In Panels such as the Project Panel and Puppet Panel, Character Animator organizes information via "tree" structure.

It allows a user to drill into detailed information by clicking the expand icon (right arrow while closed) or to hide the detailed information by clicking the same icon again (down arrow while open).

However, these operations only work on a single node in the tree, so it can be time consuming to achieve the desired view.

It would be useful to support a "Collapse All" command, perhaps via a right-click content menu. This would close all selected nodes, but also close all the child nodes recursively.

Likewise, an "Expand All" command would do the inverse and open the selected nodes and all their child nodes recursively.

Would it be very helpful to directly move the puppet from the preview scene without having to do the old way of adjusting position, rotation, and scale from the transform control? Just like in After Effects, a mini version of Photoshop transform mode.

And moreover, I think it's better to have "Space" button work as navigator in Record mode just like in Rig mode, instead of as play button. Maybe "Shift + Space" can be used as the alternative of play button in Record mode.

And lastly, is it just me, or the navigation hand (space button held) sometimes not working? It still a selection tool (V button). I need to click on the puppet box first in order to have it function as navigation hand. I hope we can change that, meaning no need to touch the box of the puppet first. It caused me to move body parts accidentally while holding space, thinking it is navigating (Space button), but still in move (V button) mode.

The information available on how to do this is, at best, incomplete and at worst, wrong.

Referring to the page here: https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/adobe-character-animator/using/export.html#LipSyncTakeexportforAfterEffects
Step #2 says to create a comp with the visemes "matching the order of visemes in Character Animator’s Visemes context menu" and gives an example of the order being Neutral, Aa, D "and so on".
The problem is that in Character Animator (current version 2.11) the viseme order in the context menu is different. See screenshot.

Just to complicate things, the layer order of the visemes in the default head PSD is different again.

So… which is the correct order? For the record, following the order shown in the contextual menu does not produce the correct results.

The actual process of pasting in the keyframe data works fine, it's just that the visemes being displayed in After Effects don't match the ones being displayed in the original Character Animator capture, and short of endless trial and error, I don't know how to fix it.

I am a professor of art with an MFA in animation specifically. I need to see more examples provided which reflect the competency in figure drawing we encourage students to aspire and practice. Currently, that is not reflected in the examples provided. Additionally, where diversity is portrayed, diversity includes age. By restricting your examples to those that depict generally teenagers and children, you send a message we in art programs in art schools and colleges let alone education and the motion picture industry are trying to change. Individuals and companies are judged by actions vs words. This is one area the CH design team needs to improve. Suggestion: consult your UX folks. This is a key concept in usability engineering right now.

Hi. Flipping love this program. Soooo much. A bunch.

Also, I love the mobile Photoshop app. It is my favorite way to create and edit the artwork for my puppets, backgrounds....etc.

My idea centers around, (what may be in fact, nothing more than ignorance) my perceived inability to edit/access the puppet photoshop file from my iPad Pro, in the way Character Animator natively uses the desktop Photoshop program(app? Am I supposed to call them all apps now? ****....).

I suppose what I'm looking to do is this: I'm editing/rigging a character in CA. I "edit original," and am given an option, either within CA, or possibly through PS, to edit the file from the iPad Pro.

In this perfect world, when the iPad version saves, it would populate the changes in CA, just like the desktop PS.

Hopefully I don't sound like an idiot.

Thanks!

Professor Julius

I've been using an iPhone app called "MugLife" to add animation to my drawings. I use a green background to isolate the head, then use a motion tracking app to pin the head onto my Character Animator animations in Final Cut Pro. It results in an extremely animated head that moves along with my animated puppet. It would be great to implement "MugLife"-type functionality into Character Animator directly to create these kind of beautifully animated full-motion heads. (Adding the ability to customize the teeth/mouth would be essential to create more polished characters.) I've attached a few sample heads to show the look I'm talking about. You can rig this almost automatically in the app, or tweak it to get finer quality results. Perhaps Adobe should acquire this product and add a fully realized version into Character Animator. It would be a GAME CHANGER. Think about it!!