D programs and can be easily learned to use and customize by beginners. Blender has a wide range of features which will help make your work a whole lot easier like fluid and smoke simulation, texturing, sculpting, and motion graphics among others. Since it’s first release in 1998, Blender has had a tumultuous journey to where it now is today including an open source funding campaign to help release its source code. Today Blender is free to use by whoever wishes to and continues to be developed by its growing community of users.
As more people become interested in using Blender, they look towards the online community of Blender users for guidance on how to figure out the use of this software. For our beginner and intermediate level users, it’s pretty easy to learn how to use Blender so there is no need to feel intimidated and we have put together this comprehensive list of 20+ Blender Animation tutorials that’ll help you learn all you need to know about how to use this amazing software.
Before we start with the list of free tutorials, let me give you a recommendation. If after watching all the free tutorials, you want to level up and keep learning animation in Blender, you should check Bloop’s Academy Blender Animation Course. If you are interested in knowing more about it you can check the course clicking here. ( As a disclaimer the link is an affiliate link and if you purchase this course or any other course from Bloop I will receive a commission that will help support this blog :) ).
Now let’s continue with the Blender animation tutorials:
Blender beginner tutorial – Part 1: User interface
In this tutorial, which was created for complete beginners who do not know anything about using the Blender Software, Blender Guru teaches you how to use the most common and basic functionalities in Blender like the modeling, lighting, and materials. In this 16 minute video, You’ll learn how to manipulate the software and learn from mistakes you make as it can all be reset back to its default settings with a simple click of a button. This tutorial is great to learn the basics of using Blender and in no time you’ll be able to create a realistic looking donut and coffee mug all taught from a beginner’s perspective.
How to animate in Blender – Beginner tutorial
This 40-minute tutorial is completely worth the time as you will learn the best ways to animate pretty much anything in Blender. You will learn 4 different ways to animate a number of objects from cubes to characters using blenders powerful tools. And because it is specially designed for beginners, you’ll find that it’s not too fast-paced as CG Geek takes his time to explain concepts at the most base level. You can also take the video back or watch it over again until you completely grasp everything that is explained.
Blender tutorial – Quick Water Animation
Learning to animate water can seem like a very intimidating and difficult thing to do but after watching this tutorial by Olav3D, you’ll learn how to create the perfect animation of water flowing away in a straightforward and basic tutorial. In just a few minutes you’ll learn to animate fluids including what faces, modes and modifiers to use to create a realistic looking liquid. It has on-screen instructions so even if you have trouble hearing or it’s to fast for you to catch everything he says, you can follow the text on the screen.
Advanced Blender Tutorial: Raw Game Model to Animation/Render
For gamers who would love to see their game characters and models as animations in Blender, this tutorial is just right for you. You’ll learn how to port a game model and use it as an animation asset. VirtualTurtle kind of made a long video here but you won’t even notice time fly by as you learn more about manipulating video game models and using them to make fun animations however you please.
Blender Tutorial – How to Animate A Character
This tutorial teaches beginners how to animate a character down to the little points like moving the forearm alone. Tutsbykai shows you how to make a model pose however you like and also how to manipulate different parts of its body including the character’s hair to make it smoother and have natural looking movements that will help you achieve the position you want for it.
Create a beautiful animated creek – Blender tutorial
Have you ever marveled at the beauty of a bubbling creek while taking a stroll in the woods? as an artist, we are pretty sure you immediately began to wonder how you could recreate and animate it. Well, you’ll learn how to create that scene by watching this animated creek tutorial brought to you by CG Geek. It’s over an hour long but that’s how much detail it goes into showing you how to create realistic looking fluid simulations. Everything about using features like texture painting, adding motion blur and using nature´s assets is covered so there’s a lot to learn.
Modeling, Rigging & Animating a tentacle in Blender | Tutorial
If you’re interested in learning animations that involve aliens, sea creatures, fantasy creations or any other thing that will involve creating an animated tentacle, this tutorial will reach you just that. It’s an in-depth video by SurfacedStudio you’ll learn how to make the curves and mesh that make the base of the animation before adding organic details using a surface modifier and some other sculpting tools. You’ll also learn to make the tentacle move and reach for a target object.
Blender Character Creation: Rigging
Sebastian Lague teaches you how to rig a character you have already created on Blender. The tutorial shows you how to correctly position bones to give your character a natural appearance and make movements like bending seem seamless in a manner that is clear and concise so you won’t have trouble keeping up. You can adjust poses, change the position of the posture and generally tweak your model until it looks just the way you want it to. His video is easy to follow and you can always pause or rewind if you don’t understand any of the steps.
Blender – Sci-Fi Animation Loop in Evee
For our sci-fi lovers and beginner creators of some science and action-packed animation, this tutorial is a must watch for you. Using Blender to create concepts and different 3D backgrounds can add an extra punch to your sci-fi creation and you can learn how to do it by watching Ducky 3D’s video. He uses a method that is easy to understand and straight to the point to teach you how to create animations on a loop to create an undulating effect that is very sci-fi.
Blender 2.8 Tutorial: Earth Animation in Evee
In your time as an animator, you are going to create quite a few replications of the earth and other planets in different forms. This tutorial teaches you how to make a 3D version of the planet Earth and how to animate it as well. Olav3D uses this short 8-minute long video to quickly and concisely teach you how to make a realistic looking depiction of the earth from selecting a sphere and smoothing it out, to including cloud spheres and other textures to create a model that any animator would be proud of. You can also use the knowledge gained from this tutorial to create other planets in our solar system.
Blender Tutorial: How to Create A Realistic Cut Animation
Every wondered how perfect cuts are made in animations? Ready to learn how to take your animations to the next level by including scenes with perfect slices and cuts? This tutorial by BlenderMania will help unlock all the tips and methods of making cuts and it’s all demonstrated using a piece of fruit, an orange. You’ll learn how to cut an object into two equal halves and make it look so realistic that the two halves bounce and settle as they get separated from each other.
