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Importing and Animating SVG Icons in Blender for Motion Design

Importing and Animating SVG Icons in Blender for Motion Design

Today, I've been learning how to acquire assets from websites, specifically icons. The goal is to create short motion design tutorials on using web applications. To achieve this, I need to replicate the Graphical User Interface (GUI), starting with the icons.

This is the first step in creating instructional or explainer videos. It took some time to figure out the process, so I documented everything meticulously and made an animation of one of the icons rotating in 3D.

Copying SVGs from the website

Here's the icon I used:

Notion Icon

Here's how to acquire the icon from the website and save it as SVG (text file). There may be better ways of doing this, but this is how I managed to do it.

  1. Create a file named asset.svg.
  2. Open the file in a text editor.
  3. Copy and paste the following SVG template into the editor:

    4. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 20 20">
    <path d="THE VALUE GOES HERE"/>
</svg>

  4. Locate the SVG asset on the desired website.
  5. Log in to your account if required.
  6. Right-click the asset in the admin/dashboard to open the context menu.
  7. Click "Inspect" to open the browser's Developer Tools.
  8. Find the <path> element inside the <svg> tag.
  9. Copy the value of the d attribute (this represents the SVG curve).
  10. Replace "THE VALUE GOES HERE" in asset.svg with the copied d value.
  11. Save the file.

Importing SVG image to Blender

  1. Click File to open the drop-down
  2. Hover over Import to open the Import sub menu
  3. Click Scalable Vector Graphics (.svg) to open the file prompt
  4. Select SVG file to import the SVG image into the scene

SVG images may be small, so you may want to scale them and apply the scale so that it resets to (1,1,1) while maintaining their current size.

To apply the scale, follow these steps:

  1. Select the image (or object) in the 3D Viewport.
  2. Press Ctrl + A (Windows/Linux) or Cmd + A (Mac).
  3. Choose "Scale" from the Apply menu.
  4. The object's scale will reset to (1,1,1) while keeping its current dimensions.

This ensures transformations behave correctly, especially when working with modifiers, physics, or texture mapping.

Extruding and Bevelling the SVG Curve

To give the SVG Curve a 3D look, you can extrude it. This is done by converting the SVG to a mesh and then using the Extrude tool.

To extrude the SVG Curve without converting to Mesh

  1. Select the Imported SVG Curve
  2. Go to the Curve Properties Panel
  3. Find the Geometry Section
  4. Open the Geometry tab
  5. Increase the Extrude value to give the curve thickness along the Z-axis

Adjust Bevel for Rounded Edges

  1. If you want a rounded edge instead of a flat extrusion, increase the Bevel Depth.
  2. You can also tweak the Resolution for smoother curves.

This method keeps the shape editable as a curve while giving it 3D depth.

This is how the icon looks in 3d space:

Mikko