How to make a BobbyBroccoli video

Summary

In this video, Bobby Brockley explains how he creates his unique 3D animated videos, inspired by sports writer and filmmaker John Boyce. Bobby uses Blender, a free, open-source software, to bring his projects to life. He covers his entire process, from planning, scripting, and animating, to the importance of locking in the script early. The tutorial is filled with practical tips, including camera movements, using keyframes, and importing images. Bobby also highlights useful Blender resources, add-ons, and automation tricks to simplify complex animations. Lastly, he promotes Nebula, a creator-owned streaming platform, offering additional resources and tutorials.

Takeaways

• 😀 Bobby Brockley uses Blender for 3D animation after initially trying Google Earth, inspired by John Boyce.
• 📚 Blender is free, open-source, and has a wealth of online tutorials, making it accessible for self-taught learning.
• 📝 Planning and writing the script are the most time-consuming parts of video creation, and Bobby recommends experimenting to develop a feel for it.
• 📅 Bobby's videos often use calendars or timelines as visual anchors, with a focus on critical elements and layouts in 3D space.
• 🎥 Locking in the script early is essential, as animations are done in chronological order, making mid-edit changes difficult.
• 🎧 Bobby edits his script into a continuous take, using Blender to sync the animation to his narration.
• 🎵 Music selection is often done early, particularly for intros, outros, and pivotal moments, to sync animations with the audio.
• 🎬 The camera object is crucial in Blender videos, with keyframes used to animate its movements, which is repeated throughout the animation process.
• 🖼️ Adding objects and images into scenes involves keyframing to animate their appearances, using tools like 'import images as planes'.
• 💡 Blender has procedural animation features, allowing for automation and advanced techniques like using data for graphs and maps.

Q & A

What inspired Bobby Brockley's 3D animation style?

Bobby Brockley's 3D animation style is inspired by sports writer and filmmaker John Boyce, who has been using Google Earth for years. Bobby initially used Google Earth but later switched to Blender for its versatility.

Why does Bobby prefer using Blender for his videos?

Bobby prefers Blender because it is free, open-source, and has thousands of tutorials available online. He learned it through self-teaching on YouTube, advice from friends, and experimentation.

What is the most time-consuming part of Bobby's video creation process?

The most time-consuming part of Bobby's video creation process is planning and writing the script. He emphasizes the importance of sketching ideas and developing a feel for the structure of the video.

Why is locking in the script early important for Bobby's animation process?

Locking in the script early is crucial because Bobby's animations exist in a single 3D space, making mid-way changes difficult and leading to continuity errors. Once the animation process begins, altering the script would require adding new objects and can disrupt the flow.

How does Bobby synchronize his narration with his animations in Blender?

Bobby records his script and edits it into one continuous take. He imports the audio files into Blender and syncs the animations to the narration. Timing is essential, and he suggests making necessary edits in the original video editor to ensure everything stays in sync.

What is Bobby's approach to choosing music for his videos?

Bobby typically selects music during the early stages, especially for intro, outro, or pivotal moments. He uses royalty-free music from sources like the YouTube Audio Library and Epidemic Sound, timing his animations to the selected songs.

What are some key features of Bobby's Blender workspace setup?

Bobby's Blender workspace includes two 3D viewport windows (one larger for interaction and one smaller for camera perspective) and two timelines (a dope sheet for keyframes and a timeline for syncing animation to narration).

How does Bobby utilize keyframes in his animations?

Bobby uses keyframes extensively to animate camera movements and object properties like location, rotation, and scale. By setting keyframes at specific moments, he can control the progression of these properties, ensuring smooth transitions in the animation.

What is Bobby's method for animating images in Blender?

Bobby frequently uses the 'Import Images as Planes' add-on in Blender. He uses keyframes to control the appearance of images, scaling them from zero to create the effect of objects appearing from nowhere or moving onto the screen in creative ways.

What are some advanced techniques Bobby uses in Blender?

