What's New in Character Animator

Report · Jun 23, 2015

Character Animator (February 2024)

Version 24.2 – February 8, 2024

The February 2024 update includes minor bug fixes, including one for the following error message:

"handle value is not a number! Error code: (Container.js:249)"

Notes:

Character Animator system requirements.
Version 24.2 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x/4.x/22.x/23.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (October 2023)

Version 24.0 – October 10, 2023

The October 2023 update includes minor bug fixes, but is a major version in that there are updated system requirements.

Notes:

Character Animator system requirements.
Version 24.0 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x/4.x/22.x/23.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (August 2023)

Version 23.6 – August 9, 2023

The August 2023 update includes the following improvements to Starter mode:

Custom background: Use a custom image for the scene's background. Click the Background button, choose Custom Background (+), then select your own image.
Remove an applied trigger by dragging its icon vertically up from the timeline track.

and to Pro mode:

Editable replays: Context-click a replay to edit its actions and update any existing triggered replays.
Selecting takes in the work area: Context-click the work area bar to access two new commands to select takes within or overlapping the work area.

and the following bug fixes:

Layer Picker: Corrected the X-axis Rotation to be Head Pitch, and Z-axis Rotation to be Head Roll.
Starter mode: Puppet no longer disappears if the recording is longer than 5 minutes.
Transcript-based Lip Sync: The last line of the transcript in the Properties panel is no longer partially hidden.
Projects located on some non-boot drives now open properly and no longer show a libgit2 error.

Notes:

Character Animator system requirements.
Version 23.6 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x/4.x/22.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (December 2022)

Version 23.1 – December 8, 2022

The December 2022 update includes the following improvements:

Improved performance with updated GPU support requiring Metal (macOS) and DirectX 12 (Windows); OpenGL is no longer used.
Motion Library: Added a Strength parameter to control the influence of the behavior on the tagged handles.
Starter mode: Visual (dashed) drop target now appears when attempting to drag a trigger into the timeline.
Holding down the Shift key while dragging items from the Project panel into the Timeline panel now positions them at the playhead instead of at the start of the scene.
Several bug fixes.

Notes:

Character Animator system requirements.
Version 23.1 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x/4.x/22.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (October 2022)

Version 23.0 – October 18, 2022

The October 2022 update includes the following improvements:

Motion Library: The Character Animator Motion Library is a collection of 350+ full-body character animations captured by professional motion actors. Dance moves ranging from ballet to hip-hop happen automatically with one quick selection. Sports moves from basketball to bowling are super simple. And a range of walking, running, and jumping are also available. Moves that were difficult to animate are now within everyone’s reach. Complex and sophisticated animated moves are difficult and time-consuming for even the most seasoned animator. The new Motion Library allows everyone to quickly and easily bring a character to life and have fun doing it.
Independent top-level groups. When importing artwork to create a puppet, set all top-level groups as Independent. This is useful when a puppet contains a group for the character and a background layer as siblings in the puppet layer hierarchy.
Compute Head Movement from Speech processing is faster, and now produces a pose-to-pose movement.
Walk: A new parameter called Behavior Interaction controls how Walk interacts with other behaviors such as Dragger — Combine blends the effects of Walk with other behaviors (this is the default setting and matches results from Version 22.4 and earlier; older puppets and projects will be reset to use this setting), whereas Override only lets Walk control its handles (and matches Version 22.5 results).
Limb IK: The Initial Foot Pinning parameter now defaults off, and will reset to off for old puppets and projects; this restores draggability of feet as it worked in Version 22.4.
Several bug fixes.

Notes:

(macOS) Syphon support has been removed. Please use Mercury Transmit instead.
Character Animator's Starter mode can be used with a free Adobe account, but Pro mode requires an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 23.0 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x/4.x/22.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.
SVG files can no longer be imported.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (June 2022)

Version 22.5 – June 20, 2022

The June 2022 update includes the following improvements:

Starter mode: A streamlined interface focused on performing, recording, and exporting characters. Start animating now through live performance and triggerable poses and emotions. No need to be an expert rigger. No subscription needed -- upgrade to Pro mode when you are ready.
Quick Export: Easily generate a movie file of your animation. Quick Export takes the frustration and guesswork out of exporting. Just click the Quick Export button in the header bar, then click Export.
Auto-swap and Leader/Follower: With multiple hand-drawn poses assigned to a single swap set, Auto-swap will trigger the one that looks the best given the handle positions. The setup requires handles in each pose to be moved in parallel. This could be done using the Body behavior, with each pose being a different independent view-tagged group, or the new Leader/Follower behavior that allow Draggable handles in one pose to produce the same movement in a corresponding handle in another pose.
New styles for Puppet Maker.
Several bug fixes.

Notes:

Character Animator's Starter mode can be used with a free Adobe account, but Pro mode requires an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 22.5 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x/4.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.
SVG files can no longer be imported.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (May 2022)

Version 22.4 – May 9, 2022

The May 2022 update includes minor bug fixes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 22.4 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x/4.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (April 2022)

Version 22.3 – April 11, 2022

The April 2022 update includes minor bug fixes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 22.3 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x/4.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (February 2022)

Version 22.2 – February 7, 2022

The February 2022 update includes minor bug fixes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 22.2 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x/4.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (December 2021)

Version 22.1.1 – December 13, 2021

The December 2021 update includes the following improvements:

Puppet Makerr: Fun, fast, diverse character creation for everyone. No need to be an expert Photoshop or Illustrator user. And no need for rigging skills. Choose from a variety of character styles. Then with the simple interface start customizing the character by picking hair styles, skin tones, accessories, and much more, and seeing your character react to your movements and voice in real time.
Transcript-based Lip Sync: Get better lip sync with improved Adobe Sensei machine-learning technology. Use a transcript to produce a more accurate result.
Several bug fixes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 22.1.1 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x/4.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (October 2021)

Version 22.0 – October 26, 2021

The October 2021 update includes the following improvements:

Body Tracker: Live-perform character animation using your body. Powered by Adobe Sensei, Body Tracker automatically detects human body movement using a web cam and applies it to your character in real time to create animation. For example, you can track your arms, torso, and legs automatically.
Smart replays: Replays triggered during recording in new scenes now appear as trigger bars, instead of multiple take bars, for a simpler, more compact, and easier-to-modify timeline.

plus a few enhancements:

The Home screen contains new (Sam, Al) and updated (Chloe, Hopscotch, Stardust, Tull, Bongo, Footy, Ninja, Thorne, Heather) example puppets that support body tracking. Also new is the Wag the Kat puppet.
In the Camera & Microphone panel, the Set Rest Pose button is now called Calibrate, and the face tracking visualization now matches the one in Characterizer.
The Timeline > Countdown Before Recording option changes to a five-second countdown when Body Tracker Input is enabled; you can lengthen it by using the Timeline > Body Tracker Countdown setting. Body Tracker Countdown is also used when clicking Calibrate.
The Head Turner behavior, renamed to Head & Body Turner, has a new "Controlled by" parameter to select either your head rotation or body rotation to control the view. You can apply it twice (once to head-views and once to body-views) to get independent control of head and body views. This is particularly handy for a body-tracking puppet (e.g., the Stardust example puppet on the Home screen) to allow layer reordering of the arms depending on which way your body is facing.
In Characterizer, the Generate Puppet button is now called Generate.
In-app and online tutorials are now also accessible via the Help > Character Animator Tutorials submenu.
Several bug fixes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 22.0 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x/4.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (July 2021)

Version 4.4 – July 19, 2021

The July 2021 update includes the following improvement:

Native Apple silicon support: Character Animator runs natively on Mac systems with Apple silicon, which offers improved performance and greater energy efficiency.

Note: Third-party integrations such as plugins will need to be updated by the developer to run natively on Apple silicon and may or may not work in Rosetta 2 emulation mode today.

plus a few enhancements:

Speech-Aware Animation: Improved compute (processing) speed.
Speech-Aware Animation: Reduced parallax movement that could cause facial features to float unnaturally.
The File > Export > Video with Alpha via Adobe Media Encoder menu command now uses the “Apple ProRes 4444 with alpha” preset for QuickTime instead of “GoPro CineForm RGB 12-bit with alpha”.
Several bug fixes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 4.4 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (May 2021)

Version 4.2 – May 10, 2021

The May 2021 update includes the following changes:

Damaged project files (e.g., from power loss) are now automatically recovered. This only works for project files created by version 4.0 and later.
Files can now also be imported into a project by dragging them onto the Home screen (Welcome panel).
A scene's work area can now be moved and trimmed during playback.
Lip Sync movement of Jaw handles now works even if there is no Neutral mouth.
Several bug fixes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 4.2 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (March 2021)

Version 4.0 – March 9, 2021

The March 2021 update includes the following changes:

New robust project file format: Faster and more compact format that is more resilient to power loss and file-syncing conflicts, for newly created or Saved-As projects.
The Home screen includes a new example puppet (Hopscotch the Frog) showcasing Limb IK, and has smaller tweaks (for example, changing Ah to Aa viseme names in the artwork files) to several other example puppets.
Several bug fixes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 4.0 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x/3.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (February 2021)

Version 3.5 – February 8, 2021

The February 2021 update includes the following changes:

Timeline snapping options -- Timeline > Snap to Frames and Snap to Objects commands that let you control snapping to frame boundaries and other objects in the timeline.
Walk: Pin Feet When Standing option now defaults on.
Several bug fixes.

Notes:

Version 3.5 now requires macOS 10.14.1 (or later) or Windows 10 v1903 (or later).
Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 3.5 is an update to Version 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3.x, and 3.4 and does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (October 2020)

Version 3.4 – October 20, 2020

The October 2020 update includes the following improvements:

Speech-Aware Animation
More accurate lip sync
Limb IK: Control bending and lengths of arms and legs
Pin feet
Merge takes
Sequence takes

plus a few enhancements:

When the Timeline > Link Recording Selection option is enabled and replays are triggered during a recording pass, the recorded takes for the triggered replays are now treated as linked recordings separate from other recorded takes.
Search filter: Match all entered search terms ("AND"-based operator) by separating them with a space; matching any search term ("OR"-based operator) is still supported by separating terms with a comma.
Search filter: In the Timeline panel, refine the filter criteria with additional search terms:
- kind:value (where value = audio, puppet, scene, camera, take, keyframe)
- shared:value (where value = name of a shared puppet that has keyframes or takes)
- armed:true (for any armed track or behavior)
In the Project panel, refine the filter with an additional search term:
- kind:value (where value = audio, puppet, scene, folder)
Command-click (macOS) / Ctrl-click (Windows) a disclosure triangle for a behavior's parameter in the timeline to expand or collapse all takes or all keyframes on that track.
In the timeline, each parameter's row of takes is colored differently, to help visually identify them.
Selecting Set Rest Pose now smoothly animates, instead of quickly jumps, the camera-controlled puppet's face back to the default position.
Shy and Hide Shy buttons: Quickly hide or show individual rows in the timeline by selecting the Shy button for them and then toggling the Hide Shy button next to the search filter text field.
Rearrange selected tracks or takes to the top or bottom of the stack with the Timeline > Arrange > Move to Top or Move to Bottom menu commands.

and several bug fixes, including:

Command-dragging (macOS) / Ctrl-dragging (Windows) a group or layer into the Triggers panel was causing an error.
(Windows only) Possible crash when quitting if the Tags popup window was open.
Pressing Command+F (macOS) / Ctrl+F (Windows) when a puppet or camera track was selected and the Properties panel focused was not moving focus to the search filter field.
(Windows only) Tags popup window did not appear correctly if it was opened on a secondary display that had a different display scale than the primary display.
(Windows only) When renaming a handle, the text field did not appear correctly if it was opened on a secondary display that had a different display scale than the primary display.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 3.3.1 is an update to Version 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3.x, and does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (June 2020)

Version 3.3.1 – June 15, 2020

The June 2020 update includes the following change:

Update to the product icons

and the following bug fixes:

Adjusting a MIDI control in a scene that contains non-puppet (e.g., audio, camera, scene) tracks was causing an error.
The left and right channels of recorded audio might get out of phase if the timeline had to scroll in time (horizontally) while recording.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 3.3.1 is an update to Version 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3, and does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (May 2020)

Version 3.3 – May 18, 2020

The May 2020 update includes the following improvements:

Markers via Dynamic Link
Search filter for the Timeline
Audio track volume control
Move selection to the playhead
Allow timeline items before the start of scene time
Tapered motion lines
Check for artwork issues before exporting a puppet
Current value for slider and angle controls in the Controls panel
Improved Contour mesh shape for disconnected regions of a layer
Play audio when moving to adjacent frames
Reduce stuck-torso syndrome
Provide Feedback button
Automatically update audio devices when changes are detected

plus a few enhancements:

Animation in recorded takes of a replay (set to Stop / Sustain) are properly blended out after being sustained. Previously, the ending animation was ignored.
Select the behavior input parameters to arm by default when the puppet is added to a scene via the Default Parameter Arming submenu in a behavior’s menu (in Rig mode).
Improved accuracy of handle positions when parent layers are warped, and allow behaviors to control multiple layers interacting with each other to enable new capabilities.
Rigging Issues pane: Warning messages are now sorted by Area name so that the order does not change when fixing issues.
Rigging Issues pane: Now detecting the use of the Eye Gaze behavior without layers tagged as Left Pupil or Right Pupil.
Rigging Issues pane: Now detecting when all top-level layers of a puppet use the Weld attach style, which can cause independent layers to stick to each other unexpectedly.
Arm IK no longer requires Elbow-tagged handles, if you want to use it on less-rigid arms without sticks.
The name of the layer a behavior is applied to is now included in brackets after the behavior’s name in the Timeline panel, similar to the Properties panel.
When moving or trimming objects in the Timeline, they now snap when nearby other object boundaries. Hold down Command (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) while dragging to avoid snapping.
New markers just have a number as their name, no longer includes the word “Marker”.

and several bug fixes, including:

Alt/Option-clicking an unselected marker caused an error.
Choosing Enable Keyframe for a grouped control was selecting only the keyframe for the last parameter in the group.
Adding a layer to the top-level group in the Balloons example puppet’s artwork would cause the layer to shift in the Puppet panel.
(Windows only) After clicking in the audio track’s Volume edit field, clicking away from the field would fail or show an error message.
Copying and pasting a replay was pasting multiple copies of the takes in the replay.
The app would crash if a puppet had undone changes, then was exported and later imported.
Duplicating a group of a puppet in the Puppet panel was causing an error.
The app would occasionally crash after finishing a recording.
Copying and pasting triggers would sometimes cause the selection of the pasted trigger to select the original trigger instead.
Adding a behavior to a layer of a puppet would sometimes cause the names of other layers to get incremented.
Copying and pasting a replay created via the Create Hold Replay and Trigger or Create Blended Hold Replay and Trigger command for a behavior parameter would paste takes to all behaviors on the puppet.
Applying a Draggable tag to the top-level origin handle of a puppet was not allowing the puppet to be dragged around.
Applying a Draggable tag to an origin handle when a Transform behavior is also applied was not allowing the puppet to be dragged around.
When the Walk behavior was applied to a group whose origin handle was tagged as Draggable was not allowing the puppet to be dragged around, even when the Walk Strength was 0.
Selected takes in a collapsed parameter group that were copied, then pasted, were being pasted in reversed (bottom-to-top) order.
Setting a layer that has a Transform-tagged handle and Physics behavior applied to a Scale of 0% was causing an error.
Set Work Area to Selection / Zoom Timeline to Fit Selection didn’t work properly with keyframe/trigger/viseme selections when the track didn’t start at time 0.
Improved handling of 14.985 fps scenes exported via Dynamic Link.
Closing the Tags popup window via Command+W (macOS) / Ctrl+W (Windows) no longer causes an error.
Edit > Deselect All menu command was not working in the Project panel.
Blend In/Out curve types were not being retained when replays were recorded into the timeline. They used to reset to Ease In/Out.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 3.3 is an update to Version 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2, and does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (February 2020)

Version 3.2 – February 19, 2020

The February 2020 update includes the following improvements:

Keyframe time stretching
Improvements to working with replays (search filter in the Properties panel now includes replays, replays not assigned to a trigger now appear in orange)

plus a few enhancements:

The behaviors required by the Pin, Dragger, and Dangle tools – and conversely their corresponding Fixed, Draggable, and Dangle tags – are now added automatically at the top level of the puppet if the behavior doesn't already exists at the layer or higher in the puppet layer structure.
Zoom to Fit shortcuts in the Scene/Puppet panels (Shift+/) and Timeline panel (Shift+\).

and several bug fixes, including:

Vector-based puppets set to "Render as Vector" weren't always updating properly when Group Opacity (in the Transform behavior) was modified.
Edit Original button was disabled when the Project panel wasn’t focused, even if a puppet was selected.
Incorporating changes to a puppet's source Photoshop artwork that had a group moved into another group used to cause an error.
Rigging Issues: Long (truncated) issues could not be read. Now, the full text of the issue appears in a tooltip when hovered over it.
(macOS only) Intermittent crash when right-clicking above a trigger in the Triggers panel after the search field was previously active.
Using the Create Take from Keyframes command when multiple parameters, each with a single keyframe, are selected was creating unnecessary duplicate takes.
Improved speed of marquee-selecting content in the Timeline panel.
When both takes and keyframes were selected, the Create Replay and Trigger commands in the context menu didn't work. Now, the incompatible selection is deselected based on which object (take or keyframe) the context menu is opened over.
Dynamic Link: "Entry Point Not Found" message would appear when launching the latest Adobe Media Encoder build and selecting a Character Animator project.
Exported puppet could sometimes fail to import with a "couldn't find required item at project path" error message.
Search filters were not case-insensitive in non-English languages.
(Windows) Possible crash on quit when running on different monitors with varying scale factors.
The camera "on" light turns on when launching the app, even if the Camera & Microphone panel isn't visible or the Camera Input is disabled. Now, the camera will turn on only when the Camera & Microphone panel is displayed and Camera Input is enabled.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 3.2 is an update to Version 3.0 and 3.1, and does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (December 2019)

Version 3.1 – December 9, 2019

The December 2019 update includes the following improvements:

Trigger Labels (label colors)
Search filter in the Project panel

plus a few enhancements:

