Facial setup: wire deformers and joints

[dmcgrath]

I have been trying to do this. Maybe my approach is different from yours, though.

What I am doing is to use the Wire Tool directly on the mesh, and then attach blend shapes of the wires. I figured this out, just to greatly reduce file sizes. My biggest problem right now is that the refresh rates are terribly slow.

I do use a bone setup to open the mouth, but then wires around the mouth to create creases and finer details.

Other than the horrible slowness in displaying things, it works pretty well.


You may need to walk me through your procedure step-by-step so we can find the transformation problems.


-dan

[nottoshabi]

Dmcgrath

I have used that set up beffore, and I have founded imposible to work with, its verry slow. Try the same procedure but this time make the face live, draw your curve then ad influence on the curve to the face. Go to component mode make clusters on the cv of the curve, then select the clusters and in the chanell box turn on used components. And then use the clusters to manupulate parts on the face. Its a little different but I have founded to work verry nice.

[dmcgrath]

Good advice, nottoshabi, I'll try that when I get the time, thanks.

[leviathan]

Thanks for both of your reply,

the biggest problem I found with the joint + wire deformer system is on the mouth, because I haved joints AND a wire deformer attached to it.

When the mouth opened, the joints of the mouth drag the lower lip, but the wire no longer follows the lip contour. I liked to have the lip contour of the mesh follow the wire.


I tested your suggestion Nottoshabi, and it seems to work pretty well :thumbsup: because it shares the same "deformation space" of the joints (you can also paint its weight as a joint). I will test it this evening more deeply.

The only problem is maybe if you want to rotate part of the lip (for example if you want to bite the lower lip with de upper teeths). I will test it today.

Thanks again for your replys :)

[craigs]

you to need create more than one curve, one also representing a boundry of influence (holders), then put clusters on the wire curve, I think switch relative mode on the cluster, parent the cluster to the joint, you can also weight the cluster, I think thats how i did it some time ago.
I don't think this is the best way for facial animation if thats what your doing, it can get abit tedious, perhaps try creating a base face, with wire curves, deformers, clusters etc, and use these only as sculpting tools for the different facial features, base it if you can on muscles contractions etc, make sure you key frame everything at frame one, so you can always get back to the orignal state.
Then duplicate them, i think delete the history on the duplicate and scrub your time line to get back to the original facial state.
Blendshape is linear, but you can kind get round it then by blendshaping your heads, and use wires deformers at this point on the final head to push and pull the face around to make it not look so linear.
Hope that helps.
or just inspires you try new things.

[leviathan]

Thanks Craigs,

I'm not using the lip spline as a wire deformer, but as an "influence object".
This means that Maya shares the deformation space with other joints and influence objects (it is attached to the skinCluster node). So you dont need holders, just paint its influence.

I´m going the "influence objects" way because I dont want to model all the heads with all different expressions, and also because blendshape is too lineal. This does not mean I dont use blanshapes, I will use them for "final tweakin".

I use influence objects sliding around the face (a la "Eek",http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20832 ), but I found very difficult to get smooth lip shape changes without painting weights. This is why I wanted to use a wire deformer, or something like that.


I found this system not very slow (I have only one wire for the lip, and other influence objets around the face). Its real time with a face with 1600 faces :) .

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