Animation & Rigging

Over the years, I've delved into numerous projects that necessitated sophisticated rigging techniques within After Effects. Below are some standout examples of this work, showcasing various rigging methods and their applications.

Character Rig

This project features a puppet-pin mesh character rig, distinct from the traditional paper-doll type. This approach allows for exaggerated movements, making the character more dynamic. The rig includes multiple interchangeable hands, a moveable head, mouth, and eyes, as well as repositionable shoulders and bendable toes, offering extensive flexibility for animation.

Mouth Rig

The mouth rig is designed for seamless synchronization with dialogue. It includes a visual reference box that can be easily positioned over the spoken phrase, or alternatively, controlled by a slider. This rig simplifies the process of aligning mouth movements with audio, ensuring precise lip-syncing.

Hand Rig

This simple yet effective hand rig is controlled by a slider that enables open and close movements. Its straightforward design makes it versatile for various animation needs, allowing for fluid and natural hand gestures.

Animal Rig

For this project, I utilized Duik's animal rig to animate a cat. The rig features an automated walk cycle with fine-tuning adjustments for more realistic movements. It also allows modifications to the eyes, ears, tail, and overall body, making it highly customizable for animating animals.

Twitter Automation Rig

This proof-of-concept project demonstrates the creation of automated videos using After Effects. By pulling data with the hashtag #Mars from Twitter into an Excel document, the rig populates a video template with this content. The setup allows for rendering multiple iterations of the video as new data becomes available, showcasing the potential for automated video production.

Animation & Rigging - Patrick Flaherty