Using the Morph Modifier for facial animation

1 - Highlight the face that you have modelled. Right click on the mesh and select clone.

2 - Clone as a copy and move the cloned face to the left of the original face. Label this copy as the expression you wish it to have i.e. "Smile". In order for the morph modifier to work, you need to make sure that this is a complete copy, do not add or delete any vertices or faces as the morpher will not work.

3 - On your copy change the expression of either the eyes or the mouth. If you try to do too much to the model the morpher cannot cope with it.

4 - Pick the mesh of the original face. Pick the morpher modifier from the modifier list.

5 - In the Channel list left click on an empty channel. A small box will appear saying pick from scene. Pick the face that you have changed. The panel will now have a green box next to it to show that the morph has worked.

6 - Now make another copy and change the facial expression. You can morph up to 30 different expressions and load them into the panel.

Making Eyes

Making Eyes

Make a sphere – add a texture to it.

Blinn – map into the diffuse channel – eye bitmap – Show map in viewport. Use UVW mapping . Planar map, make the iris quite large.

The pupil has a fixed size.

Eye with dilated pupil.

Make a sphere. Use the hemisphere option on the sphere. Rotate the sphere so that you can see the hemisphere. Can make the flat spot into a pupil.

Create Multi – subobject material.

First mat – black

Second – White. Then you can animate the hemisphere to dilate.

Eye with separate pupil.

Create sphere. Create material for it, which is the eyeball colour – white.

Material for the pupil

Take sphere – edit clone as a copy. Increase the radius slightly. Apply the black texture to it. Dial down the hemisphere and you have a pupil which moves. To move – rotate across the eye. Select and link the pupil to the main eyeball.

Then just copy the eye and produce different texture map. One with just the iris on it – with no pupil

Rigging the eyes

Create a target for the eye in the left viewport – point object. Select the pupils and create look at constraint which is a controller for rotation. Go to the motion panel, and in the Assign Controller rollout highlight rotation. There is a small box below the Assign Controller label, which has a ? on it. Click on this and pick Look at Constraint – OK. Scroll down the motion panel until you get to the Look at Constraint section, click on “Look at Target”. Now pick the eye and a line will link it with the point helper. You may find that the pupil jumps to a different place. This is because it is on the wrong axis. Scroll down to “Select Look At Axis” to correct this.

Now the eye follows the target.

You can link the object to the master bone.

Create a slider to allow to dilate the pupils.

Use slider option – helpers – Manipulators – slider – label the slider.

Wire parameters. Select the wire parameter of the slider to affect the pupil. L pupil is controlled by the slider. Connect.

Can change the max min of the slider between 0 and 1.

Wire parameters

Wiring the hands

Point helper for the wrist. Select the IK handle and link to the point helper. Moving the point helper will move the arm.

Remove the rotation of the hand – hierarchy panel > link info > select palm and remove all the rotate checks.

Wire parameters

You want to control the rotation of all the joints. We need to create a controller that will control all the fingers. Create a point helper. Wire the rotation of the joint to the rotation of the object.

Select the joint, right click > wire parameters. Left click option > wire the transform > rotation > Y rotation. Click on the helper transform > rotation > y rotation.

Then get dialogue box. Controlling the middle finger from the point object > chose direction to the joint that you are wiring. Click Connect.

Now if you rotate the helper it will rotate the joint. You need to repeat this for every bone in every finger.

Skinning your bones

Skinning your bones

To skin a character – you need to apply a skin modifier to the mesh. Make sure that the mesh is highlighted >modifier list > Skin modifier . A dialogue box appears, where you chose the bones that you wish to add to your skin. Click OK and your mesh is skinned to the bones.

Sometimes the skin attaches to the wrong areas of the character and makes the mesh deform.

Apply some animation to your character so that you can see where the skin is dragging.

Skin modifier > Edit envelopes. The inside envelope is red and shows all of the vertices that are affected by it. Outside envelope maroon and shows all the vertices that are gradually affected by the envelope.

If you don’t want envelope to include vertices – go to rollout, in select box, click on vertices. Lasso select the vertices that are not part of the bone. Go to Weight properties > exclude vertices. The vertices will snap back to the correct area of the envelope.

Deformation of areas.

