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🎬 ASSIGNMENT 1: Step-by-Step Guide
STEP 1 — Form Your Group
You need 3 students.
Assign the required roles:
Member Role Main Responsibility
Student 1 Artist 1 – Environment Build the scene/environment and main
Modeler objects
Student 2 Artist 2 – Detail & Lookdev Add details, modifiers, materials and
lighting
Student 3 Artist 3 – Animator & Animation, camera movement, timing
Director and final render
Important: Even though everyone has a role, all 3 members must understand the
whole project, because each person may be asked questions during the presentation.
STEP 2 — Choose Your Story
You must create your own title and story concept and get it approved.
Your animation needs to tell a simple story that can be understood within 15–20
seconds.
For example:
Possible idea: "The Last Drop"
Story:
1. A student turns on a tap.
2. Only a few drops of water come out.
3. The student notices the water shortage.
4. They close the tap and collect the remaining water.
5. The scene ends with a message about conserving water.
This is just an example—you need to propose your own concept.
Your concept needs:
• Project title
• 3-sentence story synopsis
• Moodboard/reference board
STEP 3 — Week 1: Concept & Blocking
10–14 August
Worth 10%
You need to produce a 1-page PDF Concept Sheet.
Your PDF must contain:
1. Project title
Example:
The Last Drop
2. Three-sentence story
Explain what happens from beginning to end in exactly/approximately 3 sentences.
3. Moodboard
Include drawings or reference images showing what your scene should look like.
For example:
• Environment
• Buildings
• Objects
• Lighting
• Colours
• Camera composition
4. Custom Blender workspace
You must create a custom workspace layout.
You need to demonstrate at least 3 viewport/workspace types, such as:
• Layout
• Modeling
• Animation
Take a screenshot showing your custom workspace.
Week 1 output:
1-page PDF Concept Sheet
STEP 4 — Start Blocking Your Scene
Before making detailed models, create the basic structure of your scene.
For example, if your story is in a village:
• Ground
• House
• Tree
• Water well
• Person/object
• Sun/light
• Camera
At this stage, don't worry about making everything beautiful.
You are mainly establishing:
Where is everything?
STEP 5 — Week 2: Model Your Objects
17–21 August
Worth 40%
You need to submit:
• GroupX_Modeling.blend
• 2 rendered viewport screenshots
Your Blender scene must satisfy several requirements.
Requirement A — Demonstrate Viewport Mastery
You must demonstrate:
Quad View
Show your model from:
• Top
• Front
• Side
• Perspective
Local View
Isolate an object so you're working only on that object.
Different shading modes
Demonstrate:
• Wireframe
• Solid
• Rendered
You should take screenshots showing these.
STEP 6 — Create At Least 5 Objects
Your scene must contain at least 5 distinct objects.
For example:
1. House
2. Tree
3. Table
4. Chair
5. Water tank
But there is an additional requirement.
At least 2 objects must come from basic primitives.
For example:
• Cube → table
• Cylinder → water tank
At least 2 objects must be created/modified using Edit Mode.
You need to demonstrate:
• Vertex manipulation
• Edge manipulation
• Face manipulation
For example:
Cube → Edit Mode → extrude faces → create a chair
or
Cylinder → Edit Mode → modify vertices → create a tree trunk
STEP 7 — Use At Least 3 Modifiers
You need to demonstrate at least 3 modifiers.
Possible modifiers include:
• Mirror
• Subdivision Surface
• Array
• Bevel
• Solidify
For example:
Chair
Cube → Edit Mode → model chair → Bevel
Fence
One plank → Array
House
Half of house → Mirror
Important
The assignment specifically wants non-destructive modeling.
So don't simply apply all your modifiers and remove them.
Your modifier stack should be visible.
STEP 8 — Take Your Modeling
Screenshots
Before moving heavily into animation, capture evidence.
You should have screenshots showing things such as:
Screenshot 1
Your complete scene in Solid/Rendered view.
Screenshot 2
Your objects in Wireframe/Quad View, with modifiers visible.
Make sure your screenshots clearly prove that you completed the requirements.
STEP 9 — Week 3–4: Animation & Look
24 August – 4 September
Worth 40%
Now you turn your scene into a 15–20 second animation.
You need to submit:
🎥 Final video
GroupX_Title.mp4
Requirements:
• 1080p
• 15–20 seconds
• At least 2 camera cuts/angles
💾 Blender file
GroupX_Final.blend
STEP 10 — Animate an Object
At least one object must have all three types of transformation animation:
Location
Object moves.
Example:
Ball moves from left → right.
Rotation
Object rotates.
Example:
Wheel spins.
Scale
Object gets bigger/smaller.
Example:
Water drop grows.
So your object needs:
Location + Rotation + Scale animation
STEP 11 — Use Keyframes
You need to demonstrate both:
Auto Keyframe
Use the Auto Keying feature.
Manual keyframes
Insert keyframes manually in the Timeline/Dope Sheet.
For example:
Frame 1
• Location = 0
• Rotation = 0
• Scale = 1
Frame 40
• Location changes
• Rotation changes
• Scale changes
Blender creates the movement between the keyframes.
