First attempt at lip synching

[PaulG21]

Ok, this is my first attempt at lip synching and I need a few opinions.

not just on the lip synching though, I want you to tell me what you think of the animation overall.

Thanks

http://www.geocities.com/paul_gallagher333/teamwork.avi


Sorry if it takes a while to download!

[PaulG21]

Sorry, link isnt working at the moment. I'll try and sort it out and get it up as soon as I can.

[David B]

Hey Paul.

The animation is too stiff. It looks as if you only keyed the main pases and actions without doing any inbetweening. Don't let the computer do work for you because it always will look too stiff and lifeless. I haven't seen your other animations, but I think you shouldn't be working on lip synch yet and try going for small tests that help with the fundamentals - bouncing ball, walk cycle, run cycle, pendulum swing, jump, heavy lift, etc. Get those down and then go into dialogue and acting.

One more thing, I think the model is too simplified and not very expressive. I don't know how much control you have over his facial expressions, but it didn't seem like a lot. You should try and look at some prebuilt rigs. If you're using Maya, a good one called LowMan just came out and you can get it at http://lichiman.aniguild.com/ there are also a few rigs with facial setups built in such as IKJoe and Package Man at www.rigging101.com

Hope that helps.

-Dave

[PaulG21]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the reply. It came as a bit of a surprise as I didn't know the link was even working, but there you go. I know the animation looks really stiff, thats something I'm working on at the moment. It was just a quick job to put a bit of movement in, this is, after all, a wip.

As for learning the fundementals ie; ball bounce, walk cycle etc, I've done all of them, and I dont mean to sound big headed or anything but I think they are as good as others that I've seen on this site, if not better. I would post them but its a pain in the arse finding free web hosts that are any good, I'll get round to it someday soon.

Thanks for the comment about the model being to simplified, I was thinking about changing it a bit to show more expression anyway. Now I will. Maybe some eyebrows? Work on the mouth area a bit as well? I'll try some diferent things and see what works.

Thanks again

Paul