how I turn heads

[sinclair]

Hey-

Alot uh folks have messaged me in regards to how I do my head turns, (which i try to answer) So I figured I'd explain myself here (that way I can just send a link next time)

I still havent upgraded to 6 yet, (still intimidated of the interface) so keep in mind that I'm doing this in the old version-

If anyone has any tips to simplify this, please comment-

(I'm putting the link in here just for reference)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3AIAD51oqY

To start:

Make a vector layer, on it is a circle (head) and two more circles (eyes) name the layer "head front"

Make a mouth, (that's what you see in Alberts head, me making the mouth layers), Start by making the "ai" layer. (make a new switch folder, name it "front mouth" place a vector layer in it, name it "AI") Then draw the mouth in the AI position, it will consist of the skin, teeth, tongue, and a black circle (for the back of the mouth) build them in that sequence. Once the "ai" layer looks good copy the layer and move all of the vectors in the new layer to another phenome position. When completed you'll have ten different layers (phenomes) that are all exact copies of the AI layer (that have been tweaked into new positions) You have to remember that all of these layers have to have the same vector count, or this won't work, so don't delete any vectors, do not add any, do not change the thickness on any of the lines, do not change the colors of any of the objects on each layer or the objects stack sequence, on every layer the "skin" is on the top and the black circle is on the bottom-

As you make each layer, turn on intropolation on the switch layer, set the first key frame to "AI" and the next key frame layer to whatever phenome layer you have completed (make sure to space the key frames a second apart) if your doing it right, when you scroll through the time line you'll see the AI layer intropolate into the new layer-

Now, put those two layers "head front" and "mouth front" into a group folder, name the group folder "full head front"

Now make a copy of the "head front" vector layer, pull it out of the "full head front" folder and name the new layer "front switch"

copy and paste all of the verticies on the "rest" vector layer in the "mouth front" switch layer and paste them onto the "front switch" layer-

If all is correct at this point you have one vector layer with a full head (head, eyes, mouth) and a group layer with the exact same head (as long as your mouth switch layer is in the "rest" position") turn the "front switch" layer on and off to make sure that all of the verticies are in the exact same spot- as you tun it on and off (exposing the folder beneath it) you should see no changes in the head-

Now, copy the "front switch" layer and name it "side switch"-

Manually move the vectors on the "side switch" vector layer so that the head and mouth are in the side view position, You can't actually see me doing this in "alberts head", my screen capture program crashed while i was doing it, all you see me doing is making a front mouth and then suddenly working on a side mouth-


remember the "side switch" and the "front switch" vector layers have the same amount of vectors (just like the mouth switch layer)-

Put the "full head front" group folder, and the "front switch" and "side switch" vector layers into a new switch layer. Name it "full head" Make sure the switch layer is set to intropolate. Set the first key frame on the switch layer to "front switch" scoot down the time line and make the next key frame "side switch"- when you scroll through the head should turn.

If that worked, you're three quarters done-

Now, select and copy all of the mouth features on the "side switch" vector layer-

Paste them onto a new vector layer, name it "rest" and put that layer into a new switch layer named "side mouth".

Select and copy the circle (head) and two small circles (eyes) on the "side switch" vector layer and paste them onto a new vector layer named "side head"-

Make a new group layer, name it "full side head" and place the "side mouth" layer and "side head" layer in it.

At this point your layer order looks like this-

"full head" switch layer- which contains:

"front switch" vector layer-

"side switch" vector layer-

"Full side head" group layer (consists of "side head" vector layer and "side mouth" switch layer)

"Full front head" group layer (consists of "front head" vector layer and "front mouth" switch layer)

The only thing that needs to be done is to complete the "side mouth" switch layer. I find it easier to just copy the "rest layer multiple times and move the vectors into position rather than copy the "front mouth" switch layer and move each layer into the "side" position. It can be done either way of course-

Now to see the head in action, set both mouth switch layers to a dat file.

