Blender: Make This PAC-MAN Animation In 16 minutes.

Introduction

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a classic PAC-MAN animation using Blender in just 16 minutes. This quick guide will break down the animation process into simple, actionable steps, making it accessible for both beginners and experienced users. Let’s dive into the world of 3D animation with PAC-MAN!

Step 1: Setting Up Your Scene

• Open Blender and create a new project.
• Delete the default cube by selecting it and pressing X.
• Add a new UV sphere to represent PAC-MAN:
  • Press Shift + A to open the Add menu.
  • Navigate to Mesh > UV Sphere.
• Scale the sphere to resemble PAC-MAN:
  • Press S to scale and drag the mouse to adjust the size.

Step 2: Shaping PAC-MAN

• Enter Edit Mode by pressing Tab.
• Select the front vertices to create PAC-MAN’s mouth:
  • Switch to Vertex Select mode (1 on the number row).
  • Select the vertices on the front half of the sphere.
• Use the knife tool to cut the sphere:
  • Press K to activate the knife tool.
  • Cut a wedge shape by clicking and dragging to create the mouth.
• Delete the unwanted vertices:
  • Select the vertices inside the mouth and press X.

Step 3: Adding Materials

• Switch to the Material Properties tab on the right panel.
• Click on “New” to create a new material.
• Set the base color to yellow to match PAC-MAN:
  • Click on the color box and choose a bright yellow shade.

Step 4: Animating PAC-MAN

• Move to the Animation workspace by selecting the Animation tab at the top.
• Set the start frame to 1:
  • In the Timeline, set the current frame to 1.
• Insert a keyframe for PAC-MAN’s position:
  • Press I and select Location from the menu.
• Move to frame 30:
  • Change the frame number to 30 in the Timeline.
• Move PAC-MAN across the screen:
  • Select the PAC-MAN object and press G to grab, then move it to the desired location.
• Insert another keyframe for the new position:
  • Press I again and select Location.

Step 5: Adding Mouth Animation

• Move to frame 1 in the Timeline.
• Select PAC-MAN and enter Edit Mode by pressing Tab.
• Select the mouth vertices and scale them to create the chomping effect:
  • Press S to scale and make the mouth open.
• Insert a keyframe for the shape:
  • Press I and choose Shape Key from the menu.
• Repeat this process at frame 15 and frame 30, adjusting the mouth position each time:
  • Frame 15: Mouth partially open.
  • Frame 30: Mouth closed.

Step 6: Finalizing the Animation

• Play the animation to review the movement and mouth action:
  • Press Spacebar to start the preview.
• Adjust keyframes if necessary for smoother movement:
  • You can drag keyframes in the Timeline to modify timing.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully created a PAC-MAN animation in Blender. By following these steps, you learned how to model, texture, and animate a 3D object in a short amount of time. For next steps, consider adding a ghost character or a background to enhance your animation further. Keep practicing and exploring Blender's features to improve your skills!