PRINCIPLES OF LIP SYNC [Archive]

dynafx

25-10-2004, 01:16 PM

The 21 PRINCIPLES OF LIP SYNC ( thanx to shawn kelly)<br>
<br>
<div id="1" style=": 1; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 87px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">1</font></div>

<div id="2" style=": 2; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 294px; : ; top: 87px; height: 39px;">
<p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Planning comes first. draw, thumbnail.</font></p></div>

<div id="3" style=": 3; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 126px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">2</font></div>

<div id="4" style=": 4; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 126px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Spell your
break downs Phonetically.<br>Write down the sound that is made, not the letter
itself. Its the sound the mouth makes that matter.</font></div>

<div id="5" style=": 5; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 184px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">3</font></div>

<div id="6" style=": 6; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 184px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Find the
dominant sounds.</font></div>

<div id="7" style=": 7; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 223px; height: 77px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">4</font></div>

<div id="8" style=": 8; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 223px; height: 77px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Consonants
mimic the precceding vowel.<br>Ex : BITE & BOOT, the "T" shape is totally
different for the 2 words, it follows the precceding vowel. The "T" in BITE is
going to look more like the "I" in BITE, and the "T" in BOOT will mimic the OO
sound.</font></div>

<div id="9" style=": 9; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 300px; height: 77px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">5</font></div>

<div id="10" style=": 10; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 300px; height: 77px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">The Muppet
theory.<br>The jaw opens only on the main syllables. First block out the jaw.
Put your hand under your jaw and figure out how when the jaw opens and
closes.</font></div>

<div id="11" style=": 11; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 377px; height: 39px;">
<div align="left"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">6</font></div></div>

<div id="12" style=": 12; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 377px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Hold the last
shape. Don't go back to a neutral shape right after you finish the
line.</font></div>

<div id="13" style=": 13; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 416px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">7</font></div>

<div id="14" style=": 14; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 381px; : ; top: 416px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Keep closed
shapes shut usually atleast for 2 frames. <br>ex : b m p</font></div>

<div id="15" style=": 15; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 474px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">8</font></div>

<div id="16" style=": 16; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 474px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Flow through
the holds.</font></div>

<div id="17" style=": 17; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 513px; height: 77px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">9</font></div>

<div id="18" style=": 18; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 513px; height: 77px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Slow in....
POP out.<br>slow in...If u are saying "E" for 3 frames start with an E shape but
don't dial in 100% of E.<br>POP out...The P in POW would slow in but when the P
sound is made it pops out quickly.</font></div>

<div id="19" style=": 19; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 590px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">10</font></div>

<div id="20" style=": 20; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 590px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Slip dialogue
earlier if needed.</font></div>

<div id="21" style=": 21; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 629px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">11</font></div>

<div id="22" style=": 22; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 629px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Transition at
midpoint. When shapes overlap and is more than 50% or 60% then it is a clue that
u are trying to do too many shapes.</font></div>

<div id="23" style=": 23; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 687px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">12</font></div>

<div id="24" style=": 24; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 687px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Study mouth in
a mirror.</font></div>

<div id="25" style=": 25; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 726px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">13</font></div>

<div id="26" style=": 26; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 726px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Don't over
annuntiate.</font></div>

<div id="27" style=": 27; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 765px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">14</font></div>

<div id="28" style=": 28; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 765px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Most accents
fall on vowels(even most body and head accents fall on vowels)</font></div>

<div id="29" style=": 29; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 804px; height: 77px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">15</font></div>

<div id="30" style=": 30; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 804px; height: 77px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">FACESYNC not
LIPSYNC.<br>The mouth is not independent of the face. Think of the whole face.
Ex "GET OUT" (often) on "OUT" the brows go up, the eyes get wider, the mouth
opens...the whole face!!!.</font></div>

<div id="31" style=": 31; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 881px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">16</font></div>

<div id="32" style=": 32; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 881px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Rythm of the
body is more important than technically accurate Lipsync. Its like watching a
performance rather than a talking head. The audience first look at the eyes,
then the body, then the mouth.</font></div>

<div id="33" style=": 33; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 939px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">17</font></div>

