Chained User Expressions
I suggest allowing users to create compound user expressions which seamlessly flow from one shape to the next using a single slider.
This would allow for much more complex, realistic face/body expressions. Examples include:
- apparent movement under the mesh's surface (muscle flexing, swallowing, insertion distension)
- asymmetrical expressions, where simple expressions would look unnatural when the ease-out mirrors the ease-in (yawning, breathing)
- phased expressions, where simple expressions look unnatural at the midpoint (e.g. an angry mouth, where the jaw should clench shut before the lips curl back in a snarl)
I've written a short document detailing proposed syntax and implementation, which includes a link to a video mockup illustrating the intended functionality.
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Good point, most things can be controlled via the shapekeys, but "swallowing" is a good example, I've tried it too, it needs a bit more there.
And I'm thinking along the same lines, what if I want to, say, have my character "speak", just with
mouth "vowel sounds", I don't think it will look that convincing.
@Vandred
Yes! Speaking would be one of the best uses for this. It’s a perfect example of asymmetrical expressions: almost every phoneme looks different played forward vs. backward, and it’s currently tricky to build even a few of them. I think this would simplify the process a lot. You’d spend a little extra time setting them up in the custom offsets (or just importing the ones someone else made for the head), then they’d be ready to easily string together in interactions.