Help needed - Blendshape Workflow for multiple existing Characters

#1

Hi,

I’m quite new to anything concerning Maya and rigging. I want to use existing characters I have from rocketbox libraries in combination with faceshift. I hope to livestream animation from faceshift to MotionBuilder and record + display the animated character in MotionBuilder.

For the characters I want to use existing characters from our selection. I wanted to ask if there is a possible workflow to create and integrate blendshapes from prerigged characters. The characters have a full non split mesh. I want to create facial blendshapes. Some of the blendshapes i need are provided by animations coming with the characters, that are joint driven. But not all necessary shapes are covered so i need to create some for myself.

Now I also have the problem, that i would like to reuse all the blendshapes with different characters (about 10 male, 10 female each) that have the same sceleton (at least one for every gender).

I’m struggeling on how to start most efficiently, as all blendshape videos i saw so far were not bone driven. Does this matter / are there differences ?

Is it possible to create blendshapes with 1 character (mesh + sceleton) and then transfer another characters mesh to the same sceleton & blendshapes ?

Really struggeling to find a correct way here.

#2

You must think about that when you start modelling your characters. In order to reuse the blend shapes on every character, all the model must have the exact same vertex order. Wich means that you have to model one characters, and use this model to make the other characters, without removing or adding any polygon.

#3

thanks for your reply.

ok, i know what you mean. But i was thinking: I have some pre animated expressions and phenomens that are coming with the characters as animations. So all the face bones are moving to different positions while the character is for example smiling at frame nr 4, angry at frame nr 5.

Isn’t it possible to a) use these animations to create a blendshape set and b) add animations so that i can export them “on a sceleton” and import them into another character, then create the same blendshape ?

my problem is it is not used for movie or game animation but for scientific research, so the goal is that more or less all the expressions on different characters should be equal “looking” expressions.

#4

Then you can duplicate your skinned mesh to extract the facial expressions and connect those new models to the skinned mesh with a blendshape node.

There are tools like dkAnim (check on creativecrash), that let’s you export and import animations. So if the rigs are identical on each characters, you can export the animation of the first character and import it on the other ones.

#5

thank you, i’ll try that. i will keep you posted on my status.

#6

so here was my try:

  • import model file and import animations file.
  • scroll to smile animation in timeline (frame x)
  • dublicate mesh and move aside
  • click on dublicated mesh, then create blendshape

what works is the deforming, but i do not get the shape i was copying from but instead a different shape.

see the pictures:
1 - original frame the blendshape was copied from
2 - neutral frame 1 and blendshape copy
3 - neutral frame with blendshape slider at max value

#7

That’s weird… Maybe an input orders issue ? Did you create the blendshape with the “front of chain option” ?
If not, click on your model, then right click > input > all Inputs, and drag the blendshape node under the skinCluster

#8

Unfortunately I cannot drag anything to a different position in the list of input operations.
Despite that, the blendshape works fine if I set the node state of the skin cluster (which is position first on top of the blend shape) to “has no effect”. I need to port this to MotionBuilder and test this as I am not entirely sure this is what i want to do.

Is there a state/mode where the skin cluster / bones get driven by the blendshape as well ?

edit: ok…got the middle mouse button dragging going. what the hell maya… anyway, if I move the blend shape on top of the list I can leave all node states to normal. that might be what I’m looking for, as there may be a combination of marker animation and blendshapes used to animate in MotionBuilder?

#9

is it somehow possible to create blendshapes the way that bones are affected, too ? because i think this is where the model messes up in faceshift. i have too many bones in the face. I want to build the model for hybrid use though.

#10

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