Some advanced techniques Bobby uses include procedural animation (e.g., noise patterns for textures), Python scripting (e.g., generating mesh objects from CSV data), and Blender add-ons like 'Blender OSM' for creating 3D maps. He also uses Geonodes for automating graph creation based on data.

Outlines

00:00

🎬 Introduction and Acknowledgments

Bobby Brockley starts by thanking Nebula for sponsoring the video. He explains how he makes his 3D animation videos, mentioning that he didn't invent the style but was inspired by John Boyce, a sports writer and filmmaker who uses Google Earth. Bobby shares that he initially used Google Earth but now primarily uses Blender due to its open-source nature, accessibility, and a vast amount of available tutorials. He highlights that his learning process involved YouTube tutorials, advice from friends, and experimentation, making Blender a powerful tool for creating 3D stories.

05:02

📝 Planning and Writing Your Script

Bobby emphasizes the importance of the planning and writing phase, which he considers the most time-consuming. He advises beginners to start with anything and gradually develop a feel for video structure. He often uses calendars and timelines in his videos as visual anchors and encourages sketching possible layouts on paper. The style he uses requires locking in the script early because changes midway are challenging due to the chronological order of animation in a 3D space. Once the script is ready, it's time to move on to the next phase.

10:05

🎙️ Recording and Editing the Script

The next step is recording the script and editing it into a continuous audio take. Bobby likes to break his scripts into chapters to animate small sections at a time. The audio files are then imported into Blender, and the animation is synced with the narration. He stresses the importance of timing, suggesting that once the audio is set, it's difficult to adjust. However, adjustments can be made in the original editor to maintain synchronization during animation.

15:07

🎶 Music Selection and Blender Setup

Bobby discusses the importance of selecting music, particularly for key moments like intros and pivotal scenes. He shares that he uses royalty-free music from various sources and prefers syncing his animations to the music. Bobby then explains his personal Blender setup, with two 3D viewport windows—one for interacting with the scene and the other for camera perspective. He also uses two timelines: one to manage keyframes and another to sync narration and animation.

📷 Animating the Camera in Blender

In this step, Bobby explains how to animate the camera in Blender, emphasizing that it is the backbone of the video. By using the walk mode, similar to navigating in Minecraft, he positions the camera and keyframes its location, rotation, and scale. He describes this as a repetitive process that becomes second nature with practice. Moving and keyframing the camera hundreds of times allows for smooth camera motion across the 3D scene.

🖼️ Adding Objects and Animating Their Appearance

Bobby introduces the process of adding objects to the Blender scene, from mesh and curve objects to images. He frequently uses an add-on called 'Import Images as Planes,' allowing him to manipulate images within the 3D environment. He demonstrates how to animate objects' appearance and disappearance by keyframing their scale to create smooth transitions. This flexibility lets creators decide how objects enter and exit the frame, enhancing their animation style.

💻 Rendering and Advanced Tips

In the final basic step, Bobby covers rendering. He recommends rendering as an image sequence to avoid losing progress in case of a crash. Once rendered, the image sequence can be imported back into a video editor for final synchronization with the voiceover. Bobby also shares advanced tips, such as using Blender's procedural animation tools, exploring online tutorials for specific techniques, and leveraging Blender’s rendering engines (Eevee and Cycles) to achieve different visual styles.

🧑‍🏫 Learning Blender Through Tutorials and Pre-Made Assets

Bobby advises viewers to rely on Blender tutorials for various challenges, from creating textures to animating specific effects. He highlights the Blender community’s helpfulness and encourages the use of free and paid assets from online sources to speed up production. He shares examples of how using pre-made assets saved him time in past projects. Additionally, Bobby introduces procedural animation in Blender, such as generating complex textures or importing real-world maps, which he uses to enhance his videos.

