Limb IK (Adobe Character Animator Tutorial)

[@horrormania4094]

highly underrated youtuber and teacher!

[@Pugituppugitup]

Okay Samurai has the Best Adobe Tutorials I have found.

[@whoozie]

It's cool how you improved arm IK into this...character animator is one of the best software for animation

[@AiRJacobs]

Just finished a course on Lynda about creating and animating a character in AE. Wanted to learn the tougher, manual way first, and I can confirm doing a whole cartoon the old fashion way is hell. So glad Character Animator exists to streamline the heck out of the whole process. Can't wait to start some of your tutorials.

[@moneygrowz]

I was to say the same thing! This video really helps you appreciate character animator

[@JimmyFlame]

Yes… I still find myself checking out your tutorials! Sometimes the basics find a way to hide (at times) 😂

[@tcby2332]

I'm coming to life with all this advice. With love, T-Hawk.

[@Dramadonia]

I was actually just looking for a video on this when the notification popped up. Talk about synchronization.

[@animatinglinc]

Dave you are officially my superhero for 2020.

[@DigitalPuppets]

Thanks for the shout out, we rig all our puppets with the extra face behaviour and it works great :)

[@madisonbailey3575]

really appreciate the time and effort that has gone into making these tutorials! super helpful!!

[@damonhenson51]

What would I do without your page! Your the best man. Thanks for all the great tutorials! Learned CA solely by watching your vids.

[@nibiru2486]

this is one spectacular update Dave!!

[@Butterflyfilmstudio]

Hey! Thanks for the shoutout @okaysamurai! Love limb ik!!!🤙🏽🤙🏽❤️

[@okaysamurai]

Haha awesome, glad you got to see that. Great character! Is the final piece out yet?

[@Butterflyfilmstudio]

@@okaysamurai not yet. Missing some key scenes that haven’t been drawn yet.

[@arijitroy005]

I am a beginner in animation and I am really lucky that I discovered this channel.... Many thanks bro... You earned a subscriber btw...

[@blue7258]

Love your excitement and passion! Thank you!

[@sitamurakonda6547]

Character animator is really great.it is saving so much of time..thanks for advanced features

[@bobbleheadjoefilms6151]

Thanks Dave for going through this process. Also great job on Adobe Max

[@3eyefilms]

Thank You!!! This Tutorial opens my eyes on what I can do. Amazing!

[@1WillyDAVID]

thanks Dave, pretty cool, comprehensive tutorial!

[@misschief.artist6954]

Wow you are amazing. Pleasure to watch you and your work.

[@malcolmr8348]

Just some product design feedback on the elbow bend behaviour, it would be nice to have auto hand swap when, the elbow bends past 180 degrees into the other direction, when your arm is bent outwards you're likely to see the open hand side of a hand, however if the arm bends inwards so the hand moves towards the torso, it is likely to display the back of the hand. This could then be set so, that any hand set you have you can have a front and back hand for each hand design so whenever a specific hand design is toggled and the hands are being moved around, the hand also faces the expected direction. this change is likely to occur at the elbo change point, and could be a trigger setting below auto arm bend.

[@aniteshsikarwar8680]

I must say you are doing great work dude, Thanks for teaching things in detailed. I really appreciate your hard work

[@W0ndaze]

I have been looking for this!! Thank you😁

[@cadomosting]

Thanks so much Okay Samurai, your videos have been as valuable as the software itself, you kick @ss.

[@benbendor4647]

Great addition to the amazing software. Thanks so much (jumping of joy)

[@PKXDJourney]

Is there any way to sync the left and right arms movement ? Or maybe a way to watch the pre recorded movements while we are recording a new one. Thanks !

[@okaysamurai]

Yep! Two dragger behaviors. Check out kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqDPqXuEnt11pqM.

[@PKXDJourney]

@@okaysamurai Wow ! Thanks a lot, exactly what I needed😄

[@Johubs]

You're my actual hero. Thank you 🙏🏼

[@joopluten9764]

As always excellent presentation. Some interesting new developments.

[@Astronomikat]

Really really appreciate all the tutorials and tips. Keep it coming! and THANK YOU!

[@jackalopeb9598]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO!!!! I am finally understanding Limb IK. I watched your video but some stuff was outdated. Thanks again!

[@7anzalaanagy341]

Thanks Dave Amazing waiting for more tutorials and more App's devolving 👍😍

[@KatsuraSunshineRakugoChannel]

You videos are so so so good! Thanks to you I have learned how to animate in a few days!!!

[@beatrepreneur]

Thank you for your videos you've Givin me a solid foundation.

