Complete Cartoon Workflow (Adobe Character Animator Tutorial)

Making a cartoon with multiple characters, background elements, music and sound fx, cameras, props, and credit screens can seem like an overwhelming amount of work. But in this tutorial, I’ll attempt to walk through the full process of how I recently made a 3-minute cartoon called Consoles ( • Consoles: Rent (Episod... ). We’ll write a script in Google Docs, record and mix audio in Adobe Audition, draw artwork in Adobe Fresco, rig and animate in Adobe Character Animator, and finally composite everything together in Adobe After Effects.
Sections:
0:00 Intro
1:21 Concept Art & Script
4:14 Audio Production
9:49 Art Production
19:46 Recording: Setup
24:22 Recording: Lip Sync
30:04 Recording: Arm Poses
38:03 Recording: Triggers
49:11 Recording: Eyes & Face
56:49 Recording: Walking
58:49 Compositing in After Effects
1:19:53 Cameras
1:35:43 Exporting
1:38:10 Outro
Consoles free puppets & art assets: okaysamurai.com/puppets
Fresco rig tutorial: • Adobe Fresco + Charact...
Photoshop rig tutorial: • Creating a Photoshop P...
Illustrator rig tutorial: • Creating An Illustrato...
Triggers tutorial: • Triggers - Adobe Chara...
More free Character Animator puppets: adobe.com/go/chexamples
Subscribe on KZbin: kzbin.info_c...
Twitter: / okaysamurai
Website: okaysamurai.com
Green Tea by Smith The Mister smiththemister.bandcamp.com
Smith The Mister bit.ly/Smith-The-Mister-YT
Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/smith-the-mister-green...
Music promoted by Audio Library • Green Tea - Smith The ...

[@GetRealwithMike]

This is my new retirement career! I always wanted to do this and now I can.

[@CesarGamino]

I'm only 36min in and this video is THE BIBLE FOR THIS PROGRAM! As a filmmaker, I started with figuring out building the puppet and triggers and finally landed here. I'm not only taking notes w screenshots but watching w popcorn like it's a movie. BRAVO!!!

[@reggieknuckles2473]

I agree mate, the best video/tool

[@Aestheticlyfishy]

yes!! one of the best tutorials i’ve ever seen, and Ended up here just like you, from character rigging!

[@jeremyring5378]

This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! Love all of your videos and I’ve really enjoyed learning character animator. Thank you so much!

[@paulmichaelgabriel319]

Can’t wait to check this entire video out! I’ve been working on a Character Animator project during lockdown and have learned so much from these videos. Super grateful for the work you do!!!

[@jae_mation2275]

Thank you so much for all of the thorough tutorials and guidance! I was able to make my first animation and could never have done so with such ease without this program or your videos. We all appreciate the hard work you put in!

[@LionKastle]

Character animator is a beast. All your tutorials they are amazing thank you! Never thought a team of 1 could ever handle an animation project. Now this full workflow breakdown is going to be so helpful for my next episode!

[@kjcamphor4671]

You are honestly the best teacher I've ever had - period. Thank you so much for taking the time to not just create this video - but for all of the tutorials you've put so much time and effort into. You're truly a legend! Stay Awesome!

[@aaronburriss]

Thank you for this!

[@fgxstudios617]

Finally watched this whole thing. So much detailed information. Thank you Dave for taking the time to make these tutorials. May God bless you sir.

[@cordilete1]

I am Brazilian and I always consume your content through automatic subtitles. Thank you so much for the great videos!

[@marykirmo]

Your videos are so great. I just started getting into Character yesterday and I've done a bit of a marathon here. You are so concise and the timing is great and you're so thorough. I've been working in Premiere for a year and have some background in computer programming-y things so all of your explanations are really easy to understand. Thanks so much!!

[@rogerengwall684]

Thank you Okay Samurai for this tutorials and others! - Look forward to putting a production forward and hopefully getting a chance to share it.

[@isacoritay]

Thank you Sensei! Man I've learned everything with your videos! 1,000% recommended

[@NexusOfElements]

I think I've watched this video over 20 times - as well as many of your other videos. Currently working on the third episode, thanks in no small part to your brilliant tutorials. Thanks so much, Dave!

[@3BVideo]

We are working on a 3-4 minute animation and then BAM you upload this video which we will use as a guideline! Thank you so much!

[@wevertonheiderick3328]

wow... you're my new favorite KZbinr. I love how your so amazing at teaching, and so generous! thanks for ur time ! this video deserves more likes

[@cw4608]

I was initially hesitant to get into a long video. But once I did I was so glad I did. They are interesting, informative, and packed with value. Thank you!

[@MythicalArtist1982]

As a digital illustrator artist with Adobe Photoshop, I have never get a chance to work with Character Anime and Adobe Animate. But the apps is AWESOME! All I can say that Adobe did an excellent job come up with these two animation apps. It giving everyone the chance to create their own cartoon, and bring the shows to Live on KZbin platform for every children to watches their favorite channel. The people who create cartoon animation (with Adobe Character Animator and Animate) will definitely bring a childhood memory to those kids today in the next 30 years. Reminded me as a kid back in the late '80s and the early-mid '90s, I used to get up every morning to watches my favorite show before school. Now today, everyone get to create their own show with these cool Character Animator and Adobe Animate apps! Love your tutorial by the way Okay Samurai!

[@carelbrouwers1707]

Your tutorials are always so clear and to the point. Very inspiring!!! Thank you so much for another great tutorial!!! I had never used Ch before Lockdown and now I am making my own cartoons!!!

[@SurrealKeyzy]

Thank you for all of these, this one is a great overview of parts of the adobe subscription that I haven't really explored or ever bothered to even download. great everything.

[@leonardoelisonoriegaguarem551]

TNice tutorials is one of the best intro soft softs I've ever seen. The entire basic worksoftow with no B.S.!

[@mattking7584]

Very excited to watch this Dave, thank you for sharing. Your videos have been incredibly helpful to me!

[@SLOPPEWALL]

Nice to find a tutorial that is informative, gets to the point and is easy to understand. Thank you for up loading this.

[@AGhostIsAGhost]

Only forty minutes in but this is definitely reconnecting me to the program. Thanks so much for all you do!

[@musakurel]

I've finished today. And I weant to thank you again for all this effort. Please keep doing these and inspire us :)

[@nikhilsingh65]

I never thought that learning and doing character animation will be so easy and fun. Thank you so much. You brought a revolutionary change in the life of artists like me.

[@MaximilianReid]

I can't seem to watch and bookmark these videos fast enough - thank you for all the thorough video tutorials!

[@michaelmillan114]

Thank you Okay Samurai!! I finally watched through the whole hour and 40 minutes of this video. This was very helpful. I recommend people watching this as their first video b/c I was doing everything all wrong before watching this. Time to go back to my file and redo everything. :)

[@TimMillaway]

The world does need more animations. Really enjoyed watching & learning. I am always inspired!!

[@asemabuelhija4501]

man I was literally wishing for this video! you always rock, Dave! thanks alot!

[@markelliot2994]

Speechless! Without exaggeration, Dave you are one best presenters and top Adobe employee!

[@f.k.n.zachthebard]

Thank you for putting this together. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with my new project and this video really set my mind at ease. Thank you very much.

[@heroesofcolor]

Wow, you just made animating fun again. So simple! I can't wait to start a new project now!!

[@osamaalghamdi-5916]

Man, probably you wont see my comment, but I really appreciate all the work you do to us. ppl like you are really rare and precious, and there are no words I could thank you with. I wish you all the best.

[@okaysamurai]

I read every comment! Thanks!

[@danielmunsaka2051]

this is very comprehensive and well put. I've been following you for a while since making my first puppet, now to more advanced stuff like this. Very awesome stuff

[@OttiyaKoreanLanguage]

Thank you so much for your tutorials! I’m working through them right now! So excited to make something soon!

[@artwasemsr4950]

I did computer animation and SFX for 13 years in the 80s. I stated writing screenplays 7 years ago. Now I have the tools to create at least 6 of them into videos. It have been working on your tutorials for 2 weeks. I hope to have my first 4 minute video out in a month. Thank you for all you knowledge.

