Blend shapes - getting the hang of it!!

Creating blend shapes, for Character expressions and lip syncing in Mudbox and exporting into Maya,,,,

This was so much fun!

This made a lot more sense this time around and I am beginning to spend less time figuring out the interface, and more time having fun creating shapes....

Love these default light settings in Mudbox too....

Head with layers pallette ringed in pink.....the control sliders on the right of the layers, slide from from 0 - 100% strength. The pose is set in it's extreme position at 100%.

                                                                                                                                           

We created a smile using the 'mirror' mode and the grab and smooth sculpt tools in Mudbox; this manipulated the topology symmetrically.  Using the 'Mask' tool (shown in red below), we painted the areas that we wanted to be 'masked' and not affected by the face controllers. Wherever the mask shows, the face doesn't move; thereby enabling the left and right sides of the face to move separately....allowing for as much control and options with the expressions as possible.

Commands when exporting to Maya

Blend shapes option box, alongwith 'set driver key' pop out window, in Maya....this is so much fun!

Experimenting with a shouting mouth (this was done in about a minute, so I will be searching the net for good photos of shouting faces, for references for the Trolls.)

The model is highlighted vivid yellow in Mudbox, to show that it's selected...

The same model once exported into Maya - with the blend shape controller box...