Crow in Flight Tutorial

Animate a crow in flight

Our latest animation tutorial shows how to animate a bird in flight - specifically a crow. The tutorial covers how to animate a flap cycle, add refinements, add the animation to a motion path, import a set, and then create an interesting and inventive scene. 

Birds are one of the many kinds of creatures that animators will be expected to know how to animate; this tutorial demonstrates a simplified approach that gets a strong result in a short amount of time. 

Crow Rig - Introduction and Other Free Bird Rig Options 

Crow Rig

The tutorial uses a low poly rig which gives real-time playback and can be duplicated multiple times without slowing down your shot. The rig is not available online Email us and we'll send you a copy. alex@animationapprentice.org

Free Bird Rigs

There are not many good free bird rigs out there.  Two that we recommend are:

• Free "Red Whisker Bird" by Truong
• Free Maya Bald Eagle Rig

Ask us for a copy of the crow rig and we will send one over. 

Thumbnails

The basic flap cycle follows the thumbnails on the right, adapted from Harold Whitaker and John Halas's 2002 Book "Timing For Animation", available from amazon.com. 

1. Crow in Flight Theory Video Pt 1

Now watch the two short theory videos below, showing the principles behind our bird in flight tutorial.

2. Crow in Flight Theory Video Pt 2

Now do the tutorial below.

Bird in Flight tutorial Parts 1-5

Free "Red Whisker Bird" by Truong

You can find the five part Bird in Flight tutorial below.

Part One

https://vimeo.com/836537043

Part Two

https://vimeo.com/836537162

Part Three

https://vimeo.com/836537312

Part Four

https://vimeo.com/836537416

Part Five

https://vimeo.com/836537504

The password is the same as for all of our tutorials.

Lighting with Arnold

Finally, to light the shot in Arnold with the night sky, using the Arnold Skydome and an HDRI file, follow the short lighting tutorial below.

Chapel Set

To find the free Chapel model used in the tutorial, follow this link to Turbosquid. You will need to login and create an account.

Animal and Creature Animation at Animation Apprentice

Gorilla animation by Michael Davies

We have many resources here at Animation Apprentice for students looking to learn how to animate animals and creatures. 

To get started, see the blog posts below:

• Animal Anatomy for Animators
• How to Animate a Quadruped Trot
• Leopard Walk Tutorial
• Dragon in Flight Tutorial
• How to Animate Quadruped Transitions
• Horse Animation - Best Free Horse Rigs
• How to Plan Animal & Creature Animation
• How to Animate a Dinosaur Walking
• How to Block Out Creature Animation
• How Framestore Use Live Action Reference to Create Great Animation
• Animation Locomotion for Animators
• Leopard Rig by Truong - How to Use It

To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our next classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link.