This page will be updated periodically as a resource for frequently asked Questions about Adobe Character Animator. This page will also have FAQ’s regarding Illustrator, Photoshop, Audition, Premiere Pro and After Effects and how they integrate with Character Animator.
If your question isn’t answered, drop us a message and we will add it to the list.
Adobe Character Animator uses a microphone to match mouth positions (or visemes) and a webcam to motion capture your head position and facial expressions. Trigger keys can activate other expressions, actions, outfits and accessories.
Adobe Character Animator is a fast way to create basic animated content. Ideal for marketing, presentations, live-streaming, and web-series.
Character Animator is part of the Creative Cloud package. Currently the Creative cloud package retails at US$54.99/mo. Students can save 60% off this – US$19.99/mo.
A computer, a webcam and a microphone.
We encourage users to look at getting a decent external microphone in our tutorial;
https://electropuppet.com/recording-your-sound-equipment-check/
A .puppet file is a container file that holds the source artwork (either illustrator or photoshop) as well as all the rigging and trigger data which Adobe Character Animator requires to operate a character.
Our puppets work with the current version of Character Animator (23.1). If (for some reason) you are working with an older version of Character Animator, our puppets are unlikely to import. We can provide a legacy version of the artwork, which you can rig in your older version of Character Animator. You should really be updating to the latest version though – you are missing out!!
There are a number of free puppets you can download and experiment with. Here is a page that lists over 85 free puppets;
After importing a puppet, Adobe Character Animator will match your voice and mirror your head position and facial expressions. You can also use trigger keys to switch layers on or off and play actions. By hitting the record button, Character Animator records your performance until record mode is stopped. You can then edit the recorded data to refine the performance.
ElectroPuppet offer a range of high end puppets that come rigged with various, expressions, outfits, props and actions.
Check out the Adobe Character Animator Puppet Store page;
https://electropuppet.com/adobe-character-animator-puppet-store/
After opening Adobe Character animator choose File > Import and locate the .puppet file you wish to use. You can view a more detailed tutorial here;
https://electropuppet.com/importing-a-puppet-into-adobe-character-animator/
In Adobe Character Animator, select the puppet you wish to edit. Then select Edit > Edit Original. This will launch Photoshop or Illustrator (depending on where the puppet was created). After making changes, save your artwork. Character Animator will immediately update the puppet to reflect those changes.
You can use our free or paid puppets for anything, providing it is NOT offensive (pornographic, racist, defamatory). What you cannot do, is share or resell our puppets (including parts of our puppets), or offer our puppets as part of a paid service. If you want to create an animation for a client – just buy a puppet on the clients behalf. You can read our supplied license below;
Depends on the style of puppet. Illustrator is vector based, and better at cartoon style characters. Photoshop is raster based and better at pixel based artwork. We have an article on the differences here;
https://electropuppet.com/photoshop-vs-illustrator-character-animator/
You can use a microphone and speak directly into Character Animator and the puppet will match what you are saying – or- you can pre-record your audio and then bring it into Character Animator. We have tutorials on both here;
https://electropuppet.com/recording-animation-voice/
Many of our puppets have a locked rest pose. To free the arms you just press the 1 trigger. You can read more about working with triggered arms in this tutorial;
https://electropuppet.com/working-with-arms-in-adobe-character-animator/
To have your puppet walk off the screen you will need to set the BODY SPEED. We have a tutorial you can follow here;
ElectroPuppet acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land, the Gumbaynggirr people.
We pay our respects to their elders, past, present and emerging.