Dope Sheet

[flashawd]

Hi - I created a Dope Sheet for a character and going through and spacing it appropriately, but for some reason between a couple of the words - her mouth opens. Am I supposed to key a frame or something? Not sure what I am doing wrong. Thanks- Eric

[flashawd]

Worse than I thought - it is almost mixing a couple of letters together - some really distored mouth movements like two are being combined? May be time to start the Dope Sheet from scratch.

[Rodney]

Starting from scratch will work in many cases.

There are several other ways to attack it as well.

 

The first is to leave a gap between dopesheet words/phonemes.

This allows the software to interpret what should remain in that gap as opposed to deciding on what to try to blend. Its been awhile but I recall some nice results using this method.

 

Another way is to dive into the Timeline after the lipsync action has been created and peak and adjust as desired. The most effective results I've seen using this technique were accomplished by first Peaking everything and then going back in and unpeaking/Smoothing those areas which appeared too sharp. Of course you could just Peak those areas needed in the first place and check the results/tweak to taste too.

 

For more complex situations requiring maximum control of lipsync you may want to forego the dopesheet entirely and work directly with the phoneme shapes. Its a lot more work but gives you maximum control over the process. Rigs like the FACE rig work really well too.

 

Additionally, you can use a little from both methods and run the dopesheet first and then paste in predesignated lip poses at the appropriate places. This can be highly effective when trying to establish specific traits/quirks in a character. For instance, a character with a drawl, lisp or thick accent might form a specific mouth shape upon a certain words. Pasting lip poses in at those areas can sometimes effectively convey those traits.

 

Finally, there are some cases where you may want to just skip a mouth movement or word in order to get the right look. People tend to be lazy sometimes and speak right through words without enunciating. A trick you can use to test this out for yourself is to place two fingers horizontally against your lips and say the words. As your fingers are moved you should notice the important keyframes/mouth shapes you need. You may not need a lot of the others.

 

More info than you wanted... and not sure I've even approached your solution but some general thoughts on the subject of dopesheets.

 

Also, be aware that there has been a few recent fixes to dopesheet code.

If you haven't downloaded the most recent updates (for v14) definitely do that.

[flashawd]

Hi Rodney - no, the more info the better - thanks for taking the time and all the ideas - I'll start from scratch and go at it a little differently. Am I in the right area to find the recent fixes to the dopsheet code? - http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showforum=95 Thanks again - Eric

[Rodney]

Probably the best place to start your search for the latest and greatest in A:M updates in the forum area titled 'Latest Info'. That's where releases are officially announced.

 

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showforum=2