User Guide

Character Animation
Explainer Toolkit
User Guide
Character Animation Explainer Toolkit User Guide
Table of Contents
Installation and Compatibility..................................................................................................................6

Compatibility ........................................................................................................................................6
Installation ...........................................................................................................................................6
Installation Destination: ......................................................................................................................6
Loading a Character .................................................................................................................................8
Character Overview ...............................................................................................................................10
Character Studio ....................................................................................................................................11
Character Studio Features .................................................................................................................11
Body Skin Color ..............................................................................................................................11
Head ...............................................................................................................................................11
Torso ..............................................................................................................................................12
Shirt ................................................................................................................................................15
Legs ................................................................................................................................................16
Skirt ................................................................................................................................................22
Arms ...............................................................................................................................................22
Rig Controls ....................................................................................................................................24
Head Design Studio ................................................................................................................................26
Head ...................................................................................................................................................27
Skin Color .......................................................................................................................................27
Overall Roundness .........................................................................................................................27
Forehead - Width ...........................................................................................................................27
Forehead - Height ..........................................................................................................................27
Forehead - Roundness ...................................................................................................................27
Chin - Width ...................................................................................................................................27
Chin - Height ..................................................................................................................................27
Chin - Roundness ...........................................................................................................................27
V Head Shape .................................................................................................................................28
Eyes ....................................................................................................................................................28
Eye Brows .......................................................................................................................................28
Pupils & Eyes ..................................................................................................................................29
Glasses ...........................................................................................................................................29
Ears.....................................................................................................................................................30
Ear Properties ................................................................................................................................31
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Ear Ring ..........................................................................................................................................31

Nose ...................................................................................................................................................32
Color ...............................................................................................................................................32
Size .................................................................................................................................................32
Position ..........................................................................................................................................32
Select Nose Style............................................................................................................................32
Stroke Size ......................................................................................................................................32
Add Freckles ...................................................................................................................................32
Hair .....................................................................................................................................................32
Color Properties .............................................................................................................................33
Select Hair Styles............................................................................................................................33
Hair Sides Height ............................................................................................................................34
Add Haid Wind ...............................................................................................................................34
Wind Speed ....................................................................................................................................34
Beard ..................................................................................................................................................34
Color ...............................................................................................................................................34
Select Beard Style ..........................................................................................................................34
Size .................................................................................................................................................34
Position ..........................................................................................................................................35
Switch to Full Beard .......................................................................................................................35
Mustache ...........................................................................................................................................35
Color ...............................................................................................................................................35
Select Moustache Style..................................................................................................................35
Size .................................................................................................................................................35
Height.............................................................................................................................................35
Cheeks ................................................................................................................................................35
Color ...............................................................................................................................................35
Select Cheek Style ..........................................................................................................................35
Width .............................................................................................................................................36
Height.............................................................................................................................................36
Cheek Opacity ................................................................................................................................36
Stroke Size ......................................................................................................................................36
Roundness......................................................................................................................................36
Forehead ............................................................................................................................................36
Color ...............................................................................................................................................36
Position ..........................................................................................................................................36
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Select Forehead Texture ................................................................................................................36

Width .............................................................................................................................................36
Height.............................................................................................................................................36
Texture Opacity..............................................................................................................................36
Stroke Size ......................................................................................................................................36
Roundness......................................................................................................................................36
Mouth ................................................................................................................................................37
Main Properties .............................................................................................................................37
Lips .................................................................................................................................................37
Teeth ..............................................................................................................................................38
Tongue ...........................................................................................................................................38
Mouth Effectors .............................................................................................................................38
Hat Size ..........................................................................................................................................39
Additional Customisation ......................................................................................................................40
Custom Characters.............................................................................................................................40
Clothes & Accessories ....................................................................................................................40
01 - Head ........................................................................................................................................42
Character Animation Suite.....................................................................................................................44
Additional Character Animation Suite Features ....................................................................................46
Hand Orientation ...............................................................................................................................46
Hand Poses.........................................................................................................................................46
Foot Horizontal Position ....................................................................................................................47
Head Animation Suite ............................................................................................................................48
Head & Eyes Orientation ...................................................................................................................48
Face Expressions ................................................................................................................................48
Eyes ....................................................................................................................................................49
Right Eye – Left Eye – Open| Close ...............................................................................................49
Right Eye – Left Eye – Open| Lower Eyelid....................................................................................50
Secondary Animation .........................................................................................................................50
Glasses Y position ..........................................................................................................................50
Moustache Rotation ......................................................................................................................50
Hat Position....................................................................................................................................50
Character Studio – Character ## ............................................................................................................51
Character Rig Controls .......................................................................................................................51
Secondary Controls ........................................................................................................................52
Goal Head ......................................................................................................................................53
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Hand Controls ................................................................................................................................53

Goal R_Hand ..................................................................................................................................53
R_Shoulder Weight ........................................................................................................................53
R_Elbow - Clockwise ......................................................................................................................53
R_Elbow - Position .........................................................................................................................53
Foot Controls .................................................................................................................................53
Goal R_Foot ...................................................................................................................................54
R_Hip Auto-Position.......................................................................................................................54
R_Knee - Clockwise ........................................................................................................................54
R_Knee - Position ...........................................................................................................................54
R Foot – Horizontal Position ..........................................................................................................54
Object Controls ..................................................................................................................................54
Free_Object ...................................................................................................................................55
R_Hand_Object ..............................................................................................................................55
L_Hand_Object ..............................................................................................................................55
Skirt Controls .....................................................................................................................................55
Character Parts ..................................................................................................................................55
Combining different characters and rendering .....................................................................................57
Scene Designer.......................................................................................................................................58
01 – Scene Design Objects .................................................................................................................58
Color Control ..................................................................................................................................58
02 – Titles ...........................................................................................................................................58
03 - Transitions ..................................................................................................................................59
04 – Combine Scene Objects & Characters .......................................................................................59
Object Animations .................................................................................................................................60
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Installation and Compatibility
Compatibility
Character Animation Explainer Toolkit is designed for Adobe After Effects CC and above. It is
compatible with After Effects CC Version 12, and all the other more recent versions, including: CC, CC
2014, CC 2015, CC 2016, CC 2017, CC 2018, CC 2019.
A well performing computer is highly recommended. Preferably it would be best to have around
16GB of ram and a medium range CPU.
Installation
Start by making sure that all the files from the downloaded folder are unzipped/ extracted. Following
this you can install the animations. To install your animations, double click on ‘Animations Presets’ to
open the folder. Here you will find two folders; ‘Animation Presets’ and ‘GIF Animations Preview’.
From ‘GIF Animations Preview’ you can have a look at all the animations that are included with the
toolkit, while ‘Animation Presets’ is the folder to install. Copy ‘Animation Presets’.
Installation Destination:
Paste the folder in your After Effects User Presets. This will depend on your After Effects version, but
it is typically found under this hierarchy:
~\Documents\Adobe\After Effects CC 2019\User Presets
Note that if you haven’t used a preset before, your installation may not yet have a dedicated preset
folder. If this is the case, you can create one manually as you would any folder.
You can also, use animation presets without this installation, but installing them will give you better
access right from the After Effects Effects & Presets panel.
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Loading a Character
When in the downloaded folder enter the folder named ‘Characters’. Here you will find all the pre-
made characters that are included with the toolkit. To see which one you would like to use, go to the
folder named ‘Character Image Gallery’. Here you can find images of each character. Then you can
simply select any of the characters you want to use and open it inside After Affects.
If opening in any After Effects version, other than CC 12 the following error will pop up:
Simply click ok, and the loading process will continue. Following this if you don’t have DUIK 15 plugin
installed another error will pop up:
This is completely normal, and you do not need to install the DUIK plugin to use the project. Simply
click ok and the project will finish loading.
When opening in an old version of After Effects, like After Effects CC, this message might show in the
Character Studio:
This won’t have an effect on the usage of the toolkit. Simply ignore the message.
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Character Overview
When opening the character in After Effects, you will find two main compositions (in the image
above outlined in yellow and green), that should be opened by default. If not, you can open them by
double clicking on them. In the ‘Character Studio – Character #’ composition you will find 2 main
layers; ‘Character Studio’ and ‘Character Animation Studio’. These will allow for character
customisation and animation respectively. In the ‘Head Studio – Character #’, you will find 2 main
layers ‘Head Design Studio’ and ‘Head Animation Suite’. These will allow for head customisation and
head animation respectively.
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Character Studio
To start customising you character, select the layer named ‘Character Studio’ (outlined in red in the
image above). The go to you Effect Controls window, where you will find the Character Studio panel.
Character Studio Features
Body Skin Color
Changes skin color of the whole character, apart from the head, which have a separate skin color
control.
Head
In the head section you will find Head Size and Head Position controls.
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Torso
Neck
Select Style
5 neck styles to choose from. Simply type in the number you want.
Thickness
Specify neck thickness.
Round Corners
Make the general shape of the neck more round.
Neck Collar
Features related to the collar on the shirt, right under the neck.
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Width
Specify the thickness of the collar.
Size
The overall size of the collar shape.
Round Corners
Alternate from a V neck to a rounder shape, by increasing the round corners amount.
Color
Specify the collar color.
Torso Shape
Change the general shape of the torso.
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Select Style
8 torso styles to choose from.
Thickness
Specify whole torso thickness/ width.
Round Corners
Makes the torso rounder, ideal to additionally change its look. Note: Torso Styles 1 & 2 have their
roundness pre-set in order to achieve a specific shape. Changing the Round Corners value, won’t
affect torso styles 1 & 2.
Belly
Adds a belly to the character.
Belly Size
Specify the size of the belly.
Reduce Belly Width

