New lipsync

[strohbehn]

Hi gang,

 

Here's a new lipsync I've been working on. This one has more extreme emotion to show what this setup is capable of.

 

This clip is a render from the action window (Quicktime, Sorenson 3, 1.7MB)

http://www.scc.net/~mbs/Yosemite27.mov

 

This one is a wireframe that includes the onscreen interface I use for animating this critter. About 90% of the lipsync was done using the "slider interface" and the remaining 10% was tweeking the individual pose sliders. (DivX 5.1.1, 2.1MB)

http://www.mstrohbehn.lunarpages.com/Videos/Yosemite26.avi

 

Let me know what you all think.

 

Thanks!

[hypnomike]

Looking (and sounding) good Mark.

 

Is it your own face by any chance?

 

Can't wait to see the full figure in action.

 

Keep posting

[Hutch]

That looks really good! How did you record it like that without rendering? Something like fraps?

[strohbehn]

Thanks for the comments, guys.

 

For reference purposes, the model is based on my face. You're right.

 

As far as rendering goes, I just did a "render to file" with the action window active. I did it this way instead of in a choreography because I didn't want to mess with lighting, and it's very fast. It only takes about a minute to render, and being able to check the realtime result after making changes is really helpful. My computer can't quite play at realtime speed from the timeline.

[KenH]

lol Funny stuff. Cool rig too.....would you recommend that system? I'm not sure what's going on inside his mouth. You can see the background....do you have an inner gum/throat section? If yes, they might be flipped the wrong way.

[gra4mac]

Cool, nicely done. Thanks for posting the wire with the controls showing, interesting stuff.

[strohbehn]

The "slider interface" works beautifully. It's very fast and intuitive because each slider can control up to three pose sliders. So instead of going back to the pose slider window for each little tweak (scrolling up and down the list of poses), the vast majority of the work is done from these few controls right next to the head.

 

My favorite control is the "Lips" box. It controls:

1. Upper lip up

2. Upper lip down

3. Lower lip up

4. Lower lip down

This control in addition to the "Sync" control (mouth narrow, wide, open, closed) lets you do nearly any symmetrical lip shape in seconds.

 

I don't have the experience to know if it's the best way, but once it's set up the lipsync moves along very easily. It's great fun!

 

I didn't extend the mesh as far back and down as I should have in the throat area. Good pickup...

[Rodney]

That interface is just too too cool.

 

If you have a version of your project that you could part with for the 2005 CD, A:M users would learn a lot from it.

 

Awesome stuff. Cutting edge.

[strohbehn]

I agree Rodney, it's fantastic. Let's give credit where it's due on this one.

 

It's modeled after Jason Osipa's "Stop Staring" book, and uses the example of William Young's project file at this link:

 

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showt...&hl=osipa's

 

 

I just implemented their great ideas.

[Rodney]

It's modeled after Jason Osipa's "Stop Staring" book, and uses the example of William Young's project file at this link:

 

Thanks!

I was trying to figure out where I'd seen that setup.

 

For some reason your link just takes me to a front page.

Not sure if this one will be better...

 

Bill Young Interface based on Jason Osipa's "Stop Staring" book

 

Kudos to both Jason and Bill!

[robcat2075]

Great head model! And it looks like you've got all the face controls well implemented.

 

I think with a voice track like that you could go WAAAAYYYY bigger and still not be over doing it.

[John Keates]

Wow, can't believe I missed this one! It has been fantastic to see you progres so fast through the learning curve.

 

I think you nailed the animation very well. Yosemite Sam was allways one of my favorites and you have captured about as much of his attitude as one could expect without having put any body movement in. I was going to suggest some more extreem movement but I don't think that it would be appropriate with such a realistic model.

 

One thing you might consider though is not having any limits on the amount that your control nulls can move and setting the pre and post extrapolation of the channels in the poses to accumulate so you can allways add some extra movement if needed. Feel free to quiz me on this if you don't understand - it might not even work with your setup I guess.

 

I am no big expert on lip sync. The mouth movement looks nice and snappy and all the basic movments are jumping out at the right places.

 

One area that I would look at though is the eyes. I would like to see some real squinting goin on there. There is some blinking but more eyelid movement would be great. If you make the eyes into slits at "flee bitten" and then burst them wide open at "blow" then you would get some more impact.

 

Also, the eyebrow movement looks a little like it was done as an after-thought. For this kind of acting I would make the eybrow movement snappy and decisive as you have with the mouth. At the moment the eyebrows seem to slide around in a flirty way rather than jolt from one place to another as I would expect.

 

Since you have put in head movement, I would condider adding neck movement as they should go together in this kind of wild speach. It would be great if he pushes is head forwards one "flea bitten" and pulls it right back at "blow".

 

It is a good idea to orient the head bone like a steady bone with 'apply before action' to 'on'. This way, it will keep its angle when you add neck movement.

 

That is pretty much all I can think of for now. As I say, it is great to see you progressing so fast. I can't wait to see what you will do in the future.

[strohbehn]

Thanks for the great input, John. There's a lot there to work with.

