Real-Time Animation with Adobe Character Animator E-Book

Chad Troftgruben

• Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 226

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Adobe Character Animator is a power app for non-animators that provides easy rigging and easy-to- understand tools that enable you to create entertainment or business videos in no time.
This guide to Character Animator gives you a comprehensive overview of the app, helping you learn the entire process—from importing a character designed in Adobe Photoshop to animating a sequence. Complete with background art, multiple character rigs and Character Animator project files, this book will show you how to animate a scene in Character Animator from start to finish.
Starting with a character PSD from another artist, you’ll organize and condense the file to prepare it for rigging and animation. From there, you’ll systematically rig the character while exploring advanced behaviors and triggers to animate a complex scene that takes advantage of the app’s best features.
By the end of this book, you’ll be able to create appealing animations in Character Animator for any purpose.

Leseprobe

Real-Time Animation with Adobe Character Animator

Animate characters in real time with webcam, microphone, and custom actions

Chad Troftgruben

BIRMINGHAM—MUMBAI

Real-Time Animation with Adobe Character Animator

Copyright © 2022 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

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First published: December 2022

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ISBN 978-1-80324-694-9

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To my son, Halfdan, may you never see the limit of your potential and imagination. To my wife, Stephenie, may this incredible journey never end.

– Chad Troftgruben

Contributors

About the author

Chad Troftgruben is a freelance animator who has spent several years learning about animation software while working on personal and commercial projects. Chad has worked with several companies for over a decade creating e-learning content. Some of these companies are Smith Micro, Lost Marble, Virtual Training Company, Packt Publishing, Train Simple, and Pluralsight.

Presently, Chad spends his time being a father and expanding his animation knowledge through the creation of original works. Chad also offers a series of animation video courses through Udemy, Skillshare, and his own website.

I want to thank the great team at Packt, especially Adrija, Keagan, and Feza. Writing a book is a challenge, but it’s always easier when you work with awesome people. I’m also grateful for our thoughtful reviewers. Your insights helped mold the book to be more user-friendly and informational. Finally, thanks to all the supporters who have shown so much love and support for my work over the years. Without you, this book wouldn’t be possible.

About the reviewers

Calvin O’Connor always knew he wanted to go into animation at a young age, and as he progressed through his academic studies he realized there was a plethora of avenues to explore. He had a soft spot for 2D animation, and one of his first jobs in the industry was a show that was made using Character Animator. Despite production starting at the beginning of the pandemic with the entire team working remotely, Calvin really took a shine to the program, and he began experimenting with puppets and finding new methods of animating. Since then, Calvin has used the software for design and rigging for various clients, such as Adobe, Octopie, and, Quibi. He also used Character Animator to create his own personal avatar for streaming games on Twitch, bridging his love of gaming with animation. He’s always looking for new techniques and ventures with the software to make his own personal content.

Yogender Kumar serves as a senior UI/UX designer at Indegene Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore. He has strong hands-on experience in branding and advertising. He has been working in the creative field for more than seven years. He has worked with different clients worldwide as a graphic designer, animator, and video editor, and he is now working as a UI/UX designer. Yogender Kumar completed his education in graphics and animation at Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India.

Table of Contents

Preface

Part 1: Preparing Character Art for Rigging

1

What You Need to Know Before Rigging and Animating

Technical requirements

System requirements for Character Animator

Downloading Character Animator

Character Animator Pro versus Starter

Calibrating equipment in Character Animator

Creating a new project

Saving project versions

Loading and renaming project versions

Testing your webcam

Testing your microphone

Playing with samples and the characterizer

Playing with a sample rig

Recording animation

Animating with Characterizer

Summary

2

Comparing Adobe Character Animator to Other Animation Apps

What is Adobe Animate?

Brief history of Adobe Animate

The strengths of Adobe Animate

Using Animate with Character Animator productions

What is Adobe After Effects?

