tutorial request: parallax

[Cookie_Thief]

Hello all,

I need some help here finding a tutorial for parallax that explains how to manipulate the image so that it looks like the limbs are moving (like hands, etc, in the example below).

All tutorials I find are basic layer moving videos that I already know how to do. I'm looking for something that explains how to move limbs, make cloth flutter in the wind, etc, from a 2d image base, as seen below

Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 Intro - YouTube

[Mylenium · Accepted solution]

Nothing but distortion effects - anything from the Puppet tool, to Turbulent Displace to commercial third-party warping and morphing plug-ins. It's merely a matter of knowing when to use which, make it "locally constrained" by slicing up your artwork and applying it selectively and then which parts and effects parameters to animate. The linked example isn't even a particulalrly well done one. There's glitches everywhere.

Mylenium

[Cookie_Thief]

Thank you

[Roland Kahlenberg]

I believe you are confused between parallax and inverse kinematics (or more correctly, character animation). These are two different matters with only a slight overlap of features.
Parallax pertains to how objects in different z-positions look to be moving at different speeds when the camera moves — and the objects are stationary.

Other than the cloth moving, everything else you've mentioned is related to character animation. DUIK is a great tool for this. it is a donation based product with professional features.

[P.M.B]

Inverse kinematics is not at all synonymous with character animation.  It's a type of rigging (or more correctly, solving rigs)  although character rigs can also be have FK (forward kinematics) solvers or a combination of FK & IK.  In fact more complex rigs often have boolean switches to change the type of solve and the same joint.  Animating is completely separate from rigging and often animators cannot rig & visa-versa.

Having said that, there is absolutely nothing in the linked video that would indicate whether or not there was any type of rigging used let alone what type of solving was involved.

There is however,  lots of parallax happening.

Also there is not even the slightest wispy bit of overlap in features between IK and parallax.  They're not even on the same planet.

Whoops....where are we again?