 

This part I'll have to look into: "setting the pre and post extrapolation of the channels in the poses". You are not referring to the percentage value of the poses' property (not sure I worded that correctly, and I'm not at my A:M computer to check it out) are you? As it is now, many of the poses are at their extremes and I haven't tried changing the percentage values to try to push them further.

 

You're right about the eyelids, brows, neck and head movements needing more attention. I got a bit lost here without a body to help out. One of these days I'll figure out a plan for this character. Probably the biggest help would be for me to videotape myself doing Yosemite's lines and check out all the movements.

 

"It is a good idea to orient the head bone like a steady bone with 'apply before action' to 'on'. This way, it will keep its angle when you add neck movement." I'm not quite following you here. What is the steady bone constrained to.... an upper spine bone? And is the orient like constraint on the head bone at a percentage less than 100?

 

Thanks again for the help.

[animas3D]

This is freakin' awesome.

[John Keates]

Thanks for the great input, John. There's a lot there to work with.

 

This part I'll have to look into: "setting the pre and post extrapolation of the channels in the poses". You are not referring to the percentage value of the poses' property (not sure I worded that correctly, and I'm not at my A:M computer to check it out) are you? As it is now, many of the poses are at their extremes and I haven't tried changing the percentage values to try to push them further.

 

You're right about the eyelids, brows, neck and head movements needing more attention. I got a bit lost here without a body to help out. One of these days I'll figure out a plan for this character. Probably the biggest help would be for me to videotape myself doing Yosemite's lines and check out all the movements.

 

"It is a good idea to orient the head bone like a steady bone with 'apply before action' to 'on'. This way, it will keep its angle when you add neck movement." I'm not quite following you here. What is the steady bone constrained to.... an upper spine bone? And is the orient like constraint on the head bone at a percentage less than 100?

 

Thanks again for the help.

 

>>This part I'll have to look into: "setting the pre and post extrapolation of the >>channels in the poses".

 

>You are not referring to the percentage value of the poses' property (not sure I >worded that correctly, and I'm not at my A:M computer to check it out) are you? As it >is now, many of the poses are at their extremes and I haven't tried changing the >percentage values to try to push them further.

 

Ok, here I am referring to the fact that you can set the channels within a pose to carry on after and before the pose extents. In some cases - as when the pose is driven by a relationship, the pose can be driven past its extents (I belive). If this is not happening then it is possible to change the settings of a pose (right click it under the model in the pws) and set it to +200% and -200% or whatever you like.

 

>>"It is a good idea to orient the head bone like a steady bone with 'apply before >>action' to 'on'. This way, it will keep its angle when you add neck movement."

 

>I'm not quite following you here. What is the steady bone constrained to.... an upper >spine bone? And is the orient like constraint on the head bone at a percentage less >than 100?

 

The steady bone is usually at the root of the model (it is not a child of anything). You don't want it a child of the thorax as this would undo its effect.

 

You can orient the head like it at 100%. You could also make the constraint in a percentage pose where it gradates from 0-100% (you have to set the channel interpolation to linier or zero-slope or whatever).

 

The idea here is that the head will allways keep the same angle (as tends to happen naturally anyway). The biggest advantage is that you can rotate the neck without the head rotating.

 

Hope this helps and I am sorry that I keep missing updates to threads - email notification doesn't seem to work for me.

[turbokitty77]

Good stuff!

Nice lipsync.

However, it seems to lack facial expression. The audio sounds like the person is shouting, but the face doesn't say so.

Except that, it's really well done.

Keep it up.

[JBarrett]

I'll echo TurboKitty's comment. The technical part of the lip sync looks pretty good, but it could use some more snap and exaggeration to really match the tone of the vocal better. Also exaggerate the other facial expressions, too.

 

I like the interface you've set up for the facial rig. I've been using Osipa's rig on the project we're doing at work, and while I initially had some gripes about its operation, I gotta admit that it's really grown on me over time, and I'm losing my interest in sliders for facial work. I heard about Bill Young's test at implementing an Osipa-style rig in A:M, but never checked it out. Seeing your implementation here, though, has really piqued my interest. I think I'm going to take a whack at adding it to the Eggington model I used for the Animate a Face tutorial.

 

Oohhh...and this has suddenly given me an interesting idea for a new hand-control rig....hmmm.....

[strohbehn]

Thanks for the encouragement and help, friends. I'm thinking now that the vocal track may be too exaggerated for this character. Unless I can put some of John Keates' suggestions to work to extend my pose limits, I may need to find a different track (or possibly tweak some of the poses).

 

Justin, your "Animate a Face" tutorial was fantastic. I really enjoyed your presentation style, and the information was outstanding. It would have taken me months longer to learn the A:M interface (timeline, curves, etc.) and lipsync skills without "Animate a Face". Thanks for sharing your knowledge! Make MORE!

 

Please keep us posted on whatever you come up with for a hand control rig. Sounds interesting....

[JBarrett]

Thanks for the kind words, Mark.

 

As for making more...well, that all hinges on (1) coming up with an idea, and (2) working with Anzovin Studio to put it all together. Right now (1) is the biggest challenge. Jot me a note if there's something you'd like to see. I'm open to suggestions!