STEP 12 — Use the Dope Sheet & Graph
Editor
You need to demonstrate that you understand the animation tools.
Dope Sheet
Use it to manage your keyframes and timing.
Graph Editor
Use it to adjust the movement.
Most importantly, you need to demonstrate:
Ease In / Ease Out
Instead of an object moving at a constant speed:
Slow → Fast → Slow
This makes your animation look more natural.
STEP 13 — Animate TWO Things
Beyond Objects
This is an important requirement.
You must animate at least TWO of the following:
Option 1 — Material
Example:
A lamp changes:
Red → Green
Option 2 — Lamp/light
Example:
Light intensity changes:
Dark → Bright
Option 3 — World background
Example:
Day → Night
Option 4 — Camera focal length
Example:
Camera gradually zooms in/out using focal length.
You need two of these, not just one.
Easy combination
I recommend:
Material colour + Light intensity
They're relatively straightforward to demonstrate.
STEP 14 — Set Up Lighting
Your scene must have either:
Option A — 3-point lighting
Use:
1. Key light
2. Fill light
3. Back/rim light
OR
Option B — HDRI + supporting lights
For a student project, the 3-point lighting setup is probably easier to explain.
STEP 15 — Create At Least 2 Camera
Angles
This is compulsory.
Your animation should not be one continuous camera shot.
For example:
Camera Shot 1
Wide shot of the environment.
Camera Shot 2
Close-up of the main object/action.
You then cut between them during the 15–20 seconds.
STEP 16 — Render Your Final Animation
Render your completed animation at:
1920 × 1080 (1080p)
Length:
15–20 seconds
Export as:
GroupX_Title.mp4
Also save your final Blender project as:
GroupX_Final.blend
STEP 17 — Final Presentation
8 September
Worth 10%
You have 5 minutes.
Your presentation needs to show:
1. Concept
Explain your original idea.
Show:
• Title
• Story
• Moodboard
2. Wireframe
Show your actual models in wireframe.
This proves that you built the objects yourself.
3. Final result
Show the finished animation.
4. Technical challenges
Each member must explain ONE technical challenge they solved.
For example:
"I had difficulty making the tree symmetrical, so I used the Mirror modifier..."
Another:
"We initially had problems with the camera movement, so I adjusted the keyframes
using the Graph Editor..."
STEP 18 — Write the 200-Word
Reflection
Your group must submit a 200-word reflection.
Answer essentially:
What went wrong?
For example:
• Animation timing problem
• Lighting problem
• Modeling problem
• Rendering problem
• Camera problem
How did you fix it?
Explain:
Problem → Solution → Result
⭐ Optional Bonus — +5%
You can get +5% by adding one or more of:
🔊 Sound effects
Example:
• Water dripping
• Door opening
• Footsteps
📝 Subtitles
Add text explaining the story/dialogue.
🧍 Simple character rig
Create and rig a simple character.
You don't need to do all three. The assignment says these can earn the bonus.
✅ Complete Checklist
Before submitting, make sure you can tick everything:
Week 1 — Concept
• Group of 3 formed
• Roles assigned
• Original title chosen
• Story concept created
• 3-sentence synopsis
• Moodboard created
• Custom Blender workspace
• At least 3 workspace/viewport types demonstrated
• 1-page PDF submitted
Week 2 — Modeling
• At least 5 distinct objects
• At least 2 objects from basic primitives
• At least 2 objects modeled using Edit Mode
• Vertex/edge/face editing demonstrated
• At least 3 modifiers
• Modifiers kept non-destructive
• Quad View demonstrated
• Local View demonstrated
• Wireframe demonstrated
• Solid shading demonstrated
• Rendered shading demonstrated
• 2 viewport screenshots
• GroupX_Modeling.blend
Week 3–4 — Animation
• 15–20 second animation
• 1080p
• At least 2 camera angles/cuts
• Location animation
• Rotation animation
• Scale animation
• Auto Keyframe demonstrated
• Manual keyframes demonstrated
• Dope Sheet used
• Graph Editor used
• Ease In demonstrated
• Ease Out demonstrated
• Two non-object properties animated
• 3-point lighting OR HDRI + supporting lights
• GroupX_Final.blend
• GroupX_Title.mp4
Final Day
• 5-minute presentation
• Concept shown
• Wireframe shown
• Final animation shown
• Each member explains one technical challenge
• 200-word reflection
• Optional bonus: sound/subtitles/rig
🎯 The simplest way to approach the whole project
Don't make the story too complicated. The grading is mainly about demonstrating
Blender skills, not making a Hollywood movie.
A good structure would be:
0–5 sec: Establish environment
5–10 sec: Something happens
10–15 sec: Character/object reacts
15–20 sec: Resolution/message + final camera shot
For example:
"A Day at the Water Well"
A villager approaches a water well with an empty bucket. They operate the well and
water begins flowing into the bucket. The scene ends with the villager walking away
while the camera pulls back to show the village.
That single story can satisfy almost every requirement: environment modeling,
primitives, Edit Mode, modifiers, object animation, camera cuts, material/light
animation, lighting, and a clear beginning-middle-end.