CG animation used to be the domain where only the biggest animation studios could make a dent. Over the years, however, with the increasing amount of processing power available to consumers (and particularly prosumers), progressively more sophisticated CG rendering and modeling software, and an enormous amount of free or cheap resources, CG animation has become accessible to almost anyone. This accessibility has on the other hand placed a premium on individual skills and animation abilities. This still need a lot of time and patience to master, but fortunately even here these days we have a lot of helpful resources. There are many online examples and tutorials that will help you become a better CG animator. There are also many good books on the subject out there, and tradigital’s “Blender” is certainly a good place to start.

Blender is completely free CG animation software available for all major desktop operating systems (I am not sure if there are any attempts to port it onto iOS and Android though). In many people’s eyes it is also the most powerful such software, but I am not competent enough to make such a judgment. From what I’ve seen it certainly seems very complex, and I would never dare venture into working with it on my own without plenty of written help.

The book is written in an engaging and occasionally humorous style. Roland Hess manages to inject some levity into otherwise pretty tricky and demanding material. It is very nicely illustrated, with plenty of pictures, diagrams, and screenshots. These help you master the material and get a better idea about how to apply any particular techniques.

One of the biggest virtues of this book, in my opinion, is that its devoted in almost its entirety to a single project. This way you can really master all the nuances of CG animation, and yet be able to apply them to other animation circumstances that you may encounter later on in your own work.

The book is organized around the twelve classical principles of animation, as developed decades ago by the Disney animation studios. These principles have stood the test of time, and in order to truly master animation you need to understand them really well. This book helps you get there by providing examples of how to tie in those principles into a concrete animation project.

The book comes with a well-designed and resourceful companion website. The website contains all of the files and examples that you will need in order to follow the projects in the book.

CG animation, whether you use Blender or some other program, will remain a very challenging artistic endeavor. However, this book can help you overcome a lot of frustration and save you valuable time in pursuing your creative vision.