📈 Python Scripting and Geonodes for Complex Animations

For more complex animations, Bobby dives into Python scripting within Blender, sharing examples where he used scripts to automate tasks like generating 3D objects based on data from CSV files. He also discusses Geonodes, a powerful tool that allows for efficient data-driven animations, like creating bar graphs from CSV files. Bobby acknowledges the contributions of other creators in his journey, including his viewer Chris Hannel, who helped him implement advanced techniques in his sports videos.

🎓 Nebula and Exclusive Resources

To wrap up, Bobby introduces Nebula, a creator-owned streaming service where viewers can access his videos ad-free, two weeks early, along with exclusive content and pre-made Blender files. He recommends Nebula Classes for those interested in learning different aspects of video production. Bobby shares his favorite classes, including ones on research, storytelling with data, and improving audio quality. He emphasizes that Nebula provides significant value for aspiring creators and offers a discount for subscribers, allowing fans to support him directly.

Keywords

💡Blender

Blender is a free, open-source 3D creation software used for tasks like modeling, animation, and rendering. In the video, the creator explains that they use Blender for all their 3D animations due to its flexibility, affordability, and the availability of tutorials. The software plays a crucial role in making the 3D visual storytelling possible in the video.

💡Google Earth

Google Earth is a geographical mapping tool that allows users to view Earth through satellite imagery. The creator mentions using Google Earth in the past for a video project but eventually switched to Blender due to the latter’s advanced features and capabilities for 3D animations.

💡Keyframes

Keyframes are markers used in animation to indicate the beginning and end of a transition. In Blender, keyframes store properties like location, rotation, and scale of objects, which help in animating movements or changes over time. The video emphasizes their importance in making camera and object animations fluid and consistent in 3D space.

💡Camera object

In Blender, the camera object represents the viewer's point of view in the 3D scene. The creator describes how they move the camera around the scene and keyframe its position to animate the video, likening it to playing a game like Minecraft. The camera's movement is central to the visual storytelling technique.

💡3D Space

3D space refers to the three-dimensional environment in which objects and elements are placed and animated. The creator talks about using the Z-axis to take advantage of this space, allowing for more dynamic storytelling by arranging elements like stock prices or half-lives of elements in a visually meaningful way.

💡Script Locking

Script locking is the process of finalizing a video’s script early to avoid changes during animation. In the video, the creator explains that since their videos are animated chronologically and in 3D space, it’s difficult to make changes once the animation begins. Locking the script ensures continuity and saves time.

💡Mesh Objects

Mesh objects are the 3D models that represent physical shapes in Blender. The creator discusses using mesh objects frequently in videos, including creating them manually or importing pre-made assets from online sources. These objects form the backbone of the scenes and animations.

💡Royalty-Free Music

Royalty-free music refers to audio tracks that can be used without the need to pay ongoing royalties. The creator mentions using royalty-free music from platforms like the YouTube Audio Library and Epidemic Sound to complement the animations and narration in their videos.

💡Procedural Animation

Procedural animation in Blender refers to the ability to automate repetitive tasks like generating textures or objects. The creator highlights how Blender's procedural features allow for efficient production, such as creating endless textures or automating the construction of data-based visualizations like graphs.

💡Nebula

Nebula is a creator-owned streaming service that supports ad-free content and offers educational classes. In the video, the creator promotes Nebula as a platform where they share their videos early and provide access to exclusive tutorials and classes on video creation, benefiting aspiring creators who want to learn.

Highlights

Bobby Brockley credits sports writer and filmmaker John Boyce for the 3D animation style that uses Google Earth.

Blender, a free and open-source software, is the main tool Bobby uses for creating 3D videos, along with self-taught knowledge from YouTube and advice from friends.

Bobby emphasizes that Blender has a learning curve, but once mastered, it becomes a powerful tool for storytelling through 3D animations.

The key to Bobby’s storytelling approach is locking the script early on because everything is animated in chronological order, making mid-project changes difficult.

Bobby prefers to write scripts in chapters, which allows him to animate in smaller sections and sync the audio to the animation.

Bobby’s method heavily relies on using visual anchors such as calendars and timelines to structure his videos in 3D space.