[@썸머뱅-f5k]

Thank you. Thanks to you, I'm studying hard. I'll watch all the videos!!

[@andrecheung8416]

how is this video not getting a few million views?!

[@Taylor92229]

I’m buying it now. I’m excited to start working.

[@sketchperez]

Hello! Two minutes in you do an effect that makes the characters look more like traditional animation. You have two frames of the character playing rapidly back and forth, how are you doing that in Character animator?

[@okaysamurai]

That's called "cycle layers" animation, and I talk about it in the triggers tutorial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jau8e5WQjs2ro80. The character Scribbles on okaysamurai.com/puppets/ also does this technique.

[@sketchperez]

@@okaysamurai Wow, thank you so so much for responding. I appreciate all the effort you've put into all of these resources. I know it's not easy, we are all super grateful for your commitment. 🙏🏽🙌🏽

[@golord]

I was having a problem with the Evans robot puppet that I was able to solve with this tutorial. In recording the scene, I would bend the left arm up, turn on the weapon, and shoot fire upward. However, when playing back the scene, the weapon would point downward and shoot fire downward. I turned off Auto Arm Bend, and this seems to have fixed the issue. Thanks!

[@bodnarbulcsu]

This is amazing! Keep up the good work!

[@rawsomeism]

Hello :), I have a question for the hands. When I put them on the hips like your first character in the video, they stay on her hip when she moves her torso to the left and right. At my character the hands don’t stay on the same spot on the hips when the rest of the body moves they kind of hover to right and left with the torso. Did you tweak that afterwards or are thy stuck to the hip with a magnet or so? Thanks for your awesome Videos

[@okaysamurai]

Hmmm, the only reasons I can think of this happening are a) Limb IK > Pin has different settings for the wrists instead of the defaults of puppet / 100%, or b) the arms are rigged differently and are creating a floating issue. If the problem persists, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.

[@DesignedByMaejor]

This video has given me life.....

[@MaxLineExoticBullsK9]

Can you have one of these limb ik set ups with frontal and independent head....2 head rig with head turner behaviours +frontal+side profiles+quarter profiles ...also draggable?

[@okaysamurai]

Maybe...? A lot of this can still feel experimental when you get into the hacks of adding extra heads. I would try it with a simple stick figure rig and see if you can get it to work. If the problem persists, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.

[@sonicgaming618]

Hey How can I bend my chrctr torso while he is sitting because it looks weird that legs are bending and of chrctr but the torso is straight so any tip on this?

[@okaysamurai]

If they're sitting maybe don't use the double head rigging treatment I show here for the Yoga character - you'll get more body movement if you rig it more like a traditional character.

[@AndreGuedesCartoon]

Amazing

[@sarvihoo4650]

OMG! You're so good! Thanks a lot for sharing all these :) I always dreamed about making animations. I can't believe that it can come true 🥲

[@mehranali4719]

Nice sir i have a question how to deshaped the character like tom hit the jerry with a stick is it animated using cycle layers and triggers or something else

[@okaysamurai]

You could do that with cycle layers, replays, or just using dragger.

[@thegamershub3917]

GREAT DAVE!

[@gulshansingh-gds]

Hi Dave When want to use limb IK on hand but dont want to use weld feature instead I want to rotate like hing from elbow can you please suggest me something. I spent almost 3 hours trying different things but failed 😞

[@okaysamurai]

Try this concept: drive.google.com/file/d/1FChn0PqCudGjFydjKlgwiUbaeiGWQPiO/view?usp=sharing

[@gulshansingh-gds]

@@okaysamurai Thank you so much for instant reply brother 🙌

[@obsoletevalues6209]

3:54 "I want to add the plus in front of each of these to make them independent." How do you do that? Do you just rename the group and add a "+"? Or do I have to do something else?

[@okaysamurai]

You can add a + in the PSD or AI file, or just toggle the crown icon on in Rig mode inside CH. Either works.

[@obsoletevalues6209]

@@okaysamurai Thank you!

[@obsoletevalues6209]

@@okaysamurai I just went into Rigging and toggled the Crown to "on," then opened Printshop, and the "+" sign wasn't in front of the word Head. Sorry, but I encounter a dozen of these kinds of glitches every day in Character Animator.

