Character Animator Tips & Tricks (January 2018)

[@nuca5104]

Thanks Okay Samurai for the shoutout! We learned so much and Character Animator was such a brilliant program to break us into animation, AE is good and all but CA Trumps it for speed in puppet workflow like you said. I'm fleshing out the script for Episode 2 right now and trust me... it's gonna be x10 better. Hopefully in a couple of months we'll be featured again when the work's done!

[@okaysamurai]

Looking forward to it, keep up the great work!

[@HorribleHomeVideo]

where do we watch this cartoon?

[@slicedtopieces]

You're a trooper, fixing up people's PSDs like that. Haha! Appreciate all the work you're doing to get Character Animator off the ground though. Cool program and a *ton* of potential.

[@yoyoemmyjo]

Major time saver = adding multiple dangles to a single layer! I always thought I had to create separate layers for each thing I wanted to dangle (e.g. a separate layer for every hair strand I wanted to swing). Seeing the dangles work on the single-layer IKEA puppet body on this video was a big learning for me! Thanks!

[@okaysamurai]

Yeah! One thing to note - if stuff isn't independent, it will factor in the whole mesh when dangling. Meaning the way Hector is set up here, he's dangling with all 5 head positions as 1. If you get unexpected warping results going the single layer route, you may want to make those parts independent (or in this case, the different head positions).

[@yoyoemmyjo]

Ah - excellent tip. Thank you!

[@SkyShazad]

Wow i can't belive how much iv learnt from This one video alone, already watched it like 4 times the part where your rigging that Farah character, awesome video man, if I get stuck I'm gonna send you my art work lol

[@ardianfandy]

This channel is so underrated

[@okaysamurai]

I'd rather be under than over! Thanks!

[@daxcastro]

Really great episode. Would be great to have an outline of topics covered for all your videos. I spent 30 min looking for something I knew you covered but forgot in which video. Love this troubleshooting section because you think how I think! NIce Job!

[@okaysamurai]

Check out forums.adobe.com/docs/DOC-5992 - has every tips episode synopsis listed, cmd + f that might help. I agree though, I need a better system. Hmmm...

[@Dramadonia]

Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! You are doing the lord's work!! 😭😂

[@Triric]

Thanks Dave! I would not have been able to do some of mine without your videos :D

[@DigitalPuppets]

Happy New Year Dave! thanks for the shout out :)

[@justinfaciane]

You are the Elon Musk of the animation world.

[@okaysamurai]

Hahaha - thanks.

[@robbclayton101]

I agree... you make me feel welcome in the Character Animator world and your smart as a whip.

[@okaysamurai]

Thanks. It's all in the editing, I assure you. One of these days I'll include an outtakes reel of me messing up 100x in a row.

[@horizontalview]

With the thousands of tutorials from Adobe & youtube I appreciate the p.o.v. you use. Demonstrates a quick overview of app while showcasing other creators & different looks and styles available. Followed by examples of advanced users 2 get creative ideas and inspiration in the viewer. Then finally addressing & explaining common mistakes or simple fixes other videos ignore. Topping it all off you also interact with your audience while showing how to problem solve their issue so they can continue creating while the audience learns new skills. I REALLY think you have found a unique formula for a successful channel in a crowded space & can't wait 2 watch your channel continue to grow and evolve. I have a challenge for your followers when you reach a subscriber # or personal goal fir your channel. With the puppets you have helped subs problem solve along with your own puppets/characters create a animation that includes all of them...maybe a funny skit like them trying 2 walk through a door b4 you fixed & then they walk through into a short that sub made and all meet @ the end with yours...idk...Obviously I enjoy the channel

[@okaysamurai]

Thanks! The show has evolved over the past couple of years and I've learned a ridiculous amount about show production in that time - I'm glad the format seems to be resonating well with you! And I like the idea of a subscriber goal custom cartoon!

[@franatcartoonfun8736]

Cracking tip about creating custom icons for controls! Thanks #DigitalPuppets 😁

[@언제나웃음-u8p]

Thank you give Tips & Tricks! I can't understand all talking but very beneficial to me!

[@juanmonge5937]

Thanks a lot I had a problem with my puppet and watching this I resolved

[@dannerino]

Extra pixels in odd places of a layer happens to me all the time. Often enough that I have a method for eliminating it. Similar to your Transform bounding box but possibly a little faster, I turn on Show/Layer Edges. To me, that's safer than putting the layer in transform mode and allows you to instantly see the results of your cleaning the extra pixels as the Layer Edges instantly shrink.

