Datasheet

16■n Chapter 1: Learning the Basics of Lip Sync
6. Select one of the duplicates and name it OpenClosed. In
component mode, reshape it to look like an open mouth.
7. Select the other duplicate and name it WideNarrow. In com-
ponent mode, reshape it to be wider. Be sure to include all
the points in the widening, not just the end ones.
8. Now that you have your shapes, select the two duplicates and then Shift+select
Mouth last. In the Animation module, select Create Deformers
➔
Blend Shape, using
the default options. This assigns OpenClosed and WideNarrow as shapes to be used
by the object Mouth.
9. Select Mouth again, and in the Channel Box under Inputs, highlight blendShape1.
Rename it MouthShapes.
Okay, that’s it—we have the art side of things ready to go. These are the shapes we’ll
use in your first setup.
Creating a Sync Tool 2: Setup
All we’ll be doing right now is linking the shapes we’ve built to one simple control mech-
anism so that we can have Mouth morph into each of these shapes and combinations of
them in a very user-friendly way.
We won’t be directly working in the blend shape editor. Instead, we’ll be using a home-
made interface that employs a scene object to control the shapes. I’ll refer to this one and
others like it as sliders. The main reason for doing things this way is so that you can easily
tie multiple shapes onto controls. (Chapter 12 is dedicated entirely to creating interfaces
using MEL and Python scripts to set up your own character’s head with ease.)
If you are a MEL guru or expression wizard, this example setup may seem sloppy or too
simple; it’s designed to be easy and accessible. If coding talents are at your disposal, feel free
to re-create this in any manner you see fit, but do go through and set up the described rig to
get a feel for the functionality.
1. Create a locator and duplicate it. Make locator2 the child of locator1.
2. Rotate locator2 to 45º in Z and scale it to 2,2,2. This is just to make it more
selectable.
3. Rename locator2 MouthControl.
4. Open the Attribute Editor and select the MouthControl tab. Then open Limit
Information
➔
Translate. (When you open the Attribute Editor, it defaults to Rotate,
so be sure you’re doing this under Translate!)
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