Reduces the overall width of the belly making it more elongated.
Belly Height
Specifies the height position of the belly on the torso.
Belly Roundness
A higher value will make for a rounder belly; a lower value makes it more rectangular.
Chest
Adds chest muscles or bust.
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Chest Size
Specify the size of the chest.
Chest Height
Specifies the height position of the chest on the torso.
Chest Roundness
A higher value will make for a rounder chest; a lower value makes it more rectangular.
Shirt
Add Shirt
Show/ hide shirt.
Color
Change shirt color.
Adjust Belt Size

Set how much the belt extrudes from the torso.
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Shirt Pattern - Pattern Properties

Size - Size of the Pattern.
Pattern Rotation – Angle of Pattern.
Color – Color of Pattern.
Select Pattern
Choose from Stripes, Squared or Pixels. If none are the selected, pattern is off by default.
Legs
Legs – Leg Shape
Change the overall shape of legs.
Select Leg Style

Choose from 14 different leg styles. Note: when changing leg styles make sure to adjust the knee
joints, from the Rig Controls section.
Size
Specifies the size of the legs.
Thickness
Specifies leg thickness/ width. Note: when changing leg thickness make sure to adjust the knee
Height
Specifies the height position of the legs.
Distance
Specifies how far are the legs from each other. Reducing the distance between the legs will make the
character thinner, and also appear that it is looking to the side.
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Leg Muscles
Add calves & hips.
Hips - Size
Specifies the size of the hip muscles. Two controls are available; first value is for the width & second
value is for the height.
Hips - Position
Specifies the X (horizontal) & Y (vertical) position of the hip muscles.
Hips - Roundness
A higher value will make for rounder hips; a lower value makes them more rectangular.
Calves - Size
Specifies the size of the calves. Two controls are available; first value is for the width & second value
is for the height.
Calves - Position
Specifies the X (horizontal) & Y (vertical) position of the calves.
Calves - Roundness
A higher value will make for rounder calves; a lower value makes them more rectangular.
Pants - Waist
In the pants there is control over 3 individual sections; Waist, Top Layer & Bottom Layer
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Height
Specify the height of the waist. This will automatically adjust the belt to raise/ lower with the waist.
Color
Specify the color of the waist part.
Pattern
Adds a pattern to the waist. Refer to Shirt Pattern Section in the User Guide, to see all the pattern
features.
Legs – Top Layer
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Thickness
Specify the thickness of this layer. A high value makes the pants baggier; a lower value makes them
tighter.
Length
Specify the length of the pants. Change from shorts to long trousers.
Color
Specify the color of the pants top layer.
Pattern
Adds a pattern to the pants top layer. Refer to Shirt Pattern Section in the User Guide, to see all the
pattern features.
Legs – Bottom Layer

This layer is fitted tight with the legs.
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Length
Specify the length of the pants bottom layer.
Color
Specify the color.
Pattern
Adds a pattern. Refer to Shirt Pattern Section in the User Guide, to see all the pattern features.
Socks
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Length
Specify the socks length.
Color
Specify the color.
Pattern
Adds a pattern. Refer to Shirt Pattern Section in the User Guide, to see all the pattern features.
Shoes
Feet Size
Specify size of the foot.
Select Shoes
15 shoes styles to choose from. Note: when choosing certain shoes styles, you might need to
increase/ decrease size, and change their horizontal position to fit the legs correctly. Refer to the
Character Animation Suite – Foot Horizontal Position section, to see how to do this.
Shoes Color
Specify the color.
Ankle Properties
Color
Specify the color.
Width
Specify the ankle width/ thickness.
Height
Specify the ankle height/ length.
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Chin
Add Chin
Adds a boot chin.
Chin Color
Specify the color.
Chin Size
Specifies the X (horizontal) & Y (vertical) size of the boot chin.
Skirt
Add Skirt
Turn skirt on/ off
Skirt Color
Specify the color.
Additional control using rig skirt controllers

When turning on the skirt, 4 rig controllers will appear on the skirt. Simply pick any of these and
move them to shape the skirt. These can also be animated over time to fit any of the animations
correctly.
Arms
Arms – Arm Shape
Change the overall arm shape.
Select Arm Style

