How can I animate this character mouth?

[Diogodac2]

Hello, How can I animate this character mouth

like he is talking.

is there a way?

[Netcommercial]

You will need to take that into Photoshop and create layers for the mouth. IE: a match of the jaw to lip. Then import into AE as Layers. Then use the Pin tool to make his mouth open and close. Think of two layers. A the whole guy as we see him and then a second layer for his mouth movement. Where you will erase the mouth under the 2nd layer so it will be Black when open.

[Rick Gerard]

I agree on the layers. You need a face with no mouth and then mouth shapes for the common phonemes or use the puppet tool on some mouth shapes. There are lots of lip sync tutorials on the web for AE. You might also want to look at this auto lip sync system from my friend Mathias Möhl. I've worked with it and it's great. There are some tutorials on his page and a link to the plug-in.

[Netcommercial]

Right on Rick, very cool share. I will be diving into that this week. Fun Stuff!

[Pierre Devereux]

Hi,

I must chime in and agree with Rick! We use Auto lip-sync for all our character mouths. The ease, and functionailty are endless! Also, using it in conjunction with the the liquify tool etc, you can even create some very nice faceial movements (smile grimace etc).

I reckon this tool shoulod be considered as a standard part of any adobe installation!

Pierre

PS, here is a link to a great tutorial for using time remapping and phoneme layers:

http://library.creativecow.net/articles/rabinowitz_aharon/lip_synch.php

Pierre

Message was edited by: Pierre Devereux

[Netcommercial]

Is this pretty much the only way to get Lip  Sync? http://aescripts.com/auto-lip-sync/# In other words this is an add-on written for AE?

Thanks

[Rick Gerard]

The Auto Lip Sync script is a great add on but it is not the only solution. There are hundreds of techniques. It all depends on the look you want. Phonomes as an image sequence and time remapping works very well for some 'looks.' There are dozens of tutorials. I'd search through a few of them and pick the technique that most closely matches the look you want. None of the solutions are automatic one click solutions. They all require some editing.

[Netcommercial]

Well as most... we would like the path of least resistance. To me the one you suggested looks pretty straight forward, right down to the switch out of the Voice over. I am unclear on the Phonomes...I did see they are the shape a mouth would or should be when enunciating a word or letter. 

I am under the impression, that  AE add on will use my voice over and move the layer for me? Is that wishful thinking or did I get it correct? 

I would like to have a program that will move the mouth for me. Like an attorney. LOL! No, JK. I would like to be able to lay the voice over track in a program and have it animate it according to the vowel or consenant sounds... That is how that one you shared appeared to me. Although I am not sure how the program would know which layer to animate... Not to jack this thread, I am on point and just delving further into the OP's desire.

[Todd_Kopriva]

Here is a wide variety of approaches to lip synch animations in After Effects:

http://provideocoalition.com/ryoung/story/lip_sync_in_after_effects/

[Pierre Devereux]

Hi,

OK,

Phonemes - This approach (to me) is a little more work intensive (a lot more actually). You apply the time remap effect to your layer, and you create a comp with a full set of mouth shapes (phonemes). You then move slowly through your project (holding CTRL) and you can hear the voice in the layer. At every specific "Sound shape" A, EE, OH, etc, you tell the comp to flash that specific mouth shape at that frame. that waym when these shapes are flashing around, it looks like a moving mouth. There is a lot of effort, timing and patience required in this mode, but, it is free, and with a little work on creating good looking mouth's it works well enough. It DOES work better with cartoon characters than photo realistic type characters.

Auto lip-Synch - This is by far a much easier approach (once again, in my opinion) - you remove any sound from your footage layer, add a sound layer seperatley, select the video layer, and the app finds the voice and creates the mouth for you. It also has the ability to warp the face around the mouth that moves, making the movement look much more realistic. And, the added bonus, is that the mouth will look like it belongs to the face.

You can then edit the mouth afterwards , change how wide it gets at points, the shape of it, even the amount of closure to make an "oh" shape.

It really is the easiest that I have found to date - All in my humble opinion!

Pierre

[Netcommercial]

Pierre,

Thanks for elaborating on that. Really for 40 bucks...That will be forgotton by the second project. So if I understand correctly...I would not need to create a mouth layer? How does that work? Do I outline the mouth with pins or something? Otherwise, I would think that the software might make some other part talk...Like  a branch and trunk in the instance of the Tree. One would think being a solid that there would be a warp or starch issue... No?

