Can't figure out how to move pupil and eyebrow separately

Wow! Pretty cool video!!!

Interesting. When I follow the google drive link I think it detects the Gov.puppet file as a ZIP file and shows me the contents, but when I clicked the download button it was a single Gov.puppet file. That was confusing for a bit - but Google Drive confusion.

Okay, some suggestions to try. There is not a "right" and "wrong" way, but more different approaches with different side effects.

• First, I notice that your eye and eyebrows are not independent groups. So when you raise your eyebrows, it will distort the mask around the eyebrows. You could try pins to stop it distorting your eyes, but I think you want "+" in front of the eyebrow group name "+Left Eyebrow" inside illustrator. Then the eyebrow can move without distorting the rest of the face around it. But that is artistic choice.
• Next, you could experiment making "Left Eye" an independent group as well. Otherwise the head shape distorts as you open the eyes wider.

Next I looked at the tags. Now, I don't know enough to know if exporting puppets loses the tags, but when I load the Gov.puppet into a new empty project, the tags are wrong.

• If you look at the tags on "Left Eye", I found lots of tags on it you don't want. It should have "Left Eye" and nothing more. Turn the rest off.
  • "Left Pupil" - well, that is just wrong! The "Left Pupil" group should have that tag, nothing else
  • "Left Pupil Range" - I suggest creating a new oval which is how far you want the pupil moving, and call it "Left Pupil Range", then make sure that object is the only object with "Left Pupil Range" tag on it. Then hide the oval so its not visible.
  • "Left Pupil Size" - set this on "Left Pupil" as well - its the size of the pupil, which is used with "Left Pupil Range" to restrict how far the eye can move.
• "Left Pupil" can have "Left Pupil" and "Left Pupil Size" tags, but I doubt you want "Left Pupil Range" set there as well. If its set, then the pupil cannot move at all - because the range of movement is the same as the pupil size.
• Something will need to have the pupil range defined (how far the eyeball can move) - I create an oval around the pupil, then mark it hidden. I call that oval "Left Pupil Range". That tells it how far up/down the pupil is allowed to move. There might be another way to do it, but that is what I know of.
• I did not see a clipping mask for the pupil - not sure if on purpose or you have not got to it yet.

For some bizarre reason, Illustrator now crashes for me. I am going to reinstall it. But I could not try more. E.g. the eyebrows need to have the "+" added to create a new independent group.

I hope this helps!

I've checked the tags a bunch of times! This is the 'export puppet' result Gov.puppet - Google Drive