With the Puppet tool, we can add points to a graphic and drag around these points to cause deformation. These points can be keyframed to create fluid animations. The Puppet tool is really good for animating illustrated characters or creating moving elements in still photography.
The Puppet Pin tool is used to place and move Deform pins. You’ll find this tool in the toolbar. When you click the Puppet Pin tool on the surface of a layer it drops a yellow pin. A selected pin is filled in with yellow. When you click and drag a selected pin you will stretch and deform the asset. Twirling down the layer properties a few levels, you will find the puppet pin position properties. You can add keyframes to this property to cause movement.
There is also the ability to automatically record your cursor dragging and positioning Deform pins. If you hold down the Command (CMD) key while previewing the scene, After Effects will record the position of the pin and add keyframes to the timeline.
The following tutorial is in three parts. I talk through the process of making animation from a still photograph. The tutorial covers graphic and audio asset production, After Effects setup, and then animation with the Puppet tool. Links to the assets are below. Here is a gif of what we will be making:
The assets used in this tutorial are from Unsplash and the Youtube sound effects library.
