Adobe Character Animator

Last updated

Adobe Character Animator
Developer(s) Adobe Inc.
Initial releaseJune 15, 2015;9 years ago (2015-06-15)
Stable release
Version 23.1 / December 10, 2022 (2022-12-10)
Written in C++, Lua, JavaScript
Operating system
Type Computer animation
License Freemium for Starter mode, trialware/software as a service for Pro mode
Website adobe.com/products/character-animator.html

Adobe Character Animator is a desktop application software product that combines real-time live motion-capture with a multi-track recording system to control layered 2D puppets based on an illustration drawn in Photoshop or Illustrator. It is automatically installed with Adobe After Effects CC 2015 to 2017 [1] and is also available as a standalone application which one can download separately as part of a Creative Cloud all-apps subscription. [2] It is used to generate real-time 2D animations to produce both live and non-live animation.

Contents

Description

Character Animator imports layered Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator documents into puppets which have behaviors applied to them. The puppets are then placed into a scene, which can be viewed in the Scene panel and Timeline panel. Rigging is set up in the Puppet panel, though basic rigging is fully automatic based on specific layer names like Right Eyebrow and Smile. Properties of selected elements can be examined and changed in the Properties panel, including behavior parameters. Live inputs include a webcam (for face-tracking), microphone (for live lip sync), keyboard (for triggering layers to hide/show), and mouse (for warping specific handles).

Final output of a scene can be exported to a sequence of PNG files and a WAV file, or any video format supported by Adobe Media Encoder. Live output can be sent to other applications running on the same machine via the Syphon protocol (Mac only) or Adobe Mercury Transmit on both Mac and Windows. Scenes can also be dropped directly into After Effects and Premiere Pro, using Dynamic Link to avoid rendering. [3]

History

Character Animator was originally code-named "Animal". [4] [5]

The following is the list of versions of Character Animator.

Ship DateVersionShipped withMajor features added
June 15, 2015Preview 1After Effects CC 2015.0 (13.5)markerless face tracking; layered PSD & AI import; WAV & AIFF import; PNG sequence export; WAV export [6]
July 27, 2015Preview 2more accurate face tracking and lip sync; track reordering and snapping in the timeline; transparency grid; improved performance; bug fixes [7] [8]
November 30, 2015Preview 3After Effects CC 2015.1 (13.6)“sticks” to control rigidity of the puppet mesh, multi-touch gestures to control character limbs, the ability to share rigged puppets, increased recording flexibility, performance improvements [9]
June 21, 2016 [10] (announced April 12, 2016)Preview 4After Effects CC 2015.3 (13.8)visual layer tagging, improved lip sync, export via Adobe Media Encoder, Syphon support, Motion Trigger, Auto Blink [11]
November 2, 2016Beta 5After Effects CC 2017 (14.0)dynamic link to After Effects and Premiere Pro, shareable puppet files, Cycle Pause tag, MP3 import, PNG sequence import, speed improvements [8]
April 19, 2017Beta 6After Effects CC 2017 (14.2)automatic walk cycles, viseme editor, cross-platform live streaming output via Mercury Transmit, layer blending modes, workspace modes, additional languages (Simplified Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and Korean) [12]
October 18, 2017 [13] (announced September 14, 2017)1.1part of Creative Cloud All Apps [2] Controls & Triggers panels, MIDI support, pose-to-pose Face & Eye Gaze animation, audio waveform in the timeline, copy and paste of visemes into After Effects, auto-attach, clipping masks, Layer Picker, Fader, Collide & Dynamic tags, improved lip sync [14]
December 11, 20171.1.1minor UI changes and bug fixes [15]
April 3, 20181.5particle physics, scene snapshots, improved triggers UI, copy and paste takes and triggers, countdown before recording, custom Controls panel button art [16]
October 15, 2018 [17] (announced September 9, 2018)2.0Characterizer, replays, magnets, squashiness, shoulder and hip tags, history bookmarks [18]
April 3, 20192.1Character Trigger extension for Twitch, jaw movement based on visemes, search filtering for behaviors, UI polish [19]
June 17, 20192.1.1bug fixes [20]
November 4, 20193.0keyframes, scene cameras, triggerable audio, motion lines, rigging issues pane, search filtering for tags and triggers [21]
December 9, 20193.1trigger labels, search filters for project items [22]
February 19, 20203.2keyframe time stretching, replays-related improvements, new keyboard shortcuts, automatic addition of corresponding behavior for Pin, Dragger, and Dangle tools [23]
May 18, 20203.3feedback button, markers over dynamic link, timeline search filter, audio track volume control [24]
June 15, 20203.3.1bug fixes, new icon [25]
October 20, 20203.4speech-aware animation, improved lip sync, limb IK, merge takes [26]
February, 20213.5timeline snapping options [27]
March 10, 20214.0new file format (faster, more compact, and resilient to corruption) [28]
May 10, 20214.2automatic damaged project recovery [29]
July 19, 20214.4native Apple silicon support, faster speech-aware animation [30]
26 October 202122.0body tracker, smart replays, head & body turner, updated examples [31]
13 December 202122.1.1puppet maker, transcript-based lip sync [32]
8 February 202222.2bug fixes [33]
11 April 202222.3bug fixes [34]
9 May 202222.4bug fixes [34]
21 June 202222.5Starter mode, Quick Export, Auto-swap, and Leader/Follower behavior [35]
17 October 202223.0Motion Library [36]
6 December 202223.1Motion Library Strength parameter and Modernized GPU support
11 August 202323.6Custom Background in Starter mode, Editable Replays and Select Takes Within or Overlapping Work Area
17 October 202324.0stability improvements and bug fixes
7 February 202424.2improvements and stability updates
21 August 202424.6improvements and stability updates
14 October 202425.0improvements and stability updates with no new features

