Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 13.31
Rig the eyelids so she can open and close both eyes or either eye.
5.
Close the eyes by rotating both the upper lid joints around the X axis so that they
cover most of the eyeball. Then rotate the lower lids up to meet them.
6.
Before you set a key to store the pose, translate all four joints out along the Z axis
so that the eyeballs don't pop through the lids.
7.
Follow the same procedure for storing the default pose (steps 2 and 3) to store this
one.
8.
Now we will widen her eyes. This time set the LeftEyeLids and RightEyeLids at-
tribute to
10
, which will reset the eyelids for us. Then, rotating around the X axis,
open her eyes wider (
Figure 13.31
,
middle). Store the pose in Set Driven Key.
Kila's facial rig is complete now. Not only can she open and close her eyes, but she
can also open each eye independently (
Figure
13.31
, right). Save the scene as
Kila_FaceRig_Jnt.mb.
This completes the tasks of this section. With the facial rig you've constructed, Kila can
communicate with the player. If you'd like to, you can add further controls to the joints to
allow extra manipulation of her lips and jaw (as I have in the Kila_FaceRig_Jnt.mb file on
the CD).
Let's now explore the other method for creating facial movement: blend shapes.
Blend Shapes Facial Animation Setup (Kila)
Blend shapes work by referencing the vertices from a duplicate of the main mesh. The
duplicated vertices are edited to create a facial expression into which the main head will
morph on command. Suppose the duplicate face is edited to represent an open mouth.
UsingtheBlendShapewindow,youcanthentellthemainfacetograduallymorphintothe
duplicate, making the character's mouth open and close.
Depending on the system for which you are developing, the number of available blend
shapes might be restricted, so always check with your manager first. Work with as few
blend shapes as possible. In this section, we will work with just a few basic shapes, and
you can add more if you have the budget to do so.
Our first step is to prepare the geometry.