[@jo.da.6240]

Hi Dave! Sorry, I must be annoying with all those questions. ;) This might be the last one! I was wondering: I am using a character with 4 different views, that I can switch between (1 frontal, one profile, one side, one back), I rigged them all up, no issues. Now the genius part is that the Limb IK Behavior, the Motion Library and the Body Behavior on the Master Level affect (all) the views. So I can animate something with the Frontal View, make the puppet dance, and then change in between the different views and I don't have to adjust/add everything again. Also the ground level stays the same for all the views. So if I make my puppet bend in the frontal view, then switch to the side, the knees and ankles bend at the same position. So far, so awesome!! I am in love with the software. However, for some reason, the Limb IK Behavior, Motion Library and Body Tag do not work on the back view. (the forth one in the hierarchy). I tried everything, mirroring the left/right tags, etc. If I give the back layer its extra Limb IK, Motion Library and Body Tag, it works. BUT it is a bit buggy with the ground layer. So if in the Front view my character bends its knees and ankles, I have to add the same motion to the back view, which would be fine, but for some reason, it does not natively have a feel for the ground layer. I have to drag the feet just a little bit, then it finds a ground layer, but it seems to different and more buggy than the main ground level from the upper IK Behavior Tag. Even though the feet are on the exact same position. Now my question: Is the IK-Behavior limited in some way to only be able to affect a certain number of tags in the hierarchy? Or at what point does it get confused with too many tags? I am just trying to understand the problem and couldn't find anything on google. If I loaded the puppet with only the back view, the master IK Tag worked. I mean, I wouldn't mind to give every layer view its own Limb IK, etc. Behaviors, I already tried that, but then the ground layer does not match up all between them and it's super glitchy. This way, I now at least have consistency between the frontal, profile and side view. But it would be the icing on the cake, if the back view would also follow. :) As a side note: This also affects the face behavior! So it's not just limb IK.

[@okaysamurai]

So I believe the way this works is that behaviors are carried through to view tags. So when you name something frontal or left profile, that gets tagged as a new "view" and everything inside it should work the same as any other view. Because we don't have a back view, my best guess is that view wasn't tagged, and so it's not working as expected. If you tag the back folder as an additional view you're not using, like left quarter, then I think it should work. If the problem persists, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.

[@jo.da.6240]

Oh wow, you are on to something! I changed the name for the back view from "+Back" zu the German one and all over sudden it worked but now the Side one is not working. I named it back to "+Back" to see if it stopped working, to replicate the error, but no - now the Side now is refusing no matter what I name the views. :D Also tried to name it a bunch of things. Hmmm... I will try my luck with naming views and if I fail, I'll upload the puppet, thank you! :)

[@jo.da.6240]

Alright, it seems to be an issue of both naming and order. No matter name and order, the Frontal and Frontal Profile always get recognize. But depending on how I order and name Side und Back, on of them does not work. But it's not consistent bug. So I think I'll upload the puppet. Is it then downloadable for everyone? I'm a bit afraid to just make the puppet public by accident since it's for a client.

[@jo.da.6240]

I should also note that I don't intend to control the puppet via Body. I just want the limb IK to work. So I haven't tagged them as views, I just named them in photoshop.

[@jo.da.6240]

​@@okaysamurai I take everything back, you were 100% right!!! Even though I changed the names in photoshop and in ChA, because before I had them named as Frontal and Frontal Profile, they were still tagged with the frontal face. No idea why always one of the additional ones worked since they weren't tagged but it now it WORKS!! Wow, man, you saved me a headache, was going crazy the whole day about this issue! Amazing!! Thank you!

[@chaseconnors7518]

This is awesome!!! Huge update. I love your videos Okay Samurai! I also have a question, with the jumping character with the baseball cap, he had a traditional animation feel because his layers were looping! How can I do that that's one of the things i've been missing about character animator!!!

[@okaysamurai]

Yeah, so if you look in Rig mode, for most of his parts I have them as groups with two layers inside and a Cycle Layers behavior added to the group. So basically I just drew every layer twice and the behavior cycles between the two states. It makes for a cool effect for sure!

[@scherpandy]

Hello, thank you for this tutorial. Just a question about the tagging of shoulders and hips: shouldn't they be made on the body layer ? I'm a bit confused... :))

[@okaysamurai]

In general, for most body behaviors (Limb IK, Walk, Body, and a new one coming soon), there can be subtle differences if you put the shoulders and hips on the body vs. the limbs. Bottom line: either is considered correct, and if something isn't working, try the other way!

[@scherpandy]

@@okaysamurai thank you!

[@HeartandSoulApothecary]

That was great, answered some of the issues I was having too - extra bonus there! Thank you so much!

[@dsc4eva]

Hey there, the eyeballs and red dots on my behaviours in the properties panel are not there for me how they are there for you. How can I get them to appear?

[@okaysamurai]

Make sure you are in Pro mode and the "Record" workspace. Eyeballs and red dots don't show up if you're in Rig mode.

[@sergeapreo6205]

How do you define the ground plane? I seem to be able to drag the Yoga June character by the body up and down and the feet won't go down past a certain line near the bottom of the screen. Instead the rest of the body comes down, giving the illusion of a ground plane. I can't seem to recreate this with my own character.

[@okaysamurai]

The ground is wherever the feet start out. So position your character using the Transform behavior, and that will be where things start. If the problem persists, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.

[@themysteriousunknownrevealed]

Mr. Werner, this has got to be the most amazing adobe software that's been launched. Everything is so incredible! I think I may actually realize my dreams of being an animator! My CC just update Character Animator to 2021. Do you have any videos that showcase and demonstrate , if any, the new features? Thank you for all that you've done and continue to do!

[@okaysamurai]

There isn't a lot of big stuff in the new release - primarily behind the scenes stuff and bug fixes - but I might do a video about some of the new puppets (Hopscotch on the homepage and Alex & Sam on adobe.com/go/chexamples) soon.

[@HistoryHeroes]

Awesome Work Dave !

[@jeffersonoliveira9301]

Hello, i want know if he capture the moves of other body beyond of head ?

[@okaysamurai]

Not yet! Currently you need to use the mouse to drag the other limbs around like I show in this video.

[@mM-sp4ui]

Hey Dave I did the exact thing you did with the frontal and the head (crowned) but I have a right quarter as well and when I turn the character disappear from the scene how can I fix this?

[@okaysamurai]

It sounds like CH is trying to swap between the front and quarter views but not all the artwork is under the right quarter tag so it isn't coming along for the ride. I have not seen the system I'm showing here work with head turner personally, but if anyone knows how to do it, it would be the Digital Puppets UK guys - check them out, I think they do this technique with head turns as well.

[@markfrain]

Is this additional frontal head view still a requirement/recommendation?

[@okaysamurai]

Not required, but still recommended if you want that extra head tilt.

[@alejandrodominguez7744]

Hello, need a bit of help please, I created a toon version of myself and want to animate it. When im done with the rigging of the arms, when I try them idk why they´re still strechable and my elbows still bend in akward ways. I have added the sticks/bones and tagged the handles correctly according to each arm (each one has the crown so I know they're independent) and added the limb ik behavior. I still dont know what im doing wrong or different.

[@okaysamurai]

If you're still seeing the stretching, it means Limb IK can't find the tagged handles. You can try adding the Limb IK behavior to different parts instead of the top level, like the Body group, to see if that helps. If it persists, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more help.

[@JR-ci3dh]

really cool. Is this program also useful for let a character walk (not using the walk behaviour), but just set different poses in a walk cycle? As I just saw the bone tool in adobe animate

[@okaysamurai]

Yes, some users have used Limb IK + Replays to make a custom walk animation...it's great!

[@udittatisar5336]

You are amazing bro

[@snap-n-shoot]

I moved the characters right arm from rest pose to a wave pose. I created a 2 frame take and then dragged that take to be 1 second long, i added easing and created a replay trigger. It worked perfectly. I then did exactly the same thing for the left arm, but when I play the replay, the arm flips in the wrong direction before getting to the wave pose. No matter what I try it will not do what the right arm does even though they are rigged exactly the same. Any suggestions?

[@okaysamurai]

Hmmm, hard to diagnose here but if anything was recorded for the left arm, even as part of the right arm replay, then it will compete with any additional movements, leading to weird results. It could also be a bug. If it persists, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more help.

[@ivatodorova5519]

Hello, I do not have the option for Limb IK in my Character Animator program. Can you tell me which version you are using, or maybe where to find it outside of behaviours maybe?

[@okaysamurai]

You most likely have an older version. I'm using version 4.0.

[@andycrosier3541]

Hello again! Can you add Limb IK to a character that already has a walk behavior? I did, and the character's arms are stretching too much. I'm having the character walk for 3 sec, and then stop and face forward, -when it faces forward I'd like to be able to move it's arms(in a normal way). Is the solution to just have two puppets? One that only walks and talks, and the other one doesn't have a walk behavior, and somehow try and blend the two when the walking version stops walking? Or, can you do this, -I'm just not understanding how to control the stretching?

[@okaysamurai]

Yeah so Limb IK and Walk are kind of fighting with each other because they're both looking for the same handles like wrist, shoulder, etc. Typically I will only include Limb IK for the stationary pose in a 3 view walk puppet and let Walk take over for the left/right movement. The only way I know how to control the arms with walk is to not tag them at all except for a draggable, and then you can move them however you want (but lose Limb IK). Yes, for a lot of my puppets I tend to do walking and stationary versions. And if I really need Limb IK for walking I'll fake it in After Effects - usually by cutting the character off at the legs and just bobbing them up and down to look like walking motions!

