Animate a Candle Using Blend Shapes

Animate a Candle Flickering with Blend Shapes

Below is a very short tutorial on how to create, animate and light a candle using Blend Shapes in Autodesk Maya.  

The goal is to understand how to use Blend Shapes to morph simple objects in Maya from one shape to another, and then use the Blend Shapes to create animation. 

Blend Shapes are used mainly for facial animation, but they can also be used to animate inanimate objects - in this case a flickering candle. 

UFO Animation Tutorial With Blend Shapes

UFO Animation with Blend Shapes by Gabriel Munn

We've uploaded a new tutorial to our expanding Vimeo Tutorial Channel.  This latest tutorial demonstrates how to animate Blend Shapes (also known as Morph Targets) in Maya; you can find the tutorial here at our Vimeo channel.  

Create a simple object (a cube) and turn it into a shape-shifting UFO - as in this example by Escapee Gabriel Munn.  Blend Shapes, which are used extensively in facial rigging, are a simple animation technique that can yield impressive results.