<div id="34" style=": 34; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 939px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Study your
dialogue again & again...again...again..again...<br>Don't listen to your
line, study it. Act it out while listening to the line.</font></div>

<div id="35" style=": 35; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 997px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">18</font></div>

<div id="36" style=": 36; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 997px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Chart the
voice path.<br>Where does the voice get louder and softer, higher pitch or lower
pitch. The ups and downs, the inflections.</font></div>

<div id="37" style=": 37; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 1055px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">19</font></div>

<div id="38" style=": 38; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 1055px; height: 58px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Emotions
affect shapes.<br>When someone is crying and talking the mouth shapes are a
little different.</font></div>

<div id="39" style=": 39; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 1113px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">20</font></div>

<div id="40" style=": 40; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 1113px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">Facial
expression is the logical centre of interest in a scene. The body establishes
the idea and the face clarifies it.</font></div>

<div id="41" style=": 41; left: 18px; vertical-align: middle; width: 26px; : ; top: 1152px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">21</font></div>

<div id="42" style=": 42; left: 64px; vertical-align: middle; width: 703px; : ; top: 1152px; height: 39px;"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#001c00" size="2">LIPSYNC COMES
LAST!!!</font></div>
<br>

dynafx

28-08-2005, 01:55 AM

<P><IMG src="http://www.computerarts.co.uk/__data/assets/image/103561/varieties/7.jpg" border="0"></P>
<H1><SPAN =article-title>Aardman Speaks</SPAN></H1>
<P =strap><SPAN =article-introduction>Learn to lip sync your 3D characters the Wallace and Gromit way with this <B>3D World</B> tutorial in facial animation, based on the techniques used on CG projects at the legendary studio Aardman Animations </SPAN></P>
<DIV id=content_div_103472>
<P>More often than not, CG lip sync suffers from being ?floaty? and lifeless. I feel that clay animation is usually much snappier and livelier, due largely to the use of straight replacements. With replacement animation, one mouth shape is completely removed from the face and replaced with another different one, which is then sculpted over a few frames before being replaced with another mouth shape. It?s this liveliness that I?ve tried to recreate using <I>Maya?s </I>blend shapes. </P>
<P>In the next few pages I?ll show you my lip synching workflow. It?s by no means a way of doing hyper-realistic mouth animation but, at the same time, I do make an effort to make it accurate. The tips and methods you?ll read about are ones that I?ve picked up and adapted in my time at Aardman. </P>
<P>One of the first jobs I had was animating a CG version of a scene from <I>Chicken Run </I>because Aardman was investigating the possibility of a straight-to-video sequel. It didn?t happen, but by painstakingly copying the chickens? every move and beak shape, I really learnt a lot about the Aardman technique. The sort of lip sync I do is more suited to stylised or cartoon characters and, as such, is quite caricatural ? some good examples are the UK?s BBC3 ?Blobs? idents or the <I>Creature Comforts </I>series. But even if it?s not your cup of tea, I still think most people will learn a lot about lip synching and character animation in general by following this tutorial. This isn?t a beginners? guide, so I will be assuming that you have some previous animation experience: rather than explain the process in minute detail, I?ll be covering the key points, then leaving you to work out how to put them into practice for yourself. </P>
<P>In the files below, you?ll find four scenes and a movie of the finished animation. The first scene is the character without any animation, all ready to go. The second is how it looks once I?ve done the bulk of the animation using the Blend Shape sliders. The third pass shows how it looks once the Curves have been adjusted in the Graph editor, and the final scene includes head movements. Feel free to use my character to work through the tutorial the first time. Once you complete it, have a go with one of your own characters ? you?ll learn just as much again! </P>
<P><strong><A href="ftp://ftp.futurenet.com/pub/arts/tutorialfiles/TDW63.tut_lip.pdf" target="_blank"><strong><FONT color=#3888af>Click here to download the PDF for free<BR></FONT></A><A href="ftp://ftp.futurenet.com/pub/arts/tutorialfiles/3DW63_lipsynch.zip" target="_blank"><strong><FONT color=#3888af>Click here to download support files and hi-res screenshots</FONT></strong></A></strong></strong></P>
<P><A href="http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/3d__and__animation/aardman_speaks" target="_blank"> http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/3d__and__animation/a ardman_speaks</A></P></DIV>