So how is the face animated?

[JasonA]

I'll bet you could do this with the blendshape tool. Check out the "instant maya" tutorials, in the character animation section. It has a head example that you make smile. I'm sure you'd use a similair procedure in making eyelids blink.

[erwin1978]

Ok. What's the practical way of animating a face? I've also seen bones used.

[Mika]

Duplicate animationed face, tweak CVs, use deformers, clusters and etc. Then select they (base head should be selected last) and create blend shape. Then you can delete duplicated heads.

[erwin1978]

After I created the face animation and I subD the polygon face, the animation disappears. Is there anyway to maintain the animation after I subD or do I have to do it all over again?

[JasonA]

you should definitely being doing all of what Mika said after your model is subdivided. Otherwise, all of your vertices in your model get renumbered.

[wrend]

ah, keep history? keep poly proxy. assuming you did the blends on the proxy. its an option when you do the conversion.

[Mika]

Check this - http://www.highend3d.com/maya/mel/?section=animation#1922. There is Face Studio a blend shape plugin.

[erwin1978]

which script folder to I install to? There's two folders.

[-dc-]

I use bones w/ blend shapes to animate the face. It's way easier(at least to someone like me) to rig the face with bones that keep volume, than to push and pull CV's.

check it out:

http://www.electronicgaming.com/3dArt/footballsetup.htm

regards,

Joe

:wavey:

[Mika]

Read Install_infos.txt

[erwin1978]

When an eye moves the eyelids also moves and contours the shape of the eye. How is this accomplished in 3D?

I tried animating the eyelids but the eye protrudes through. How do I prevent this from happening? Don't the eyelids need to act like a cloth that hugs the eye?

[wedge]

i'd also like to know this one, so BUMP! :thumbsup:

[sasquatch]

Use joints to animate the eyelids. place the centre of rotation for the bone in the middle of the eyeball (where it's rotational centre would be) and simple rotate the bone to open and close the eyelid. When skinned to the eyelids, this'll give you radial movement instead of the linear one you get from a blendshape, and stop the eyeball protruding through.

Use a bone for each lid, top and bottom, left and right.

If the eyeball still protrudes, then you've messed up your modelling somewhere.

Hope this helps

sas

[erwin1978]

but my eyeball isn't a sphere; it's elongated. Do you have a tutorial about using bones for face animation. I have no idea what you're talking about.

[sasquatch]

Can you post a screengrab of your model? I can't visualise the precise problem at the moment.

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