[@andycrosier3541]

@@okaysamurai Thanks for the response, that's a good work around!

[@judgeworks3687]

Great tut as always. Are there any hacks for animating 4 legged animal characters?

[@okaysamurai]

Here's one way to do it with the Walk behavior, Limb IK could work as well: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nafCY4imq9mgY68

[@judgeworks3687]

@@okaysamurai THanks! I will try that.

[@UnMicroshow]

but what should I do if I have my head turns (Frontal, left & riht quarters) inside of the head group. would it be ok to have two frontal groups?

[@okaysamurai]

This should be possible, but you may need to play with behavior placement to make sure the head turner is picking up the correct views (same issue when adding head turner + a walking 3-view character). If you get stuck, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.

[@benafedeyim]

I LOVED YOUR CHANNEL YOU ARE GREAT

[@rasdakai]

Hi. Some time ago I had a character created for me since I can't draw BUT I didn't realize that the arm goes behind the head when I need it in front of the head or at least the hand to the elbow. Any advice or video for that one? It's set up where the left arm in part of the body so I can't move it alone without making the whole body in front of the head

[@okaysamurai]

Yep, check out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/baHKnpKrabueh80si=YxqvbMrSVS8PweSy&t=287

[@renatus123]

omg, I want to try and add this head rotation thing, but I know that if you add a top level layer you loose ALL the rigging from every level below it. So if I add this extra "frontal' group at the top now, I'll loose like at least 100 'cycle layers' that I have in my puppet already... is there any way to save all my rigging somehow and add a top level layer to the image document? I have full head turns and multiple frames on every phoneme, so rigging all of it takes forever. Any ideas? I keep running into this when adjusting my AI document.

[@okaysamurai]

Hmmmm. Unfortunately I'm not sure there's an easy solution here. There are ways to select groups/layers in CH and go to Edit > Copy Behaviors or Paste Behaviors, so theoretically you might be able to copy and paste your relevant behaviors from the older character to the newer one.

[@johnsteele3384]

I have a working puppet using the second face behavior method outlined in this tutorial. I am now attempting to add Motion Library. So far, it does not work. Are the two approaches not compatible? I get a message saying Body and Limb IK behavior must be on same layer.

[@okaysamurai]

Body tracking (the Body behavior) came out after this video, so I would follow along with the main Body Tracking tutorial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYilfXSZibx7a7M. If the problem persists, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.

[@florianparisot4756]

Hi thanks for the amazing tutorials. Howerver i don't see what i'm doing wrong but my character have his legs floating follwing the head movement. I've seen you can pinpoint the feet. But it seems not to work with limb ik. (also i've seen a comment where you say it is not recomended to add pins on limb ik characters). I might have to also precise that my character has sides views too for the walk behaviours. i don't know if it might interfere with the behaviour of the frontal view where my problem is.

[@okaysamurai]

For walking characters I recommend not putting LimbIK at the top/root level of the puppet, but instead add the behavior directly on your frontal/standing group. That way it will bypass the walk views and only work for the single stationary view. If it persists, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more direct help.

[@KokuyoLouis]

Hi sorry to bother you but I may need some help. I have follow the tutorial to rig my own puppet, but my puppet can not detect the floor therefore the leg can't not bend when I drag the puppet. I have also downloaded the free file that you provided, but they also cannot detect the floor. Am I missing something in the tutorial?

[@okaysamurai]

The only reasons I can imagine the sample files aren't working is either a) you have an older version (current is 3.4), or 2) the Limb IK settings are different, like set to arms only. If it persists, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more help.

[@SwalifCartoon]

Hi , help please. I did limb ik for some of my characters, but some of them have a pin 📌 point, that don’t move when I drag the head,

[@okaysamurai]

For Limb IK we recommend not adding fixed handles (at least, on non-independent parts) as those can create pulling/pinching effects on those parts. I don't believe any of the example puppets shown here have any fixed handles. If you absolutely have to have one, try making that part independent so it won't affect the rest of the puppet.

[@SwalifCartoon]

@@okaysamurai i dont have fixed parts also there are no draggable point on the same part

[@okaysamurai]

Sounds like you might need some more direct help. If it persists, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more help.

[@Dramadonia]

I've had that issue in the past and it took me a while to realize it was the anchor point. Click on the puppet name to see if the anchor is located in that area. Sometimes it needs to be maneuvered around until you find a sweet spot or it makes the puppet looks like it's pinned to a particular spot.