A critical part of Bobby’s workflow is using the camera object in Blender to create smooth animations by keyframing its location, rotation, and scale.

For visuals, Bobby frequently uses images imported as planes in Blender, allowing him to scale, rotate, and animate them with ease.

Bobby discusses the importance of choosing music early in the process to sync animations with pivotal moments in the script.

Blender’s two main rendering engines, Eevee and Cycles, offer different trade-offs in terms of performance and visual quality, with Eevee being faster but Cycles offering more realistic results.

Using procedural animation tools in Blender, Bobby automates complex tasks, such as generating textures, maps, and graphs from CSV data.

Bobby frequently relies on royalty-free music from sources like Epidemic Sound and YouTube’s Audio Library.

Blender's support for Python scripting allows Bobby to create large, data-driven animations, like in his element video where he visualized thousands of objects.

Bobby also recommends using resources such as Nebula for learning, sharing pre-made Blender files, and accessing educational content from other creators.

Bobby offers practical tips for beginners, encouraging them to search for Blender tutorials on YouTube and experiment with Blender’s numerous add-ons.

Transcripts

big thank you to nebula for sponsoring

this

video hi I'm Bobby Brockley and I'm

going to explain how I make my videos

the first thing I should mention is that

I am not the inventor of the 3D

animation style that I use that was

created by sports writer and filmmaker

John Boyce he's been using Google Earth

for years and he's a wizard at what he

does I used Google Earth exactly once

for one video series and since then I've

been using the program blender why do I

use blender well it's free open source

and has thousands of tutorials available

for it all of my blender knowledge was

self-taught through YouTube advice from

friends and experimentation there is a

bit of a learning curve but once you get

past the initial hump I think blender is

a super powerful tool for making 3D

story videos but here's the thing as

long as you can move a camera in 3D

space you can use whatever program you

like Maya Unity Unreal Engine whatever

you're most comfortable with this is

completely different than how I to make

videos and most people's reactions when

I explain how I do this is that's nuts

it is not intuitive by any means but it

is the best way I found to do what I do

I want to be clear this is not an intro

to blender video I've linked some good

ones down below rather this is

specifically how I make my

videos step one planning and writing

frankly this is the most timeconsuming

part and my best advice if this is your

first video is to just try anything

you'll see what works and what doesn't

and gradually develop a feel for how to

write this sort of video a lot of my

videos use calendars or timelines as a

visual anchor so start there figure out

what years or months are the most

critical and sketch out possible layouts

on paper I go through so many sketches

before I settle on anything your video

will likely have a rectangular frame so

try and build a layout that fills that

frame nicely from a fully zoomed out

angle

because this style uses 3D space I often

brainstorm some sort of variable that

can take advantage of the Z axis in my

element video it's the Half Lives of the

elements in the Nell video it's the

immense size of the stock price both

critical parts of the story being told

and I sort of build the rest of the

layout working backwards from that

critical element filling in empty space

around it I've done this a lot now and

it comes naturally but if you're making

your first ever video just write

anything and worry about the animation

later the part that really throws people

off is that when you make a video like

this you have to lock in your script

really early everything is animated in

chronological order as opposed to

traditional editing that can be done in

pretty much any order since everything

exists in one 3D space it is really hard

to make changes to the script Midway

because now you have to add an object

and you've got a weird continuity error

it's not impossible to make changes but

it is very annoying so you really want

to make sure that you're happy with your

script and then lock it in now on to

step two record your script and edit it

down into one continuous take in

whatever video editor you use personally

I like to write in chapters so that I

can animate small bits of the script at

a time what we're going to do next is

take these audio files into blender and

we're going to animate in sync to your

narration here's the critical part

though once you export an audio file the

timing is more or less set in stone

because I've done this enough I have a

sense for how long I want certain pauses

to be you're not going to get this right

on your first try though so if you bring

an audio file into blender and you

decide to add a couple extra seconds or

maybe you cut a line just make sure you

copy that change in your original video

editor so your animation will stay in