Choose from 14 different arm styles. Note: when changing arm styles make sure to adjust the elbow
Size
Specifies the size of the arms.
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Thickness
Specifies arm thickness/ width. Note: when changing arm thickness make sure to adjust the elbow
Height
Specifies the height position of the arms.
Distance
Specifies how far are the arms from each other. Reducing the distance between the arms will make
the character thinner, and also appear that it is looking to the side.
Hands Size
Specifies the size of the hands.
Arm Muscles
Add shoulders and biceps.
Shoulders - Size
Specifies the size of the shoulder muscles. Two controls are available; first value is for the height &
second value is for the width.
Shoulders - Position
Specifies the X (horizontal) & Y (vertical) position of the muscle.
Shoulders - Roundness
A higher value will make for rounder shoulders; a lower value makes them more rectangular.
Biceps - Size
Specifies the size of the biceps. Two controls are available; first value is for the height & second
value is for the width.
Biceps - Position
Specifies the X (horizontal) & Y (vertical) position of the muscle.
Biceps - Roundness
A higher value will make for rounder biceps; a lower value makes them more rectangular.
Sleeve – Top Layer
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Color
Specify the color.
Length
Specify the sleeve length.
Thickness
Specify the thickness of this layer. A high value makes the sleeves baggier; a lower value makes them
tighter.
Pattern
Adds a pattern to the layer. Refer to Shirt Pattern Section in the User Guide, to see all the pattern
features.
Sleeve – Top Layer
Color
Specify the color.
Length
Specify the sleeve length.
Pattern
Adds a pattern to the layer. Refer to Shirt Pattern Section in the User Guide, to see all the pattern
features.
Rig Controls
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Show/ Hide Rig Controllers

Toggle rig controls on/ off. Use this feature to use the character rig & make your own animations.
Switch to Rigid Rig Limbs

Alternate between rigid or smooth limbs. Rigid limbs are more natural, smooth are rubber hose like
limbs.
Joints
Joint Roundness
Specify the roundness of shoulder, wrist & hip joints.
Tweak Knee Joint – Left Knee Joint – Right Knee Joint

Modify the value from –100 to 100, for the joints to animate correctly. These need to be adjusted
after changing leg shape/ thickness or when using your own custom legs. This is only necessary when
using Rigid Limbs.
Tweak Elbow Joint – Left Elbow Joint – Right Elbow Joint

Modify the value from –100 to 100, for the joints to animate correctly. These need to be adjusted
after changing arm shape/ thickness or when using your own custom arms. This is only necessary
when using Rigid Limbs.
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Head Design Studio
To enter the Head Design Studio, go to the composition named ‘Head Studio – Character #’. Then
select the Head Design Studio layer. When selecting this the Head Design Studio panel will show up
in the Effect Controls Panel.
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Head
Skin Color
Specify head skin color.
Overall Roundness
Makes the general shape of the head more round.
Forehead - Width
Change the width of the upper part of the head.
Forehead - Height
Change the height of the upper part of the head.
Forehead - Roundness
Makes the upper part of the head more round.
Chin - Width
Change the width of the lower part of the head.
Chin - Height
Change the height of the lower part of the head.
Chin - Roundness
Makes the lower part of the head more round.
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V Head Shape
Toggle V Shape on/ off. Makes the whole head shape pointed at the chin when turned on. You can
still adjust further using forehead and chin properties.
Eyes
Eye Brows
Color
Specify the color.
Select Brow Style

Select from 22 different eye brow styles.
Lower Eye Brows

A higher value will lower the brows closer to the eyes.
Opacity
A lower value will make the eye brows more transparent.
Width
Specify the width of the brows.
Height
Specify the height size of the brows.
Roundness
Makes the general shape of the brows more round.
Stroke Size
Adds an outline to the brows. This becomes visible when the opacity value is decreased.
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Pupils & Eyes
Pupils Color
Specify the color.
Pupils Size
Specify the size.
Eyes Color
Specify the color.
Eyes Size
Specify the size.
Glasses
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Add Glasses
Switch glasses on/ off.
Lens
Select Style
Choose from 15 different lens styles.
Size
Specify the lens size.
Opacity
A lower value will make the lens more transparent.
Color 01
Specify the color.
Color 02
Specify the color.
Frame
Frame Center - Height
Move the center part of the frame up or down.
Frame Center- Size

Specify the X & Y size.
Frame Sides - Height

Move the side parts of the frame up or down.
Frame Sides - Size

Color 01
Specify the color.
Color 02
Specify the color (certain frames have 2 colors).
Ears
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Ear Properties
Size
Specify the size.
Lower Ears
Specify the Y/ vertical position of the ears.
Color
Specify the color.
Select Ear Style

Select from 21 different ear styles.
Inner Ear Opacity

Makes the ear more transparent.
Ear Stroke Size

Adds an outline to the ear. Becomes mostly visible when Inner Ear Opacity value is lowered.
Ear Ring
Select Ear Ring