If a puppet track's selected takes are all from the same subpuppet, the Triggers panel now shows those subpuppet's triggers instead of the root puppet's triggers.
When a trigger is selected in the Triggers panel, the Record 1-/2-frame Take and Record Take for Work Area commands now also create takes for any replays associated with the trigger. Previously, the replays were ignored.
Enable Keyframes option for a slider/angle control in the Controls panel: Enable or disable keyframes for a behavior parameter via its slider/angle control in the Controls panel by right-clicking the control and then choosing the Enable Keyframes option from the context menu. The option also works on grouped controls.
Deleting a trigger bar by pressing Alt/Option+Delete now fills the gap with the trigger to the left, instead of leaving a gap.

and several bug fixes, including:

Importing an Illustrator (.ai) file saved from Illustrator 2020 with Version set to Illustrator 2020 in the Illustrator Options dialog box now works.
Fixed a crash that occurred after changing Preferences when the Scene panel isn't visible in the current workspace.
Motion Lines: Fixed an issue that could cause the behavior to hang for several minutes while rendering a single frame.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 3.1 is an update to Version 3.0, and does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (November 2019)

Version 3.0 – November 4, 2019

The November 2019 update includes the following major improvements:

Keyframes
Scene Cameras
Triggerable Audio
New and updated in-app tutorials (Getting Started, Recording Lessons)
Rigging Issues pane
Motion Lines behavior
Particles: Track Mouse mode and Flicker Particle Opacity
Walk: Position-based walking

plus a bunch of other enhancements:

New and updated example puppets (on the Home screen)
Updated header bar
Edit Original button in the Project panel
Save Project Version and History panel changes
Search filters for behaviors (and their parameters), tags, and triggers
Layer Picker: Controlling layer selection with your head (camera input)
Lip Sync preferences
(Windows) Automatic lighting compensation for camera input

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 3.0 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5/2.x installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (June 2019)

Version 2.1.1 – June 17, 2019

The June 2019 update includes a few bug fixes.

For a detailed list of changes and known issues, see Character Animator (June 2019) – Detailed Changes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 2.1.1 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5 installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (April 2019)

Version 2.1 – April 2, 2019

The April 2019 update includes the following major improvements:

Warp independence, behaviors, and handles can be applied to any layer of a puppet (not just groups)
Search filter for layers in a puppet
Tagging improvements (updated visual tags layout, quicker tagging and untagging, quicker switching between left and right tags)
Arm IK: Automatic bend direction
Cycle Layers: Display sequential layers synchronized to time
Dragger: Range (handle proximity) control
Lip Sync: Move the jaw based on the current viseme
Twitch extension that lets a stream's viewers invoke triggers

plus a bunch of other enhancements:

Cut/Copy/Paste handles
Back button to navigate out of a group in the Puppet panel
Puppet track behavior menu
Behavior parameter meter
Characterizer improvements (new styles, style editing shortcuts)
Use scene audio for audio-controllable behaviors (Lip Sync, Nutcracker Jaw, Layer Picker)
Cut/Copy/Paste viseme and trigger bars
Timeline panel enhancements (renaming tracks, zooming/scrolling using gestures, snapping to frame boundaries while moving and trimming content)

For a more detailed list of changes and known issues, see Character Animator (April 2019) – Detailed Changes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 2.1 updates an existing Version 2.0.x installation of Character Animator.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (December 2018)

Version 2.0.1 – December 10, 2018

The December 2018 update includes a few bug fixes.

For a detailed list of changes and known issues, see Character Animator (December 2018) – Detailed Changes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 2.0.1 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5 installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (October 2018)

Version 2.0 – October 15, 2018

The October 2018 update includes the following major improvements:

Refreshed Start workspace with several new template puppets
Characterizer
History bookmarks
Arm IK behavior
Dangle: Squash and Stretch deformation, Damping control
Magnets behavior
Transform: Move, scale, and rotate handles of a puppet
Walk: Improved arm and leg movements in Quarter views (Shoulder and Hip tags), livelier motion with Pose Emphasis and Shoulder/Hip Sway
Replays: reusable/triggerable recordings
Timeline work area (clear, ripple delete, insert time, looped playback, trimming, recording takes, export)

plus a bunch of other enhancements:

EPS and SVG format support for puppet artwork
Updated puppet warping engine
Push behavior parameter changes to the source puppet
Lip Sync: Improved prediction of visemes.
Collapsed view of a parameter's takes
Take blend easing controls
Control panel improvements: create controls for specific triggers, rename behavior parameter controls, group/ungroup behavior parameter controls
Export scene to AME with alpha channel
Camera selection improvements
(Windows) Display scale and multiple monitor improvements

For a more detailed list of changes and known issues, see Character Animator (October 2018) – Detailed Changes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 2.0 does not affect any existing Version 1.1.x/1.5 installation of Character Animator, unless you select the update option to Remove Old Versions.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (April 2018)

Version 1.5 – April 3, 2018

The April 2018 update includes the following major improvements:

Scene snapshots
New and updated template puppets in the Start workspace
Replace a puppet track's source puppet
Copy/paste behaviors between puppets and projects
Collidable particles
Drop zones in the Triggers panel for dragged puppet groups
Copy/paste triggers or swap sets between puppets, to allow future recordings for those triggers to be compatible
Custom button artwork in the Controls panel
Countdown to recording
Hold takes
Copy/copy/paste all types of takes between puppets and projects
Rearrange trigger bars horizontally in time
Visual user interface refresh (e.g., gray toast to blue toast)
Keyboard Shortcut editor

plus a bunch of other enhancements:

Export the current frame of a scene
JPEG support for puppets and cycles
Illustrator (vector artwork) rasterization control
Add behaviors from the Puppet panel
Remove all behaviors from a puppet or at a group
Particles: Gravity, Bounce, and Wind parameters moved to the Physics behavior.
Particles: Added touchscreen support for manually emitting particles.
Physics: Easier setup of layers tagged Dynamic.
Click the name of a layer for a selected trigger to reveal the layer in the Puppet panel
Bottom section of the Triggers panel is now resizable
Orange (warning) color for trigger and swap set names when triggers in a swap set conflict, if a trigger has no assigned layers, or if a swap set has no layers assigned to any of its triggers.
Various Controls panel improvements:
- Arm for Record buttons for behavior parameter controls (sliders, knobs), so you don't need to go to the Properties panel to arm/disarm them
- Pan the contents of the Controls panel
- In Layout mode, double-click away from any control to quickly switch to Perform mode
- Toggle between Layout and Perform modes via keyboard shortcut that you can assign in the Keyboard Shortcut editor
Hide trigger and viseme take bars for a more compact timeline
Changing parameter values while rehearsing (live-controlling) a puppet

For a more detailed list of changes and known issues, see Character Animator (April 2018) – Detailed Changes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator system requirements.
Version 1.5 updates an existing Version 1.1.x installation of Character Animator.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (December 2017)

Version 1.1.1 – December 11, 2017

The December 2017 update includes the following improvements:

Dragging a puppet group into the Triggers panel now creates a trigger instead of a swap set of triggers for the group's layers.
Adding an independent group to an artwork file now sets that group in the puppet to Auto attach style (Attach To = Auto), instead of the group’s parent origin handle.
Several other bug fixes.

For a more detailed list of changes and known issues, see Character Animator (December 2017) – Detailed Changes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator does not support macOS 10.10, Windows 8, or Windows 10 version 1507; Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 versions after 1507 are supported. For more information, see the system requirements.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (October 2017)

Version 1.1 – October 18, 2017

The October 2017 update includes the following major improvements:

Triggers panel and behavior for more flexible triggering
Controls panel for a visual dashboard of your triggers and behavior parameters, including MIDI control
eyebrow tilt
snapped eye gaze
pose-to-pose movement for the face
Physics behavior (renamed Dangle behavior, and added collision physics)
Layer Picker behavior for showing a specific layer in a group/puppet in different ways
Fader behavior for fading a group up when triggered, then fading down when the trigger is released
audio waveform display
improved lip sync accuracy
clipping mask support
auto attachment of independent groups (no more manual stapling)

plus a bunch of other enhancements:

puppet mesh outline
Eye Gaze: touchscreen support
Face: synchronized eyebrow movement
Walk: toe bend
copy visemes between puppets or projects
copy visemes as Time Remap keyframes for use After Effects
editable trigger takes
edit selected visemes using keyboard shortcuts
separate time track arming vs. selection
resizeable audio tracks
option to replay the same range of time (Timeline > Return to Start Position on Stop)'
keyboard shortcuts for scrolling through the timeline
option to scroll the timeline content during playback and recording
double-click in an empty area of the Project panel to import files
reduced project folder size
updated template puppets (Blank Face)
independent groups attached via Hinge style now scale when their parent groups scale
keyboard shortcuts for the tools in the Puppet panel
Limit Camera to 12 fps option
Head turns in After Effects can now be copied over
Timeline > Compute Lip Sync from Scene Audio can now use specific selected audio tracks
zoom shortcuts -- Cmd/Ctrl+= (equal sign) for zoom in, Cmd/Ctrl+- (hyphen) for zoom out
Boost Quiet Audio option
Pause Camera & Microphone When Application in Background option

For a more detailed list of changes and known issues, see Character Animator (October 2017) – Detailed Changes.

Notes:

Character Animator is available as part of an All Apps plan for Creative Cloud.
Character Animator no longer supports macOS 10.10, Windows 8, or Windows 10 version 1507; Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 versions after 1507 are supported. For more information, see the system requirements.
Character Animator will not appear as an update if you have an existing Beta or Preview version installed. Just install Character Animator separately. This version installs in a different folder than Beta and Preview versions, and can open Beta 6, Beta 5, and Preview 4 projects.
After Effects no longer also installs Character Animator. However, Character Animator now also installs Adobe Media Encoder.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (Beta 6)

Version 1.0.6 – April 19, 2017

The Beta 6 update includes the following major improvements:

six additional languages: Spanish, Italian, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, and Simplified Chinese
task-based workspaces: Start (with new template puppets), Rig, Record, Stream
viseme editor to quickly and easily adjust lip sync recordings
walk cycles with the new Walk behavior
blending modes and opacity for puppet layers
Mercury Transmit support (cross-platform) to stream a scene live to secondary displays, external devices, or even over IP-based LANs (useful in conjunction with other applications to stream to social media sites). The Stream Live button in the Scene panel quickly toggles streaming and accesses Mercury Transmit settings.

plus a bunch of other enhancements:

deep puppet duplication, so duplicating a puppet makes a separate copy of all groups and layers in it
group and layer duplication in the Puppet panel
Cycle Layers: control how to continue after a pause-layer
Dangle: less crumpling, more responsive for multiview characters, Hinge attach style for pivoting motion, and larger spring stiffness support
Nutcracker Jaw: audio support, and rotational movement
Transform: group opacity, to adjust opacity across the puppet evenly
numerous Timeline panel editing and navigation improvements (reorder tracks by dragging, trim to playhead, jump to previous/next in or out point or marker, auto-scroll while dragging in time, mouse wheel zoom and pan, etc)
create a new project (instead of opening the previous project) while holding Alt/Option when launching the application
automatically extend scene duration when audio or another scene is added to a scene
Export Puppet command in the context menu for a puppet in the Project panel
view (while stopped) the results of a selected puppet with recorded takes by disabling the Camera Input and Microphone Input buttons, which overrides (disarms) the Arm for Record setting for the Eye Gaze, Face, Lip Sync, and Nutcracker Jaw behaviors -- useful to see the results of lip sync viseme changes
updated Lip Sync behavior (existing projects and puppet files will show Lip Sync as "Lip Sync (Old)")
Close Others command in the Scene and Puppet panel tab menus, to close all other open scenes and puppets
Provide Feedback link (in the Start workspace and Help menu) to submit feature requests on our Ideas portal on Aha.com
numerous speed and responsiveness improvements in several areas of the application

For a more detailed list of changes and known issues, see Character Animator (Beta 6) – Detailed Changes .

Note: Character Animator Beta 6 can be installed standalone or when After Effects 2017 is also installed. Although Beta 6 installs in a different folder than Preview 4 and earlier versions, Beta 6 can open Beta 5 and Preview 4 projects.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (Beta 5)

Version 1.0.5 – November 2, 2016

The Beta 5 update includes:

improved (more professionally animated and interactive) Getting Started project -- click Start Here! in the Welcome panel to open it
shareable puppets (.puppet files) -- easily share rigged puppets with other users or between projects
Dynamic Link support with After Effects and Premiere Pro
Cycle puppets -- create a puppet from a PNG sequence, and add the Cycle Layers behavior automatically
Cycle Layers: Cycle Pause layer tag, to pause the normal progression of layers in a sequence; Advance Every now defaults to 1 frame
simplified puppet layer hierarchy in the Puppet panel, including crowns column for group independence
Face: revised default values for Head Scale Strength, Head Tilt Strength, and Eyebrow Strength
Eye Gaze: separated the eye gaze controls from the Face behavior to its own Eye Gaze behavior to capture eye pupil movement independently of the rest of the face
Keyboard Triggers: recordings now captured as grouped takes, similar to Dragger
Lip Sync: improved accuracy
Particles: added gravity controls
MP3 audio files can now be imported
Timeline markers and stop markers (to stop playback at a marker)
hierarchical selection in the Timeline panel
playback now stops at the end of a scene's duration
actual frame rate indicator (if less than scene's intended frame rate)
hide content outside of scene bounds during playback
jump 10 frames backward or forward by pressing Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+Left Arrow or Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+Right Arrow
imported audio can now be replaced, relinked, and duplicated
drag-and-drop supported file types into the Project panel to import them
sort items by name or type in the Project panel
duplicate folders in the Project panel
Show Mesh button in the Scene panel
layer Attach To parameter now available for non-warp independent groups
close the Trigger Keys window with any key, not just Esc
updated "Stannie" template artwork
numerous speed and responsiveness improvements in several areas of the user interface

For a more detailed list of changes and known issues, see Character Animator (Beta 5) – Detailed Changes .

