Here we go over what you need to do to properly assemble a character for layer based Duik rigging.

It's important to set up your character composition before diving into the animation process. Duik will mess up if you change the size of a comp after applying and linking bones.

Duik, by default, launches in Rookie mode. This can make things less complicated for newcomers, but it does hide additional tools we need. Here we look at how we can toggle to Normal and Expert modes.

Creating bone structures in Duik is easy with all the built in templates. Here we will use the Hominoid template to set things up for rigging and animation.

Zeroing out the bones is the term used to set a safe default position for a bone we can easily access. In this video we show you how to do this.

With the skeleton in place, it's time to attach the layers so they move with the bones.

In the final video for this chapter we go over different options you can choose for when it comes to refining the controller movements.

The puppet pin based rig will require a different layout. Here all bendable layers are one layer, as opposed to two with the layer based option. Puppet pin rigging is useful if you're looking for bendable, cartoony-like movements.

Before incorporating Duik, we need to go through and add puppet pins for our bendable layers. Adding puppet pins is something you can do with no plugins. It's built right into After Effects.

With Duik, we can create bones for the pins we assigned with the Puppet Pin tool. This makes interacting with them easier as we don't have to go into the mesh with each layer to access the pins.

Here we go through the process of creating a Hominoid skeleton, auto rigging and attaching pin bones to the structure.

Not happy with the way your limbs are bending? Try adding some starch to the mesh to create more refined bends!

It's easy to add additional bones with Duik. Here we demonstrate the process by adding bones to control the hair.

There are ways to swap layers using the vanilla version of After Effects. Here I demonstrate a couple ways you can do this in case you don't want to purchase Joysticks n' Sliders.

Joysticks can be as simple or complex you want them to be. Here we demonstrate how to move a limb by binding it to a joystick.

Like the limbs, we can add controls for body movements. Here we take a look at how this can be implemented.

Using either Duik or Joysticks n' Sliders, we can create a controller which easily allows us to animate the pupils.

Depending on your needs, it may be complicated to dig through compositions to find a certain joystick or slider you've implemented. Luckily we can choose where to place the joysticks in the comp hierarchy with the parent and child options.

By using a slider, we can set our main poses and allow interpolation through dragging a dial. In this case we will use the eyelids as an example.

Like the eye lids, we can control the eyebrows using a slider. This video demonstrates how to set it up.

If you're looking to create a graphical workflow using sliders, this video will show you how.

Once you bind keyframes to a joystick or slider, you no longer can edit those actions as everything is set to the controller. Luckily there is an option that allows you to unbind actions so you can edit.

Looking to create more complex actions? Linking multiple joysticks or sliders together can help with this process.

If you're looking to create step or hold based animations, Joysticks n' Sliders can do this through Swap Templates. Set up your poses and control it with a joystick. This video demonstrates how to set up different hand poses.

Similar to creating hand poses, we can set up a joystick to invoke different head phases as we see fit. This video demonstrates the process.

Here we will create a joystick that links to the head turn to accommodate the ponytail. This process will be a little different than the head turn as we need to modify our pins to create additional angles.

Like the hand poses, we can set a joystick to cycle through mouths. This can be useful for lip syncing or creating different emotions with the mouth.

With Duik, we have the ability to save and reuse keyframes with any project. This is great for building a library of reusable actions. Here we show how to import and export simple and more complex animations.

The Adobe Suite is incredibly versatile. Why use just one app? With Character Animator, we can easily auto lip sync and bring the file into After Effects. Any changes made in Character Animator will update instantly in After Effects.

Here we begin the process of building our main animation for testing. We will be using the Duik controllers exclusively for this process.

The process of animation continues. This time we get the jump hashed out, along with some minor refinements.

In the final step of the Duik animation process, we add a wave and polish up any actions that need it.

With the Duik animations in place, we can now use the joysticks to adjust blinks, hand poses and head turns.

In the final step of the testing process, we will add the character to a scene composition and see how the animation plays out with a background.

With the test complete, it's time to export it out for the world to see!

My final thoughts on this course.