IExpressions-2-Character-Animation-Tutorial-Series

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In bonus part 8 you learn how to create a parallax effect for the 2D scrolling background.
Depending on the distance, the different parts of the background move with a different speed. With the iExpressions rig shown in this part, you only need to move one background layer manually and all other elements follow automatically with a speed that depends on their distance.

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In part 7 add more realism to our character with secondary animations. We addd a little bit of random motion since in real life people never stand 100% still. Also, we animate her chest to simulate some breathing and make her hair swing a bit when she is walking.

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In part 6 we extend the rig for our baby buggy such that the buggy wiggles automatically when it is moving.

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In part 5 we create the rotating wheels of the baby buggy. They rotate automatically when you move the character. And even the highlights on the spokes fade in and out naturally when the wheels are rotating.

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In part 4 you learn all about Zorro, the layer tagger. This tool is very helpful, whenever you have an After Effects project with lots of layers.

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In part 3, we create an automated walk cycle with iExpressions. You just need to keyframe the position of the character and the iExpressions-based rig animates the legs and the body automatically such that the character is walking.

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more.

In part 2, we connect the skeleton to our character using the puppet tool. You learn the basics, but also some advanced tips for this workflow. For example, you learn how to achieve that puppet pins on the skirt of the character are influenced by the bones of both legs simultaneously.

An in-depth 8 part series to create a highly automated rig to animate 2D characters for cartoons in After Effects. The rig is based on iExpressions 2 and the puppet tool. It features an automated walk cycle, automatically rotating wheels, secondary animations and much more. 

In part 1, create a skeleton for our character with the inverse kinematics iExpressions. The skeleton is the basis for all subsequent animation.