project_5_character_animator_puppets
Use Character Animator and Photoshop to create and animate a unique character with your facial movements, voice and keyboard shortcuts.
Steps:
Open Character Animator (it is part of the Adobe CC 2015.5 suite)
From the Welcome Screen click on NEW PUPPET WITH PHOTOSHOP
This will open the Puppet in the Character Animation window and also in
Photoshop.
In Character Animator, Double Click on the small puppet icon in the Timeline to see the parts of the puppet.
Click on the Scene in Project Window to see its Properties in the Properties Window. You can adjustFrame/Duration/Width/Height
Click on Puppet in Timeline and click on the FACE option in the Properties Window – You can adjust the head position, Eyebrow Strength, Blink Eyes Together, etc
Secondary Animation
In Photoshop add A HAIR LAYER
+HAIR (make sure not to ruin any layers while you do this)
Then go to Puppet and Change Point of Origin/Pivot Point
Then use the Dangle tool (pendulum)to touch the part where gravity pulls down
Keyboard Trigger
Eyebrows- you need to create a folder for the different kinds of eyebrows.
Currently our character has an Active Eyebrow, but only one option
So we create FOLDER, with the same name (in this case +Right Eyebrow) and remove the + from the original Eyebrow layer and then we can copy that shape and modify it and name them Angry, Worried, etc.
These extra eyebrows don’t need a +, only the folder should carry a plus sign.
Now go back to the Puppet,
You should see you different eyebrows as options
Click them (you can hold option to click more than one at a time)
and give them a LETTER in the TRIGGER>KEY section also make sure to click on the HIDE SIBLINGS button to hide the others eyebrows.
You can no use the keys to control your puppet!
Cycle Layers
Cycle Layers allow for a multi-frame animation to be controlled by a Keyboard Trigger. For the Eyebrows, make the transition to Angry a bit smoother.
In Photoshop, create 2 additional eyebrow moves as the character gets angrier.
Label them Angry1, Angry 2, Angry 3 (the last one being the end state)
Put these in a new group called +AngryEyebrows
Now go back to Character Animator.
You will have to re-add the TRIGGER to this new ‘+AngryEyebrows’ folder and now add the script to make it play all the frames
Click the ‘+AngryEyebrows’Layer, Add the Trigger and Hide Siblings . Now click on the BEHAVIORS in properties, and add CYLE LAYERS and choose: Start>When Triggered, Layer Order> Top to Bottom, Advance Every>1, Cycle>Once, Forward/Reverse>CHECK, Hold on Last>CHECK, On Trigger End>Let Cycle Finish
command + Forward Slash = keyboard shortcut list
When Recording:
Move the playhead to the beginning.
Hit the record button.
You can record many things:
Face – records your facial/head movements
Audio – sound from computers microphone
Lip Sync – the mouth scenes are created via your mouth movements
Keyboard Triggers – Records your keystrokes
When you are done File >Export > Add to Adobe Media Encoder
In Adobe Media Encoder, Make sure you choose the location of your file, press the play button, done!
REMEMBER! Modify the Template but make sure not to change the name of the layers or disrupt the structure!
Tutorials: