Preparations II (circa Sep - Nov 05)

The Virtual Stage software before version 2.0 only allowed 3 basic facial expressions: Eyes open + mouth closed; eyes open + mouth open; eyes closed + mouth closed. As you can see, the 3d character is only allowed to open and close its mouth and blink. It was simple to implement since all you need is one character model and 3 different face textures.

Around September 2005, version 2.0 of Virtual Stage was released. The interface had changed big time and at the time I had already mastered the old interface and had to relearn how to navigate the software functions. The biggest change was in facial expressions. The new software version allowed 14 facial expressions that can be morphed from one expression to another. These expressions are: eyes open+mouth closed; eyes closed+mouth closed; anger; disgust; fear; joy; sorrow; surprise. The other expressions are lip movements for voiceovers: a, e, i, o, u and consonant. The VS software already has 3d characters with the 14 facial expressions that you can use.

What if you want to develop your own character for VS 2.0? This is where implementing new characters can be complicated. If your character doesn't need to move lips, blink, or make any expressions like a robot then no additional work is needed. If you need the 14 expressions then you'll have to make 14 unique heads for the model. Typically, you would need to start with a base head model and create new expressions that will morph from the same head. One thing I have learned about morphing the hard way is that the target morphs must have the same number of vertices and polygons. Fortunately, in Anim8or, this information can be extracted on the model you are working on.

Poser comes as a life saver when you need to create a model head with stock models you can modify. After you modify the head, you can create the other 13 facial expressions with dials. With Poser, it does not take long. If you don't have Poser, you can still do this all from scratch using your favorite 3d modeling tool but it will take much longer.

A general description of the above method can be found in this document at Dakine Wave's site, http://www.dakinewave.com/virtualstage/resources/PoserModelsInVirtualStage.pdf. I would have to write a book to explain the methods step by step with pictures. That is another project for another time.

For my film, "Machines Don't Cry", the characters I created with facial expressions are: Archer Lewis, Pahn Peazaar, 5 yr old Emily, Teen age Emily, and Adult Emily.


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