1. technology and computing
2. software
3. graphics software
4. animation

Tutorial
2:
How
to
Animate
using
the
Puppet
Tool.
1. Begin
with
a
.png
file
with
a
transparent
background.
You
can
create
these
in
Illustrator
(remember
to
export
as
a
.png)
or
by
converting
other
types
of
files
(.jpeg
etc.)
to
.png’s
in
Photoshop.
2. You
will
also
need
a
background,
whether
this
be
a
.mov
file
or
a
flat
image.
3. In
After
Effects,
select
File>Import>File…
Choose
your
.png
file(s),
as
well
as
your
.mov
or
other
background,
and
import.
*(to
create
a
character
that
is
more
3‐dimensional
in
nature,
draw
or
split
up
the
image
of
your
character
into
different
limbs,
make
them
separate
.png’s,
and
import
them
that
way.
They’d
appear
on
different
layers
in
the
next
step)
4. Your
file(s)
should
appear
in
the
Project
window.
First
drag
your
.mov
or
image
(the
background)
to
either
the
stage,
or
the
timeline.
This
will
set
the
size
of
your
image.
5. Next,
drag
your
.png(s)
to
either
the
stage
or
to
the
source
window
next
to
the
timeline.
(If
you
have
multiple
.png’s,
they
will
each
occupy
their
own
layer.)
6. You
will
probably
have
to
scale
your
object
to
make
it
the
right
size,
in
the
stage
window.
If
you
have
multiple
.png’s,
you
can
select
all
of
them
by
clicking
the
bottom­most
layer,
holding
shift,
clicking
the
top
layer…
or
by
holding
⌘
and
clicking
the
ones
you
want…
whatever
means
works.
You
can
scale
all
your
.png’s
at
once
by
grabbing
the
corner
of
the
selection
rectangle,
starting
to
drag
and
then
hitting
shift,
then
finishing
the
sizing
action.
7. Take
a
look
at
the
source
window
–
every
layer
has
a
small
symbol
to
the
right
of
its
name.
If
you
click
this
little
triangle,
it
will
reveal
the
effects
which
are
effecting
that
layer.
Try
it
now.
You
should
see
the
Transform
effect,
also
with
a
.
Open
this
effect
by
clicking
its
‐
and
you
will
see
the
different
transformations
which
can
be
applied
to
any
source
in
After
Effects…
Anchor
Point,
Position,
Scale,
Rotation,
and
Opacity.
8. (If
you
are
dealing
with
multiple
.png’s,
please
close
this
list
now
by
clicking
the
topmost
,
and
select
the
layer
with
the
largest
or
most
central
image
to
your
composition/character;
that’s
where
we’ll
start
our
puppet…)
9. We
are
going
to
add
another
effect
to
this
list…
the
Effect
called
Puppet!
Select
the
.png
you
are
going
to
puppetize
by
clicking
its
name.
Now
go
to
the
top
of
the
After
Effects
interface,
there
you
will
find
a
push‐pin
looking
tool
Click
this,
and
now
click
somewhere
on
your
character…
A
small
yellow
dot
should
appear.
Place
a
few
more
such
dots—these
are
the
anchors
of
movement
with
which
you
will
be
able
to
bend
and
move
your
creature.
Put
them
in
places
where
a)
you
will
want
the
most
movement
to
occur,
like
the
ends
of
hands/feet/fingers
and
also
b)
places
you
want
to
stay
steady
while
those
extremities
are
moving:
shoulders
and
hips.
10. To
use
these
points
to
make
your
character
move,
go
back
down
to
the
timeline‐
you
are
probably
at
the
beginning
of
the
movie.
The
location
of
the
puppet‐points
at
this
point
in
time,
will
be
the
location
where
all
the
movement
starts.
Grab
the
playhead,
and
move
it
ahead,
perhaps
to
1:00f
(if
you’re
settings
are
set
to
measure
time
in
frames)
which
means
one
second
into
the
movie.
11. Move
the
puppet
points
to
where
you’d
like
them
to
go
in
a
second.
Notice
how
it
distorts
your
character.
Notice
also
the
grey
string
that
the
points
carry
behind
them,
marking
where
they’ve
been.
A
dot
will
appear
in
the
timeline
where
the
playhead
is,
this
marks
a
keyframe
of
puppet‐action.
12. Move
the
playhead
forward,
maybe
another
second
into
the
future,
and
move
your
dots
again.
Continue
doing
this,
see
how
the
number
of
points,
and
their
position,
affect
how
it
moves.
You
can
always
hit
⌘Z
until
you
get
back
to
the
beginning,
and
re‐do
your
puppet
if
you
want
your
points
at
a
different
position
on
your
character
(after
their
first
placement,
you
have
to
delete
them
if
you
want
to
actually
change
where
on
your
image
they
control)
13. At
some
point
you
may
want
to
test
your
movie,
to
see
if
your
animation
looks
alright.
Place
the
playhead
back
at
the
start,
and
press
space.
The
first
time
it
goes
through
your
puppet,
it
will
be
much
slower
than
real
time—it’s
rendering.
Notice
the
green
bar
growing
behind
the
playhead.
Once
it’s
rendered
all
the
way
through
your
keyframes,
you
can
play
it
over
from
the
start
and
watch
the
animation
from
the
start.
14. Suppose
you
want
your
animation
faster
or
slower?
Look
back
to
the
Source
window,
open
the
effects
list
if
it’s
not
already
open
by
clicking
.
Click
the
triangle
next
to
Mesh
1
to
open
the
list
it
contains.
You’ll
see
Triangles,
Expansion,
and
Deform.
Open
the
Deform
list.
You’ll
see
all
your
puppet
pins!
If
you
click
their
name,
and
then
hit
Return,
you
can
rename
them
something
easier
to
deal
with
than
Puppet
Pin
1‐8.
15. If
you
open
any
of
the
Puppet
Pins
by
clicking
their
,
you’ll
see
the
dots
on
the
timeline
change
to
diamonds.
You
can
speed
up
animation
by
grabbing
one
of
these
diamonds,
and
moving
it
closer
to
the
previous
one—you
can
slow
down
animation
by
moving
it
further
away.
You
can
also
delete
these
diamonds
to
get
rid
of
an
unwanted
motion.
16. Suppose
you
want
to
adjust
the
direction
of
a
movement,
or
location
of
one
of
the
puppet
points?
With
one
of
the
puppet
pins
in
the
Deform
List
selected,
look
at
the
stage—you
should
see
all
the
points
that
mark
a
keyframe
ghosted
in
grey
or
a
yellow
outline…
The
squares
are
the
positions
of
each
of
those
keyframes.
17. If
you
grab
one
of
those
squares
and
move
it,
you
will
move
the
destination
of
that
part
of
the
animation.
Notice
that
this
will
change
the
animation
before
and
after
that
mark,
meaning
it
will
need
to
be
re‐rendered
before
you
can
watch
it
in
real
time
again.
You
can
make
your
animation
smoother
in
this
way.