A brief history of Adobe After Effects

The strengths of After Effects

Using After Effects with our Character Animator productions

Other popular animation apps

Summary

3

Preparing a Character Rig in Photoshop

Designing your character

Streamlining and renaming layers

Creating a character group

Removing unneeded layers

Merging and renaming the limbs

Reorganizing the eye layers

Organizing with normal and independent groups

Creating main groups

Adding eyebrow phases

Arranging the eye groups

Separating out the hair

Cleaning up PSD layers

Summary

Part 2: Rigging Character Art for Animation

4

Importing and Tagging Your Character

Technical requirements

Adjusting the rig in Character Animator

Importing Chaz into Character Animator

Making layer changes in Character Animator

Creating PSD versions

Tagging the head and mouth

Switching the tag view

Understanding left and right tags

Tagging head layers

Tagging mouth layers

Tagging the body layers

Summary

5

Creating Control Handles and Behaviors

Technical requirements

Adding modifiers for mouse control

Adjusting the layer and mesh properties

Adding draggers and fixed modifiers

Linking Independent groups

Assigning layers as Independent

Welding Independent groups to the body

Refining limbs with the stick tool

Adjusting limb rotation

Summary

6

Physics, Behaviors, and Meshes

Technical requirements

Adding physics and danglers

Modifying universal behaviors

Creating layer-specific behaviors

Refining animation with meshes

Summary

7

Assigning Mouths and Props with Triggers and Swap Sets

Technical requirements

Creating triggers for props

Importing props

Creating triggers

Creating swap sets for hands

Further exploring triggers and swap sets

Creating visual controls for triggers

Other tips for using triggers and swap sets

Summary

8

Refining Layers and Exploring Optional Rig Features

Technical requirements

Animating eyelids

Importing a character with eyelids

Tagging the eyelids

Animating breathing and jaw animations

Implementing head turns

Tagging the head phases

Testing the head turns

Summary

Part 3: Animating and Refining Your Scene

9

Working with Preset Actions

Technical requirements

Creating a walk cycle

Modifying a walk cycle

Mixing actions on the timeline

Summary

10

Animating a Simple Sequence

Technical requirements

Assembling the set

Importing the background assets

Getting started with building the set

Positioning the characters in the scene

Importing and positioning Chaz

Importing and positioning the alien guest

Recording dialogue

Using a screenplay or outline

Recording Chaz’s dialogue in real time

Importing and lip-syncing the alien’s dialogue

Summary

11

Rearranging, Polishing, and Enhancing Our Sequence

Technical requirements

Using PNG sequences for external animations

Importing PNGs for the sequence

Adding Cycle Layers behavior

Adjusting the audience in the scene

Adding more character actions

Adjusting the alien’s gaze

Setting automatic blinks for the alien

Adding arm movement to the alien

Arranging character actions in sequence

Correcting flaws and enhancing animations

Summary

12

Exporting, Editing, and Sharing Your Character Animator Sequence

Technical requirements

Export options in Character Animator

Setting export duration

How to export files

Exporting Character Animator scenes as videos

Editing in After Effects with Dynamic Link

Why use After Effects?

Importing and understanding Dynamic Link

Layering

Adding special effects

Adding camera features

Editing in Premiere

Color grading and filters

Summary

13

Additional Character Animator Tools and Features

Technical requirements

Puppet Maker

Character Animator scene cameras

Tracking body animations

Tracking body turns

Using the Stream workspace

Summary

Index

Other Books You May Enjoy

Preface

Adobe Character Animator is 2D-character animation software aimed at non-animators looking for a fun way to create entertainment and business presentations or videos. Character Animator relies on live interaction from the user using a webcam, microphone, keyboard, and mouse to control the puppets or character rigs on screen.

This book introduces you to the world of Character Animator by taking a designed character and properly rigging it. We will show proper layer structure for our character PSDs and what to look out for when importing and rigging in Character Animator.

From there, you will learn how to enhance characters through physics and behaviors, which are automatic or context-sensitive-based actions that can be easily changed in Character Animator. Triggers and swap sets allow for image sequence-based animations. Working with preset animations, lip-syncing, and head movements will make the rig more dynamic.