[@keithperry955]

Your teaching skill is awesome, timing felt good, covering information for both Windows and Mac every time was above and beyond, I had no trouble following along, I hope you will continue to create these impressive videos. Subscribed and liked!

[@TruthSerumRadio]

I entered this with no idea how to use this. I feel confident now. Thank you.

[@NonnakornMangklasiri]

The best CH channel in KZbin. Thank you.

[@Chickasawndngirl]

Thank you so much for making this video!!! Yes, I watched the whole thing. It is so valuable. I have a really important project in language preservation, and recently realized that animated stories in the target language would be really effective. Just now learning about Adobe Character Animate. I am pretty well versed in photoshop, so I’m hoping the learning curve won’t be too steep. Watching you work through all the steps was reassuring that I can tackle this new skill. Thanks again!!!

[@golord]

I come back to this video pretty much every time I make something. Eventually I'll memorize it. Thanks Dave!

[@tonyfisher6379]

Dave, just WOW... thank you very much for this workflow and detailed video. Amazing.

[@iteachchem1693]

These tutorials are awesome! I am working my way through your tutorials and in less than one week, i managed to build my own puppets, export and import into Adobe Pro. I am hoping to use this creativity to make learning chemistry fun! Thank you for the great work.

[@musakurel]

Great 😍 I was really waiting for this. I love complete workflow videos.

[@hopeemmanuel1789]

Finally! I have been waiting this kind of workflow

[@aKnoLedgeEd]

This is awesome! I am going to be using your characters and what I learned here in my next video!

[@RandomRobo]

This is great. Glad you took the time to do something like this!

[@ArtDigi_01]

Thank you for this very well done walkthrough. It was great. Keep up the good work.

[@MrMustachieo]

I am loving my time in the Character Animator trail, its alot of fun and these videos help alot. I hope Ill be able to afford this & get to this stage where I can make a full episode, its why Im here lol.

[@tbonethugg]

amazing stuff. can't wait to start animating! thank you!

[@DavidMiloDoyle]

Such clear, nicely-delivered, well-paced teaching. Thanks so much!

[@emnd4540]

Omg thank you so much for this. This is awesome foundation for everyone. The correct path to start animation. Thanks again

[@stevecarter603]

excellent and helpful presentation. This guy is the best teacher in these tutorials. I really enjoy his presentations.

[@Adventures07]

Nicely done. I can't stop watching your video.

[@johnnymegalos6594]

Super awesome cross! I agree with below comments and then some x's a bunch. You have given so much time and love to helping people be able to create and be creative. Thank you thank you.

[@judylin9371]

Very invaluable information. Thank you! BTW, besides the animation tips, your art is fascinating!!

[@aidanbenbow6682]

Really useful and finally I've understood how best to do zoom and pan in After effects!

[@asemabuelhija4501]

Again.. after watching the entire thing.. I can't thank you enough!

[@Pran74274]

This is exactly what I’ve been looking for... thank you so much

[@vegasroyal920]

Just what I needed, thank you sir, great work as usual.

[@alexandruconstantin5410]

I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Under two weeks i was able to do my first animated show episode from absolute scratch. I owe all this to you and the great lessons you provided here on your channel. I wish you all the best man. You are truly great.

[@scumfiles2315]

So I noticed he he used multiple programs, other than the character animator. Do you need to buy all these programs individually, or do they come with character animator ?

[@alexandruconstantin5410]

@@scumfiles2315 i personally paidfor Adobe Creative cloud. Its quite expensive for a monthly subscription but it has all the Adobe programs available,including the ones mentioned here. I used Ps Ai Au Ae and Ch.

[@DrFunds]

I really love your outro speech, animation is the best tool to tell stories, im passionate about stories that hve never been told from Africa, and I also strongly believe the best way they can be told is through animation.

[@normanbrice5450]

Great work. And thank you for the info.

[@letsplayzefir]

Man, you are a master and thank you for all of this tutorials, i learn from you exactly what i searching for, BIG LIKE 😉👍

[@dailyaustinmusic8998]

Thank you for all this content. Truly amazing and useful!