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Flash</span> Discontinued multimedia platform used to add animation and interactivity to websites

Adobe Flash is a discontinued multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich internet applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Photoshop</span> Raster graphics editing software

Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe for Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital art, especially in raster graphics editing, and its name has become genericised as a verb although Adobe disapproves of such use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Illustrator</span> Vector graphics editor from Adobe Inc.

Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and design software developed and marketed by Adobe. Originally designed for the Apple Macintosh, development of Adobe Illustrator began in 1985. Along with Creative Cloud, Illustrator CC was released. The latest version, Illustrator 2025, was released on October 14, 2024, and is the 29th generation in the product line. Adobe Illustrator was reviewed as the best vector graphics editing program in 2021 by hpMagazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Creative Suite</span> Discontinued software suite

Adobe Creative Suite (CS) is a discontinued software suite of graphic design, video editing, and web development applications developed by Adobe Systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinema 4D</span> 3D computer graphics software

Cinema 4D is a 3D software suite developed by the German company Maxon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Audition</span> Digital audio workstation

Adobe Audition is a digital audio workstation developed by Adobe Inc. featuring both a multitrack, non-destructive mix/edit environment and a destructive-approach waveform editing view.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe After Effects</span> Digital motion graphics and compositing software

Adobe After Effects is a digital visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing application developed by Adobe Inc.; it is used for animation and in the post-production process of film making, video games and television production. Among other things, After Effects can be used for keying, tracking, compositing, and animation. It also functions as a very basic non-linear editor, audio editor, and media transcoder. In 2019, the program won an Academy Award for scientific and technical achievement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Premiere Pro</span> Video editing software

Adobe Premiere Pro is a timeline-based non-linear video editing application developed by Adobe Inc. and distributed through the Adobe Creative Cloud licensing program. Initially released in 2003, it succeeded Adobe Premiere, which was first introduced in 1991. Premiere Pro is designed for professional video editing, whereas related product Premiere Elements is aimed at the consumer market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Captivate</span> Authoring tool used for creating eLearning content

Adobe Captivate is an authoring tool that is used for creating eLearning content such as software demonstrations, software simulations, branched scenarios, and randomized quizzes in HTML5 format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Lightroom</span> Photo editing and management software

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, usually called Lightroom, is an image organization and processing application developed by Adobe. It is licensed as a standalone subscription or as part of Creative Cloud. It is supported on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and tvOS. Its primary uses include importing, saving, viewing, organizing, tagging, editing, and sharing large numbers of digital images. Lightroom's editing functions include white balance, presence, tone, tone curve, HSL, color grading, detail, lens corrections, and calibration manipulation, as well as transformation, spot removal, red eye correction, graduated filters, radial filters, and adjustment brushing. The name Lightroom is a play on the darkrooms used for processing film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Animate</span> Animation software made by Adobe

Adobe Animate is a multimedia authoring and computer animation program developed by Adobe.

Adobe Edge Animate, formerly known as just Adobe Edge, is a web development tool developed by Adobe Systems that uses HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3 functionality. It later became part of the Adobe Edge suite, and was available as a free 30-day trial download from Adobe Creative Cloud. As of November 2015, Edge Animate is no longer being actively developed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Muse</span> Offline website builder developed by Adobe Systems

Adobe Muse was a no code offline website builder used to create fixed, fluid, or adaptive websites, without the need to write code. It generates static pages, but does not manage hosting. Users can add more advanced functionality such as blogging and E-commerce to their website with plugins created by third-party developers. This application is available to download through Adobe's Creative Cloud subscription. The final feature improvement release was made available on March 26, 2018. Technical support for Muse ended on March 26, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brackets (text editor)</span> Editor for web development

Brackets is a source code editor with a primary focus on web development. Created by Adobe Inc., it is free and open-source software licensed under the MIT License, and is currently maintained on GitHub by open-source developers. It is written in JavaScript, HTML and CSS. Brackets is cross-platform, available for macOS, Windows, and most Linux distributions. The main purpose of Brackets is its live HTML, CSS and JavaScript editing functionality.