Finally, with all this knowledge, we will build a more complex scene using two characters and background elements. We will bring our work into After Effects and Premiere for a final polish before publishing it in Media Encoder.

By the time you’re done animating along with us, you will be able to take this knowledge and start creating your very own animated productions. Whether you want to build a sitcom, business presentation, or a cartoon presence through a streaming app, this book is here to help guide you on the right path.

Who this book is for

This book is for beginners looking to set up and animate cartoon characters using a webcam and microphone. This can then be the basis to build fully edited productions or stream on various platforms. The book is also useful for animators looking to learn Character Animator’s non-traditional approach to animation.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, What You Need to Know Before Rigging and Animating, teaches you the system requirements for Character Animator, where to download the app, and how to play around with sample files to get a feel for the software’s basic features.

Chapter 2, Comparing Adobe Character Animator to Other Animation Apps, delves into Character Animator’s unique abilities, which allow for the creation of awesome work, although there are other applications out there with their own strengths. Here, we will go over some of those animation applications while also explaining the link these can have to Character Animator’s workflow.

Chapter 3, Preparing a Character Rig in Photoshop, looks at taking a completed character and reorganizing the layers in Photoshop to ensure a smooth process when rigging and animating. While Character Animator makes it possible for any art style to be used, it’s important to understand proper layer structure and independence for your characters. We will also learn about proper labeling to help Character Animator tag body parts appropriately.

Chapter 4, Importing and Tagging Your Character, explores tagging, which is a process where we identify layers and points so that Character Animator knows what to do with them. Some of the work we did in the previous chapter will help us here, as Character Animator will automatically tag some layers, but here we will go over how to tag each layer to assure no asset is left behind.

Chapter 5, Creating Control Handles and Behaviors, examines control handles, which are points on the character we set up for various interactions and can be equipped with behaviors to create a variety of effects. This includes dragging limbs, adding bend refinements, and working with independent groups for advanced rigging. This chapter is about honing in and refining the controls of your character rig.

Chapter 6, Physics, Behaviors, and Meshes, delves further into Character Animator’s strengths after putting a workable rig in place. We can set up a rig to not only interact with movement or other entities but also layer-specific and universal behaviors that can add more interactivity and realism. We will also look at meshes and how they can help change the rig further.

Chapter 7, Assigning Mouths and Props with Triggers and Swap Sets, introduces triggers and swap sets. As you continue to develop your characters and build scenes, you may find you need more flexibility with your rigs. Triggers and swap sets allow you to call in objects that may be invisible, swap props on the fly, or even create a series of mouth poses controlled with any device. This chapter goes over how to set these up and what to look out for.

Chapter 8, Refining Layers and Exploring Optional Rig Features, covers additional features that we can take advantage of once our rig is almost ready to be put into an animated scene. Some of these are style choices, while others can enhance any rig you’re using. Eyelids, breathing, and head turns are covered in this chapter.

Chapter 9, Working with Preset Actions, explores preset actions. While you can make all of your character animations from scratch, preset actions are included to help you get your character moving. Walk cycles, running animations, and more can easily be added with a click of a button. We will learn about this as well as combining actions when animating on the timeline.

Chapter 10,Animating a Simple Sequence, looks at animating a sequence. We will import our character into a scene, move them around and interact with a second character. We will lay down key moments and actions to plug into the scene. We will record dialog using our camera and mic as well as use the external audio lip-sync feature. This will set us up for editing and polishing the sequence in Chapter 11.

Chapter 11, Rearranging, Polishing, and Enhancing Our Sequence, covers taking the animations and audio laid down in the previous chapter and uses the timeline to piece the tracks together to create a cohesive narrative. This will also be the time to go through and add any flourishes or additional content to the scene before we send it to After Effects and Premiere for export.