NC

[Pierre Devereux]

Hi,

Take a look through the tutorial on Todd's link above - it is near the bottom. Basically you point out the two  corners of the mouth you want, and the tool physically splits the layer between the points. Then through a series of expressions, the layer is warped around the split, causing the "Mouth" to open and close. So, be aware that the mouth becomes a transparent hole in the character, and you need to place a solid behind it to fill that gap. There are also built in tools along with the plug in to add animated teeth and tongue.

Very cool. Yup, the plug in pays for itself by the second use!

Pierre

[Netcommercial]

Pierre,

I did watch that video. However that slight IMPORTANT detail you mentioned about the pointing of the two corners was over looked, in the video. Furthermore in that video, "that looks very close to be rigging it  by hand".

With AEscripts (see link above) It appeared to be a bit more user friendly and automatic with AEScripts as Rick brought to the table.... 

That makes sense now. I actually have watched that talking dog a month ago and since then been taking Class On Demand and the explanations are getting easier and easier to comprehend. Thanks for the reply

Regards

NC

[Pierre Devereux]

Hi,

Sorry man, I am getting a little confused. Here is a link directly to the tutorial I was talking about. Take a quick look, it runs through each step of the process, including the edge points. The entire mouth can be created in a few clicks, all the extras, are just to make it look better. One other thing, if there is a lot of movement, there is a second tool that works together with the mouth tool that allows tracking data to be captured and used between Mocha and After Effects to create stabalized precomps for added effect.

Here is the link for the basic mouth tool:

httphttp://www.mamoworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=318%3Atalking-tree-with-au...

Here is the link for the workflow on a moving object:

http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/workflow/a-look-at-how-to-use-auto-lip-sync/

I hope this helps clear it up.

Pierre

[Netcommercial]

Pierre,

Thank you for that link...It was Great! I am not sure it will get any easier then that. I did see however, it looks like I need to BUY another upgrade along with that 40.00 called Mocha..Right? Or is that in AE somewhere? I have AE CS6 BTW

Regards,

Simon /NC

[Pierre Devereux]

Hi,

Yes and no - depending on your project. You do not need to buy Mocha, as it comes bundled with After Effects. The extra purchase is a plug in that works with Mocha and After Effects.

Watch these two tutorials to get an idea of what I mean. The lip-sunch tool affects a set of pixels on your layer, regardless of what happens behind them. In other words, if the subject is moving from one side of the screen to the other, and your mouth was initially created on the left side, it would remain floating there, while the subject moved away. Now this extra plug in allows an easy way of creating a stabalized precomp that you apply the mouth to. This sub-comp then moves along with the main character.

It all sounds a bit confusing the way I am explaining it, but watch these two and see if they make sense.

http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/workflow/a-look-at-how-to-use-auto-lip-sync/ - watch the clip under the "Tutorial" heading. also, this one gives a better explanation of the plug in I am suggesting:

http://www.mamoworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=296%3Atutorial-graffiti-become...

The second plug in is called "Mochaimport" - I think it is also $40.

just keep in mind, if your character is not making large body/head movements, the second plug in might not be needed at all.

Hope that helps.

Pierre

[Netcommercial]

Pierre,

Thanks for the second Tutorial. That helped me get my head around Mocha2 for an add on. Really a great tool for tracking on a moving object. I bet that would even help if I wanted to add a logo onto someones shirt in a movie without buying the shirt with a made logo on it.

Rather, create a Logo in PS / FW and track it on whatever I need it to be on.. IE: Bus tour Company, Cop Car, ambulance,  shoulder patch, etc...  Really Slick. I thought I saw that being done via an example when decided to buy Adobe Suite CS6.

So to understand correctly Mocha is already in my Suite. Mocha 2 helps with the import of using lipSync on a moving object or if tracking is desired. Otherwise with a still shot, One  would only need to use lip Sync,  like the OP asked for his Computer guy above?

Thanks

Simon

[Pierre Devereux]

Hi,

You got it. If your character stands still, you only need the lip synch tool ( and by stand still, I mean within its own layer - If you want the layer to move around, in its entirety, it would still work.)

Cheers,

Pierre

[Netcommercial]

Yeah Pierre thanks, for assuring me about Mocha and Mocha , I am going to get it....

Best,

Simon