Adobe Edge is a discontinued suite of web development tools that Adobe Inc. started developing in 2011. The tools enhances the capabilities of other Adobe apps, such as Dreamweaver. The first app in the suite was the eponymous Adobe Edge, released in August 2011 as a multimedia authoring tool designed to succeed the Flash platform. In September 2012, Adobe renamed the app Edge Animate, and announced Edge Reflow, Edge Code, and Edge Inspect. Also packaged with the suite are Edge Web Fonts, the PhoneGap app, and an Adobe Typekit subscription. In October 2015, Adobe announced an end to the development of the Edge family. By the end of September 2019, all Adobe Edge products were removed from the Creative Cloud offering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Creative Cloud</span> Software as a service offering from Adobe Inc.

Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, along with a set of mobile applications and also some optional cloud services. In Creative Cloud, a monthly or annual subscription service is delivered over the Internet. Software from Creative Cloud is downloaded from the Internet, installed directly on a local computer and used as long as the subscription remains valid. Online updates and multiple languages are included in the CC subscription. Creative Cloud was initially hosted on Amazon Web Services, but a new agreement with Microsoft has the software, beginning with the 2017 version, hosted on Microsoft Azure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mixamo</span> Technology company

Mixamo Inc. is a 3D computer graphics technology company. Based in San Francisco, the company develops and sells web-based services for 3D character animation. Mixamo's technologies use machine learning methods to automate the steps of the character animation process, including 3D modeling to rigging and 3D animation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe XD</span> Web prototyping and design tool by Adobe, Inc.

Adobe XD is a vector design tool for web and mobile applications, developed and published by Adobe Inc. It is available for macOS and Windows, and there are versions for iOS and Android to help preview the result of work directly on mobile devices. Adobe XD enables website wireframing and creating click-through prototypes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Dimension</span> 3D design software

Adobe Dimension is a 3D rendering and design software developed and published by Adobe Systems for macOS and Windows operating systems. It was founded as Project Felix on March 28, 2017, and became Dimension on October 18, 2017.

References

  1. ↑ "An In-Depth Look at Character Animator, Adobe's New Motion Capture & Animation Tool". Nofilmschool.com. July 5, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Adobe Creative Cloud features" . Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Adobe Character Animator CC Learn & Support". Adobe. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  4. ↑ "We've created an Animal - Creative Cloud blog by Adobe". Digital Video & Audio. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  5. ↑ Kosner, Anthony Wing. "Adobe Character Animator Lets You Make Cartoons Speak With Face Tracking". Forbes.com. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Adobe Character Animator (Preview 1) now available - Creative Cloud blog by Adobe". Digital Video & Audio. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Character Animator (Preview 2) now available - Creative Cloud blog by Adobe". Digital Video & Audio. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  8. 1 2 "What's New in Character Animator - Adobe Community". forums.adobe.com. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  9. ↑ "After Effects CC 2015 v13.6 and Character Animator Preview 3 updates available - CGPress". CGPress. December 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Character Animator (Preview 4) Makes Animation Easier - Creative Cloud blog by Adobe". Adobe Creative Cloud. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Sneak Peek: What's Coming Next in Character Animator - Creative Cloud blog by Adobe". Adobe Creative Cloud. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Newest Release of Character Animator Adds Simplified, Powerful Workflows - Creative Cloud blog by Adobe". Adobe Creative Cloud. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  13. ↑ "New Features - Adobe Character Animator CC". Adobe.com. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  14. ↑ Okay Samurai (September 14, 2017). "New Features Preview - September 2017 (Adobe Character Animator CC)". YouTube . Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  15. ↑ "What's New in Character Animator" . Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Adobe releases Character Animator CC 1.5 | CG Channel". www.cgchannel.com. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Adobe & Animation: Strategy for 2019 and Beyond". theblog.adobe.com. October 15, 2018. Archived from the original on November 2, 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Introducing Characterizer and More Game-changing Innovation in Character Animator CC" . Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Adobe releases Character Animator CC 2.1" . Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  20. ↑ "What's New in Character Animator | Adobe Community". forums.adobe.com. June 24, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  21. ↑ "New features summary for the November 2019 release of Adobe Character Animator". helpx.adobe.com. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  22. ↑ "New features summary for the 2019 releases of Adobe Character Animator". helpx.adobe.com. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  23. ↑ "New features summary for the 2019 releases of Adobe Character Animator". helpx.adobe.com. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  24. ↑ "New features summary for the 2020 releases of Adobe Character Animator". helpx.adobe.com. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Character Animator 3.3.1 is now available!". June 16, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  26. ↑ "Adobe releases Character Animator 3.4 | CG Channel" . Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Character Animator User Guide". helpx.adobe.com. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Character Animator 4.0 is live!". community.adobe.com. March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  29. ↑ "Adobe releases Character Animator 4.2 | CG Channel" . Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  30. ↑ "Speech to Text and Native M1 performance on Mac now available in Premiere Pro". Adobe Blog. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  31. ↑ "Feature summary | Character Animator (October 2021 release)". Adobe. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  32. ↑ "What's new in Adobe Character Animator". Adobe. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  33. ↑ "Character Animator 22.2 is now available!". community.adobe.com. February 8, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  34. 1 2 "What's New in Character Animator". community.adobe.com. June 24, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  35. ↑ "Feature summary | Character Animator (June 2022 release)" . Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  36. ↑ "Feature summary | Character Animator (October 2022 & June 2022 release)". Adobe. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.