[@SwalifCartoon]

@@Dramadonia I already tried, not helping : (

[@prosperityokechukwu1503]

pls what is the best way to save a file in character animator? This is like the third time I've lost intricate files after saving it sometimes with ctrl S even after I save with save as character animator project

[@okaysamurai]

Nothing should ever be lost - everything is auto-saved. If the problem persists, please upload a screenshot or description of what is happening exactly to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so the developers can take a closer look.

[@PapRendi]

Amazing, great tutorial. Thank You

[@IlyasandDuck]

Is it possible to copy the rigging to another character if the characters are identical except for say their outfit (that's on a separate layer)? Trying to save time rigging across multiple characters. Thanks in advance!

[@okaysamurai]

Yes, the easiest way to do this is to save a copy or duplicate the puppet - then select the copy in the project panel in CH, click the blue link on the right, and find the file to replace it. If the files are structured the same way, it should work great!

[@IlyasandDuck]

@@okaysamurai Thank you! Your videos are amazing and inspiring.

[@kzranimation]

Hi i did the frontal workaround as in the video, but now when i turn my head the character disappears. Do i need to make a full body for all angles?

[@kzranimation]

I tired assigning the all angle tags to the body folder but that didn't solve it.

[@okaysamurai]

I'm not sure how to correctly set up head turns using the frontal workaround, because frontal is also used for head turns. So the issue you're running into is probably that the head turner behavior is just seeing the frontal view and making everything else disappear. I think you might be able to solve this by putting the head turner behavior directly on the inner head group? If it persists, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more help.

[@ericgoodman38]

I have a question regarding the renaming of the face behavior as body on the top level puppet? Why are you renaming the face behavior there instead of the frontal view?

[@okaysamurai]

So you could really call these whatever you want - in this case with two Face behaviors, the "Body" one moves the body the most, while the "Face" one is more about moving the head. It's more about clarity to the animator in record mode to understand where the focus for each behavior is.

[@ericgoodman38]

@@okaysamurai Thanks, I understand that, but my question is shouldn't that change be made to the face property of the frontal layer rather than the Yoga2 top character layer? If not, it's just confusing to me, but I'll reconcile the issue in my mind:)

[@okaysamurai]

So if I look at the June puppet in the Limb IK pack, she has two Face behaviors: one on the "June" top level and the "Head" level. I renamed the top level "June" one to "Body" because, like all the other behaviors up there, it kinda controls everything below it; in this case, the full mesh of the character. I believe putting this on Frontal instead would still work in this case, but in cases of multiple views it wouldn't. And then the second Face behavior, on Head, is really only focused on the head itself. Bottom line: this is a pretty hacky solution and I hope we create better ways in the future to have this work with just 1 face behavior! Does that help?

[@ericgoodman38]

@@okaysamurai Yes, thank you for the in depth explanation.

[@7gpanda744]

Hi... Noob here just started.... can we export a recorded movement and add it to the list? Thanks if you can reply

[@okaysamurai]

I'm not sure what list you're talking about, but you can record movements and turn them into triggerable replays. kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4vMoHqFdtlriKcsi=T5xmy75TaNEG7YVO

[@Cwichita]

Does this recommended Frontal approach with Limb IK have room for the full Face Turner behavior? Or it's one or the other?

[@Cwichita]

I'm applying this to a puppet now. Will see. Terrific new feature, Limb IK, and great tutorial. Thanks as always.

[@okaysamurai]

Yes, this should still work, but you will want to place the Head Turner not at the top level but on the group level with all your views so the extra Frontal doesn't take over. If you run into any issues, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.

[@Cwichita]

@@okaysamurai Thanks for that tip. It worked. Putting Head Turner at the group level made the difference.

[@xmebane]

I've built my puppet matching "June's" layers in Photoshop & CH, tagging, everything, but when I go to my scene and try to raise either arm that is set with draggable points on the wrists, the entire arm floats off the torso. Can't figure out what's the problem. And the head floats a bit as well. Frustrated because I've watched this video over and over and can't find the disconnect.

[@okaysamurai]

Hard to diagnose here, but my best guess might be that something in the Body/torso might be independent or the arm origins aren't lined up with the body, causing it not to attach? That's the best idea I can think of, but for more direct help, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback.

[@Fredrickfederation]

Hi thank you for this tut. i have a problem with the latest update, cant move arms anymore i think its a bug is there a solution for that?

[@okaysamurai]

I would check Chloe from the home screen and see if you can drag her arms with the mouse. Make sure the dragger behavior is armed (red dot) on the right. If it persists, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more help.

