Introduction

Limber is an add-on for Adobe After Effects that makes animating 2D characters quicker and easier, by working with Inverse Kinematic limbs.

'Inverse Kinematic' or IK just means that you position the two ends of your character's limb (hip and foot, for example), and the software figures out how the limb needs to bend between those two points - it's a bit like playing with a cardboard cut-out puppet. The alternative to inverse kinematics is forward kinematics (we call it FK) which is just like working with layers that are parented to one another in the normal way - when you rotate the parent layer, the child layer follows along. In character animation, both IK and FK are useful. Limber has best-in-class tools for switching between IK and FK, which we call blending, as well as matching FK properties to an IK pose, and vice versa.

Some other IK tools require you to supply your own artwork layers. But it can often be difficult and time-consuming to get your two layers to rotate around each other in a seamless way where they need to look like they're joined. With Limber, you usually don't have to worry about this, because the limbs are based on geometric shape layers that just work.

Limber is unique in combining simplicity with powerful customization potential. Limbs can be generated in a few seconds, then styled using straightforward color and size options. Or, you can use one of several alternative custom limbs, that feature additional, sophisticated options for appearance and behaviour.

Once you're comfortable with the basics, you can customise your own limbs using vector artwork you've designed yourself or been supplied with. When you've got a limb looking how you want, the Limber system is so robust that a single click will generate a duplicate for the other side of your character.

With Limber, you can dedicate time to complex rigging, or be animating in a matter of seconds - the choice is yours. And once you're animating, the dynamic controls for posing and movement are in a class of their own.

From day one, Limber has been made by animators, for animators. We believe that animation should be fun, and that the tools should make it easier, not more complicated. Limber focuses on doing one thing really well - limbs for character animation.