Tips and Tricks for Animating Five Nights at Freddy's Animatronics (Tutorial)

I have enough experience now with this very specific style of animation that I feel I have some useful insight to share. Models and rigs are my own, but built off of the in-game models, and they use textures from poliigon.com's asset library. Software used is Blender (modeling, animation, etc) DaVinci Resolve (video editing), and Garageband (soundtrack).
This video is aimed at an intermediate and above skill level, because there's not much step-by-step instruction about how to do anything, it assumes you already know your way around whatever program you're using to animate.
If this has come up in your search results as someone hoping to get into animation for the first time because you want to make your own FNaF fanfilm, I'd recommend getting down the basics of keyframe animation first. Technique advice as specific as this will only serve to complicate things if you try to take it on board while you're just getting started.

[@Turdl]

Another tip I've found is that on old animatronics, the eyelids tend to stick to the eyes, meaning they don't close completely, and one would move slightly independent of the other due to it sticking to the eye

[@cadencase5216]

Why don't my eyelids stick to my eyes?😞

[@TheNickofTime]

@@cadencase5216I don’t know if this is a serious question or not, but the reason is that human eyes are naturally lubricated, but animatronic eyes are only painted in a glossy finish to appear wet while actually still being dry and unlubricated.

[@klaibefhuoaiuwehjklbdfsnxnik]

@@cadencase5216have you eaten your daily glue requirement?

[@AbbeyYard]

​@@klaibefhuoaiuwehjklbdfsnxnikMORE KRAGLES!?

[@Ozeglion]

This is a problem with how Steel Wool animates the animatronics I think. I can understand them having more fluid movements, especially in Security Breach, since it is set in the future with advanced technology and all, but I wish their eyes were more ”unseeing” and that they actually stood totally still at times, as you demonstrated in this video. This would help actually make them feel creepier and less alive, which is the entire point of animatronics in this series. Don’t get me wrong, I actually (mostly) like Steel Wool’s games and the approach they’ve taken, but I just wish this is something they changed Anyways, great vid!

[@decimalheckery5737]

agreed! steel wool's animation has a ton of personality and life to it, but it's at the cost of losing the robotic or animatronic feel

[@TheNickofTime]

Excepting Security Breach of course because of its futuristic aesthetic, I definitely agree. I first noticed it in Help Wanted, where Bonnie and Chica just merrily march down the hallway, swinging their arms and everything. Looks fine, just disappointingly generic. As much as I dislike Illumix and their AR game, the body language was something they definitely paid more attention to, even if it was exaggerated and cartoonish.

[@ettiSurreal]

i cannot really confirm it but steel wools animations seem like cleaned up motion captures

[@cadencase5216]

@@decimalheckery5737The FNaF 1 animatronics animations in help wanted feel perfect tbh. They move almost like astronauts. They struggle to carry their own weight.😀

[@syweb2]

@@TheNickofTime I think their movement animations were really improved in Help Wanted 2. Baby feels _heavy,_ and Ennard looks like it's barely coordinating its ability to walk, jerking unnaturally as it hobbles forward.

[@theIargedude]

there's a fine art to leaving subtitles on screen long enough to be read but not so long that they become obtrusive. an art that you seem to understand well.

[@bababooey5402]

Here's an interesting idea: how would these techniques translate into Springtrap/Scraptrap, and how would you feasibly convey how William has to fight _with_ and _against_ the very suit he's trapped in? You could either try and use both the robotic movement and lifelike motion, or make an entirely new technique that properly translates the utter pain he'd feel from every inch of movement. AI'd love to see what you come up with if you decide to make a video on it. If you do both, I'd also love to see how you contrast the two; Springtrap is physically struggling to keep moving despite the pain, along with the suit's stiff motors holding him back / Scraptrap has already mastered working with his suit and fighting past the pain, but his movements are still no longer human.

