Animator Lee Daniels shares a quick tip, showing how you can create shadows for your animated 2D Characters in After Effects. Shadows give off an important visual cue for character’s offering weight, and a visual reference for the floor. Without a shadow, a character jump animation has no reference for height or weight.
The technique to create shadows is rather simple. It is just a matter of duplicating the animated comp, altering the color and opacity, changing the anchor point, and making it a 3D layer. a 3D layer gives you a great way to add some depth in your 2D animated scene with a perspective looking shadow.