What do you do if you work full-time, you are a full-time student and have to capture videos… with yourself, fresh and upbeat? No worries, Donna Baker found a way of always looking perfect in videos. Even, how to entertain her audience by using an animated avatar (bitmoji). Let’s learn more from Donna about how to create an engaging explainer video.
Donna Baker contacted us with a very clear vision of what she wanted to achieve:
“I am a Master’s student in a Learning & Technology program in Canada. The program includes a considerable variety of presentation and visual work, as you can imagine from the specialty area. I want to use a cartoon to represent me in video and other interactive presentations, rather than simply capturing video.”
Donna sent us inspirational photos of her bitmoji and photos from which we created her face. She really liked one of our ready characters, so we combined the custom drawn head with a pre-made body of Lucy My-Tunic. After a few sketches, she chose the look she liked best and we were ready to prepare her Adobe Character Animator puppet. To make the puppet even more believable, we added a dangling effect to her ponytail.
Using your avatar for an engaging explainer video
In the next video, Donna describes how and why she uses her avatar for a course on digital learning environment.
You can read the transcript of the video as well as some additional information regarding talking head video on her blog post.
Donna used her puppet in another video as well:
Easy and always at hand
In one of our recent conversations with Donna, she shares: “I so enjoy having “me”, available to talk for me”. That, we think, summarizes one of the blisses of having an animated avatar. Always being ready to create an engaging explainer video with your own avatar.
We are looking forward to seeing more of Donna’s videos on YouTube.
How to make your own animated avatar?
Donna used her animated avatar for explainer videos, but if you think about it, animated avatars can be used everywhere – in video conversations, online streaming, presentations, vlogging, advertising, social media, and of course – for fun. There are two major software solutions to animate your avatar – Reallusion Cartoon Animator 4 and Adobe Character Animator. Both have a lot of useful options and are beginner-friendly.
Cartoon Animator 4 is available in 2 different versions: Pro (99$), and Pipeline ($199). The software also provides a 30-day free trial to test out its full capacity. Motion capture is sold separately.
As Adobe Character Animator is part of Adobe Creative Cloud and there is a 30-day free trial. Both are available for Windows and Mac OS.
If you liked this article, you might also like the rest of the “GraphicMama Studio” Articles.
Cheers, see you next time!