(because the mouths intropolate you'll have to add a "rest" keyframe to the dat file in the spaces where nothing is being said or the mouth will intropolate to the next phenome over the length of silence)-

Set the first key frame on the "full head" switch layer to "full front head" group layer. Whenever there is a pause in the characters speech and the "front mouth" is in the rest position, make a key frame to switch from "full head" to "front switch" before the character starts talking set a key frame to "side switch" and then another key frame to "full side head"-

So the character will start talking in the front position, when it pauses the head will turn and begin talking in the side position-

I generally complicate (as if this isn't complicated enough) the file by making hair switch layers, nose switch layers and jaw switch layers (the same way the mouth layer is built)-

You can use this technique to switch from up positions, down positions and left and right, if your willing to build that many variations of heads-

I only did it once, lot uh work,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6n9LXjLmu0

And that's why i don't post more videos- Only so many hours in the day-


Hope that helps-


S

[lwaxana]

Thanks for taking the time to share this! It's a very helpful tutorial.

[muffysb]

I've been exploring this technique myself this week, and I found myself wondering "When should I use switch layer interpolation, and when should I use morph blending?" (a feature that isn't in AS 5.x).

I haven't experimented much with either method, but it seems like morph blending does everything that switch layer interpolation can do, with the addition of allowing you to blend the layers to varying degrees. So, instead of just animating between a face looking up and a face looking straight ahead, you can animate a face going to any point BETWEEN those extremes.

The downside of morph blending seems to be just the finicky way you need to do it: adding actions, clicking on every point to ensure that they're registered for each action, etc. I'm also not sure yet how well bones can be integrated.

But the power to choose the DEGREE of a change, instead of just switching between extremes, seems to make morph blending more useful for 6.1 users.

Or am I missing something?

Cheers,
Muffy.

[lwaxana]

Interesting. Yes, having your point interpolation in a switch folder does impose some limitations.

I don't have AS6 so I only know about blend morphing from the forum. But I can think of cases where you wouldn't want to hold an interpolated pose for a long period of time. It would act as a straight in-between rather than a key frame. So, for example, if your character's head has a complex shape with lots of bumps and musculature, the contours might not interpolate just right for each and every pose. But for many situations, it could be very handy!

Actually this is really getting me thinking about the animator's survival kit's discussion of the importance of the transition between extremes. (starting around p. 218) It seems like certain drawings are designed specifically as transitions in action and others are designed to be held for longer poses. Hmm... seems obvious now that I type it out, but I'm going to have to experiment with some new kinds of switch drawings.

Back to Anime Studio specific stuff, I am wondering how doing a head turn with morphing is different from doing a head turn with actions (another thing I haven't tried yet)? Is it this ability to hold interpolations between the extremes?

[lwaxana]

Hmm... thinking again about the transition in switches, I guess I already do this a little bit like tilting the head down and adding a blink in a head turn. But everything is still proportionate and it could still basically be used as a pose. I know that a lot of animators approach motion from the stance that in good animation, not every drawing should be "beautiful" standing alone. I'm assuming they mean these transition drawings.

[muffysb]

Lwaxana, with the morphing feature you create a series of single-frame actions...these actions are just vector drawings with their points transposed to certain positions.

You can use these actions manually -- just transposing your points at different spots on the timeline -- but if you use the "Blend Morphs" command, a window appears with sliders for each of the single-frame actions. By moving the sliders you can combine all of those actions to varying degrees...as you said, doing an Animator's Survival Guide-style combination of "Look up and blink during the transition" sort of thing (which is exactly what inspired me to try the feature in the first place).

Just using actions (or switch interpolation) would not allow you to blend poses AND control their degrees. I just started using it last night and it seems incredibly powerful, but it's also a pain to set up.

So yes, the difference between simple actions and actual morphing is a question of control and blending.

Cheers,
Muffy.

[lwaxana]

Muffy,
Wow, blend morphing does sound powerful. Thanks for explaining.

[muffysb]

No problem!

I should qualify, though, that it isn't a perfect solution. Because it "averages" the positions of each point in your blended layers, it doesn't have any high-level concept of how objects should REALLY move.