sync when you render it out later step

three

at this stage I like to start picking

out music but you could do this much

later at a minimum I definitely choose

the music for my intro outro or any

pivotal moments because I like to time

my animations to those songs I use

royalty-free music from the YouTube

audio library epidemic sound and a

handful of other musicians who make

their songs free to use step four

setting up your blender window this is

all my personal preference so feel free

to tweak this to your like

on the top I have two 3D viewport

Windows one of them is bigger and

usually set to material preview mode

this is the window I actually interact

with moving images around and clicking

on things the other 3dv Port is smaller

and is always showing the perspective of

my camera object with the final render

preview if you click a camera object and

hit zero on your numpad you'll always

jump to what the camera is seeing down

below are two two separate timelines the

top one is called the dope sheet anytime

you click on an object it will show you

any key frames associated with that

object key frames store any properties

you might care about most of the key

frames you'll be concerned with will be

things like location rotation and scale

you can drag them around freely here and

I often use it to adjust the speed the

camera moves

at and finally down below that is the

timeline this is where we're going to

see your narration and it helps you sync

your animation to your voice step five

we're going to bring in your audio files

at the top of the window is a video

editing tab simply find the audio file

you want and drag and drop onto the

timeline here make sure to select view

waveform on the right here so you can

see the Peaks I like to keep the music

and narration as separate tracks but

that's up to you this isn't going to be

the final audio anyway just make sure

you click playback and select sync to

audio step six the camera object is the

backbone of your entire video you're

going to be moving it around your scene

and key framing its location if you hit

zero on your numpad you'll see the

perspective of the camera and if you go

under View and then navigation you enter

into walk mode you basically get to

control the camera like you're playing

Minecraft I use this feature often

enough that I assigned it to the

shortcut shift F so go ahead and move

the camera to where you want it to be

then with the camera object selected

you're going to hit the I key this is

the key frame menu you're going to hit

location rotation and scale and that's

going to save the camera's properties on

a given frame to animate a camera

movement change the frame you're on move

the camera again and then set a

different key frame if you hit space bar

to play you've got a nice camera motion

you're going to do this hundreds of

times so the key framing menu will

become second nature to

you step seven next is to actually add

objects to your scene blender has dozens

of mesh curve and text objects right at

your disposal buil built into the

interface and you can make pretty much

anything you can imagine with all of

those but the bread and butter of my

videos tends to be images I use one

blender add-on more than any other and

that is import images as planes which

you can turn on in your preferences menu

simply go to file import images as

planes first you choose the image file

then you choose one of three lighting

properties principled means it takes on

the lighting of the scene shadeless will

make it ignore the scene lighting and

emit will make it produce its own light

click okay and your image will be in the

scene as a plane you can do whatever you

want with this scale it using the S

key rotate it using the r

key and move it using the G

key just make whatever collage of images

you want Step n you may want to animate

the images appearing and disappearing

this is really easy just select the

image and move to the frame you want it

to appear on hit the I key and key frame

it next use the left Arrow key to move

back exactly one frame hit s for scale

then zero then enter the object now has

zero size and is invisible effectively

hit I again and key frame it now the

object appears as if out of nowhere

exactly when you want it to you can play

with this however you want maybe you

want it to come in from offscreen maybe

you want it to appear slowly growing

whatever you want key framing is your

friend and finally rendering your

animation that's essentially all the

basics go to the scene Tab and set

things like your resolution frame rate

and save location I recommend rendering

as an image sequence that way if your

render crashes for some reason you don't

lose all your progress you can now

import that image sequence back into

your original video editor and because

you animate it in sync to your voice

there's very little work left it'll

probably be around 95% accurate and you

just need to make a few tweaks here and

there you're basically done now all of

that that you just heard those are the

basics there are a lot of ways to

upgrade what I just showed you here are

some of my Advanced tips tip number one