Chapter 12, Exporting, Editing, and Sharing Your Character Animator Sequence, explores the next step after you have animated a complete sequence in Character Animator. You can choose to export the sequence as is to share it with friends or on social media, or you can take it over to After Effects or Premiere to add effects or make edits to help with the flow. We can use Character Animator for many projects, so we will try to cover as much ground as logically possible.

Chapter 13, Additional Character Animator Tools and Features, delves into additional Character Animator features. While we have covered a lot of what it offers, there are still more features to explore. At the time of writing, some of these features didn’t work within the planned workflow. Character Animator even introduced some features as the book was being written, which is a great example of how Adobe supports its products. Therefore, we want to highlight these features, as they can enhance your animations, save time, or even help you to perform live on a variety of streaming platforms.

To get the most out of this book

It’s recommended you purchase a copy of Adobe Character Animator under a Pro license. This app is also included under the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription plan. We will also be using other apps within the Adobe Creative Cloud to help produce our animation. While you don’t need these apps to work with Character Animator, it is highly recommended for an optimal learning and production experience.

Software/hardware covered in the book

Operating system requirements

Character Animator v23.0

Windows or macOS

Photoshop v24.0

Windows or macOS

After Effects v23.0

Windows or macOS

Premiere Pro v23.0

Windows or macOS

Animate v23.0

Windows or macOS

Be sure to have a webcam and microphone plugged into your computer, as this is the primary way we will be interacting with Character Animator. It’s also recommended you have nice even lighting to get the best results. If you plan to do a full-body motion, be sure to have plenty of room.

The supporting files for this book are available at https://packt.link/GdFlZ.

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots and diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://packt.link/C2J5O.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: “Be sure to have your tagged character open in Character Animator. Or you can access Chat_with_Chaz.chproj. Also, we will do a little work in Photoshop. The modified file from that task will be labeled Chaz_Host_v3.psd. Let’s get going!”

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see on screen. For instance, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in bold. Here is an example: “Load Version 2 from the History panel if you wish to work with the book’s example.”

Tips or important notes

Appear like this.

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Part 1: Preparing Character Art for Rigging

Before we take our character and start animating, there are some considerations. First, it’s best to know how the app works, and this chapter will highlight key points. When it comes to art, our character’s layers will need to follow a specific pattern. Character Animator works best when you name layers as well as organize groups a certain way, which you will learn. Photoshop will be featured heavily here, as it’s the best choice for organizing .psd files.

This part includes the following chapters:

Chapter 1, What You Need to Know Before Rigging and AnimatingChapter 2, Comparing Adobe Character Animator to Other Animation AppsChapter 3, Preparing a Character Rig in Photoshop

1

What You Need to Know Before Rigging and Animating

In order to ensure a smooth experience, we will first talk about the system requirements and how to download Character Animator. We will touch on the differences between the Starter and Pro versions of the app and make sure your equipment is compatible with Adobe Character Animator. Character Animator works differently from other animation apps in that you act out sequences using your webcam and microphone to record animation, so it’s important we have those pieces of hardware ready. Once your equipment is confirmed to be functioning, we can test some sample files out to get a handle on what the software is capable of. We will also take a look at Characterizer, an easy and fun way to quickly bring yourself into a scene.

In this chapter, we’re going to cover the following main topics:

System requirements for Character AnimatorDownloading Character AnimatorCalibrating and setting a rest pose in Character AnimatorPlaying with sample files and Characterizer

Technical requirements

The supporting files for this book are available at https://packt.link/GdFlZ.

System requirements for Character Animator

To get the most out of this book, it’s recommended you have the following:

An updated copy of Adobe Character AnimatorA webcamA microphoneA well-lit room to record in

Adobe Character Animator comes with a few requirements if you’re looking to maximize your project’s potential. A nice computer will allow for faster processes. This can be useful, especially as projects take up more resources.

While traditional methods used in other applications are achievable here to some extent (such as controlling animation using a mouse and keyboard), you will find it’s best to interact using a microphone and webcam. This not only allows for real-time expressions and lip-syncing but also full body tracking if desired. For a more detailed breakdown, here are Character Animator’s requirements according to Adobe: https://helpx.adobe.com/adobe-character-animator/system-requirements.html.

