Create objects/layers from a flat image

[stwoods]

Hi all. I was wondering if you could help or point me to a tutorial. ..

My daughter drew an image that I would like to try to animate in Character Animator.

I saved as an Illustrator file but it is flat (only one layer).

What is the best way to select the eyes, ears, mouth, etc, into objects and layers so I could then import into Animator and make it talk, etc?

I am using the latest version of both Iluustrator and Character Animator (2020).

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Myra Ferguson]

To use the Illustrator file as a puppet for Character Animator, you'll need to set up the layers to be the various parts. Here's a video tutorial from Dave Werner on how to do that. Check out more of his videos on his channel Okay Samurai for more info on using Character Animator.

[stwoods]

Thanks Myra! I appreciate your response. I am looking at the video but he seems to describe using one of the templates with the files ready for editing and movement.  However, I am using a flat file  (he mentioned that he wouldn't start from scratch). I guess I want to start from scratch and animate my daughter's image. Is that even possible? Thank again. From what I've seen, this video is very helpful!

[Myra Ferguson · Accepted solution]

Maybe this will help more. Here's a link to how the puppet should be set up including the naming. https://helpx.adobe.com/adobe-character-animator/using/prepare-artwork.html

[stwoods]

Ok, Myra! I think this helps a lot. Using this predefined template in my drawing. Thank you