How to Animate a Vector Character in After Effects with Aetuts+ and Ben Mounsey

We’re proud to announce that Vectortuts+ author Ben Mounsey has teamed up with Aetuts+ to create "Breath Of Life" a five part series on how to animate a vector illustration with After Effects. You may remember Ben from his fantastic Core Art Skills Series, and excellent illustrator tuts. Now you can follow along with a five part video series that will take you from working with a sketch to animating a walk cycle. Read on to find out more!

Final Product: What You’ll Be Creating

Part One:

In this installment you will be creating character artwork in illustrator, learning how to design for animation, then prepare the artwork for import to After Effects.

Tutorial Link

Part Two:

This is the second part of a series to take you through the creative process of creating animation. From the initial sketch, to final animation.

Tutorial Link

Part Three:

In this tutorial you will be starting the animation process, beginning with the character walk cycle. You will learn how to use the puppet tool with the character artwork, and work though the key principles of the walk cycle.

Tutorial Link

Part Four:

In the 4th installment you will learn the more advanced animation techniques in After Effects. You will how to create a looping walk cycle, and also how to work with 3D layers and animating Masks.

Tutorial Link

Part Five:

In the final part of the series, you will make the finishing touches to the animation whilst covering some of the more technical aspects of animating in After Effects. You will be using the Camera Layer, creating and using Adjustment layers and animating logo text, along with a great new Expression.