[@Skibbutz]

I think Scraptraps movements would actually be more human than springtraps, albeit zombie like. Since if you actually look at scraptraps model, you'll notice that he actually doesn't have an endoskeleton, its just Afton wearing an empty costume over his decaying body

[@scoffpickle9655]

If this is what I think it is. A fnaf 1 endo remodel is coming?? This is amazing as ever.

[@TheNickofTime]

I’ve made FNaF1 models to use in my next animation, which I’m doing for FNaF’s tenth anniversary later this summer. After that, I definitely plan on making my usual showcase video for them.

[@FazdocB]

Nice

[@AustinPlayzNothing]

@@TheNickofTimeare we going to see the endo, I love endos

[@juussivePalate]

​@@TheNickofTimeyou should make a fnaf 3 animation that would be cool

[@ServalMakesStuff]

I’m a HUGE fan of ur stuff, it looks so realistic and I love how you model and animate your videos it’s truly impressive

[@ettiSurreal]

tip from me, i recommend using the Wiggle 2 addon for automatic jiggle when applicable, and physical bones (can be used for things like cloth, wires, etc)

[@TheNickofTime]

I might look into that addon, at the moment I have the ears set up with an extremely janky spring physics setup that barely works. A better alternative would be great.

[@fredhours]

@@TheNickofTime I use wiggle 2 as well and I suggest looking into it its very good

[@Ennsanity]

This video is a blessing

[@peterdaviesracing]

Damn, the music causes an eerie atmosphere and it's not even really supposed to do that here :D

[@ShinyRowletGuy]

You certainly know your stuff

[@MR.HarryART]

very awesome nice job👍

[@spider13649]

This is really useful

[@raskzak3313]

This is great tip ! I was already doing the first one, but haven't actually thought of the body reacting to movement, which makes lots of sense when I think about it now, thank you ! also, would you have any tips for modelling a realistic/believable endoskeleton, that would be greatly helpful !

[@PurpleBan]

Wow i didnt know about pressing V and selecting vector to make the movement look more robotic, thats a useful tip.

[@NIKAsystems4953]

Made showcase like mangle for drones from murder drones please!!!!

[@ItsRainyInFrance]

3:31 freddy's two thousand yard stare 💀

[@SierraRail3Prod]

I Love how you made Twisted Bonnie stupid because of his AI-

[@thatgamingelk6863]

The music in this video makes me feel calm and happy. Can you release it to the public, or is it already out? Of course, you don't have to, I just like the sound and I know you make your own music. PS: Your videos are what encouraged me to learn Blender. I'm making my own FNAF animations and I learned a lot of stuff from your videos. Your animations are cool and I like all of the cool stuff you do.

[@ImSoTiredAnimations]

God damn that model has a lot of bones

[@TheNickofTime]

It has a complicated rig because the interior skeleton has a bunch of added moving parts from the original design, pistons and servo motors and things. It‘s redundant for the purposes of this video, but I made the model to use in an animation I’m still working on which calls for extra realism.

[@Flaffy1]

I love ur informative vids there so interesting and helpful :DD

[@Santodiegg]

i love your animations. maybe you can help Jake Ryan Southgate to animate that fredbear's series!

[@thisisfine-8409]

This is so good i love it :)

[@zacharyreeves8845]

Hey man awesome video. Could you do a rundown of a child getting spring locked in an Ella spring lock suit from the movie? Like the suit dimensions and everything or maybe how a child could wear the suit.

[@Gold_Grave2007]

It looks like one of Freddy’s ears is broken and it’s just flopping about. Is that an addon or did you painfully do that bit by bit? I’d like to learn that

[@scribblecloud]

LOVE this

[@darkestcarving8735]

Love your content~ 🎃👍

[@alisontransou346]

thanks for the tutorial, but I have a question, I have edited a model of W.G Freddy to make shadow Freddy, I want to use this in animations but how do I save an edited model or my own og models so I can append them to and fro for other animations?

