Lottie Character Animation

Character design and animation is the cornerstone of what we do at Cub. A large proportion of the work we create features characters as part of the storytelling. Here are some examples of how we feature the powerful After Effects character animation tools when creating for Lottie files.

Lottie is a library that allows apps to natively use Adobe After Effects animations in real time. By exporting .json files from AE using the Bodymovin extension,

You can read all about the benefits of Lottie files in our guide to Lottie Animation and Bodymovin.

Joysticks ‘n Sliders

Joysticks ‘ Sliders is a system of turning complex rigging systems, used in the animation of characters bodies, faces and hands into a simple set of graphical sliders and a joysticks. It’s an extremely powerful tool and its ability to consolidate lots of independent moving elements into a single input saves a huge amount of time and effort. The character opposite is rigged using a system of Joysticks and is exported to a Lottie file using Bodymovin.

Duik

Duik is the original inverse kinematics rigging system. A ubiquitous tool used to connect limbs together in a manner that allows the animator to position feet and hands exactly where necessary. It’s a foundational tool for animating in After Effects. The walk cycle above was created using Duik.

Rubber Hose

Rubber Hose, created by BattleAxe is another great way to rig your characters. A streamlined, simple UI allows for very quick and easy rigging of limbs, wires, ropes cables and of course rubber hoses. The animation above features Rubber Hose in the swing mechanism