Let’s create a new composition and import footage of a character, preferably with embedded alpha. Puppet Tool only works on still images. When working with live footage, you’ll need to split the footage into two layers: a footage layer and a still frame layer with alpha, where you’ll apply the Puppet Tool effect. In this tutorial, we’ll use our "Karate Man" character that we created for Adobe to help them demonstrate and promote After Effects version 8.0 as part of Creative Suite 3 (CS3). However, our example can apply easily to any character of your choosing.

Select the still frame layer and click on the Puppet Tool Pin on the tool bar. To animate Karate Man kicking the text, you have to place a series of pins at the joints: feet, ankles, knees, pelvis, arms and head, similar to how you would rig a character. Add more points if necessary, but try to minimize the number of pins for better management and a smaller file size. Last, but not least, organize and rename the pins (this makes life a lot easier, especially when the pins begin to pile up).

Once the Puppet Tool is applied to a layer, it creates a mesh on top of the image. To reveal the mesh, click on Puppet Tool and check the mesh box next to the Puppet Tool icon. Usually, the default mesh-triangles settings work fine. You can always increase the number of triangles for a smoother deformation, although file size will increase with the number of triangles.

If Karate Man’s arm swings over his body as he kicks, it will intersect with his leg and torso. We can solve that problem with the Puppet Overlap Tool. Hold down the Puppet Tool icon on the tool bar and select the Puppet Overlap Tool. Check the Show Mesh box to reveal the mesh. To bring Karate Man’s arm forward, place a few pins on the arm’s mesh until the arm’s mesh is highlighted. The pins will appear blue instead of yellow. Now his arm will remain on top whenever it’s animated over his body.

We might want Karate Man’s torso to receive less influence from the adjacent pins. The Starch Tool can minimize the deformation in the torso area. You’ll find the Starch Tool under the Overlap Tool. Click on the Starch Tool, check the Show Mesh box, and pin the area you want to keep stiff. Open the layer effect option of the still image layer. You will have three different sets of pins: Deform, Overlap and Stiffness. For each pin, there are parameters to adjust the amount of influence you want on the mesh.

Now to animate the foot kicking the text, you have the option of using keyframe, expression, and/or the Puppet Pin Record Options. The Record Options tracks the pin motion in real time and generates key frames for the movements. Simply hold down the command key (Mac OS) until the curser changes into a stopwatch, and then drag the foot to animate. Once you let go, a set of key frames will appear in the timeline. Now you just have to spend some time to adjust and smooth out the animation.

Text layers work similarly to image layers. We can create the text layers with the AE Text tool. Apply the Puppet Tool to the text layer and it will create a mesh for each letter. Set pins on the letters A and Y. Animate the position of your letters as they come in contact with the foot. Leave other letters alone since the animated meshes will not affect them. Refine the movements- and you’re done!

Shuyi Wu
Animator/Compositor
UVPHACTORY

Shuyi Wu is an animator/compositor who graduated from the School of Visual Arts and joined UVPHACTORY (UVPH) in 2005. UVPH, an award-winning design, production and motion graphics company, is staffed by multi-disciplinary directors, designers, producers, animators and artists working in conceptualization, live-action direction and production, editorial, 2D/3D animation, sound composition/design and final compositing for broadcast, commercial, film, music video and web clients. Shuyi recently worked on the Adobe CS3 promo, a recent music video for My Chemical Romance, spots for Nike and IFC, among others.

Shuyi says Keep in Mind…
Consider the Puppet Tool as a mesh warp or a 2D character rig tool. It allows simple character animations, but don’t rely on it to make anything fancy. Any extreme movements will break the mesh or overly distort the image. In addition, the mesh shape is based on the alpha, so make sure your image has an alpha channel. This tool is fairly simple to use, but depending on what you want to do, it might take some time and effort to achieve a smooth and realistic motion. This tool was originally designed to animate graphic shapes, but I find it works just as well with live footage.

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Support Gear: After Effects 8.0, Mac OS X, 4×2.5 GHz Power PC G5