【Blender 2.92】Creating “Dice Animation”

2021年5月16日2025年1月13日

Explanation of the “Dice Animation" created on May 15th.

I learned about Blender’s physics animation using “Rigid Body" through Ume-chan’s (@zero_blender_) Udemy course.

As an application of this knowledge, I created a dice animation.

I’ve summarized the creation process and key insights.

If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to reach out on Klala’s Twitter:
https://twitter.com/klala_lab

↑の続きです。
サイコロ２コを衝突させて遊んでみました😃⭐️
弾性係数・摩擦係数をいじるとはじき・転がり具合を微調節できることが解りました😊 pic.twitter.com/iPveRcFIbT

— クララ/Klala (@klala_lab) May 15, 2021

Purpose of Creation

The Udemy course “Learn Physics Animation by Creating” by Ume-chan, introduced earlier, teaches the basics of physics animation techniques.

Using what I learned, I created an original animation using the Rigid Body feature.

(Note: Rigid Body is a physics simulation tool used for rolling or colliding solid objects.)

When I thought about “hard and rolling objects," dice immediately came to mind, so I decided to create an animation featuring them.

After creating a single-die rolling version, I found the dynamic motion fascinating and decided to make a two-dice version as well.

Methods Used

Creation Process

The process is divided into three parts:

• Animating Two Dice
• Creating the Dice & Bowl
• Animating a Single Die

Creating the Dice & Bowl

Dice:
The base shape of the die was created using a cube with beveling applied.
The dots on the dice were made using circular objects with knife projection.

Mesh Details:
The mesh design is as shown below. To keep the vertex count as low as possible, subdivision was not applied.

The bowl for rolling the dice was created using a UV sphere. The resulting mesh is shown below.

UV Sphere Creation:

Generate a UV sphere.

Delete the top half of the vertices.

Add a Subdivision Surface Modifier (Viewport Level 2) to ensure the rolling surface is smooth while maintaining a minimal subdivision level.

Adding Thickness:

To avoid the bowl appearing too thin, a Solidify Modifier was applied to give it some thickness.

Single Dice Animation

Using Ume-chan’s Udemy course as a reference, I created the animation following these steps:

Steps to Create the Animation

To disable physics simulation, check the “Animated” box and insert a keyframe for it.

1. Frame 1 Setup:

In the viewport, press “I" to insert keyframes for the dice’s position and rotation.

2. Frame 5 Setup:

Represent the motion of “throwing” the dice by moving it closer to the bowl and adding a slight rotation.

3. Frame 6 Setup:

To simulate the moment when the dice is released, uncheck the “Animated” box and insert a keyframe for it.

Adjust the positions in Steps 1 and 2 to ensure the dice rolls properly inside the bowl.

Additional Camera Animation

While the dice rolls inside the bowl, I wanted to zoom in, so I added keyframes to the camera’s focal length at Frames 50 and 150:

• Frame 50 Focal Length: Adjusted to create a closer view.
• Frame 150 Focal Length: Set back to the original view.

In Blender, you can add keyframes to various parameters (see my earlier article, “Clouds Viewed from an Airplane“ for more details).

Rendering the Animation

The animation was rendered in 720×480 resolution and exported in MPEG4 format.
(I chose a smaller image size to speed up rendering and accommodate Twitter’s auto-compression feature.)

Here’s the result:
(After posting on Twitter, I realized I forgot to add color to the six-dot face…)

Notes:

• Frame settings and keyframing offer versatility for precise animations.
• Adding color or additional details beforehand can save time during post-production.

Double Dice Animation

For a more dynamic motion, I added a second die to the scene.

The second die (navy blue) was set to collide with the first die (white) at a 90-degree angle.

Animation Setup

The method for setting up the animation was similar to the single-die animation. However, during repeated testing, I adjusted the following parameters to refine the motion:

Challenges in Motion Setup

The way the dice roll is heavily influenced by their initial positions, velocities, and rotational speeds. Incorrect settings can cause issues, such as the dice flying out of the bowl (as seen in one of my test runs—oops! 😂).

Final Result

After trial and error, I successfully achieved double sixes (“snake eyes”) with the dice! 😊💦

Conclusion

Using the rigid body techniques I learned from Ume-chan’s “Learn Physics Animation by Creating It" course, I was able to create and enjoy making dice animations in Blender. 😊

Ume-chan’s course is highly recommended for its clear and beginner-friendly explanations of the fundamentals. 👍

The course also includes lessons on simulations for “fluid" and “cloth," which I plan to explore further. 🧐

Reference Tutorials

Ume-chan (@zero_blender_)
2021 Edition: Learn Physics Animation by Creating It
Udemy Course Link

ML/Ch
[Blender 2.8] How to Create Yuru-chara CG #4/Animation Edition: Starting 3D CG with Kuu-suke