Choose from 10 different Ear Ring styles.
Color 1
Specify the color.
Color 2
Specify the color.
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Position
Specify the X & Y position of the Ear Ring.
Nose
Color
Specify the color.
Size
Specify the size.
Position
Specify the X & Y Position of the nose. By default, it is in the center of the face.
Select Nose Style

Choose from 42 different nose styles.
Stroke Size
Adds an outline to the nose.
Add Freckles
Adds a freckle texture on the nose.
Hair
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Color Properties
Add Gradient
Adds an overall gradient shade on the hair.
Single Color Hair

By default, each layer has a slightly different shade. This feature combines the layers together into a
single color.
Color
Specify the color.
Pattern – Select Pattern

Choose between stripes and pixels pattern. If both patterns are switched to off, no pattern will be
added.
Pattern - Rotation
Specify the angle of the pattern.
Pattern Size
Specify the size.
Wave Size
Specify the size of the wave effector over the whole pattern. A smaller size will make the hair curlier.
Select Hair Styles

The hair styles are separated into 5 parts. These can be customised independently to achieve a
unique final look.
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Front Hair Strand

Choose from 5 different styles. 1 value sets the style to off.
Front Hair
Middle Hair
Back Hair
Hair Sides
Choose from 7 different styles.
Hair Sides Height

Set the vertical position of the hair sides. Decrease the value to 0 to completely remove them from
the head, ideal to make bold characters, when all the other hair styles are set to 1.
Add Haid Wind

Adds a wavy wind animation to the hair.
Wind Speed
Specifies the hair wind speed.
Beard
Color
Specify the color.
Select Beard Style

Choose from 25 beard styles. 0 value sets the beard to off.
Size
Specify the size.
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Position
Specify the X & Y position of the beard.
Switch to Full Beard

By default, the beard is cut with the head shape. Thus, you can modify the chin shape from the Head
Section to modify the beard shape. Alternatively, you can switch to a full beard by using this switch.
This only works with certain beard styles. Experiment by switching it on/ off to see if you get the
desired effect.
Mustache
Color
Specify the color.
Select Moustache Style

Choose from 25 moustache styles. 0 value sets the moustache to off.
Size
Specify the size.
Height
Specify the Y position of the moustache.
Cheeks
Color
Specify the color.
Select Cheek Style

Choose from 20 styles. 0 value sets it to off.
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Width
Specify the width.
Height
Specify the vertical size.
Cheek Opacity
When lowering the value, the cheeks become more transparent.
Stroke Size
Adds an outline to the cheeks. Becomes most visible when cheek opacity value is lowered.
Roundness
Makes the general shape more round.
Forehead
Color
Specify the forehead texture color.
Position
Specify the X & Y position.
Select Forehead Texture

Choose from 10 styles. 0 value sets it to off.
Width
Specify the width.
Height
Texture Opacity
When lowering the value, the texture becomes more transparent.
Stroke Size
Adds an outline to the forehead texture. Becomes most visible when Texture Opacity value is
lowered.
Roundness
Makes the general shape more round.
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Mouth
Main Properties
Mouth Color 01
Specify the color.
Mouth Color 02
Specify the color.
Position
Mouth Width
Specify the width.
Mouth Height
Roundness
Makes the genral shape more round.
Lips
Lips Color
Specify the color.
Lips Size
Specify the size.
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Teeth
Upper Teeth – Lower Teeth - Color

Specify the color.
Upper Teeth – Lower Teeth - Size

Upper Teeth – Lower Teeth - Position

Upper Teeth – Lower Teeth - Roundness

Tongue
Color
Specify the color.
Size
Position
Roundness
Mouth Effectors
The mouth effectors give additional control allowing for further shaping of the mouth.
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Upper Mouth Effector – Lower Mouth Effector - Height

Specify the vertical position of the effector.
Upper Mouth Effector – Lower Mouth Effector - Position

Specify the effector angle.
Upper Mouth Effector – Lower Mouth Effector - Roundness