how do I do something just search

YouTube for it and add the word blender

I cannot stress this enough all of my

videos are a collage of other people's

tutorials for example how do I make a

corkboard texture how do I make a neon

grid animation how do I make a cool

Sunset everyone in the blender Community

is extremely helpful and friendly and

more more often than not someone has had

your exact question before tip number

two the render engine blender has two

main render engines the first is Eevee

this is the low Performance Engine that

the average computer can run it's what I

use to make all of my previous blender

videos lighting effects and textures are

all really simple and your scenes should

render reasonably quickly the other

engine is Cycles Cycles is much more

demanding on your hardware and you want

a good GPU to do this it has realistic

lighting and textures and pretty much

every scene looks amazing in Cycles with

very little effort the trade-off is

render times are immense tip number

three vectors if you have a nice smooth

Vector icon blender has built-in support

for SVG files I use this all the time

instead of image files if the icon just

needs to be one color because vectors

scale perfectly you can import them as a

curve but they can then be converted

into mesh objects and you can apply

whatever modifiers to them you

want don't be afraid to use royalty free

assets there are tons of websites where

3D artists share their assets many of

them free but even the paid ones are

super affordable the poker table and

chips in my cloning video were paid

assets and even though I probably could

have made them myself it saved me a few

days of work and they probably looked

better and finally tip number five

blender is a procedural animation

software meaning you can automate a lot

of cool things here are some examples

this corkboard material uses a noise

pattern to create an endless procedural

texture the map of waah hatchee in my

superg glider series was actually made

using a free add-on called blender osm

you just select a section of the earth

and then it does all the work for you it

Imports a mesh object of the entire map

genuinely astounding how easy it is all

I did was make it a rainbow blender is

also fully compatible with python

scripting the nucleo C in the Neno video

was made using a script I wrote I made a

CSV file of all the element sizes names

and their half lives and I made a for

Loop that creates a separate mesh object

and labels for each of them I even had

them assign a different material color

based on their height there was no way

I'd ever have been able to do this

manually because it was thousands of

objects blender also has a relatively

new feature called Geon noes which are

crazy powerful and I've just barely

scratched the surface with there how I

made the animated graph segments in my

Nortel video it can take a CSV file of

data and generate a bar graph far more

efficiently than making a separate Cube

for each data point that one I got a lot

of help with from one of my viewers

Chris hannel who also does sports videos

you should definitely check out his

stuff still feeling pretty intimidated

well the good news is that I have a

bunch of pre-made blender files to get

you started and you can get access to

them through nebula nebula is the

creator own streaming service I'm a part

of alongside some of the best thoughtful

creators on the internet there you can

watch my videos and many more completely

ad free not only do I post my videos 2

weeks early there but you can also find

dozens of nebula originals not found

anywhere else for those of you who are

eager to start making your own videos I

can't recommend nebula classes enough

each class is hosted by a fellow nebula

Creator and there's one for every part

of the video making pipeline if you want

more tips on effective research skills

this class by Tom Nicholas is a must I

often have to track down really old

clips or articles behind pay walls and

this class has great advice for

navigating academic databases if you

love the graphs of my videos maybe check

out this class by Simon Clark on turning

data into stories it's easy enough to

plot a bunch of points but Simon breaks

down how to craft a comping narrative

from something as simple as a pie chart

on the other hand audio has never been

my strong suit so this class by Graham

herther was a huge help to me I live in

an extremely noisy apartment and this

class had great advice for fixing both

my recording environment and my

postprocessing I know that the hardest

part of making a video is taking that

first step and so I've prepared a set of

blender project Files free to play

around with do you want to mess around

with periodic table or a model of a

super Collider

well now you can you get access to all

this and more by signing up with my link

with it you get a 40% discount on an

annual subscription all for just 250 a

month and a significant chunk of that

money goes directly to me for as long as

you're subscribed which will help me

make bigger and better brentar support

me and many others by signing up for

nebula today as always thanks for

watching

[Music]