Hi all,

I just want to completely understand the lipsync process for "SO". I have a few questions.....


1) During the keyposing stage, are we suppose to be doing the entire lipsync, or just key poses for the lipsync as well?

2) Are we creating all lipsync as separate actions or can we create choreography actions?

3) If lipsync's are all going to be separate actions, are the lipsync actions kept with the actor folder or with the sequence folder?

4) When I do lipsync'ing using the 2008 rig, I only use the null controls. It looks better and is much faster to use IMO. I also normally do all the facial expressions, eye movement, frowns, etc. Is it OK to combine all facial expressions with the lipsync?

Thanks,
George

1) Lip sync is basically a transition between key poses already so, we might as well go all the way and get that done at this stage. That's what I'm doing anyway.

2) Lips sync separate actions. Only lip movement in each action. No eye movements or expressions.

3) The lip sync actions should be all set up for you. My actions are embedded within the chor. I'm having no problems with that.

4) No. Eye movements usually need a subject to look at.....which is in the chor. So there's going to be alot of cleaning up to get the character looking at what he's meant to be looking at. Much easier to do it in the chor from the start. Just use move the master target null to the subject and it's done.
Expressions also don't just occur when the character is talking so blending between an expression in the chor and an expression in the lip sync action is problematic. When all the expressions are in the chor, there's much more freedom.

Actually, I'd like to see the facial expressions in the lipsync Action, (at least the ones that go along with the dialog).

I'll be doing mine in a separate action in the chor. The logic being that a character doesn't only show expressions when he's talking (that's all you have when there's silence).
Otherwise there's all sorts of fun trying to blend the expressions in the chor with the expressions in the lip sync action.

I watch the face and lips of a character while I'm Editing, and I'd like to have the facial expression on them during our initial Cut. Whether the expressions are a separate Action, done as a Chor Action, or in the lipsync Action, I don't care. If you do them in a separate Action though, you can't just drag the one Action bar in the Timeline to reposition it, (you'd need to drag 2).

As I say, there still has to be another action in the chor anyway to fill in the "expression gaps" when no character is talking. That has to be dragged too if you don't want to mess up the blending.

Edit: We might be talking about different stages of the process. But in the end doing it in lip sync actions will mean two actions. Why would you be dragging lip sync actions anyway? That's going to cause problems no matter what....such as body gestures being out of sync with the voice.

By eye movement, I mean slight movement to show thinking (not aimed at anyone).

I'd like to include the expressions because the lipsync shapes are affected by the expressions. On one of the sequences I worked on in TWO, I had a hard time combining facial expressions with the lipsync because some of the controls to create the lipsync are used to create expressions. I tried to blend them but it didn't look right. I just think it would be easier to treat the face as a whole instead of trying to blend just mouth and jaw poses with the something like a smile or a frown.

George

I agree. As I said, I had a hard time blending expressions with lipsync. If we treat the face as a whole, I think it will be a lot easier. Everytime I've done lipsync, I added expressions and eye movements.

George

This is a very good point. I never had this problem because I always did lipsync as a choreography action. All lipsync and facial expressions) were done in the same chor.

I got an idea....

lipsync the dialogue (with expressions for the dialogue) in an action. Create all main poses (excluding the face) in its own chor action and for all silent facial expressions, and create a 3rd chor action for inbetween facial expressions (without dialogue.

George

Here's an alternative:

Create a separate action for the face. Everything that happens to the face for the entire shot goes in this action, dialogue, emotion, eye blinks - the lot. No merging required. Machines should be fast enough these days to allow you have have the face action window open along side the chor window so you can see the final results....

Cheers

Hi David,

The problem with this is adjusting the timing. If theoretically you have all the face animation (including non speaking parts), you are essencially (as you said) putting all the facial animation into an action. By doing this, you will probably end up having to adjust the "facial" action while adjusting the chor action for the main body poses.

George

I think David means that you could adjust the face in a separate window to "look right" in the chor as you adjust the body there. It's certainly one solution. I'm not sure I personally could get used to it though.

I often animate FACE through the Face Camera in a separate window. It's probably immaterial whether that's an Action or a Chor Action - except for the refresh issue. (Mark says he uses the "Redraw View" menu item to make sure the refresh takes.)

I just tried it. It's pretty responsive here and no need to be refreshing. I might animate like that now I have a bigger screen. It'll save pressing the 1 key all the time.

yeah but you're ending up adjusting 2 things at the same time If I'm understanding this correctly. I agree it's a method of doing it but it seems like too much to deal with at a time. I could be wrong.

George

I wouldn't put head turns in an Action - those should be done in a Chor Action.