[@okaysamurai]

Yep that should work well too!

[@trending6353]

can we have a tutorial on how to animate more than one character in one scene pliz

[@okaysamurai]

See okaysamurai.com/CHFAQ about this.

[@Time4Tech]

Is there a way to add dangle to the arms? BUT still be able to drag them when needed to pose? I have a character that floats. I'm trying to get the arms to dangle as he flies, but am unsure how to do that and still able to move them.

[@okaysamurai]

I think Schizzler on adobe.com/go/chexamples does this but I may be mistaken...

[@Time4Tech]

@@okaysamurai Yes! it works perfectly on this character. I added a dragger to the dangle point on Schizzler's character and everything works as it should. Unfortunately when applied to my character the effect does not work. After tweaking all I can do is angle some of the arm while the wrist remains stiff, but the fingers still wiggle. So strange. Even though everything is under the Right and Left arm groups.

[@okaysamurai]

Huh weird. Well, if it persists, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more help.

[@KarasiBob]

The Adobe friends should make the character animator app.

[@PDGAF]

Good tips. Did you (or could you) explain how panning through a scenery is achieved...like how a camera would scroll from left to right through a room while a character is walking. Can't figure out how.

[@okaysamurai]

I don't here but might be something good to tackle in the future. I would expect to do this in After Effects since they have better camera / composition tools.

[@nuca5104]

You can achieve a panning shot in Character Animator (the shot we did at 5:58 was done completely within Character Animator)... We did the following before learning how to do it in after effects. Essentially; 1. Import your background as a Puppet. 2. Tag the middle of the picture as a HIP. 3. Add a Walk Cycle to that Picture and set the Strength to 0 but body speed to however fast you want the PAN to be. This gives your scenery a slow movement that replicates a Camera Pan. Additionally, if you give a Character puppet a walk cycle and set his body speed to 0... and combine it with the afformentioned PAN shot. It will give an affect of a camera following your character through an environment. (The environment moves left or right and he's walking on the spot)

[@PDGAF]

Okay. Definitely gonna try this out with some characters and scenes I've been sitting on. Thank you so much. And NICE WORK on Nuke Town.

[@nuca5104]

Thank you! Now here's something a little more advanced! (After you get comfortable with the above trick) Build a foreground prop puppet (e.g. Mailboxes or Dumpsters) and put them in front of the character... then apply the same walk-cycle but make it move faster than the background. So when your character walks... the illusion of a 3d environment becomes even more convincing due to the fast foreground contrasting with the slow background. ---------- Set all the walks to be controlled by the left and right arrow keys and set their easing time to be the same so they all move in orchestra... Highlight your character, Hold-shift and select the foreground and background... so all your layers should be highlighted red and when it comes time to record... you can move left or right and the movement will apply to ALL THREE LAYERS at the same time... so there's no real need to try and record them separately and desperately try to get the same timing for when you pushed left or right. Good luck!

[@videosbyPKA]

Thank you very much! Can you show us how to setup a live twitch stream with an animated character? Happy new year! :)

[@okaysamurai]

See kzbin.info/www/bejne/mH3TqqBpe86Hqrcm8s or kzbin.info/www/bejne/laTQfYuFebmXbLcm49s for Mac and kzbin.info/www/bejne/hF7Cn6qmiNCofacm10s for Windows.

[@videosbyPKA]

thank you very much!! :) that was quick!

[@asifjaved7672]

Hi, dear, I must say you are one of most creative guys I have ever seen on KZbin. I would be the happiest person alive if you somehow make a tutorial where two characters are interacting with each other. I mean I would love to see a tutorial where the cartoon Trump is interacting with Cartoon Melania Trump in some conversation. Please let us know how it can be created. Regards,

[@okaysamurai]

I show this in the Evan Flamethrower tutorial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iH7SXq1unbRlfq8. Toward the end of this you'll see me combine 2 characters together in After Effects - you could do it in CH too, but I prefer compositing everything in AE. Hope that helps.

[@truthseeker318]

Any videos of 8 point turnarounds and how to implement that into character animator?

