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Course
- Core Tech
Rigging and Animating 2D Characters in After Effects
In this After Effects tutorial, we will learn how to assemble, rig, and animate a richly detailed and dynamic character inside of After Effects. Software required: Photoshop CS6, After Effects CS6, Duik Tools ver.13.0.2, and FreeForm Pro Plug-in for CS6.
What you'll learn
In this After Effects tutorial, we will learn how to assemble, rig, and animate a richly detailed and dynamic character inside of After Effects. Throughout these lessons, we will see just how powerful After Effects can be when doing advanced character animation. We will venture well beyond the basic paper-cutout style of character animation that is often associated with this approach by breaking down the required steps. We will start out by reviewing the Photoshop file used to paint the character's layers, and then we'll quickly move into After Effects, where we will begin rigging the character using the puppet tool, null objects, nested compositions, basic expressions, Duik Tools for Inverse Kinematics, and FreeForm Pro for the 3D head. By the end of this series, you will have a thorough understanding of the many processes behind bringing a layered Photoshop character to life within After Effects. Software required: Photoshop CS6, After Effects CS6, Duik Tools ver.13.0.2, and FreeForm Pro Plug-in for CS6.