Tradigital Blender: A CG Animator's Guide to Applying the Classic Principles of Animation

by Roland Hess

Expand your animation toolkit with foundational animation techniques, software expertise, professional best-practices, proven and time-tested work flows. Roland Hess, a leading Blender artist and instructor, expertly navigates you through Blender's character animation systems and controls, with a focus on each of the classical principles of animation like timing, anticipation, appeal, staging, exaggeration, squash and stretch and much more. Unique from other software titles, the Tradigital series offers a specific tool-set of practical instruction and foundational knowledge that all great animators will need to know. Expand your digital workflow to include the practical resources with the robust companion web site that include demonstrations, project files, links to further resources, available at

308 pages, Hardcover

First published June 6, 2011

About the author

D. Roland Hess works in machine learning at Google, and has written about art and software for Focal Press, John Wiley & Sons, and Taylor & Francis, winning an American Publishers Association PROSE Award in 2011 for his book on character animation. He honed his craft in the Creative Writing program at UPenn, but gave up the potential glory of starving-artistdom for a career in production art and software development.

His hobbies include construction (carpentry, electrical work, sweating copper), weaponry, tending bar, cars that Go, writing software, playing piano and guitar, and occasional forays into art. He lives in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, the glorious Gateway to the Midwest.