Blender Animation Tutorial a Car Following a Path and the Front Wheels Turning
By watching this tutorial, you’ll learn how to animate a car using the follow path constraints on Blender. You will also learn how to make the two front wheels turn at the same time using animation. Ian Scott shares some insights on key animation techniques like how to include keyframe rotations to front wheels, how to use the evaluation time setting to insert keyframes at whatever points on the path you desire, how to add and shape a path while you are in edit mode and so much more.
Blender Tutorial: Cartoon Tank, Modelling and Animation
For video game animators and really anyone who has an interesting in learning how to build cartoon tanks, Olav3D’s tutorial on how to build a tank animation in Blender will prove to be very useful. You’ll not only learn how to create the tank, but he also teaches you how to rig the tank, model and animate it before rendering your animation. As usual, he has notes added to the video to make it easier for you to follow the instructions or take them down on a notepad for use later.
Blender Beginners Tutorial: Apply Mist or Fog to a 3D Animated Scene
Adding mist to your animation can give you an added layer of mystery or spookiness that makes a scene just right in the most foreboding way. When you are animating scenes like swamp scenes, cemeteries or nighttime scenes, having some foggy effects will up the ante and make your animation look much more natural. With this tutorial by Chipper Videos, you’ll learn how to add mist or fog using cycles render and in no time you’ll master this skill because the tutorial is taught in a way that is clear and easy to understand.
Rigging a Character in Blender 2.80
You will learn the right ways to rig an animated character and adjust its pose however you want by watching this tutorial by the luwizart animations. He shows you how to mirror actions, and set up a nice rig in Blender for animated your character. It is very detailed and he covers some very important components here so you are getting a real in-depth tutorial here. You’ll learn how to position bones at certain places for a better result. Rigging can seem intimidating especially for beginners and intermediate animators but this tutorial really breaks it down and makes rigging very easy for you to understand.
Blender Beginners Tutorial: How To Create And Animate a 3D Flag Blowing in The Wind
Knowing how to animate a flag and have it look like it’s naturally blowing in the wind is one of the coolest parts of being a visual artist. A lot of visual work involved flags or other fabrics blowing in the wind and it’s a pretty useful skill for every beginner to know how to use in Blender. Chipper Videos shows you how to make fluid movements into every corner of the fabric of your flag to avoid some corners looking stiff with an advanced cloth simulator.
Orbit Animation in Blender, Planet and Moon Tutorial
Creating a 3D depiction of space and some planets in orbit can be really fun and exciting especially if you are just starting to learn how to use Blender. Olav3D shows you how to make a moon orbit around other and planets and explains concepts in a way that is quite easy to understand. He explains how to make simple circuit orbit animations with helpful texts on the screen that make it easier for you to understand each step as he goes along. By the end of the video, you would have grasped some of the concepts on how to make a planet, moon, and planet perfectly orbit around each other.
Blender Grease Pencil Animation Tutorial
Jayanam shows beginners how to create a 2d animation with a Blender grease pencil. He shows you how to include sequences and add interpolations inside of keyframes for a smoother effect. You’ll learn all you should know by watching how he makes a bouncing ball by first drawing it freehand with a pencil and then going on to animate it to create the bouncing effect. This tutorial shows you how to create a more rustic and drawn 2D look like some people prefer, instead of the perfect smooth lines and circles that come with 3D models.
Blender Tutorial: Planets Colliding Animation
Want to learn how to create a cool animation with two planets colliding and then disintegrating into nothing? Imagine being able to make an animation that is so detailed and realistic down to the bits of the planet flying in all directions when the two planets collide. It is explained so well that even if this is your first day using Blender, you’ll be able to create animated scenes of colliding plants after watching and following the steps outlined in the tutorial. Tutor4u keeps a good pace and explains every step in great detail down to how to include textures to make each planet look unique so you know exactly what he is doing at all times
Learn Grease Pencil 2D Animation in Blender 2.8 Alpha 2
This tutorial video introduces you to the basics of grease pencil 2D animation and how to use it to create some truly stunning animations. You will be able to draw as many detailed and complex characters once you master the use of these features. There is so much to learn from drawing, animating, coloring adding modifiers and so much more. Mastering 2D workflow will be like a walk in the park as this 16-minute video covers all you need to know at a beginner level including helpful notes on the screen to make learning easier. This newer version of grease pencil opens up a new world of possibilities for the 2D aspect of Blender.
Rendering Animation With Blender Cycles
You may have noticed how some animations seem so lifelike and move seamlessly just like an actual human. This is because they have been perfectly rendered and if you are aiming to become really good at making your animations move this way, then learning everything about rendering with Blender cycles should be on the top of your list of skills to gain. With the help of Kip Animating and his tutorial on how to render using Blender cycles, you too will be doing it in no time. The tutorial is at an even pace, and each step is explained in enough detail that you will not have to keep going back in order to fully understand what is being explained. At first, it seems like rendering would need advanced knowledge and, experience with Blender but you will soon come to notice that with the right tutelage and using Blender cycles, anyone will be capable of doing it too.
Conclusion
With the help of these tutorials, you’ll move from being a novice, a beginner or intermediate Blender user to someone who is well versed in all the amazing features the Blender software has to offer its budding community.
As a reminder, If after watching all the free tutorials, you want to level up and keep learning animation in Blender, you should check Bloop’s Academy Blender Animation Course. If you are interested in knowing more about it you can check the course clicking here. ( As a disclaimer the link is an affiliate link and if you purchase this course or any other course from Bloop I will receive a commission that will help support this blog :) )
