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Post by justashadow on Aug 20, 2017 2:41:29 GMT -5
I am trying to make a singing animation of a full-length song. While I was lip singing to the song in front of a mirror, I noticed that the lack of a tongue will take away from the realistic aspect of this animation, because a tongue usually moves up and down with certain words. As many of you know, there is no tongue for the Sims 4 models, so it's just going to sit in the same place regardless of what I do. That leads me to two questions: 1) Is there any decent pattern or way to move the mouth so that the absence of a tongue isn't noticed? (Is there a "best" way to do it?) 2) Can you offer up any (general) tips for facial expressions? I don't have much experience in moving the eyebrows and making sims look happy/sad. This animation, once finished, will be an astonishing length of 8330 frames, so I really hope to get things right instead of rushing through the lip sync. It'd be a pain to go back and fix something that looks out of place. I'll appreciate any and all responses, which may be used to improve my animating skills. Thank you.  By the way, I'd share a preview for feedback, but then the song would need to be included and I don't know if that's allowed..? It's "Lost in Paradise" by Evanescence. |
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Post by justashadow on Aug 21, 2017 5:34:48 GMT -5
I'd actually really like to know... Is a preview, with the song included, allowed here?
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Post by justashadow on Aug 25, 2017 8:23:13 GMT -5
I did say ANY. Even if you don't know how to use Blender yourself.
This community is so quiet now, but there's still those lurker that read the posts. It is unsettling when people don't leave a comment.
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Post by orangemittens on Aug 25, 2017 14:28:47 GMT -5
Hi, justashadow, It's fine to post songs with your anim preview. There is a video tutorial on making facial expressions using Blender in THIS POST which may help. |
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Post by justashadow on Aug 26, 2017 17:32:19 GMT -5
There's nothing "tutorial" about that video.
I know the basics of how everything works, but I was just interested in the possibility of someone having a few tips, like moving the mouths l/r in a certain way or raising/lowering the eyebrows. I'm an advanced animator and I simply don't know much about facial expressions.
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Post by orangemittens on Aug 26, 2017 22:55:40 GMT -5
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Post by brujah on Aug 27, 2017 18:21:33 GMT -5
I recommend using "phenomes" which are basic shapes for the sounds. Here is an example image: I'm not an animation expert but from my research and learning this is the best way to achieve what you are looking for. You can create a single frame with the shape then copy the frame when you need that shape again. I don't know if it can be done with shape keys (which is the preferred method by most animators) and import properly. Only thing I can suggest at this point is try it out on a simpler animation and if it works go ahead with the lip sync. |
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Post by FranniezSims on Aug 28, 2017 6:56:03 GMT -5
Since you plan to do a mega project, you might consider using another rig in Blender to work with.
There are several rigs available based on Kijiko's Pose Handler. FlowerSimsFactory has recenty released one with some presets of expression and a small talking set, on which he plans to work further on. It has handles to move the eyelids f.i. One for upperlid, one for lowlid etc. I haven't tried this one myself extensively though.(only playing around) Anyway to use the presets press A 2 times, select the preset and then the little icon with the magnifying glass on the right were the list is. I don't know how to add presets to the pose library. (Going to ask FSF to write a little tut on that) Maybe then you can extend the mouth shapes in the library.
What I noticed myself making small animations with face expression is that you have to exagerate a bit or the expression is barely noticeable. Collecting photo's/screenshots of expressions you like, make some sort of 'database'. So you have a reference. Other than that: start with some experiments on this (like Brujah also mentioned). Looking forward to see more of your project.
FSF's rig:
download link in the description
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Post by justashadow on Aug 28, 2017 10:40:42 GMT -5
I recommend using "phenomes" which are basic shapes for the sounds. Here is an example image: I'm not an animation expert but from my research and learning this is the best way to achieve what you are looking for. You can create a single frame with the shape then copy the frame when you need that shape again. I don't know if it can be done with shape keys (which is the preferred method by most animators) and import properly. Only thing I can suggest at this point is try it out on a simpler animation and if it works go ahead with the lip sync. Thanks! I can work with that. |
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Post by justashadow on Aug 28, 2017 10:49:33 GMT -5
Since you plan to do a mega project, you might consider using another rig in Blender to work with. There are several rigs available based on Kijiko's Pose Handler. FlowerSimsFactory has recenty released one with some presets of expression and a small talking set, on which he plans to work further on. It has handles to move the eyelids f.i. One for upperlid, one for lowlid etc. I haven't tried this one myself extensively though.(only playing around) Anyway to use the presets press A 2 times, select the preset and then the little icon with the magnifying glass on the right were the list is. I don't know how to add presets to the pose library. (Going to ask FSF to write a little tut on that) Maybe then you can extend the mouth shapes in the library. What I noticed myself making small animations with face expression is that you have to exagerate a bit or the expression is barely noticeable. Collecting photo's/screenshots of expressions you like, make some sort of 'database'. So you have a reference. Other than that: start with some experiments on this (like Brujah also mentioned). Looking forward to see more of your project. I did see this, but thank you. I haven't tried the presents yet because I'm not certain how to work it into an animation, and it's mainly for posing or making a certain facial expression. It may look strange if put into a singing animation. As for the handles, I know how to move two things at once in the normal rig, so... Custom rigs in general bother me. Thanks again for your response! |
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Post by FranniezSims on Aug 28, 2017 12:52:14 GMT -5
Well actually I think the presets are for animations. The intention of this rig is to make animating more easy. The way I see it you use the preset and then do the rest of the body etc. And maybe it looks strange, but maybe it's ok. The only way to find out imo is to try it out in a short animation. It's a matter of preference for sure. And as I think about it, you might even make your own presets with a 'normal' rig.
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Post by justashadow on Aug 28, 2017 14:57:08 GMT -5
Well actually I think the presets are for animations. The intention of this rig is to make animating more easy. The way I see it you use the preset and then do the rest of the body etc. And maybe it looks strange, but maybe it's ok. The only way to find out imo is to try it out in a short animation. It's a matter of preference for sure. And as I think about it, you might even make your own presets with a 'normal' rig. They're intended for animations, yes. I'm just picky about the sort of thing. :P It really is a matter of preference! I'll look into trying to make my own presets. That sounds interesting. I wonder if only specific rigs can be made into a preset, or if it affects every rig. |
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Post by FranniezSims on Aug 28, 2017 17:49:36 GMT -5
UPDATE:
Found some extra information about presets, it's not complete though. But it's a start. Somewere in this video (not the beginning) she mentioned that you can right click the joints needed and then use the preset. She also uses a 'normal' rig. Now I need to know what you have to do to make a preset library. Maybe I'll just ask around.
Certainly it would be nice to know. This evening I was fooling around with this rig. Well, what I found out was that you have to box the dots in the face (they turn blue) and then use a preset. So then it only affects the face. But I didn't succeed in making my own preset. So I'm kind of curious.
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