Figure 1.1: A preview of the requirements for Windows (the page contains Mac specs as well)

It’s advised you record in a well-lit room. This will ensure your webcam can pick up on your expressions. If you plan to take advantage of the body tracking feature, make sure you have enough room to move freely and safely. The camera will also need to be placed at a distance, but we will go over that in detail when we get to body tracking later on.

All the images in this book will showcase the Windows UI. However, the macOS and Windows versions are identical except for the UI and shortcuts. All the shortcuts given in this book will be for both Windows and macOS.

Downloading Character Animator

You can download Character Animator via the Adobe Creative Cloud or the Adobe website. The Pro version, which is what we will be using, requires a subscription that comes with a monthly fee. You can gain access to the app for free under the Starter UI, but this will limit your features and ability to follow along with the book.

If you wish to download Character Animator through the Adobe Creative Cloud, follow this link: https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/desktop-app.html.

Figure 1.2: Downloading Creative Cloud for desktop not only grants access to Character Animator but also all of Adobe’s amazing apps

If you wish to download Character Animator without the Adobe Creative Cloud, follow this link and click Buy Now next to Character Animator: https://www.adobe.com/products/character-animator.html. Follow the on-screen instructions, download, and install. You will also be prompted to create an Adobe account if you don’t already have one.

Figure 1.3: You can now use the app for free with Starter mode, but we will be using the Pro version for this book

This book is being written according to v23.0 and it’s recommended you update to the latest version of Character Animator before following along. To update, you can use the Adobe Creative Cloud, click Updates on the left-hand side of the panel, and look for Character Animator in the list.

Figure 1.4: Under Apps, you will find Updates, the section that will check for any updates for installed Adobe apps

If the app has an update pending, you will see an Update button on the right. If the app is updated, you can directly open the app from the Creative Cloud using the Open button.

Figure 1.5: If updates are pending, an Update button will appear to the right of the app. If already updated, you can open the app from Creative Cloud for desktop

Once you find the app, you can choose to click on the Update button next to the listing if a new update is available. Alternatively, you can click Update All at the top of the panel to update all installed Adobe apps to the current version:

Figure 1.6: If using the Creative Cloud for desktop, click Update All on the left to ensure you’re up to date

Once you have successfully installed and launched the app, we can talk about the differences between the Pro and Starter UIs.

Character Animator Pro versus Starter

As of v23.0, you now have the option to use Character Animator for free under the Starter UI. This simplified format limits many of Character Animator’s useful features. It does have its uses, especially if you want to explore how the motion capture tool works, or if you quickly want to animate and export a preset character:

Figure 1.7: Starter mode is great for those curious about the functionality of Character Animator, but it lacks many great features

However, for the purposes of having more control and tools, it’s recommended you purchase a copy of the Pro version to get the most out of this book. With the Pro version, you can also switch to the Starter UI, if you feel the need. You can do this by toggling the UI button at the top right:

Figure 1.8: Clicking PRO will allow you to switch to STARTER mode

Before you confirm your choice, you will also be given an explanation of how Starter mode differs from Pro.

Figure 1.9: Here is the official breakdown of the modes according to Character Animator

The Starter mode is great if you want to get your feet wet with the basics of the app, but Character Animator offers a lot of features that can only be found in the Pro version, and that’s the version of the app we will be using for this book. With that said, let’s look at how to calibrate our equipment for optimal animation.

Calibrating equipment in Character Animator

Before we go any further, let’s test out our webcams and microphones to ensure everything is in working order. We will also look at how Character Animator saves projects, which is different from most mainstream animation software. At the end of this section, we will have covered the following:

Creating a new projectSaving project versionsLoading and renaming project versionsTesting and calibrating your webcam and microphone

Launch the Character Animator app. Once loaded, if opening the app for the first time, a welcome screen showcasing