Makes the effector shape more round.
Hat Size
When a hat is imported, you can modify its size from here.
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Additional Customisation
Custom Characters
In the project panel, open the Character, then open the Character Parts folder. Here you will find all
the character parts that the character is using. Like Head, Torso, Arms, legs and Clothes &
Accessories. By entering into specific folders, you can import your own designs & images and the
character will use these and apply them to the rig. Thus, you can import your own characters instead
of using the included character studio.
Clothes & Accessories
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The best way to customise your character further is by adding clothes & accessories. The toolkit
includes a large library of character assets that will help you build your own clothes. From the
downloaded file, go to: Characters > Character Assets. From here you can import any vector image.
Simply drag and drop any of the images inside the after effects project panel. Then add them to their
destination. Example: Images found in the Jackets folder are to be placed in the Jacket composition.
Scale these & position them in the composition, so that they fit your character correctly. You can go
to the Character Studio – Character# composition, to see how the clothes look on your character,
and if they need further tweaking.
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All images are in greyscale by default, to add a color, go to the Effects & Presets panel, and search
for tint. Then add a tint effect to the image you have imported, by double clicking on tint while
having that layer selected. Now from the Effect Controls panel, you can change the black color to
any other color.
01 - Head
Adding a Custom Head
We highly recommend using the included Head Design Studio, as this is made in a way to achieve
almost any head design. Using the included Head Design Studio will help to retain all rig animation
features. This being said, if you want to use your own head image that you designed in external
applications you can simply import this in the ‘Head Studio – Character #’ composition, and switch
off all the other layers, by switching off the ‘eye’ icon on each layer (in the image above - outlined in
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yellow). Make sure to click the ‘shy’ switch (outlined in red) before you do this, as most layers are
hidden by default.
The same thing can be done in the Torso, Arms & Legs.
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Character Animation Suite

The character animation suite is a specialised panel which is used to import pre-made character
animations. If you want to create your own custom animations, you can jump to the Character Rig
section of the User Guide.
To start the animation process, go to the ‘Character Studio – Character #’ composition. Select
Character Animation Suite layer, and make sure that the Character Animation Suite effect is also
selected, from the effect controls window (both are outlined in red above). You will also need to
make sure that the Time Indicator is at the start of the timeline (outlined in blue). Animation will be
placed where this time indicator is.
To import animations, go to the Effects & Presets panel (outlined in yellow), and select any of the
included animations from: Animation Presets > Animation Presets > Character Animations. Then
simply double-click on any of the animations, and these will be automatically applied to the
character (it is important to have the Character Animation Suite effect selected before doing this
step). For this to work you will need to have installed the animation presets as described earlier. If
these weren’t installed, you can go to the menu: Animation > Apply Animation Preset, and simply
select the animation you want to add from your purchased file.
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Select the Character Animation Suite layer, and hit ‘u’ on your keyboard. This will open the newly
generated animation keyframes. Click the arrow icon (outlined in yellow above), to move to the last
frame of the animation. Make sure that the time indicator is on the last frame (outlined in blue
above). Then you can repeat the process above to add additional animations after each other.
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Additional Character Animation Suite Features
Hand Orientation
Certain animations, such as ‘Sitting Desk’ animations, will work better when the Hand Orientation is
flipped. You can easily flip hand orientation from the Character Animation Suite, by turning the
switched on/ off. These can also be animated on/ off over time using keyframes, in order to match
your animations.
Hand Poses
From Right Hand > Right Hand Poses, you can select your own poses and animate them using
keyframes. The toolkit comes with 50 pre-made hand poses for both right and left hands. Each pose
can be set using a slider as shown below. Poses can be given any value from 0 – 100, and one can
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also blend different poses together to achieve a new pose. To use the Side View poses, you must
click the Switch to Side View switch.
The same features apply to the Left Hand.
Foot Horizontal Position
When using specific shoes styles, and when increasing/ decreasing feet size, you might need to
modify the Foot – Horizontal Position to match the legs correctly. This can be accessed from the
Character Animation Suite panel > Right Foot > Secondary Controls > R Foot – Horizontal Position.
Adjust it from –20 to 20, to move from left to right respectively. The same features apply for Left
Foot.
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Head Animation Suite
The head animation suite is a whole package that allows for full head animation control. It includes
easy to use facial expressions and useful head animation features.
To access the head animation suite, select the layer named ‘Head Animation Suite’ and go to the
Effect Controls panel.
Head & Eyes Orientation
The Head and Eyes position, can be used to rotate the head, and move the pupils. This feature can
also be accessed by directly selecting the ‘Head Control’ and ‘Eyes Control’ layers. When using these
controllers, you can intuitively move them and the head will automatically rotate to look at the
controllers. You can animate these controllers over time using keyframes, to create your own head
rotation animation.
Face Expressions
48
This category is split into 3 sections. Face expressions will change the expression of the eyes and
general face properties. Mouth will change the mouth expressions, while the Lip-Sync Alphabet is a
collection of mouth expressions specifically designed to emulate different mouth poses at specific
sounds or vocabulary.
The toolkit comes with 56 pre-made expressions. Each expression can be adjusted using easy to use
sliders, from 0 to 100. Different expressions can be blended together to achieve new expressions.
Eyes
Most expressions can be achieved using the Face Expressions section. From the eyes section, one
can continue to modify the look of the eyes to achieve the desired effect. These can also be
animated over time using keyframes.
Right Eye – Left Eye – Open| Close

Set how open the eye is. A lower value will close the eye, making the shape of the eye look more
elongated.
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Right Eye – Left Eye – Open| Lower Eyelid

