Stop Staring: Facial Modeling and Animation Done Right

GET IN YOUR CHARACTER′S FACE

How a head tilts, the timing of a blink, how the mouth shapes sounds these and a host of other details add up to the creation of complex animated characters that can not only move, but also act. In this third edition of his acclaimed book, Jason Osipa teaches you his secrets for breathing life and drama into animated characters through the face.

Digging even deeper into technical topics, this new edition explores today′s latest animation and rigging trends and teaches you dazzling, professional techniques. Follow a detailed analysis of a wide variety of characters, understand the why and how of every pose and move, and take away insights from the author′s years of experience in all kinds of 3D media.

• Learn about visemes and lip sync techniques
• Find out what eyes and brows communicate
• Understand how fundamentals bridge across character styles
• Explore the process of facial landmarking
• Learn how squash and stretch and secondary controls are all the same thing
• Create a library of expressions and shapes for your faces
• Understand skeletal setup, weighting, and rigging in many different forms
• Use Python scripts to automate tasks

Techniques described are applicable to any 3D software application. Maya 2011 is used in many of the examples in the book. A color insert showcases many techniques, including the impact of color and lighting.