Setting Lips Shape Data (New for 5.4)

In the Viseme tab of the Expression Editor, you are able to set not only the transformation limits of the lip bones, but also the blend shape strengths. After the settings have been defined, the character can have lip shapes and you can determine the overall strength of the lip shapes in the entire voice clip in iClone.

1. Make sure the jaw bones have been correctly mapped during the characterization procedure.
   
2. Click the Expression Editor in the Face Setup section and switch to the Viseme tab.
   
3. Click on one of the thumbnails in the list.
   
4. Setting the transformation limits of the bone and the blend shape strengths for the thumbnail.

   Bone-based Settings

   This method is suitable for lips shapes that are able to be created by just transforming the lip bones, such as the shapes for EE, Ah, B.M.P ...etc. (in this case, the lips shape, EE, is taken as an example).
   

   1. Select one of the lip bones.
      
   2. Switch to the Rotate Object or Move Object tools.
   3. Transform the bone to desired position and angle.
      
   4. Repeat the steps to other lip bone till the lip shape is perfectly formed.

      The lips shape, EE, is formed by transforming the lip bones.

   Morph-Based Settings

   If your character does not have lip bones, or when the lips shapes are hard to generated by lip bones, such as W, OO ... etc., then you can use the blend shape method to generate the lip shape (in this case, the lips shape, OO, is taken as an example).
   

   1. Make sure that you have prepared and loaded the blend shapes for the character's face into the Morph List.
      
   2. As described above, the lip shape, OO, is selected.
   3. Adjust the blend shape strengths by dragging the sliders on the right side of the Expression Editor.

      Initial blend shape pose.	The combination by different values of the blend shape sliders.

   Bone-Morph-Based Settings

   If you want to mix up the bone-based and morph-based settings in order to create a more sophisticated or dramatic lip shape, then you can use the bone-morph-based method (in this case, the lips shape, T.L.D, is taken as an example).
   

   1. Select the jaw bone from the Scene Tree.
      
   2. Use the Move Object and Rotate Object tools to lower the jaw bone in order to open the character's mouth a little.
      
   3. Adjust the morphing strengths by dragging the sliders on the right side to create more detailed morphing expressions (in this case, the curled tongue).

      Initial blend shape facial pose.	The combination of different values of the blend shape sliders.

5. Click the Set button to save the bone transformation and morphing data into the thumbnail.
   

   Note:

   You must click the Set button to keep the desired result, otherwise the data kept in the thumbnail will not be updated. You can click the Auto button to automatically update the data after each adjustment you make.

6. Repeat the step until all the thumbnails in this page are set with adequate transformation limits or blend shape data.
7. After you export the character to iClone it will be able to talk with designated lips shapes. You may also adjust the lip shapes via the Lip Synching panel.

   The character talks with various lip shapes.