[@counterfeitselfband]

These are great tutorials! I'm having a problem where I've place dragable points on the hands but they're still sort of frozen in place. I'm thinking is this because I had it auto-sync to pre-recorded audio? I have my puppet rigged and selected but when I play the scene, she's just frozen in place.

[@okaysamurai]

For characters like these it's probably because they have a default replay that is locking their hands into a certain prerecorded position. Look at their triggers and try unselecting the defaults in their "poses" group or wherever (turn off the lit up finger icon) - and you should regain control!

[@شريفشريف-ح3ه]

Is the program online and not necessary to buy it, and is it possible to download it on the mobile phone?

[@okaysamurai]

No, CH is currently a desktop program only, not online or mobile yet. www.adobe.com/products/character-animator.html

[@bjornwolfs2463]

Limb IK is great. I have a front facing puppet that handles perfectly, but now I want it to walk to the left and right. It seems impossible. I've been trying for hours and hours. I created a left and right profile and gave them walk behaviors, but the "two heads workaround" seems to create a problem here. Is it possible at all?

[@okaysamurai]

Yes, if you use Limb IK and Walk, I recommend only using Limb IK for the standing / frontal view in a 3-view walking character - so I would put the behavior only on that standing group, not at the top level. Otherwise it won't work because both behaviors (Walk and Limb IK) will be fighting over the same tags/handles. Walk will move everything automatically and doesn't need Limb IK. If it persists, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more help.

[@bjornwolfs2463]

@@okaysamurai Thank you very much for your reply. I started the setup and rigging from scratch and applied the Limb IK to the Standing view. But this way the puppet seems to lose the ground it is standing on. I can drag the puppet to anywhere in the scene. The feet don't recognise the ground anymore. When I move the Limb IK back to the top level. the feet do recognise the ground. I'm going to try some other things. There should be a way to make Limb IK and Walk work together.

[@okaysamurai]

Yes, it would be nice to have these work together too. For Eliza on okaysamurai.com/puppets, I did "Arms only" for her standing view, which seemed to work okay.

[@scott285]

@@bjornwolfs2463 @Okay Samurai I'm having this same problem. I set up the Limb IK for the front standing view of a 3-view walking puppet. When I try to drag the head, it drags the entire puppet around the stage. Any suggestions on what might help?

[@santiagodecuba5134]

Hi Dave! Do you have any tutorial explaining how to set up an arm, so that it can move behind and in front of the body?

[@okaysamurai]

Usually we recommend picking one or the other: kzbin.info/www/bejne/baHKnpKrabueh80

[@olytron007]

Is there a better way to control flopping hands? I can drag the wrists and the elbows bend correctly but I can't control the rotation of the hands.

[@okaysamurai]

If the hands are flopping, you may want to run a stick through the forearm & hands to keep them straight. If the problem persists, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.

[@olytron007]

@@okaysamurai Thank you for your quick reply. One more quick question, I am presuming there is not a way to animate the hands independently? I would like to give my character expressive hands. I easily swap out different hands but I have not figured out how to rotate said hands.

[@okaysamurai]

The best way to do this now would be to a) make the hand group independent and connect its origin to the forearm, and b) add a transform behavior to the hand group as well. Then if you adjust rotation on the hand transform behavior, it will rotate!

[@olytron007]

@@okaysamurai GAH! That worked! I could not figure that out. Thanks!

[@nicobrits2019]

Hey Dave, I can't get the animation to record if I make the moves and then press record. The arms jump up to the new position without showing the tweened movement in between

[@okaysamurai]

If you're using one of the example puppets, it's possible their swapset poses are getting in the way - you can delete those or turn the default off for full control. If it's your own puppets, you will need to blend the beginning/end of your performance if you want it to look smooth coming in/out. If it persists, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more help.

[@nicobrits2019]

@@okaysamurai Thanks, what is happening is that the blend works but I need to pose the next move from where the first tween ended. I can't make 2 movements and then record - the guy starts looking like a twister.

[@okaysamurai]

Got it. Yeah, with CH if I'm going from one pose to the next, I usually don't blend out unless I want to go back to the rest position. I keep it going and then do a new take that I blend on top of the old one, going from one pose to the next. I talk about this process a little bit in kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJmmfHdrq9Frapo.

[@jruss24]

Im having trouble with the arm I properly rigged but when I click and drag it drag the whole arm not stick it to the shoulder

[@okaysamurai]

Make sure the body is not independent and the arm group is set to weld or hinge and not free in the "attach style" parameter on the right. If the problem persists, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.