Joint angle gizmo

Select skin – envelope – select bone which needs changing – gizmos – Select vertices and then add the gizmo. Makes a lattice around the joint. You can edit the lattice. Edit lattice button will allow you to move the vertices of the lattice help with the deformation of the mesh. To make a better joint angle.

Bulge angle gizmo

Allows the muscle to bulge when moved. Modify – Envelope – select vertices that you want to bulge. Scroll down to gizmos > bulge angle deformer. Select Vertices > Add gizmo.

Morph angle gizmo

Select mesh > select joint that is to be moved. Select Vertices around area > gizmos > morph angle > add gizmo. There is a stack of modifiers based on the angle of the joint. You have to remodel the angle of the gizmo. Edit mesh on stack and resculpt the joint. This allows fine tuning of the joint. Add from stack will change the deformations.

Using Inverse and Forward Kinematics

Using IK and FK

When making your skeleton, you can assign IK during their creation or you can add IK later.

Types of IK Solver

HD – History Dependent IK is used mostly for mechanical linkage

HI – Most commonly used

Limb – This is a subset for HI and is used for arms and legs

Spline IK – This is used for tails, tentacles etc.

When assigning IK during bone creation, you need to check, assign to root and assign to children.

When you want to assign a particular piece of IK to a bone, you need to got to the animation tab at the top of the interface > Solver > HI Solver. Click on the bone that you want the solver to start at, and then you drag an elastic band to the bone that you want the solver to end at. A blue cross will appear – this is your end affector/IK Handle.

Sometimes, you need to use FK. In order to do this you need to disable the IK to allow for more movement. To do this, click on the IK handle > motion panel > click the enable bar to turn off enable. You are now using FK.

The Swivel Angle

If your character squats down, for instance, the legs will turn outward. Click on the IK handle > go to swivel handle manipulator > pick on select and manipulate gizmo. You can now control the swivel angle using the gizmo

Limiting joints

You can limit joints and how much they rotate or swivel, but going to the hierarchy panel >IK. Here you can allocate just how much rotation you want on the IK. Do this in the local axis.

Switching IK and FK

Create a two bone chain. Go to the motion panel > Animate the IK at keyframe 20 and 40. At 41 Switch IK to FK by turning off the enable button. You can now grab the bone and rotate it freely. The goal of the IK change drags behind because it isn’t being used.

Rigging a foot

Firstly you need to got to Systems > Bones and click and drag two bones to represent the leg bone. Then click and drag two more bones to represent the bones of the foot. If you snap near the nub of the leg bone, the foot bone will immediately become linked to the leg bone.

Next you need to go to Helpers > Point. In the small dialogue box check point and box. Now click in the view port four times to produce your helpers. You can change the size of these quite easily in the dialogue box, it is a good idea to make the Heal and Toe helpers larger than the Heel up and Toe bend helpers. Name your helpers - Heel Bone Helper, Heel Up Helper, Toe Bend Helper and Toe Bone Helper.

Now click on  the thigh leg bone, and go to animation on the tool bar, click on this and find Constraints > HI solvers. This will form a line similar to an elastic band from the thigh bone. Drag this to the nub of the leg bone, and a blue cross will appear, this is your solver. Now repeat this with the heel bone producing a solver between the heel bone and the toe bone, and then the toe bone, producing a solver between the toe bone and the nub.

Click on the Toe Helper and then click on the Select and Link tool. Drag the cursor to the Heel Helper so that these two helpers are linked. 

Next click on the IK Solver for the Ankle. Go to the Link tool and drag the cursor to the Heel Up Helper.  Now the Ankle and the Mid foot are linked to raise the heel.

Next click on the IK Solver for the Toe. Go to the Link tool and drag the cursor to the Toe Bend Helper. Now the toe will react with the mid foot area.

Finally link the Mid IK Solver + Heel Up Helper + Toe Bend Helper to the Toe Helper.

Your foot is now fully rigged.

Linking mesh to biped - Notes

Fill the mesh with the bones as much as you can.

Select mesh > Modify Panel > Physique modifier

With bones you use the skin modifier

With biped you use the physique modifier

Click on > Attach to Node (COM)

Pick the COM (from list) this will be listed as Bip 01 then press initialise.

If the mesh pulls you need to go the sub-object level of physique to envelope.

When you see the envelope:

Red envelope means that the skin is competely attached

Maroon means that the skin is semi-attached.

Go to envelope options to Radial Scale to alter the envelopes.