Crafting believable facial animation is one of the most
challenging, yet rewarding aspects of 3D graphics. Done
right, this art breathes life into otherwise deadpan
faces.
In this extraordinary book, professional animator Jason
Osipa teaches you how to achieve realistic facial modeling
and animation. Using detailed practical examples
complemented with high-quality images and a touch of humor,
Osipa leads you from design and modeling to rigging and
animation. The CD and full-color insert demonstrate
techniques you can use to fine-tune your facial
animations.
Reviewed and approved by Alias|Wavefront, Stop Staring:
Facial Modeling and Animation Done Right, uses the Academy
Award winning Maya 3D animation and effects software as the
focus for its examples, yet the principles and techniques
are described in ways that will be helpful to anyone
working on facial modeling and animation.
Mastering the Face Start out by getting familiar with
the range of possible facial expressions, then focus on
animating and modeling the mouth, eyes and brows. When
you're ready to bring it all together, you can generate a
scene from concept to completion. Topics covered
include:
- Understanding how the whole face affects
expression
- Learning visimes and lip sync techniques
- Constructing a mouth and mouth keys
- Building emotion through the eyes and brows
- Building interfaces to easily connect and control your
models
- Skeletal setup, weighting, and rigging