Now that I can use Papagayo for lip sync it is much faster producing samples.
I am playing around with this to find any major problems. So far I found one big one. The stupid eyes have a rotation bone to "slant" them a little for certain expressions... but... one of the eyes has the base of the bone in the opposite spot from the other eye... have to fix that.
Anyway here are two videos I did this evening from some more Matrix clips I found. That movie has some really expressive dialog for doing acting tests.
http://www.lowrestv.com/character_rig/i ... place3.mov
http://www.lowrestv.com/character_rig/n ... human2.mov
-vern
More character rig sample animations... NEW! Full body rig!
Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger
More character rig sample animations... NEW! Full body rig!
Last edited by heyvern on Fri May 11, 2007 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
If you don't mind me being VERY picky verne, I just looked at your mov tests and noticed that the mouth looks like it's too wide or there's something wrong about it when it's half open at it's widest position. It also seems to appear slightly detached from the face when the head is turned. That said it's still amazing 
D.K
D.K
Thanks DK. No problems being picky.
There are additional controls for the mouth that I've been too "lazy" to fiddle with during these tests. Basically the main lip controls, up/down are the only ones I used. there are also two bones for left and right for each lip.
I will play with those and see if it helps any. I could also change some of the percentages of the constraints to "smooth" the lip motion.
I've noticed the same thing you did all along but since this is meant to be an exaggerated type of cartoon character I didn't think it detracted from it that much. I actually kind of liked it.
When this first started I was going for that "over the top" mouth expressions with my characters. I may be pushing it too far.
I don't want this to be... realistic. I want it to be a little bit... cartoony. So the mouth might get too wide and it does... "disconnect" when it goes beyond the "safe zone" of the rig. Turn the head left or right too far and open the mouth really big... it "sticks out".
The lips do kind of... "stick out" or "down"... kind of bowing in the middle when the mouth goes wide. I don't have the ability to make a "round" mouth shape at this point. I noticed that when doing some of the phonemes. I will see if some minor adjustments could fix that... there's a lot of bones on the mouth... I'm frightened to touch them.
-vern
There are additional controls for the mouth that I've been too "lazy" to fiddle with during these tests. Basically the main lip controls, up/down are the only ones I used. there are also two bones for left and right for each lip.
I will play with those and see if it helps any. I could also change some of the percentages of the constraints to "smooth" the lip motion.
I've noticed the same thing you did all along but since this is meant to be an exaggerated type of cartoon character I didn't think it detracted from it that much. I actually kind of liked it.
When this first started I was going for that "over the top" mouth expressions with my characters. I may be pushing it too far.
I don't want this to be... realistic. I want it to be a little bit... cartoony. So the mouth might get too wide and it does... "disconnect" when it goes beyond the "safe zone" of the rig. Turn the head left or right too far and open the mouth really big... it "sticks out".
The lips do kind of... "stick out" or "down"... kind of bowing in the middle when the mouth goes wide. I don't have the ability to make a "round" mouth shape at this point. I noticed that when doing some of the phonemes. I will see if some minor adjustments could fix that... there's a lot of bones on the mouth... I'm frightened to touch them.
-vern
Like I said your character is amazing and I don't think any anyone or any audience is going to be looking for such a small thing as a slight mouth protrusion. Like i said it's facinating what you are doing and you are a fantastic artist to boot.
Question: When you say you don't have the ability to make a "round" mouth shape at this point what exactly do you mean. I thought the face was all vector art?
D.K
Question: When you say you don't have the ability to make a "round" mouth shape at this point what exactly do you mean. I thought the face was all vector art?
D.K
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Patrick McClintock
- Posts: 85
- Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 5:08 pm
- Location: U.S.A.
CHARACTER RIG
First of all,...Totally awsome!
Secondly, I'll have to study some of these face and head riggs to duplicate your master work.
Thirdly are your realative tuts easy to find on the forum?
thanks in advance!!!
Secondly, I'll have to study some of these face and head riggs to duplicate your master work.
Thirdly are your realative tuts easy to find on the forum?
thanks in advance!!!
P.
DK
The "round" mouth... what I meant is that the bones control the vectors very specifically. They move in a predefined way from many many... many bone constraints.
So I can't quite get a perfectly round shape to the mouth when I move the bones. It is always sort of "mouth shaped".
------
Patrick
I plan to sell a series of these rigged characters. The bone rig is flexible enough to apply nearly any type of face drawn from only a front view by setting it up in a specific way. I hope to include instructions for doing this with the characters.
I have some... small tutorials with files related to bones and other things scattered in the How do I... and Techniques areas.
There is even a very very early version of this rig that can be downloaded with a female characters face somewhere... I forget... probably in share your work section. That version isn't nearly as good but I put it up for people to play around with.
