Updated 9 October 2022
As stated in previous announcements, the content of this website has been left up and running because I think it still has some value to people beginning their exploration into After Effects expressions and the Duik toolset. However, with the release of Duik 17, expected in November of 2022, much of the content will become irrelevant, or at the very least not reflect the many changes coming to Duik. After Effects has made some important changes that affects puppet rigging since my last tutorial entry was posted as well.
Special Side-Project
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a lot of disruption in schools, as I’m sure you’re aware. My wife and I, being educators, did some tutoring of our grandchildren last year to supplement the online offerings of their school. Part of this involved the integration of research, writing, and communicating what was learned into the project below by Naomi, my 4th grade (at the time) granddaughter. We hope you enjoy it.
For those interested
An Adobe pipeline was used which centered on Character Animator for the interview animation which allowed Naomi to animate the puppets in real time one attribute at a time. She wrote the script and decided how to present the puppets, choosing the news-like interview formate due to the Rin (Scarlett) puppet not having any moveable arms. We recorder her voice using Adobe Audition, and she used the Pitch Shifter Effect to decide how she wanted Mr. Axolotl’s voice to be modified. It was also a good exercise in learning about intellectual property rights and how to look for Creative Commons or public domain images on the internet.
I worked on the more technical aspects, such as creating the opening title and end credit sequences in After Effects. After Effects was also used to join the two separate Character Animator files into one, as well as add the axolotl images. Then I combined those elements with Naomi’s interview animation in Premier Pro as well as added the CC subtitles.
Latest Tutorial
Duik Bassel: Create Controllers panel, part 2
In part two we explore the Extract and Tag buttons, as well as Duik's Pseudo-Effects options. The video's primary focus is on the difference between the two options given for the Extract feature, as this powerful…
Latest Software Notes
After Effects 2020 JavaScript change
If you're like me, you took no notice when Adobe updated After Effects's expression engine. This isn't about the change in the expression field, where different components of your expression are represented by different color text as well as some other changes. This is about…
Spotlight
Guide layers for Bézier vectors in After Effects
You can Get individual keyframe control over shape layer Bézier curves and masks in After Effects by utilizing scripts which create control layers over individual points. In fact, After Effects comes with a script which allows you to place nulls (guide layers) on each vector point of…
bone
The term bone, in animation, refers to a structure that gives control and shape to an animated object. In a character puppet, a group of bones can resemble a skeleton-like structure, often referred to as an armature, but bones can also be as simple as a single point.
Notices
As announced at the top of the page, donQmedia is undergoing a change in design and direction. Because of this, there will be no postings until the website redesign has been completed.
Regards,
Jared
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