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Whippet Shots is a simple storyboarding add-on to help new Blender users learn how to create 3D storyboards.
The Side Panel menu provides operators to create, adjust and utilize basic camera features in a more convenient place. The add-on also provides additional buttons on the Dopesheet such as having the frame range and the play buttons which allows you to not have to rely on having the Timeline window open.
The core philosophy of this add-on is to simplify the shot creation process and help utilize the editing workspace to cut your shots together. Keyframe management is critical when working in 3D so giving yourself breaks can save you on the back end. Luckily, Whippet Shots has the ability to jump between shots in the Dopesheet so you can see your animation play back in real time too.
Playblast renders are exported and automatically uploaded to the edit scene workspace of your choice. You can jump right back to a shot from the editing workspace by using the ‘Go to camera in scene’ button in the Whippet Edit side panel within the Sequencer area.
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The final goal is to integrate this add-on with Whippet GP which would allow users to insert drawings and synchronize them with the camera in and out points.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTGSf_oEgZQ&ab_channel=Maurits'Maurice'Valk
Currently not available but planned
Whippet Shots is an N (or side) panel add-on. It can be accessed via a 3D Viewport area and then pressing ‘N’ on the keyboard or clicking on the tiny arrow in the top right corner of the viewport.
The main panel (in the viewport side bar) comes with 3 separate menus. The first one contains the tools to create a new camera, manage the settings of camera and setting up a new scene with a workspace. (see image on the right)
The second menu is a camera list that allows you to select cameras, activate them (jumping into the view of the camera), reselect objects after switching cameras and display all the cameras in your scene.
The Playblast Tools panel gives you a quick way to render out your shots as a view port render and automatically imports your video strips into your Video Editing workspace on the desired channel number.
There are additional buttons located on the Dopesheet header to help with playback settings and jump between animation windows.
There is also a side panel menu in Sequencer area that contains a ‘Go to camera in scene’ button that will take you back to the relevant shot and scene-workspace when activated. Note, for this to work you can only select one strip at a time and have the playhead on the frame you want to go back to.
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READ THIS: In order for Whippet Shots to work correctly, you must use 3 letter scene names and you must match the scene name to your workspace bars. Additionally, pin your scenes to your workspaces so Whippet Shots can switch between them effortlessly. Other than that, you’re free to use Blender as normal :)
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After clicking ‘Duplicate Workspace’ there is a slight delay and then the panel will appear again at which point you press the ‘Add New Scene’ button.
When you want to create a new camera, move the playhead after your current camera’s out frame and use the viewport to find the angle of your new shot.
Compositional guides are available and work across all cameras
Toggle on to jump inside a camera when selecting a camera in the camera list. The playhead will also jump to the first frame of the camera. Toggling off will not jump you inside the camera.
Toggling this button will automatically reselect the object you previously had selected in your outliner.
For example, if you are cleaning up drawings on a given Grease Pencil object and then select a different camera to jump to that shot on the timeline, having the toggle on will jump to the camera IN marker and then reselect the Grease Pencil you were working on for a seamless transition between cameras.
Basic Outliner UI that lists all the cameras in your active scene. You alter the behavior of how selecting a camera works by toggling the ‘Activate Camera’ and ‘Keep Object Selected’ buttons.
Toggle this on if you want to jump into the view of a camera automatically if you are not already viewing a camera. toggle this off if you just want to select the camera object on it’s own.
This will isolate the current camera and deactivate all other cameras. Pressing it again will re-toggle on all cameras that were not previously toggled off.
This button also lives on the Dopesheet Header for quick access.
Toggle this one if you want it to automatically reselect your previously active object.
The red highlight in the camera list denotes your active camera. The camera list has four features, from left to right:
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Some Blender tips for editing and cutting scene strips together using native Blender features.
coming soon…