Keyframes, the dope sheet, easing curves, animate a bouncing ball to learn timing, then bring your rigged character to life with a wave and a looping walk cycle.
👶 Ages 10+⏱️ ~2 Hours🎨 Blender✓ Free
🔑 Keyframes📊 Dope sheet📈 Graph editor⚽ Bounce & timing👋 Character wave🚶 Walk cycle
Animate a cube sliding, and understand what keyframes really are.
1Fresh scene. The Timeline runs along the bottom; the blue playhead is the current frame; 24 frames ≈ 1 second (default settings).
2Frame 1: select the cube, press I → Location. A keyframe (diamond) appears, you SAVED the position at this time.
3Frame 48 (drag the playhead): move the cube 6 units right (G X 6), press I → Location again.
4Press Space: the cube slides! Blender invents ("interpolates") every frame between your two keys.
5Animation = keyframes + interpolation. Everything else is refinement.
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
A keyframe is set with the key. Blender fills the gaps between keys by . At 24 fps, two seconds is frames.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
You keyed position at frames 1 and 48. Frame 24 was never touched, why does the cube have a position there?
AIt uses frame 1’s position
BInterpolation, Blender calculates the in-between automatically
CFrame 24 is skipped
2
⚽
The Bouncing Ball
The classic first exercise, timing and spacing
Locked
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Goal for this step
Animate a believable bounce and meet the dope sheet.
1Every animator alive did this exercise first. Sphere at height 5: key it (frame 1), floor at frame 12, key, back up (a bit lower, 3.5) frame 24, key, floor 32, up 2.5 at 40… decaying bounces.
2Play it. Feels floaty and wrong, right? GOOD. That is the lesson: even spacing = robotic.
3Open the Dope Sheet editor, every key as a diamond you can grab and slide. Timing edits without redoing poses.
4Squash the hang-time: pull the "top" keys closer to the landings so the ball spends longer rising slowly and falls FAST.
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
The editor showing all keyframes as movable diamonds is the Sheet. Each bounce should be than the last as energy is lost.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
The floaty feeling of a fresh bounce comes from…
AToo many keyframes
BLinear-ish timing, real falls ACCELERATE; even timing reads as weightless
CThe sphere being too big
3
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The Graph Editor
Easing curves, where animation quality lives
Locked
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Goal for this step
Shape interpolation curves to make the bounce feel physical.
1Open the Graph Editor: your Z-location drawn as a curve over time. Those curve SHAPES are the feel.
2Select the landing keys → the curve should hit the floor STEEP (fast impact). Select handles and sharpen them (V → Vector).
3The peaks should be ROUND (slow hang time), V → Auto Clamped keeps them smooth.
4One more trick: select all keys of the last bounce, press T → try Bounce easing. Blender has physics-flavoured presets!
5Play it now. THAT is a bounce. Same keys, only curves changed.
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
The Editor shows values as curves over time. Sharp corners at the floor read as , round peaks read as hang time.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
Two animations have IDENTICAL keyframes but different graph curves. They look…
AIdentical
BCompletely different, easing curves control acceleration, which is what the eye reads as weight
CCorrupted
4
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The Wave
First character animation on your Ep 3 rig
Locked
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Goal for this step
Animate your character waving hello, layered, not all-at-once.
1Open character-rigged.blend. Pose Mode. Frame 1: relaxed pose, select ALL bones (A), key with I → Rotation.
2Frame 12: raise the arm (shoulder + elbow), key JUST those bones.
3Frames 18 / 24 / 30: wrist tilts out / in / out, key each. Frame 40: back to relaxed, key all.
4Layer polish: tilt the HEAD slightly toward the wave around frame 14 (key it). Tiny secondary motion = huge charm.
5Loop playback and shorten/lengthen gaps in the dope sheet until the wave feels eager (fast up) and friendly (loose wrist).
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
Pose animation keys bone (I menu). Small supporting movements like the head tilt are called motion.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
Why key only the ARM bones for the middle keyframes?
AFewer keys = smaller file
BUn-keyed bones hold still automatically, keying everything everywhere makes editing a nightmare
CBlender limits keys per frame
5
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The Walk Cycle
The rite of passage: contact, down, pass, up
Locked
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Goal for this step
Build a looping 24-frame walk from the four classic poses.
1A walk cycle is four repeating poses: Contact (legs scissored, heel strikes), Down (weight lands, body lowest), Pass (legs together, body highest), Up (push off).
2Frame 1: Contact, left leg forward, RIGHT ARM forward (opposites!). Key all bones.
3Frame 7: Down. Frame 13: Pass. Frame 19: Up. Frame 25: Contact again but MIRRORED (right leg forward).
4The mirror pose is free: in the dope sheet copy frame 1’s keys (Ctrl+C), go to frame 25, paste FLIPPED (Ctrl+Shift+V), the .L/.R names from Episode 3 pay off!
5Set the scene end to frame 48 (two steps), enable looping, play. Tune hip height dips in the graph editor. You are animating!
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
The four walk poses are Contact, Down, and Up. A mirrored pose is pasted with Ctrl+Shift+, which relies on the .L/. bone names.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
In a natural walk, when the LEFT leg strides forward, the…
ALeft arm swings forward too
BRIGHT arm swings forward, opposite limbs counterbalance
CArms stay still
6
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Render Your Showreel Clip
Camera, lighting and a real video file
Locked
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Goal for this step
Render the walk as an actual video you can send to people.
1Frame the shot: camera slightly low, character walking "on the spot" centre-frame (cycles animate in place, sliding the world under them comes later in your journey).
2Light it with your Episode 1 skills: key sun + fill.
3Output Properties: resolution 1280×720 is plenty; format FFmpeg Video, encoding MPEG-4. Set an output folder!
4Render → Render Animation (Ctrl+F12). Every frame renders, a 48-frame clip takes a few minutes in Eevee.
5Find the .mp4 and watch YOUR character walk. Save the .blend, Episode 5 makes everything beautiful.
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
Rendering the whole animation is Ctrl+. For a video file choose the Video output format. Walk cycles are usually animated on the .
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
Why render at 720p rather than 4K for this test?
ABlender cannot do 4K
BIteration speed, animation is judged by MOTION, which reads fine small. Save the pixels for the final
C720p looks better
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Workshop Complete!
Keyframes, easing, a wave and a walk cycle, your character is ALIVE. Episode 5 dresses everything in materials!