[@Determined899]

Are those your fnaf models? They look sick

[@johnkoester7795]

How do you think the endoskeleton s would love to hike also, how are they able to walk?

[@ressymations]

Hi! I am an aspiring 3D animator that really admires your talent. I really like these videos and was wondering if you could do more like this? I am also wondering how you get the ear movements...well like that since currently I am literally animating the ear movements individually and its costing me a lot of time. Is there a tool or something that you do to it?

[@TheNickofTime]

I have at least one other informative video like this planned, it’s going to be about modeling the animatronics themselves. As for the ears on Freddy here, I have them with a spring physics thingy, but I wouldn’t recommend the method I used because it barely functions and is very inconvenient to work with.

[@ressymations]

@@TheNickofTime ah oki dokie! thank you for your reply! :D

[@thevhs1]

So... Basically, animate with Newton's third law in mind? Cool. Studying real life animatronics (Like the Rock Afire Explosion band I'm 90% sure FNAF is based off of) is also a good idea, and as an engineer, I just find them very interesting. Edit: That keyframe vector trick is amazing and is something I will be doing from now on. I immediately went and made this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aouUeKmsoL6eqJo

[@itznotgummydragonz]

THANK YOU! :D

[@gh0ulkip30]

Lessgoooo

[@sebastianthomsen2225]

😊👍

[@grey6040]

is every thing is rigged in fk besides the eyes? doesn't appear to have any ik constraints in arms. also interesting use of an ik rig in the eyes but can't you just use a copy rotation, location, or damped track modifier instead or is it just easier to rig with an ik modifier?

[@TheNickofTime]

The IKs in the eyes are part of the mechanism for them, they have servos driving them attached to the back of the head that connect to the eyes with metal rods. Apart from that, the only other IK constraints are in the legs: a must-have for walking. I omitted them in the arms, because IK controls lend themselves to more natural and lifelike animation, which is something I wanted to avoid. Each joint has constraints on it to confine it to swiveling in a certain axis, so I don’t accidentally animate outside any joint’s range of motion.

[@grey6040]

@@TheNickofTime thanks for replying but uh if you don't mind answering is there a way to limit the rotation of certain bones with a pole vector in IK? been trying over and over again to do it with my own model and i can't seem to find any way to do so without breaking how my model moves. might just have to change how it moves im not sure though

[@TheNickofTime]

@@grey6040 I’m sure a way exists, but I haven’t had any luck either. I can get the IK rig working great, where every joint is nicely rotating on its designated axis, then I add a pole target and suddenly those constraints are ignored and the joints start clipping. For these models, I don’t have pole targets for the legs, I just rotate the thigh bone to change the angle of the legs. Often trying to do that without a pole target makes it go all glitchy, but I seem to have struck a lucky balance with this rig where a pole target isn’t necessary.

[@srcreeper02550]

Can you make subtitles?

[@TheNickofTime]

There’s already subtitles baked into the video at the bottom of the screen. Do you mean to duplicate those subtitles into KZbin’s own subtitle system?

[@foxysanseverything]

hay i set you a email about wondring if you would help model for a fan game more info in that email

[@TheNickofTime]

Yes, I see it, sorry it's taken me a few days to get to it.

[@foxysanseverything]

@@TheNickofTime its alright if you could resopnd to my reply i whould aprshate it

[@skrub_king]

Dude this is so scary you should put a trigger warning in the video so it can be less scary

[@fredhours]

?

[@skrub_king]

@@fredhours What right do you have to judge me? You think you're better than me, is that it?

[@stratch27]

?

[@klaibefhuoaiuwehjklbdfsnxnik]

Bro is scared of blender tutorials 💀

[@cloudbrooks]

@@klaibefhuoaiuwehjklbdfsnxnik its a troll

[@jugandocondiankooriginales4218]

Hi :)

[@alimontcalm4144]

do u have a discord server? it will be great making a comunity that is interested in fnaf or animations in general and it will be epic that fnaf animatores make a fnaf movie!