ABSTRACT

Character animation was once the territory of rooms of people hunched slavishly over a large series of light tables. The rise of digital tools has all but replaced this way of working. Now, in most cases, character animation is the work of 3D software artists. Often though, a full 3D character is not required. Many cases call for 2D characters. Thankfully with After Effects Adobe has introduced a revolutionary tool that makes After Effects the tool of choice for many 2D character designers, the Puppet tool. This chapter talks about two ways to create a 2D character in After Effects. The first way, or the “ new ” way, takes advantage of the Puppet tool to animate a character, whereas the other way, or the “ old ” way, is a complicated process that relies on some heavy layer Parenting relationships. One thing that has always been difficult for character animators to do is an accurate lip-sync.