Rigging & Animation from the Front View in After Effects

Name: Rigging & Animation from the Front View in After Effects
Rating: 4.9 (4 reviews)

Learn how to rig and Animate any character you want from the front view without any plugins.

Created byMotion Guru

Last updated 5/2023

English

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What you'll learn

Rigging Without any Plugins and Scripts
Preparing Character For Rigging
Rigging Character From the Front View
Create Walk Cycle Animation From the Front view
Create Run Cycle Animation From the Front view
Replacing Character With Another After Rigging and Animation

Course content

3 sections • 23 lectures • 1h 40m total length

Downloading and Repairing the Character for Rigging3:28
Making the Leg3:15
Learn front-view leg animation in After Effects by building leg shapes with the shape tool, configuring stroke settings, taper, and end width to shape the limbs. Master layer parenting and trim path usage to synchronize the blue and white passes, then set keyframes and opacity for smooth knee movement.
Rigging the Leg1:59
Rig the leg in After Effects by creating nulls from path points, parenting shape layers to nulls, and linking thigh, knee, and body for synchronized leg movement.
Animating the Leg According to the Reference9:28
Animate the leg from a front view by matching ankle, knee, and shoe keyframes to reference poses, including contact, down, passing, and out, using shapes, nulls, and shoe scaling.
Creating the Left Leg3:23
Duplicate right leg layers to create the left leg, define nulls to connect joints, then parent to the body and flip; copy expressions loop the leg motion in After Effects.
Making the Arm3:27
Animating the Arm3:23
Animate the arm from the front view by keyframing scale, rotation, and end width across contact poses, with bends, easy ease, and proper part parenting.
Creating the Left Arm2:44
Create the left arm rig from the front view in after effects by flipping it horizontally with a null object and parenting it to the body, then loop keyframes.
Animating the Shirt4:12
Rigging and animating the shirt from the front view in After Effects, converting the body layer to a shape, then parenting layers and keyframing poses with continuous bezier easing.
Animating the Head6:16
Animate the head through zero, minus five, five, and zero poses with looping overlap; shape the eyes and eyelid, move the eyebrows, and apply motion with keyframes and easy ease.
Creating the Background2:56
Animate a 3D light background by keyframing its position and size, using the echo effect for red light posts, then loop the sequence with a null and a horizontal flip.

Preparing and Animating the Body4:14
Animate a run cycle in After Effects from a front view by rigging a character, setting 16 frames, keyframes for body movement, pose transitions, and path edits.
Animating the Legs8:05
Animate the right leg in After Effects using keyframes for ankle, shin, knee, and shoe across contact and passing poses, then mirror for the left leg with squash and stretch.
Animating the Arms5:14
Animate the arms in After Effects using keyframes for rotation and position, apply easy ease, and develop overlapping contact poses, then loop and parent the left arm to the body.
Animating the Head2:11
Animate the head layer by keyframing rotation and position, applying easy ease and continuous bezier to achieve overlapping actions across passing and contact poses.
Adding Details to the Animation6:08
Refine shadows and contact poses, loop leg movement with keyframes, and enhance speed lines using effects, masks, and layer tricks in After Effects.

Preparing the New Character For Replacing3:02
Replace a rigged character with a new one from Freepik, isolate head, neck, arms, and body in Illustrator, then import as a composition into After Effects and set resolution.
Replacing the Body and Head5:13
Replace the body by converting it to shape, create a body group, and align anchors to match the animation; then replace the head and adjust its position and back hair.
Working on the Legs7:16
Learn front-view rigging in After Effects by shaping and color-matching legs, adjusting stroke and taper, masking shoes, and aligning head and shadow with keyframes and parenting.
Working on the Arms3:41
Isolate the right arm layer, adjust the sleeve stroke and move the arm up to match the shoulder, then set keyframes and trim paths to refine end widths and color.
Making the other Leg and Arm4:53
Duplicate the right leg to create the left leg, set up and flip null objects, and master parenting and markers to synchronize leg and arm rigs in After Effects.
How to Replace the Eyes1:58
Replace eye and eyebrow shapes in After Effects by copying keyframes, isolating the head layer, and adjusting visibility, thickness, and color to match the character, then speed up the animation.
Animating the Hair3:37
Animate the back hair with the band effect, set moving start and end points, create and copy keyframes, apply ease, loop the hair, and fix its path without re-rigging.

Requirements

You must be Familiar With After Effects

Description

Hi Guys!

Whether you're a motion designer or a professional animator, you have probably been offered projects in which you have to rig and animate a character from the front view.

But since you weren't familiar with the basics and principles of front-view animation, you turned down the projects.

However, Don't worry anymore!

In this course, I'll show you how to rig and animate a character from the front view using a straightforward and practical method that doesn't require any plugins or scripts.

I'll begin this course by covering some fundamental topics, such as preparing the character for rigging. Once that’s done, I’ll move on to rigging a character from the front view. You will learn how to animate properly and how different parts of the character are animated. And how to use the references to create the walk cycle. Next, you’ll learn how to create an infinite background and loop the animation.

In the next chapter, you'll learn how to create a run cycle for the character you've rigged before with the help of the reference.

And the last chapter, you'll learn how to replace your character with a different one without having to redo any of your Rigging and animation work.

Please note that this course is intended for intermediate to advanced-level motion designers.

So, if you are still in the beginning, I highly recommend starting with my Motion Hero course before diving into this course.

Know that I will be around to help - if you get lost you can drop a post on the video 'Questions and Answers' below each video and I'll be sure to get back to you.

With the 30-day 100% money back guarantee, there is nothing holding you back from jumping in right now and trying the course out.

Go ahead and click the enroll button, and I'll see you in lesson 1!

Who this course is for:

Intermediate and Professional Motion Designers who wants to Improve Your Skills
Animators who wants to learn Rigging Character from the Front view

Rigging & Animation from the Front View in After Effects

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Rigging and Animating Character From the Front View11 lectures • 45min

Making Run Cycle Animation From the Front View5 lectures • 26min

Replacing Character With Another After Rigging And Animation7 lectures • 30min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: