Facial Rig

[Xtaz]

This is for the Rig´s Gods Itjustme, mtpeak2 !!!!! 8qeOFibRmoo

[Rodney]

It would take some doing but an upgrade to Ed's Head might be in order.

For the brave and bold here's a starting place with Ed's Head v2 (which I don't think has been updated since circa v11):

 

 

If we could get ahold of the same textures used for that setup I think we could come close to a reproduction.

Eds_head_v2.zip

[itsjustme]

The controls remind me of Steve's Head Gizmo, but the FACE Rig in the Squetch Rig would be able to do most of that. What it doesn't do could be added without much problem...mostly some muscle deformation and percentages of bump or displacement maps.

 

When I can get some time, I'll be getting back to the Squetch Rig so I can finish the tutorials (the tutorials will have to wait until I can get a better laptop) and maybe get a better example character rigged.

 

This made me think of Chris Jones' work.

[Rodney]

Here is an interesting image... taken from a video outlining Disney's digital work on cg characters from the film 'Maleficent'.

It looks like something from Paul Eckman but I don't know what the actual genesis of the image is.

For lack of a better term and until better educated, I'll call the tracks showing where muscle tension is pulled/released facial paths although 'tracks' might be just as appropriate.

I assume most of these are indicative of the insertion/origin and termination point pf muscles on the face althought I'm not quite sure what to make of the eye paths.

[robcat2075]

Looks like an acupuncture chart

[Rodney]

The content had passed by so quickly during my first viewing that I hadn't really noticed that parts of the reference image were moving.

Here the image is in context and slowed down by half.

 

 

For more and the ability to watch in higher rez, here's a link to the original presentation by Mike Seymour at fxguide:

 

http://www.fxguide.com/featured/maleficent/

 

Obviously the average person doesn't have access to the huge scanners and such used to create realistic faces but we do what we can do.

[Rodney]

From the same folks that brought you the Snapper Rig System that Marcos posted is another slightly less realistic facial setup:

 

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I'm sure the system is cheap so buy two.

 

And here's one with a considerably more caricatured face:

 

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[zandoriastudios]

those are some amazing tools! i like the facial controls example from Malificent--i was thinking about the example posted on the forum recently of adding action objects in a POSE, and wondered if that might be a great way to bring in a setup like that, since you could use the same control model to drive named pose sliders.

You could probably setup one facial control model that you could use posing your characters face, or even set it up for ZignTrack too--it could become the new way to rig faces?

[3DArtZ]

I have always felt that there is a disconnect between the A:M users and the tools available in A:M.

We have been able to set up facial animation controls and poses with ease for as long as I can remember,

but for some reason many people, as far as I can tell, choose to

go the hard way and mimic the impossibly difficult to use tools needed with other software.

 

Its been a while since I had an animation project requiring facial animation but the last one I used deformation boxes to create the poses. basically a dbox for the lower jaw, a dbox for the upper jaw, a dbox for each eye and then one for the entire head. Setup was minimal and model file remains extremely "light" as far as controls and things to keep track of.

 

just my .02 cents. that video is impressive but I imagine there is so much going on behind the scenes that only experts know whats going on with it.

 

Mike Fitz

www.3dartz.com

[Rodney]

I note that the lip sliders on the reference image aren't moving (ref: Maleficent fairy gif animation above)

That implies the lip movement is being animated or at layered in separately.

 

To see what I'm talking about watch the reference image focusing on the lip sliders and wait for it to cycle through the pursing/exploding of the lips on the left. Note that sliders in that area do not activate much less move.

 

Smoke and mirror... all fx, even the behind the scenes stuff designed to sell the process... smoke and mirror.

 

You could probably setup one facial control model that you could use posing your characters face, or even set it up for ZignTrack too--it could become the new way to rig faces?

 

If motion tracking can get the basic movement into place that would relieve the animator of some of the tedious stuff they'd otherwise have to do.

[Rodney]

Just my .02 cents. that video is impressive but I imagine there is so much going on behind the scenes that only experts know whats going on with it.

 

Excellent point Mike.

 

My initial response in this topic was to suggest that things aren't as difficult as some make them out to be.

My (theoretical) suggestion being that those simple lines on the reference image should be sufficient to animate a (realistic) face.

Are there challenges/difficulties? Certainly, but none that cannot be surmounted given enough time and innovation.

 

There is a TON of stuff going on behind the scenes and the experts are paid pretty well to research and develop.

But we should keep in mind that they aren't building rigs just for the present project but are often solving deeper issues they know they will some day ahem... face.

[fae_alba]

I have always felt that there is a disconnect between the A:M users and the tools available in A:M.

We have been able to set up facial animation controls and poses with ease for as long as I can remember,

but for some reason many people, as far as I can tell, choose to

go the hard way and mimic the impossibly difficult to use tools needed with other software.

 

Its been a while since I had an animation project requiring facial animation but the last one I used deformation boxes to create the poses. basically a dbox for the lower jaw, a dbox for the upper jaw, a dbox for each eye and then one for the entire head. Setup was minimal and model file remains extremely "light" as far as controls and things to keep track of.

 

just my .02 cents. that video is impressive but I imagine there is so much going on behind the scenes that only experts know whats going on with it.

 

Mike Fitz

www.3dartz.com

 

Excellent point. A:M has all the tools needed to make a facial rig to the same level as those shown above. The trick (for me at least) is building a model with the right balance of mesh density that would lends itself to a fine tuned rig. For me the rigging has always been a challenge' I've been messing with my Papa Bear rig for months now, and for the past month been on the face alone. Since I don't intend on the character to speak, his facial acting needs to be even more expressive. I've always gravitated to pose sliders controlling cp's in muscle mode, but this time around I'm trying to build Papa Bear's face rig with bones. So far it's looking good, but I haven't really tried to stress test it either.

 

A:M has the tools needed to build a great face rig, what I think is lacking is the knowledge base to fully take advantage of these tools.

[John Bigboote]

What I see there is a lot of bones with smartskin relationships that activate an image (with painted wrinkles) set to displacement to raise in value from zero to full... great stuff!