Hand drawn and stop motion animations have a very distinct look. Every frame is slightly different, and when played back at full speed those small differences can add visible character and warmth to the end result – think of the Red Bull ads that have run for many years, or the opening titles to “Juno“.
If you’re working with supplied assets, or clean vector artwork, then this video tutorial shows how to create the wriggly hand-drawn look in After Effects and apply it to clean and static compositions.
Like all my video tutorials, this one doesn’t just focus on the how-to aspect of the effect, it talks about the reasons and rationale behind every step.
As well as using a recipe that involves several plugins, including the lesser know minimax plugin, the video also demonstrates how to condense all of the effects into a single adjustment layer that can be used across multiple compositions – making it easy to apply, preview and modify.
This video tutorial is a follow-up to my earlier tutorial called “Animating the Hand of God”. While that tutorial concentrated on the hand animation, this one is all about the artwork. The two techniques compliment each other and can be used together.
For best results, click the ‘full frame’ icon.
To watch my other video tutorials, click here.