Learn how to bring an inanimate object to life as a fun and quirky animated character. This class covers a complete character animation workflow for beginners, including illustration, rigging and animation.
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This class utilizes non-human characters that can be animated in a stylized way, to avoid the need for accuracy, and instead focus on the foundational aspects of rigging and animation.
Plus, personifying something unexpected is an exercise in learning the nuances of movement that give something human-like qualities, even if it isn't human.
Character animation enables the viewer to picture themselves in the character's shoes, and relate your message to their own life. But character animation can be challenging if you don't know how to set up a character to be animated (aka rigging), or how to move a character in a stylized yet realistic way.
Who this class is for:
This class is for motion designers who are familiar with After Effects and want to animate the style of characters that you often see in motion graphics, like explainer videos. This method of animating characters differs from frame-by-frame animated cartoons because there's no drawing involved.
This class is the perfect first step in learning character animation, but if you've never used After Effects before, check out my <a href="https://aeorientation.ck.page/a0b320dfb8" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">After Effects Orientation</a> and a few of my <a href="https://skl.sh/3lUmvEs" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">beginner classes</a> first.
What you should know before taking this class:
<ul>
<li>How create a very basic illustration in Adobe Illustrator and to import your artwork into After Effects</li>
<li>After Effects basics like creating compositions, setting keyframes, rendering, etc.</li>
<li>How to adjust the anchor point that a layer rotates around</li>
<li>How to parent layers and properties</li>
<li>How to animate the path of a shape</li>
<li>How to add easing to keyframes and use the graph editor to adjust the spacing of an animation</li>
</ul>
Character rigging &amp; animation tool you'll need:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://aescripts.com/limber/?aff=80" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Limber</a></li>
<li>Or you can do most of the class with <a href="https://aescripts.com/limber-lite/?aff=80" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Limber Lite</a> (the free version). <a href="https://support.animatable.co/v/limber-user-guide/limber-lite" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Here's a helpful page</a> to understand some of the limitations of Limber Lite.</li>
</ul>
What you'll learn:
This class is a mixture of theory and hands-on step-by-step instruction.
On the theory side, you'll learn about:
<ul>
<li>how to balance form and function in your character illustrations</li>
<li>different tools for character rigging and animation</li>
<li>how to choose what to animate that will well work for a 2D character</li>
<li>different "modes" of animating</li>
</ul>
On the hands-on side, you'll:
<ul>
<li>illustrate a 2D character</li>
<li>set up a reusable rig using my After Effects add-on tool of choice (<a href="https://aescripts.com/limber/?aff=80" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Limber</a>)</li>
<li>and finally, create a short looping character animation</li>
</ul>
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This class will give you a little taste of each step of character illustration, rigging and animation. From here, you'll be ready to dive deeper into each topic to master different styles and more complex characters.
After this class, check out my other classes:
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Find me online:
<a href="https://www.meganfriesth.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">My website</a>
<a href="https://www.meganfriesth.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Instagram</a>
<a href="https://www.pinterest.com/explanimated/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChf4MDszi2Jejbfx0XV_PHQ" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">YouTube</a>
The links to Limber and Overlord I've provided are affiliate links. I get a small cut of the sale at no additional cost to you. I promise that even if I didn't make a penny by recommending these tools, I still would; I use them myself!

Welcome

Class Project

Rigging 101

Forward Kinematics

Inverse Kinematics

Add On Tools

Getting Started with Limber

Create a Character

Import into Ae

Basic Rigging

Rig Arms

Rig Legs

Zero Controls

Rig Face

Decide What to Animate

When to Use FK vs IK

Animate Squats - Part 1

Animate Squats - Part 2

Animate Jumping Jacks - Part 1

Animate Jumping Jacks - Part 2

Animate Side Lunges - Part 1

Animate Side Lunges - Part 2

Loop Your Animation

What's Next

Character-Rigging-Animation-Guide-Explanimated.pdf

Ae-Add-on-Character-Tools-Comparison-Explanimated.pdf

Animated Avocados

Character Rigging & Animation FUNdamentals in Adobe After Effects

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Character Rigging & Animation FUNdamentals in Adobe After Effects

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