Set the position of the lower eyelid. When the lower eyelid is closed the character will look more
tired or sad.
Secondary Animation
Additional animation properties adding more character to your head animations.
Glasses Y position
Set the vertical position of the glasses.
Moustache Rotation
Animate the moustache rotation. This can be used when animating the mouth, adding more
character to the animation.
Hat Position
Animate hat position in X/ horizontal and Y/ vertical axis.
50
Character Studio – Character ##

Composition Layers Explained
The Character Studio Composition can be a bit overwhelming at first site, but although it has many
layers, it is structured in a way to help you work in it with ease.
By having a look at the image above, we can see that the composition is structured into 5 main
sections. First, we find the ‘Character Studio’ and ‘Character Animation Suite’. Most of the
properties and animations of the template can be adjusted just from these two layers, as we have
already seen.
Then, we find 4 different sections, outlined in different colors above. The ‘Character Rig Controls’,
‘Object Controls’, ‘Skirt Controls’ and ‘Character Parts’.
Character Rig Controls

Recommended for advanced users
51
The Character Rig is intended for advanced users who would like to animate their own characters
with custom animations. It is recommended that you have good knowledge of After Effects and
animation to use this part of the toolkit.
To start using the character rig, first you need to switch on the character rig controls, from the
character studio panel. For more information refer to Rig Controls, in the Character Studio section of
this user guide.
When this is switched on rig controllers will appear on the character as shown below:
Simply pick any of the controllers and start animating using keyframes. Each controller can be found
as a layer in the section ‘Character Rig Controls’.
Secondary Controls
A set of secondary controls can be found in the Character Animation Suite. These can be used to
achieve additional control during the animation process, and are part of the rig.
52
Goal Head
When this is Off, the head will follow the natural rotation of the torso. When it is On, the head will
keep its angle/ orientation and won’t rotate with the torso.
Hand Controls
Goal R_Hand
When this is Off, the hand will follow the natural rotation of the arm. When it is On, the hand will
keep its angle/ orientation and won’t rotate with the arm.
R_Shoulder Weight
A higher value will allow the shoulder to move slightly when the arm is stretched to a side, just like
in real life. A lower value will make it more rigid, in place, just like a robot.
R_Elbow - Clockwise
The switch will change the orientation of the elbow, from clockwise to anti-clockwise.
R_Elbow - Position
Tweak the elbow position. This feature can be used directly from the Character Rig Controls section.
Note: The elbow position controls will only work & be visible when using the Smooth Limbs rig.
The same features are available for the Left Hand
Foot Controls
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Goal R_Foot
When this is Off, the foot will follow the natural rotation of the leg. When it is On, the foot will keep
its angle/ orientation and won’t rotate with the leg.
R_Hip Auto-Position
A higher value will allow the hip to move slightly when the leg is stretched to a side, just like in real
life. A lower value will make it more rigid and in place, just like a robot. Note that a too high value
may cause the limb to be unnatural (a value of around 5% is recommended).
R_Knee - Clockwise
The switch will change the orientation of the knee, from clockwise to anti-clockwise.
R_Knee - Position
Tweak the knee position. This feature can be used directly from the Character Rig Controls section.
Note: The knee position controls will only work & be visible when using the Smooth Limbs rig.
R Foot – Horizontal Position

Tweak horizontal position of the foot. A negative value will move it to the left and a positive value
will move it to the right.
The same features are available for the Left Foot.
Object Controls
When using additional objects that are to interact with you character, you can parent them to the
object controls, so that they move with the specific hand, etc. Certain animations that come with the
toolkit have object animations that are pre-loaded in these controllers. An example of this is the
animation ‘Tennis’. In this case you can parent the racket image to the R_Hand_Object and the ball
to the L_Hand_Object, and the objects will be automatically animated with the Tennis animation.
When doing your own animations, you can also animate these controllers, then parent any objects
you want to use with them.
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Free_Object
This is to be used with objects that are free and not interacting with the rig, like a bird.
R_Hand_Object
This is to be used with objects that are to follow the right hand.
L_Hand_Object
This is to be used with objects that are to follow the left hand.
Skirt Controls
When turning on the skirt, 4 rig controllers will appear on the skirt. Simply pick any of these and
move them to shape the skirt. These can also be animated over time to fit any of the animations
correctly. Some characters may have these controllers switched off, in a case where the skirt
controls are not visible even when the skirt is on, simply click the ‘eye icon’ (as seen on the left of
the image above) on each controller to toggle them on.
Character Parts
By default, the character parts will appear in the order as shown in the above image. So basically,
the head will always appear on top of everything, the right arm will appear right under the head, and
the left arm will show from behind the torso and legs.
There are some cases where a different order is preferred. An example of this is when we are using
the ‘Crossed Hand’ animation, where it makes sense to have both hands in front of the torso.
55
You can modify the order by selecting the layers that you want to appear on top and moving them
on top of the other layers. So, in this case we can select all the Left Hand and Left Arm layers, and
drag them on top of the Skirt. This way the left arm will appear right under the right arm and in front
of the torso.
56
Combining different characters and rendering
Although you can work with multiple characters in the same project. Due to computer power
limitations, it is highly recommended to use a different project per character. The most efficient
workflow is to design your character, then set up the character with all the animations you need.
When the character is fully animated, you can export/ render this out in a lossless format. Then re-
import this inside the Scene Designer project, where you can combine it with different objects and
scenes. This way you can render out multiple characters with their own animations, and then import
them inside the Scene Designer, where they can interact with each other, and build up a story.
To render in a lossless format, it is recommended to use: Composition > Add to Render Queue. Then
from the render queue select the format that you prefer. We usually recommend Quicktime
Animation.
When exporting characters, it is not recommended to export using the Adobe Media Encoder
Queue. This is because the characters make use of expressions which can take long to load in Adobe
Media Encoder.
57
Scene Designer
A package of scene design objects & assets.
01 – Scene Design Objects

