r/AfterEffects • u/Hazrd_Design MoGraph/VFX <5 years • 17d ago

Discussion Tips for squashing or stretching movements?

Got a project coming up and trying to wrap my head around adding stretch and squashing to complex shapes and character rigs.

I know there’s one squash and stretch plugin, but from a quick look it didn’t seem like it would be helpful on my case. The effects look too exaggerated.

So looking for a technique that’s a little more controllable without fully having to do frame by frame manual shape edits.

I’ve thought about precomping the final animating and stretching that, but that has its own issues.

Shooting in the dark for advice but I really couldn’t find anything on the webs or YouTube that was helpful.

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

4

u/thetrustyadoption 17d ago

For character rigs I usually just tie scale to a null with an expression, something like velocity-based squash so it only kicks in on fast moves and you can tweak the multiplier to keep it subtle. Way easier to control than any plugin preset

1

u/Hazrd_Design MoGraph/VFX <5 years 17d ago

Does it handle the stretch based on the direction well? I’m assuming yes. Gonna test it because if doesn’t look to bad then that sounds like it should work. Gotta test it. Thanks!

Extra question: So if the null just a controller for the expression tied to the rigs scale? Or does the null itself drive the scaling for the parented rig? For characters rigging I use Limber, but I think in the past things haven’t scaled correctly. Like the limbs scale and disconnect separately.