Tutorial: How to Animate Butterflies

Animate a butterfly in flight

We've got a new free bonus week at Animation Apprentice - Butterflies.  To see how to animate a butterfly in flight, watch the video below.  It's a simple flap cycle repeated multiples times.  Then, attach the flat cycle to a motion path and follow the butterfly with the camera. 

The set is a farm set downloaded from Turbosquid. 

You can use any farm set you like for this tutorial, or even just use a bit of fencing.  

Butterfly in Motion

Butterfly Flap Cycle "Animator's Survival Kit"

Adding to our range of different creature animation techniques, and reflecting the growth in creature animation, (especially at the big VFX houses) our student animators can create a believable butterfly flap cycle and performance.

From Complexity to Simplicity

As ever, we break down an apparently complex exercise into a series of simple steps, giving students a feeling of success at the end of the tutorial, and helping them to learn a new technique.  

Butterfly in Flight Theory Video

Animate a butterfly in motion

Butterfly in Flight Tutorial
In the tutorial you will learn how to:

• Create a butterfly flap cycle based on research and reference
• Use the motion path tool to create a flight path
• Create a believable set
• Animate a moving camera
• Add special effects such as grass and flowers
• Bake your curves
• Create a performance 

Butterfly Rig

The tutorial uses the "Mariposa" butterfly rig. You can also download the free butterfly rig from Truong, which you can find here. It is a low poly rig, but once motion blur is turned on, any surface detail will disappear.  

Method

Start by animating a simple flap cycle on the timing shown above. Import a set so that you have an environment for the butterfly to fly in. Then, using motion paths, create a motion path for the butterfly, and attach the butterfly to it. Now you can animate a camera, and create an imaginative scene.

Butterfly Animation Tutorial Videos:

Butterfly flight path from the "Animator's Survival Kit"

The to find the Butterfly Animation Tutorial videos, follow the links below:

Butterfly in Flight Part 1

https://vimeo.com/840926809

Butterfly in Flight Part 2

https://vimeo.com/840926905

Butterfly in Flight Part 3

https://vimeo.com/840927033

Note that butterfly motion should be very rapid and erratic. If our eyes can follow the motion of the butterfly, we are doing it wrong. 

Butterfly Animation Reel
To see some examples of butterfly animation, watch the short demo reel below.

Truong Butterfly Rig - How to Find It

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