[@Eric-ih1ld]

Thank you for taking the initiative and showing us how this use this software, along with Firefly, Photoshop and After Effects. Your knowledge and your instruction is incredible and detailed. I don't know how to draw or really anything animated. This is channel is a wealth of knowledge. Many Thanks. E

[@KamranJawaid]

Thank you Dave. Enlightening as always.

[@artlife5258]

Thanks so much! This was incredibly helpful. Great instruction.

[@DavidKhoirul]

Wow. Nice workflow. Thanks for sharing this, Dave.

[@KSE370]

Amazing content. Please keep doing tutorials like this!

[@lprzytula]

I was hoping you were gonna do this. Thanks for being so awesome 👍

[@iberryboi]

I'm glad I watched this before starting because I was just going to live record everything, this is a much better workflow!

[@marykirmo]

Ha! Yep. I did that yesterday so there's a bit of things to re-do but that's ok!

[@theresaplacestudio5743]

With your videos, I have achieved a life long dream of animating. Thank you. Old dogs can learn new tricks.

[@honeynaim9115]

Super amazing video, thanks alot.

[@Manu-il9cb]

You are totally an inspiration, thank you for sharing all that knowledge

[@Animatekar]

I'm left with few steps in making a fully compiled animation project. Bunch of thanks to you Okay Samurai 🌺✌️🤙

[@KHUZAFARAUF]

Just what I needed. Thanks Dave.

[@oasisdigitaloficial]

Can't stress enough how your videos are informative and easy to understand. Animation never even crossed my mind before and now it's something that does not seem so impossible. I'm really diving into it. Thank you so much for your content. You're doing an incredible think for the profession. Keep up the good work and the videos coming!

[@okaysamurai]

I'm a longtime Xbox fan over here...great videos!

[@oasisdigitaloficial]

@@okaysamurai Thanks a lot! I'm looking forward to learn animation to add something unique and unusual to my videos.

[@mariammeer1129]

I did my first character animation and made a little cartoon for my family kiddos for school not as professional but good starter with the short time frame to learn about the program and compose the full cartoon at the same time ... your video is quite helpful loved that you had the exporting part ..❤

[@CloneMind]

Well, this was absolutely great tutorial! Thank you so much.

[@data_science_today6192]

Fantastic Tutorial, great work, learned a lot in a single video.. Thank you.

[@Bufillustrated]

I made it through the whole video! Can't wait to get started. Thanks Dave.

[@okaysamurai]

Glad to hear some people make it to the end! :)

[@Qtoonsnetwork]

Wonderful! It's a lot but this is very helpful but wen I get started I will take it a step at a time, thanks Dave 👍

[@renecaron6409]

Well done. Excellent scope.

[@shadowplaytransit8425]

Thank You So Much!!! Great Tutorial!

[@VladthePainter]

SUPERB!!!! And what help!! Many Thanx!!

[@saals5316]

Thank you I love this tutorial

[@alloam]

This is a super useful video, thank you for your time!

[@chokolatgurl]

THIS. IS. AMAAAAAAAAAAZING!!!!! I'm very new to Adobe Character Animator (like... three days old and spiraling down a rabbit hole of learning lol). I absolutely cannot wait to use these tips as a guide. Right now, I'm just watching thru. Next watch, I'll take notes. Then I'll practice. Thank you for this!

[@Boodlebobs]

Hi Dave, Allways learning new things from you. Thank you.

[@OhayoMacchiato]

Super fun to learn. Thank you!

[@KSals]

Just started following you. Never used photoshop before. I appreciate your help!

[@thebuzzingbrain]

You are Genius. thanks for this tutorial and all free assets. :)

[@Revenger_fcm]

was a life-saver. Thanks a lot.

[@feelingatom3477]

Thanks Dave ! Great tutorial as allways. Cheers from France...

[@fluellencos5735]

tnx, very informative workflow! i learned some for my newbie animation journey! thanks a lot.

[@jimcrick4429]

Many thanks sempai. Love these vids

[@AlexisBradley]

Incredibly helpful! Thank you!

[@stefand1254others]

amazing man, simply amazing