Uploaded April 2024 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Want to create animated characters for social media videos? This tutorial walks through a process I recently took doing a 2-minute animation / live action hybrid piece. We'll start with creating character artwork with AI using Adobe Firefly, getting them ready for animation in Adobe Photoshop, recording their voices in Adobe Audition, rigging and animating in Adobe Character Animator, editing in Adobe Premiere Pro, and finally compositing in Adobe After Effects.
0:00 "Cookies" Animated Short
1:50 Intro
3:14 Generating Characters with Firefly
4:02 Preparing Artwork in Photoshop
7:12 Getting Started in Character Animator
8:37 Writing the Script
9:39 Recording Audio in Audition
13:30 Animating in Character Animator
20:56 Editing in Premiere Pro
23:17 Getting Started in After Effects
29:26 Motion Tracking in After Effects
36:46 Masking in After Effects
39:59 Outro
Links:
Download the Angel & Devil puppets for free: okaysamurai.com/puppets
Adobe Firefly: firefly.adobe.com
AI Tiger Character Rigging Tutorial: youtu.be/zSN76gb_Z28?si=FY8QDhMK2oWaEYQL
Free Mouth Sets: adobe.com/go/chresources
Intro to Rigging: youtu.be/hK-DjtiPzRs?si=dQi7zYcWcG7R4Otc
Multitrack Audio Recording: youtu.be/VhCKD5vl848?si=rCK5h5Nl-TgIm-S-&t=254
After Effects Basics: youtu.be/MUtRnMMOTmo?si=B3HsGxk3Om4x2VAq&t=5228
Download Character Animator: adobe.com/products/character-animator.html
Get free puppets: adobe.com/go/chexamples (official adobe puppets) / okaysamurai.com/puppets (okay samurai puppets)
Check out the official forums: adobe.com/go/chfeedback
Share your creations on social media with #CharacterAnimator!
Subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=okaysamurai
Twitter: twitter.com/okaysamurai
Website: okaysamurai.com
Scheming Weasel (faster version) by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/scheming-weasel
Music promoted by Audio Library youtube.com/watch?v=2CapGaKMsWU
Want to create animated characters for social media videos? This tutorial walks through a process I recently took doing a 2-minute animation / live action hybrid piece. We'll start with creating character artwork with AI using Adobe Firefly, getting them ready for animation in Adobe Photoshop, recording their voices in Adobe Audition, rigging and animating in Adobe Character Animator, editing in Adobe Premiere Pro, and finally compositing in Adobe After Effects.
0:00 "Cookies" Animated Short
1:50 Intro
3:14 Generating Characters with Firefly
4:02 Preparing Artwork in Photoshop
7:12 Getting Started in Character Animator
8:37 Writing the Script
9:39 Recording Audio in Audition
13:30 Animating in Character Animator
20:56 Editing in Premiere Pro
23:17 Getting Started in After Effects
29:26 Motion Tracking in After Effects
36:46 Masking in After Effects
39:59 Outro
Links:
Download the Angel & Devil puppets for free: okaysamurai.com/puppets
Adobe Firefly: firefly.adobe.com
AI Tiger Character Rigging Tutorial: youtu.be/zSN76gb_Z28?si=FY8QDhMK2oWaEYQL
Free Mouth Sets: adobe.com/go/chresources
Intro to Rigging: youtu.be/hK-DjtiPzRs?si=dQi7zYcWcG7R4Otc
Multitrack Audio Recording: youtu.be/VhCKD5vl848?si=rCK5h5Nl-TgIm-S-&t=254
After Effects Basics: youtu.be/MUtRnMMOTmo?si=B3HsGxk3Om4x2VAq&t=5228
Download Character Animator: adobe.com/products/character-animator.html
Get free puppets: adobe.com/go/chexamples (official adobe puppets) / okaysamurai.com/puppets (okay samurai puppets)
Check out the official forums: adobe.com/go/chfeedback
Share your creations on social media with #CharacterAnimator!
Subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=okaysamurai
Twitter: twitter.com/okaysamurai
Website: okaysamurai.com
Scheming Weasel (faster version) by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/scheming-weasel
Music promoted by Audio Library youtube.com/watch?v=2CapGaKMsWU
