Daniel Gies looks at setting up a complete character in After Effects for animation using the puppet tool, some nulls, and some expressions to bring it all together. This is a really great tutorial covering the entire process of setting up a character in After Effects with proper controls for animating that also has a great result in the end. Sweet!

PART I. Making Bones for Puppets in After Effects from Daniel Gies on Vimeo.

PART II. Using Sliders to Control a Rigged Character in After Effects from Daniel Gies on Vimeo.

PART III. Bringing It All Together Animating a Character in After Effects from Daniel Gies on Vimeo.

“This is a general overview on how to combine the puppet tool and Null Objects to make a simple bone system for 2D puppets & the use of sliders to control the Null Objects that are driving the puppet pins to enable more intricate, subtle animations with your puppets.”