New Starter mode is now available!
Character Animator 22.5 (released June 2022) introduces Starter mode to get you started animating now without any prior experience. Update now to the latest version to try this out.
Last updated on
Jun 21, 2022
- Character Animator User Guide
- Introduction
- Creating and controlling puppets
- Rigging
- Behaviors
- Recording and playback
- Export projects
Customize an animated character and get a unique puppet to use in your own creations. Puppet Maker lets you select a style, pick features like skin color and clothing, and generate a final optimized puppet.
Create a custom puppet
Get started
In Character Animator, click the Puppet Maker tile or Make a puppet button on the Home screen or choose File > Open Puppet Maker.
Select a style
Select the puppet’s base style from the Style section . Hover over the thumbnails to view some of the possible looks that you can create.
Customize your puppet
In the Customize section, choose different looks for the puppet. Pick hair styles, skin tones, accessories, and much more.
Randomize
Try Randomize to automatically generate a random combination of looks. Here's an example!
Reset puppet
To restore to the original style customizations, click Reset.
Trigger movements
Preview triggers to see how your puppet moves and changes appearance.
Note: these controls will also be available in the generated puppet.
Preview your puppet's movements
See your character react to your movements and voice in real time. Your webcam and microphone are switched on by default. Move your head and body in front of your webcam and talk into your microphone. For puppets that support Dragger, drag in the Preview area with your mouse or finger on a touch display.
Generate your puppet
Give a name to your puppet and click Generate. A puppet with the selected style and customizations is created and added to a new scene. You can start animating the puppet right away!
If you want a puppet with a different appearance, just open Puppet Maker again, make new selections, then generate a new puppet.
Note:
- At the bottom of the Puppet Maker window, use the refresh button to reset physics, such as swaying hair, or dragged limbs.
- If you have multiple cameras or if your webcam is not responding, close the Puppet Maker window, then select the preferred camera in the Camera & Microphone panel’s menu. You can select different cameras in the Camera options ("...") menu.
- If the character’s mouth doesn’t change as you talk into your microphone, check that you have the preferred default audio input. Close the Puppet Maker window, open the app preferences (Character > Preferences on macOS, Edit > Preferences on Windows), then selected the preferred device for Default Input.