[@AgnosticAcqua]

How can I do this (the bending and squatting) with three or more legs? I'm trying to do a character with three legs (its actually the lower part of the dress that I have tagged as an additional leg) and given the third leg a walk and LimbIK behaviours. What I want is to bend the dress along with the legs in a sitting position. But only the two original legs bend and not the dress (third leg). I can see that the drag handle on the profile recognises LimbIK for the two original legs but not the third leg. How can I solve this?

[@okaysamurai]

For a third leg you would have to add an additional Limb IK behavior to the root/group for the third extra leg (so like, the second right leg full of right leg tagged handles), but I'm honestly not sure how well it would work - worth experimenting with though!

[@AgnosticAcqua]

@@okaysamurai Didnt work as desired. The added LimbIK behaviour also recognises the original two legs. And not the third leg. I really dont understand why this is not working. Ideally CH shld provide the option to select which tags we want behaviours to work with, and I get that its not something we have right now. But your suggestion, theoretically, shld have worked. Another thing thats funny is that LimbIK cant see the third leg even though its placed above the two original legs in layering.

[@AgnosticAcqua]

OK WAIT!! I dont know how it happened. But it just started to work (renaming both layers to 'left leg' worked i think, although I thought the naming didnt matter as much as the tagging). The original LimbIK now recognises the third leg as the first due to positioning. All walk behaviours still in tact. I've removed additional LimbIK u suggested above. And I can squat the character just like I intended. Oh yeah, I also did a system reboot to be sure.

[@JohnMcMahan5]

For some reason hands aren't draggable for me with both downloadable characters. Only the feet and neck are draggable. Do you know why this might be?

[@JohnMcMahan5]

Nevermind. I got it to work. I went back and rewatched the tutorial and after I disabled everything except for dragger, it worked. Thanks once again for another great tutorial.

[@freeacademy701]

Great Video, why when editing the original Psd or AI file by adding new profiles (right or left) the rigging on the already done profile disappears and you have to start from zero again?!

[@okaysamurai]

If you drastically change the structure of the PSD or AI file, like adding a new group or changing the hierarchy, CH can't keep up with where the existing artwork is anymore and can lose rigging from the shifting artwork. So we recommend saving any heavy duty rigging until you're 100% happy with your general PSD or AI folder/group structure.

[@WalaNimri]

I don't get yellow outline instead I get square around each leg or so? Is this the normal 2021 update?

[@okaysamurai]

Make sure the "show mesh outline" toggle is on in the bottom left corner of the Rig puppet panel. Yellow means what parts are connected together in a mesh. It doesn't always show up for every layer though, depending on your setup.

[@tiffanylabelle]

Brilliant Dave! Thank you!!

[@Climberfx]

I'm having a problem with walking cycles, that get more pronouncing when I put Limb IK on it. I start reseting the camera, to have my face aligned, then when the character start walking, it get short, and when limb ik is on, it walk with bended knees. Super strange. The only way to minimize that here is not using limb ik. Is there a fix for it? Using the latest Character Animator from Adobe Creative Clouds. (not beta)

[@okaysamurai]

Limb IK and Walk can "fight" over the same handles, causing problems. We recommend only using Limb IK for the standing position in a 3-view walk and not the left/right profiles because of this. Just put the behavior on your front/standing view only, not at the root, and it should work. If it persists, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more direct help.

[@HPoppington]

Awesome tutorial as always Dave. Didn't see any signs of the layer overlap issue (due to the warping effect) at the joints, has that been fixed in this release too?

[@okaysamurai]

Thanks! Overlap is still possible - I ran into it a few times with the Baker character's legs during some of the more extreme jumps. Hopefully we can make this better in the future.

[@HPoppington]

@@okaysamurai Thanks for letting me know.

[@CanberkSezer]

My character mouth is moving with it's body when i enable walk behavior, how can i fix that? And the limb is not working somehow, my characters arms are still stretching enlessly.

[@okaysamurai]

Hard to diagnose here - for more direct help, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback. Making the mouth group independent should help it not move with the body.

[@ramy.elbouhy]

When i used Eliza from past walk example and i add Limp IK i found that the both leg are separate from the body when i walk , how to fix this Issue , thanks in advance for this great efforts

[@okaysamurai]

Limb IK and Walk don't get along that well. I wouldn't add Limb IK for a single view puppet, and I would only add it to a standing view for a 3 view walk puppet. If the problem persists, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.

[@ramy.elbouhy]

@@okaysamurai thanks for replying,i will retest with the 3 view and upload the export puppet❤️