What It Does
Leem’s Animation Tools 2 was a collection of workflow enhancements built for character animation in After Effects. Created by animator Liam Hill, it focused on puppet animation tasks like swapping between sprite layers, creating null controllers for puppet pins, and managing animation timing. The plugin has been discontinued and is no longer available for purchase.
Key Features
Sprite Swapper Library. The centerpiece of version 2 was a dynamic UI panel that automatically updated to reflect project changes. You could control all sprite swappers across your project from one interface, clicking sprites to switch between them whether they were spread across layers or composition frames. This made managing complex character rigs more manageable.
Puppet Pin Null Controllers. The plugin generated null objects that controlled puppet pins, letting you parent them together or to other layers. This brought hierarchical animation structure to mesh deformation, useful when rigging characters with puppet pins.
Animation Strobing. A tool for creating hold frame effects on specific parts of your animation, removing smooth interpolation where you wanted a more stepped, less “tweeny” appearance while keeping the original animation curves intact.
Constraints and Blocking. Point and direction constraints worked regardless of layer hierarchy. A key interval tool let you bake animation curves into hold keyframes at specified intervals for quick timing work and blocking.
Who It’s For
Leem’s Animation Tools 2 was designed for character animators working with cutout or puppet-style animation. If you were building sprite-based rigs or working with puppet pins regularly, these tools addressed specific friction points in that workflow.
Pricing
This product has been discontinued. It was previously sold as a paid tool. Version 2 was compatible with After Effects CS3 through CC 2017.