In folder 01 of the project panel you will find a package of 219 objects sorted into different
categories. Open any of the objects to tweak their colors and look.
Color Control
When you open any object, you will find a layer named Control. Select this, and go to the Effect
Controls panel. Here you can tweak the colors and select new ones.
02 – Titles
9 animated titles included. Open any of the titles and input your own text. If you want to use the
same animation twice, you can duplicate (ctrl+d) the title composition and re-use it.
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03 - Transitions
A pack of 8 transitions.
04 – Combine Scene Objects & Characters
Here you will find two main compositions; Full HD and 4K Scene. Select the resolution that you want
to use and enter in it. This is simply an empty scene, and it is a place where you can drag and drop
scene design objects, titles, transitions, and also your rendered characters to combine them
together and create a scene.
59
Object Animations
After you set up a scene with your selected objects, you can animate them using the included object
animations. The object animations have 3 different categories. Start, Movement & End.
To use these animations, select the object you would like to animate. Then, go to the Effects &
Presets panel and find the animation that you would like to use, and simply double click on the
animation: Animation Presets > Animation Presets > Object Animations > 01 – Start.
In some cases, it is best to create a null layer. Layer > New > Null Object. Now, add the animation to
this null layer instead of the object directly. Then parent the object with the null layer. This way you
can move the object around and arrange it within the scene without affecting the animation. This
null layer can later be parented to another null layer, with additional animation.
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Character Animation

Installation and Compatibility..................................................................................................................6

Ear Ring ..........................................................................................................................................31

Select Forehead Texture ................................................................................................................36

Hand Controls ................................................................................................................................53

Installation and Compatibility

~\Documents\Adobe\After Effects CC 2019\User Presets

Character Studio Features

Body Skin Color

Reduce Belly Width

Adjust Belt Size

Shirt Pattern - Pattern Properties

Pattern Rotation – Angle of Pattern.

Color – Color of Pattern.

Select Leg Style

Legs – Top Layer

Legs – Bottom Layer

Additional control using rig skirt controllers

Select Arm Style

Sleeve – Top Layer

Sleeve – Top Layer

Show/ Hide Rig Controllers

Switch to Rigid Rig Limbs

Tweak Knee Joint – Left Knee Joint – Right Knee Joint

Tweak Elbow Joint – Left Elbow Joint – Right Elbow Joint

Head Design Studio

Select Brow Style

Lower Eye Brows

Pupils & Eyes

Frame Center- Size

Frame Sides - Height

Frame Sides - Size

Specify the color.

Select Ear Style

Inner Ear Opacity

Ear Stroke Size

Select Ear Ring

Select Nose Style

Single Color Hair

Pattern – Select Pattern

Select Hair Styles

Front Hair Strand

Hair Sides Height

Add Haid Wind

Select Beard Style

Switch to Full Beard

Select Moustache Style

Select Cheek Style

Select Forehead Texture

Upper Teeth – Lower Teeth - Color

Upper Teeth – Lower Teeth - Size

Upper Teeth – Lower Teeth - Position

Upper Teeth – Lower Teeth - Roundness

Upper Mouth Effector – Lower Mouth Effector - Height

Upper Mouth Effector – Lower Mouth Effector - Position

Upper Mouth Effector – Lower Mouth Effector - Roundness

Clothes & Accessories

Character Animation Suite

Additional Character Animation Suite Features

The same features apply to the Left Hand.

Foot Horizontal Position

Head Animation Suite

Head & Eyes Orientation

Right Eye – Left Eye – Open| Close