Distorting Objects with the Puppet Tools
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
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PROJECT: ANIMATED ILLUSTRATION
Pull, squash, stretch, and otherwise deform objects on the screen using the Puppet tools. Whether you’re creating realistic animations, fantastic scenarios, or modern art, the Puppet tools will expand your creative freedom.
LESSON OVERVIEW
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to do the following:
Place Position pins using the Puppet Position Pin tool.
Deform an image using Advanced pins.
Define areas of overlap using the Overlap pins.
Manipulate rotation and scale using Bend pins.
Stiffen parts of an image using Starch pins.
Animate the position of puppet pins.
Record animation using the Puppet Sketch tool.
Animate facial expressions with Character Animator.
This lesson will take approximately an hour to complete. Download the project files for this lesson, following the instructions in the Getting Started section under “Accessing the lesson files and Web Edition,” if you haven’t already done so. As you work on this lesson, you’ll preserve the start files. If you need to restore the start files, download them from your Account page.
Getting started
Using the Puppet tools in After Effects, you can add natural motion to raster images and vector graphics. Five tools create pins to define the point of deformation, areas of overlap, and areas that should remain more rigid. An additional tool, the Puppet Sketch tool, lets you record animation in real time. In this lesson, you’ll use the Puppet tools to animate a crab’s pincers in an advertisement.
Start by previewing the final movie and then setting up the project.
Make sure the following files are in the Lessons/Lesson08 folder on your hard disk, or download them from your Account page at www.peachpit.com now:
In the Assets folder: crab.psd, text.psd, Water_background.mov
In the Sample_Movies folder: Lesson08.avi, Lesson08.mov
Open and play the Lesson08.avi sample movie in Windows Movies & TV or the Lesson08.mov sample movie in QuickTime Player to see what you will create in this lesson. When you are done, close Windows Movies & TV or QuickTime Player. You may delete the sample movies from your hard disk if you have limited storage space.
When you begin this lesson, restore the default application settings for After Effects. See “Restoring default preferences” on page 3.
Start After Effects, and then immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (macOS). When prompted, click OK to delete your preferences. Click New Project in the Home window.
After Effects opens to display a blank, untitled project.
Choose File > Save As > Save As.
In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the Lessons/Lesson08/Finished_Project folder.
Name the project Lesson08_Finished.aep, and then click Save.
Importing footage
You’ll import two Adobe Photoshop files and a background movie.
Choose File > Import > File.
Navigate to the Lessons/Lesson08/Assets folder. Press Ctrl or Command to select the crab.psd and Water_background.mov files. Then click Import or Open. The assets appear in the Project panel.
Double-click an empty area in the Project panel to open the Import File dialog box again. Select the text.psd file in the Lessons/Lesson08/Assets folder.
Choose Composition – Retain Layer Sizes from the Import As menu. (In macOS, you may need to click Options to see the Import As menu.) Then click Import or Open.
In the Text.psd dialog box, select Editable Layer Styles, and click OK. The imported file is added as a composition to the Project panel; its layers are added in a separate folder.
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Creating the composition
As with any project, you need to create a new composition.
Click New Composition in the Composition panel.
Name the composition Blue Crab.
Choose NTSC DV from the Preset pop-up menu. The preset automatically sets the width, height, pixel aspect ratio, and frame rate for the composition.
In the Duration field, type 1000 to specify 10 seconds.
Change the Background Color to a deep cyan color. (We used R=5, G=62, B=65.) Then click OK to close the Composition Settings dialog box.
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After Effects opens the new composition in the Timeline and Composition panels.
Adding the background
It’s easier to animate the image in context, so first you’ll add the background to the composition.
Press the Home key or move the current-time indicator to the beginning of the composition.
Drag the Water_background.mov file to the Timeline panel.
Click the Lock icon (
) for the layer to prevent accidental changes to it for now.
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Animating imported text
The final movie includes two lines of animated text. Because you imported the text.psd file as a composition with layers intact, you can work on it in its own Timeline panel, editing and animating its layers independently. You’ll add an animation preset to each layer.
Drag the text composition from the Project panel into the Timeline panel, placing it at the top of the layer stack.
Double-click the text composition to open it in its own Timeline panel.
Shift-click to select both layers in the text Timeline panel, and choose Layer > Create > Convert to Editable Text.
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Now the text layers can be edited, so you can apply animation presets.
Go to 3:00. Then deselect both layers, and select only the BLUE CRAB layer.
In the Effects and Presets panel, search for the Fly In With A Twist animation preset. Then drag it onto the BLUE CRAB layer.
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By default, the animation preset lasts just over two and a half seconds, so the text will begin to fly in at 3:00 and finish at 5:16. After Effects adds the keyframes for the effect.
Go to 5:21, and select the charter services layer.
In the Effects and Presets panel, search for the Slow Fade On animation preset. Then drag it onto the charter services layer.
Return to the Blue Crab Timeline panel, and move the current-time indicator to the beginning of the time ruler. Press the spacebar to preview the animation. Press the spacebar again to stop playback.
Choose File > Save to save your work so far.
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Scaling an object
Next, you’ll add the crab. You’ll animate it so that it fills the screen at the beginning of the movie, and then quickly shrinks and moves into position above the area where the text will appear.
Drag the crab.psd file from the Project panel to the top layer in the Timeline panel.
Press the Home key to move the current-time indicator to the beginning of the time ruler.
Select the crab.psd layer in the Timeline panel, and press S to display its Scale property.
Change the Scale value to 400%.
Click the stopwatch icon (
) next to Scale to create an initial keyframe.Move to 2:00, and change the Scale to 75%.
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The crab scales appropriately, but its position isn’t quite right.
Press the Home key to return to the beginning of the time ruler.
Press P to display the layer’s Position property, and change the Position to 360, 82. The crab moves up to fill the composition.
Click the stopwatch icon next to Position to create an initial keyframe.
Go to 1:15, and change the Position to 360, 228.
Go to 2:00, and change the Position to 360,182.
Drag the current-time indicator across the first two seconds of the time ruler to see the crab animation.
Hide the properties for the crab.psd layer, and choose File > Save.
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