Note: Character Animator Beta 5 can be installed standalone or when After Effects 2017 is also installed. Although Beta 5 installs in a different folder than Preview 4 and earlier versions, Beta 5 can open Preview 4 projects.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (Preview 4)

Version 1.0.4 – June 20, 2016

The Preview 4 update includes:

tags -- visual tagging interface instead of requiring specific named layers
Staple tool -- Quickly attach a subpuppet to its parent puppet
subpuppet attach styles (Weld, Hinge, Free)
easier setup of multiple-view puppets -- only one set of Face and Lip Sync behaviors required at the top level of the puppet
Lip Sync: improved lip sync accuracy; revised 11-viseme set
Auto Blink: a new behavior to hide and show a puppet at regular or random intervals automatically
Motion Trigger: a new behavior that swaps artwork based on the motion detected (e.g., Moving Left, Moving Down, Upward) from a puppet
Dangle: easier setup, and added gravity controls
Face: added a Smoothing parameter to dampen jittery facial movements; press semicolon (;) to pause head movement
Cycle Layers: added a Layer Order parameter
Head Turner: added Upward and Downward directions
Keyboard Triggers: view a list of available trigger keys for a puppet
take groups -- recorded Draggable handles now each appear in their own take groups; rerecordings no longer overwrite previous handle recordings, and there's no need to add multiple Dragger behaviors
export scene to Adobe Media Encoder (via Dynamic Link)
(Mac only) Syphon support to broadcast a scene live to Syphon client applications
relink missing puppet artwork or replace with different artwork
puppets centered within scene bounds by default
origin handle can be repositioned in the Puppet panel
assign trigger keys in the Puppet panel
record 1-frame and 2-frame takes for pose-to-pose animation
controllable playback speed
Go to Previous Frame and Go to Next Frame controls
save project under a new name (Save As)
Render As Image enabled by default for more accurate Illustrator-based puppets
eyeball switches for behaviors and tracks (in the Timeline panel) to quickly enable/disable them
override behavior parameters lower in a puppet hierarchy
marquee-select track items and take bars
improved performance moving and toggling layers in the Puppet panel, and scrolling speed in various panels
Windows HiDPI support
cleaner layout of controls in the Puppet panel
updated Welcome panel design, Getting Started project (new Scenes 2 and 3), and template (New Puppet in Photoshop / Illustrator) artwork
updated icons and cursors throughout the application
improved layout in the Properties panel
updated helpful text in the Camera & Microphone panel

For a more detailed list of changes and known issues, see Character Animator (Preview 4) – Detailed Changes.

Note: Character Animator Preview 4 is installed with After Effects 2015.3 via the Creative Cloud application. It does not overwrite your existing Preview 3 version of Character Animator. Also, due to the numerous changes in Preview 4 to support improved puppet capabilities, we had to restrict opening Preview 3 and earlier projects because we found conversion to be unreliable. Sorry for the inconvenience.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (Preview 3)

Version 1.0.3 – November 30, 2015

The Preview 3 update includes:

sticks - add rigidity to parts of the mesh
take blending – allows punch-in recordings to not jump at the seam
multi-touch support – control multiple limbs of your character at the same time
import project – allow puppets to be rigged and shared between users
Split Lip Sync into Visemes – to allow viseme-by-viseme editing
slow recording speed option – for more accuracy
faster project opening & general speed improvements
UI localization into French, German, and Japanese
Head Turner behavior
keyboard control of Lip Sync
new Cycle Layers options
duplication and splitting of track items & takes
take summary bar and twirling
take "compositing" visualization
extendable takes beyond original recording bounds
button to toggle linked take selection
Puppet panel UI makeover
renaming behaviors
keyboard trigger UI – no need to name the layers specially in PS/AI
keyboard trigger latching – trigger remains in force after key-up, until next keypress
updated Getting Started Project
support for Illustrator dashed strokes
recent projects menu
improved audio/lip sync accuracy
Mac OS X 10.11 and Windows 10 support
lots of bug fixes

For a more detailed list of changes and known issues, see Character Animator (Preview 3) – Detailed Changes.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (Preview 2)

Version 1.0.2 – July 27, 2015

The Preview 2 update includes:

more accurate face tracking
more accurate lip sync
track reordering in the timeline
snapping in the timeline
transparency grid
more instructive Getting Started project
performance improvements
new puppet template artwork
bug fixes

For a more detailed list of changes and known issues, see Character Animator (Preview 2) – Detailed Changes.

To update Character Animator, see FAQ: How do I update Character Animator to the latest version?

Character Animator (Preview 1)

Version 1.0 – June 15, 2015

Initial preview release.

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