Impressive 2D Hand Animation Made in After Effects

Have a look at this incredible 2D hand animation experiment shared a few days ago by Miu Akatsuki, an Animator and Illustrator who specializes primarily in anime-inspired works.

Created as part of a work-in-progress fanart, the project depicts the hand's fingers moving in a remarkably lifelike manner, effectively creating a stunning illusion of 3D, with each finger having been separated into three parts. According to the author, the animation was set up with Adobe After Effects, a digital visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing application for keying, tracking, compositing, and animation.

Here is Miu's previous experiment with hands:

And here are some of the artist's earlier animations and animation tests, you can see more of Miu's works by visiting the artist's TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter pages:

If you would like to learn more about using After Effects for 2D animation, here are some great tutorials that will help you get started: