# character animation Character animation is a broad concept that covers the [[history of animation]] and all the different [[5 types of animation|types of animation]]. It is the idea of adding motion and a sense of life to a character, whether it is a human, animal, or even a humble [flour sack](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=flour+sack+animation&atb=v274-1&ia=web). Beyond just showing movement, good character animation can impart a sense of emotion, thought, attitude, weight, or even level of energy. Character animation is used in full-feature animated films and television shows, but also in commercials, on websites, and in mobile apps. The movements can be big and bold or subtle and nuanced. The purposes can be for entertainment or engagement, to sell a product or show how to do something. The animation can tell a story or serve as eye-candy to spice up a boring website. > [!info]+ Learn more about character animation… > - [2D Explainer Video Examples from Idea Explainers](https://ideaexplainers.com/2d-character-animation/) - company for hire that makes character animation explainers > - [How to Choose the Right Type of Character Animation for Your Project from MoweStudio](https://mowe.studio/animation-character-styles/) > - [Character Animations: How to choose them for your project? from Vidalgo](https://vidalgo.ai/character-animations-how-to-choose-them-for-your-project/) > - [8 Reasons Why You Should Use An Animated Logo from svgator](https://www.svgator.com/blog/reasons-to-use-animated-logo/) - the focus is on logo animation but the examples are relevant > - [Course notes for character animation from Greg Marlow](https://documents.sessions.edu/eforms/courseware/coursedocuments/character_animation_i/lesson1.html) - a deep complicated dive into many of the concepts The famous [[12 principles of animation]] can be used as guides for ways to create interesting and appealing characters. It can be about creating believable motion, appealing characters, use of overlapping motion and secondary movement. It can take a lifetime to master the subtle art of character animation. For now, here are two different technical approaches to get started creating character animation in After Effects… ## use basic move & rotate [Subtle Character Animation in After Effects from Ben Marriott](https://youtu.be/t6BXA3_TCH4) is a good animation breakdown using basic move and rotate on individual elements. The demo makes good use of graph tweaks for subtle animation. It also has a note about using **hold** keyframes to focus on blocking instead of worrying about tweening and easing while developing the animation. [Simple Character Animation For Beginners from Kashu Academy](https://youtu.be/UkbkI7JApfE) has some good steps for breaking down an animation into smaller parts. ## use puppet tool Instead of individually animating a set of different elements, you can also use [[puppet tool animation]] to warp and deform objects in a visually interesting way. SonduckFilm has two good YouTube demos on how to use this approach. - [Create Detailed Character Animation Cartoons in After Effects YouTube video from SonduckFilm](https://youtu.be/JvqX-y37RC8) primarily uses [[grouping with pre-compose|pre-compose]] to build looping elements and [[puppet tool animation]] for character animation. Also has some small programming tricks for individual animations. - [Easy Explainer Video Character Animations in After Effects YouTube video from SonduckFilm](https://youtu.be/JFXVtffqvBY) uses source imagery with different facial expressions and animating switching between them. This requires editing downloaded vector files using Adobe Illustrator. He primarily uses [[puppet tool animation]] to get the effect. --- tags: #aftereffects #animation #resources home: [[! after effects]]