[@okaysamurai]

This is a bit old but this technique could work for body turns: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZekaH18jst_oq8

[@AlexandrosKastor]

hey, nice videos man, keep it up ! I'd like to ask, how many adobe installations do i need to get this? I mean, i just get a recent version of After Effects and that got character animator and web cam synchronized on expresssions and head-moves??

[@okaysamurai]

Character is now available in 1.0 as part of the full Creative Cloud plan. I personally use it with Photoshop and After Effects the most.

[@GeorgeTacale]

Hi. can you give me an indication of how you can move the orientation of a character's head? from left to right? 0:53 ? do I have to draw the head twice? how do i make the switch? Many thanks

[@okaysamurai]

Yes, you would draw it in the different view you want. See kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWLak6psYpytg5Y for more info.

[@GeorgeTacale]

@@okaysamurai thanks ❤️

[@P3tonka]

I like that raccoon character! i noticed you changed the color of his mouth to match his colors better, i tried doing that to a green amoeba character i made by just adding an adjustment layer to the mouth group and tweaking the colors, but character animator didn’t recognize it, can you tell me how you applied that color change to the mouth shapes in a way that character animator kept the change?

[@okaysamurai]

Was it a PSD or AI? If "render as vector" is checked you may lose some options. I don't personally use adjustment layers often so I'm not 100% sure, but you may have to rasterize / flatten some effects if they're not coming through. I believe for the mouth I was using a blending mode like lighten or overlay to get that effect.

[@coreynik5369]

Hey Dave. Is it possible create a front view walk cycle or only side view? If so is there a specific tutorial that covers it?

[@okaysamurai]

The walk behavior is optimized for profile view walking. If you want front you would need to do triggered (manual) cycle layers - see "Wonder Boy" from the Adobe examples page for an example of this.

[@karanmehra8931]

Hey bro I've a qus : Can I use Adobe flash with character animator? instead of photoshop or illustrator Please answer 🙂

[@okaysamurai]

You can export an Animate (Flash) character as an SVG for implementation into CH. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipu0loiMmrFli7s

[@joe3.067]

Hey Dave, thank for your tutorials. I have been watching your videos for a while. I like this program very much. I've just tried it yesterday and realized that I need Ps or Ai. I would like to know if I buy a single app like Ae, will I get to use Ch (Character Animator) too? And can I use any other program (like GIMP) to create and edit the layered files for Character Animator instead of Ps or Ai? Thanks JOh

[@okaysamurai]

Character Animator is now only available as part of the full Creative Cloud, as it doesn't make too much sense to use without Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere and After Effects. You could theoretically use another program to make PSDs or AI files, although I've never tested it! One day maybe we'll add some drawing / creation tools into CH itself as well.

[@joe3.067]

Thank you very much ^_^ I appreciate it.

[@nikispaintingsilence3287]

Hey Dave! Am a great fan of your series and character animator and loving the latest episode! Check out two animations I did for my electronic music videos. happy rigging all

[@okaysamurai]

Trippy...

[@antoniosousa9245]

Hello. Can you help me to know how to make the clip appear on my Character Animater? My toolbar does not appear. Thank you.

[@okaysamurai]

If your toolbar isn't showing up I'd go to Workspace > Reset Workspace to make sure everything is set to the default settings. If not it sounds like you might need to un/reinstall, I can't think of a reason the toolbar wouldn't be showing up outside of the Puppet panel being hidden.

[@TechDiscoveries887]

Sir how can we animate different object in one project in record mode sir place make a video

[@okaysamurai]

Each element in your timeline can be selected and animated differently. You could drag 5 characters or objects into your timeline and each will have their own recordings. If you need more help, please check out adobe.com/go/chfeedback.

[@pogorelovsdelal]

Hi Dave! I have the trouble. When I rigged my puppet I saw the settings called "Advanced pose-to-pose". I changed one parameter in it and puppet took its effect. But then "Advanced pose-to-pose" disappeared. It's undesirable to recover old puppet state in undo history because I have to undo 80 actions. Regular "Pose-to-pose" parameters are default. How could I found "Advanced pose-to-pose"? I use Russian version of latest Adobe Character Animator. And regular "Pose-to-pose" was named in Russian, but "Advanced pose-to-pose" wasn't translated for my language settings what makes me thing that was a bug. P.s.: sorry for my English.

[@okaysamurai]

Weird! I have never seen this "advanced" pose to pose. It's possible you pressed something to enter a developer version of the behavior somehow, but even I don't know how to do that. If it happens again please let me know, and if you could send me a screenshot that would be helpful tracking it down.

[@mariettaharutyunyan3311]

Hello, how I can create walk cycle with isometric position?

[@okaysamurai]

You would need to manually create it with the cycle layers behavior.

[@mariettaharutyunyan3311]

@@okaysamurai could You show lesson? I need a walk cycle isometric, from bird eye 3/4

[@sicoha3626]

Hello! Is there an option in which you can animate in vector and sometimes not with your face? :D

[@okaysamurai]

Yes, Illustrator (AI) vector is supported. No, you don't need a webcam to control but it's highly recommended.

[@TahaJawaid]

I set a certain part to be triggered by a key. Although I can see that my key is there, it is still not working. Please help.

[@okaysamurai]

Hard to troubleshoot without seeing the puppet. Post a screenshot/puppet in the official forums in the video description? In general adding a trigger key to a layer or group should show/hide it when pressed.

[@tareeko]

Can you give us an idea on how the Dick and Johnson stream was accomplished? Thanks!

[@okaysamurai]

They had two computers, one for each character/actor, and probably composited them using live streaming software.

[@sallybowles2781]

please I opened the blank face template in the latest version of CH but I can't find the Tags in properties, where are the Tags?

[@okaysamurai]

Tags only show up if you select a group or layer in Rig mode. So for example, if I select a "Left Pupil" layer I should see a "Tags" section show up in the right properties.

[@takeo7733]

First! Great video btw, Pretty helpful!

[@obby_obby]

How can one actually make the characters interact, things like hugging ?

[@okaysamurai]

You would need to figure out a way to composite them and time the triggers correctly. For example, I might have a wraparound arm from one puppet be a triggered cycle layer animation on a second puppet to sell the effect. Pickupbot on the OKS puppet page is also a good example of how to interact with an object.

[@nuca5104]

Our workaround was displayed at the 6:11 mark... if you look you can see one character holding another. (1) Essentially we had two yellow arms built into the puppet of the guy in front (being held). So it appears that the guy behind is holding him and interacting with him but really it's just one puppet in front of another (the yellow arms belonging to the puppet in front.) The yellow arms were key triggered so they only became visible when we needed the interaction. There's also workarounds if you do basic After Effects work... (2) If one characters arm is in front of another but apart from that he's completely behind another character... make two PNGS; A: A regular PNG as normal. B: A second PNG where you have made every character invisible apart from his arm (you can do this by going into the puppet in CA). Then you export both to After Effects and put the Arm PNG over the regular.

[@obby_obby]

Nuketown Cartoon i saw that but i was talking about the process of hugging . Like one character hugging the other character (the process) and not holding the other character in hugging position

[@TaraNico]

Adobe Character Animator can use your webcam to track your head and facial expressions, but what about your arms and legs?

[@okaysamurai]

Currently you use draggers or the walk behavior to deal with this. Most standard webcams aren't fast / high quality enough to accurately track this (yet) - as technology advances we hope to be right there with it (depth sensing cameras).

[@TaraNico]

Okay Samurai How fast does it need to be? Is 4k good enough, or do I need to buy a Red 8k rig? Do you think a logitech 4k brio, or Xbox connect would be good or fast enough?

[@TaraNico]

Could tracking be done with VR controllers? I have seen some of your videos where you show some people using Xbox controllers.

[@okaysamurai]

So currently yeah, conceptually it could be possible with something like a Kinect, iPhone X, VR controllers, body suit, etc - but it hasn't been integrated into the software yet. I think these things are only going to get more mainstream and eventually you'll see some sort of full body tracking in CH. One day we'll also open up behavior authoring to developers, meaning anyone could potentially write an extension or script to integrate stuff like this.

[@mukhtiarshujah5943]

which software this is?

[@okaysamurai]

Adobe Character Animator.

[@krishnaveni-ev1cl]

HOW TO CREATE A KEY POINT ON FACE SIR ??????

[@okaysamurai]

Sounds like you want motion tracking, which you would do in After Effects? I'd search for tutorials on that by AE channels. The face tracking in CH is automatic.

[@thitorusso7469]

Hey Dave, whats your Instagram? keep the awsome work. thanks

[@okaysamurai]

@okaysamurai!