e.d.Films’ Daniel Gies has a look at using the Ae liquify tool to create simulated 3D turns that can be used for a variety of animation effects in After Effects.
how to use the Liquefy Effect in After Effects to create subtle head turns and facial expressions
Applying the liquify techniques to characters in After Effects, Daniel shows how the ae liquify tool can be used to create head turns for 2D characters as well as facial expressions that can help bring the character to life.
Daniel notes that using the ae liquify tool does may not be the right fit to work in all instances. However, when it does fit the workflow, the rig and effect can be stacked. This can, in many different ways offer the ability to get what appears to be subtle 3D motion without having to go into 3D at all.
Daniel has taken a few approaches to creating head turns using everything from expressions and 3D Layers to facilitate a head turn in After Effects, to using Mettle’s FreeForm Pro to create 3D shapes for the character. You can see this in action in a previous tutorial which showed how to Build a Simple 3D Head and Eyes in After Effects using FreeForm.