-vern
The "round" mouth... what I meant is that the bones control the vectors very specifically. They move in a predefined way from many many... many bone constraints.
So I can't quite get a perfectly round shape to the mouth when I move the bones. It is always sort of "mouth shaped".
------
Patrick
I plan to sell a series of these rigged characters. The bone rig is flexible enough to apply nearly any type of face drawn from only a front view by setting it up in a specific way. I hope to include instructions for doing this with the characters.
I have some... small tutorials with files related to bones and other things scattered in the How do I... and Techniques areas.
There is even a very very early version of this rig that can be downloaded with a female characters face somewhere... I forget... probably in share your work section. That version isn't nearly as good but I put it up for people to play around with.
-vern
When it's finally done you won't have to create the rig yourself. You could just buy mine! (I have to eat afterall).
At the moment I have several characters I am adapting to the rig to help me write the instructions. (one is a portrait of my brother. I plan to lip sync
some songs he did). I am also doing a better version of my "toon babe" character that I have been working on since I bought Moho.
What I plan to do is have sort of guides or a placement grid indicating where to "drag" facial elements of your "predrawn" characters. It won't be a total piece of cake but easier than doing it from scratch. The tricky part is layering. You will need a head that is "split" into 2 or 3 shapes. Face, and sides/back, to hide the ears on turns. Not that hard really.
Plus all the phoneme actions will already be done. The actual key framed animation is done with bones that have nothing to do with vector movement. They are just controls so adjusting some other bones to adapt for a new character won't mess up any key frames. Only the controls are keyed. All the other bones just "move"... they don't get keyed.
I am also thinking of figuring out a way with lua to "save" the bone info from an animation just for the control bones. This way you could save out an animation from one character with the same rig and apply it to another.
-vern
At the moment I have several characters I am adapting to the rig to help me write the instructions. (one is a portrait of my brother. I plan to lip sync
some songs he did). I am also doing a better version of my "toon babe" character that I have been working on since I bought Moho.
What I plan to do is have sort of guides or a placement grid indicating where to "drag" facial elements of your "predrawn" characters. It won't be a total piece of cake but easier than doing it from scratch. The tricky part is layering. You will need a head that is "split" into 2 or 3 shapes. Face, and sides/back, to hide the ears on turns. Not that hard really.
Plus all the phoneme actions will already be done. The actual key framed animation is done with bones that have nothing to do with vector movement. They are just controls so adjusting some other bones to adapt for a new character won't mess up any key frames. Only the controls are keyed. All the other bones just "move"... they don't get keyed.
I am also thinking of figuring out a way with lua to "save" the bone info from an animation just for the control bones. This way you could save out an animation from one character with the same rig and apply it to another.
-vern
Well that sounds great, I can't wait to see the rigged character and what it will be capable of.
Your idea about saving the animation and then apply it to another character (with the exact same rigg I guess?), seems like a very cool and time saving idea, I hope it will be done.
I wish you all the best luck with your aimings!!
Your idea about saving the animation and then apply it to another character (with the exact same rigg I guess?), seems like a very cool and time saving idea, I hope it will be done.
I wish you all the best luck with your aimings!!
My two cents.heyvern wrote:DK
The "round" mouth... what I meant is that the bones control the vectors very specifically. They move in a predefined way from many many... many bone constraints.
So I can't quite get a perfectly round shape to the mouth when I move the bones. It is always sort of "mouth shaped".
------
Patrick
I plan to sell a series of these rigged characters. The bone rig is flexible enough to apply nearly any type of face drawn from only a front view by setting it up in a specific way. I hope to include instructions for doing this with the characters.
I have some... small tutorials with files related to bones and other things scattered in the How do I... and Techniques areas.
There is even a very very early version of this rig that can be downloaded with a female characters face somewhere... I forget... probably in share your work section. That version isn't nearly as good but I put it up for people to play around with.
-vern
viewtopic.php?t=7724
Genete
I am a total newbie, so please forgive this very basic question, but the term is thrown around a lot here... what is a "rig" ??
I'm also trying to find a basic tutorial on doing a head turn... the terminology in this thread is confusing me. Anyone know of a particular place to get a tutorial on this let me know (and I'll keep searching too.)
thanks,
andrew
I'm also trying to find a basic tutorial on doing a head turn... the terminology in this thread is confusing me. Anyone know of a particular place to get a tutorial on this let me know (and I'll keep searching too.)
thanks,
andrew
Hi Andrew,
There's a great video tutorial on just that subject here....
viewtopic.php?t=8301
Oh, and a 'rig' is the skeleton, made up of bones in AS, that enables you to animate your character.
There's a great video tutorial on just that subject here....
viewtopic.php?t=8301
Oh, and a 'rig' is the skeleton, made up of bones in AS, that enables you to animate your character.