So, for instance, if you blend a "turned head with open eyes" action with a "full-frontal head with closed eyes" action, the points which make up the eyes will be averaged, just like all the other points...they'll close halfway, but they'll also be shifted midway between the "turned head" and "full-frontal" positions. Probably not the ideal look.

Still, it works for many other sorts of things...the head-turn-with-dip, for example, and gives enough flexibility to be useful.

[neeters_guy]

It took a bit of effort to work through it...but it works! I thought it might be helpful to show the folder structure 'cause it's a little tricky. Here's a screen grab:



(Note I used a simplified phoneme set here for illustration purposes. In the final file it should include the full set for use with Papagayo.)

Here's an example with switches only:




Stretch and squash added:



As I understand this, you use the "front switch" and "side switch" as the transition from front to side with the mouth in rest position.

As mentioned by others, blend morphs and actions has sort of superceded switches, but all in all, this is a workable technique for head turns. Let me know if the image needs correcting.

Thanks for sharing the detailed instructions.

[sinclair]

Very Cool Neeter, it's a pretty simple concept once you see it, but writing it out it always ends up being wordy- The screen shot really explains it simpler-

I've contemplated using more than the "rest"position for the transition layer but it would seriously make the file overloaded, but it could be done-

[Mikdog]

I'll throw in my 2 cents here: I wonder if its necessary to have more than side, 3/4 and front views for face. I mean are you really going to need a 3.5/4 view? I think just having 3 views in switch layers is more than adequate.

[GCharb]

Nicely done.

I find it best to add an arc motion on a head turn, along with stretch and squash, makes it more dynamic, for my taste at least.

Here is an animation of homer simpson I made a bit ago that illustrate just that. The homer clip could use a front view to make the turn look smoother.

Homer.mov 550kb

The file 485 kb, asp6 format.

Again, nice work, keep at it!

G

[neeters_guy]

Yeah, Sinclair, that post is intimidating at first glance. I just wanted to see that it actually worked and it does beautifully. I have to confess that I rewrote it as a numbered step-by-step (came out to 15 steps) to help me keep it straight. But once I did it, it's a pretty simple concept. You can certainly use it for just a few views (as Mikdog suggests) or more if you're so inclined.

GCharb, cool Homer (I think I saw this on another thread).
--
A side note to newbies:
Squash and stretch is often suggested as a technique (as well it should), but keep in mind that it is only one of the dozen Principles of Animation that you can apply. As GCharb mentioned, arc motion is another one. Here they are as listed on the wikipedia:
* 1.1 Squash and stretch
* 1.2 Anticipation
* 1.3 Staging
* 1.4 Straight ahead action and pose to pose
* 1.5 Follow through and overlapping action
* 1.6 Slow in and slow out
* 1.7 Arcs
* 1.8 Secondary action
* 1.9 Timing
* 1.10 Exaggeration
* 1.11 Solid drawing
* 1.12 Appeal
When I animate, I try to apply as many of these as I can. In the two examples above, the first is a simple linear interpolation pose to pose (looking rather mechanical). Adding a bit of stretch and squash adds a sense of volume. If I were to apply more principles, that simple animation would start to take on an "illusion of life". Obviously there is more to animation than this, but I wanted to mention this as a point for further study.
--
Now for the stupid joke: How do I turn heads? I wear a bright pink thong.

[GCharb]

GCharb, cool Homer (I think I saw this on another thread)

Thanks, yeah, I posted it in someonelse thread then thought it deserved a thread of it's own.

Here is another head turn that illustrate arc motion.

Toonheadturn.mov 431kb

and the file in ASPro 6.1 format

toonheadturn.zip 11.2kb

Both uses many of the principles brought up by neeters_guy.

Anticipation
Followthrough
Secondary animation
Stretch and Squash
Arc
Exageration

G

[Bee-ruce2]

Neeters_guy Said "I have to confess that I rewrote it as a numbered step-by-step (came out to 15 steps) to help me keep it straight"

Could you share the 15 steps?