Blender 2D Animation Tutorial for Beginners (Grease Pencil Tutorial)

Learn how to animate in 2D in Blender for FREE! Even if you've never used a 3D program before! :D

In this tutorial, you will learn how to make 2D animation in Blender's Grease Pencil, even if you're a beginner to animation or 3D software. Blender is a free, open-source program, so it's great for beginners or people wanting to try out animation! You will learn how to draw, how to color and shade, how to animate talking characters, and how to render your animation for YouTube or any other video sharing site!

I hope you find this tutorial on how to animate in Blender helpful, and if you have any questions or want to share what you've made, leave a comment down below!

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CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
01:25 - How to Navigate
03:51 - How to Draw
08:06 - Blender Modes (Important!)
12:45 - How to Animate
20:01 - How to Render
22:06 - How to Color
27:07 - How to Add Shading
33:03 - How to Resize or Adjust Scene
37:19 - How to Import Images
38:53 - How Animate the Camera
40:39 - How to Animate Talking Characters

The End!

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[NTyrzi]

Aight. (cracks knuckles) 🤓

1 reason I'd use self-overlap is that at some point the stroke is not actually getting thinner pixel-wise but it becomes transparent (you can see that especially in the smiley face's eyes at 9:40 where there is a white hole. That's just the stroke being too thin it relies on transparency, causing some nasty artifacts.), so self-overlap hides those artifacts.

12:05 Funny enough, I never use stroke select mode, I use point select and if I want to select an entire stroke, I select a point and press ctrl+L (selects everything that is linked). Just if someone would prefer that.
ALSO ERM ERM editing single points in proportional edit is useful!!!(!!!)

14:09 Just to make this more clear, zooming works the same in any UI space, but the scrollbar drag is an option as well.


26:53 When I told you about that, we noticed that the color kinda matters since the hole started to use the color we chose like in a 2D drawing program that has a "screen" layer blend mode applied. So I came to the conclusion that black color is what you're supposed to use, because black in "screen" blend mode is basically nothing. (I should've shown you an alternative to this hole-fill method where you'd use a layer to mask stuff out just so there are other options to know of.)

[MisterHippo.]

This man was probably that smart kid that gave you the answers and explained things u didnt understand better than the teacher

[durgeshverma]

Is this guy for real??? He explained so nicely A WIZARD

[alterbank]

I'm not even interested in making animations, but I love Blender, and seeing people use it.

[VisionItTv]

By far one of the best tutorial videos i have ever watched. At no point did i feel lost or helpless

[salad]

I came across several 2D animation tutorial videos for beginners, but I found them to be quite challenging to follow. It felt like listening to a scientist explaining complex math to reach Jupiter, and I became frustrated to the point of considering quitting. However, your videos changed everything for me. They provided clear and understandable guidance, reigniting my enthusiasm for learning. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the invaluable help you've provided

[global.pradachan]

i was thinking that ""uhhh its 2d animation, really simple"" untill i found that you have to draw each frame inorder to make someone lipsync, truly impressed by your dedication and hard work, hats off to you, 👏👏

[versedapologue]

Thank you!! I've been in this rabbit hole for hours, just getting more baffled. This is the first video I've watched that explains the operations and tools in context, as you're using them, instead of in a long, confusing, out of context list at the beginning. It all finally makes sense to me. Again, thank you so much!

[idchad_official]

I've work with Blender for 3D animation and modelling only and when I start to messing around with the 2D animation features it's hard to work with, better use Krita or CSP for a normal scene, the grease pencil will works best if you use it for action sequence with crazy dynamic camera movements like you see in modern animes since you can animate basic 3d skeleton then trace it right away in the software so it's easier when you will add a small change, you don't need to render it again and then import it, matching timelines and stuff in another software

[chicken_lollipop]

you have no idea how deeply thankful I am for this

[angelinekoh]

Thank you so much for your clear explanation It really helped me. I'm quite far away from really understanding it, maybe 50 per cent, but I'm so thankful your clear explanation helped me! I did go back a bit here and there to rewatch it as I was playing around with Blender. Thank you!

[Zyead_Elhabeshy]

this video made my life easier....it made me more aware of what I'm using, blender is the GOAT in literally everything, your explaining is the best i have seen so far, thanks.

[Curvydad]

Jesse, your sheer enthusiasm and positive energy is remarkable. The video is fucking cool too.

[kateparker]

I have a project for school that uses blender, and I've been putting it off because I dont know how to use it. this tutorial was so helpful and clear, and now I feel confident enough to start! thank you so much!!!!

[inotkyv]

I love how simple this video is unlike every other animation video I’ve seen

[KYOMUME]

aaa tysm! I've been animating for YEARS but I've only now started using more "professional" animation programs so this is rlly helpful!

[astralartz]

I'm more interested in importing and manipulating 2d images or parts of them but this is a perfect simple tutorial to allow me to get started. People who make tutorials about this tool drive me nuts with going through every frigging brush and setting. Thanks for your help.

[MoneyShifted]

his voice is really good lml perfect for talking to group of kids and teaching them.

[mascarimedia]

One of the best intro to animation and blender tutorials ever - great work - thank you!

[daydeer]

this is the best animation software and the best tutorial ive ever used and watched. blender now seems trival compared to the other software i've learned. thank you so much. i feel like i can do anything now.