In this course we will cover tools and techniques for curve-based facial rigging in Maya.

We'll take the Facial Action Coding System approach of controls muscles to mold facial expressions. Step by step, we'll construct a facial control rig that is robust, sufficient, and animator-friendly. We'll learn everything from how to deform a mesh by a curve's shape, to creating controls for those curves that will provide the animator with the functionality they need to create entertaining facial animations. We'll also learn how utilize nodes and expressions to automate certain components of our control rig. By the end of this course, you'll have the fund of knowledge you need to create your own curve-based control rigs that produce natural and appealing facial expressions.

Lesson Outline (41 lessons)

1. Introduction and Project Overview


2. Driving the New Mesh of the Animation Character


3. Setting up the Joints of the Facial Rig


4. Adding Tools to a Custom Shelf


5. Building the Curves that will Deform the Face


6. Adding the Facial Curves as Influence Objects


7. Wrapping up the Initial Weight Pass of the Facial Curves


8. Refining the Weights of the Brows and Orbicularis Curves


9. Fine-tuning the Deformations of the Mouth Curves


10. Finalizing the Weights of the Buccinators


11. Controlling the Facial Curves with Clusters


12. Mirroring Influence Weights/Setting up Brow Controls


13. Creating Controls for the Orbicular Curves


14. Building Controls for the Buccinators and Zygomatic Curves


15. Starting on the Lip Controls


16. Adding Clusters to the Driver Curve for the Lips


17. Creating Groups for the Lip Controls


18. Attaching the Lip Controls to the Driver Curve with an Expression


19. Finishing up the Connections of the Lip Controls and Driver Curve


20. Connecting the Zygomatic Controls to their Driver Curves


21. Correcting the Weights Around the Corners of the Mouth


22. Rigging the Nose


23. Creating a Jaw Control/Blocking in the Weights of the Jaw Bone


24. Automating the Corner Lip Controls to Follow the Jaw


25. Wrapping up the Automation of the Corner Lip Controls


26. Setting up the Lower Lip Controls to Move with the Jaw


27. Finishing the Connections Between the Lower Lip Controls and the Jaw


28. Refining the Deformations of the Jaw


29. Shifting the Lower Lip Controls as the Jaw Rotates in the Y Axis


30. Closing in the Gaps Around the Lips When the Mouth Closes


31. Setting up the Lip Rolls


32. Tweaking the Facial Rig


33. Creating the Tongue Bones/Binding the Tongue


34. Rigging the Tongue Controls


35. Stretching the Tongue


36. Tying the Facial Controls to the Control Rig


37. Connecting the Blend Shape Controls to the Animation Controls


38. Finishing the Setup of the Animation Facial Controls


39. Cleaning up the Scene


40. Creating a Sub Character Set for the Facial Controls


41. Exploring a Technique for Correcting Deformations in the Face


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