Post 36 - Blend Morph technique

So, for this rig I have decided to learn how to set up a series of blend morphs. Its fairly straight forward; firstly, apply a morpher modifier to the default head. Then, copy the default head as the base for all of the morphed heads. Then its a case of altering the head to create a pose, phoneme or action (eye lids close for example). I have began to look into corrective shapes. Corrective shapes allow you fix any issues which occur when for example the jaw is opened, or rotated side ways. A common issue that riggers and animators have is teeth crashing into the mesh when the jaw is manipulated. Although you have to find a balance between the animator's freedom and the corrective procedures, you can fix pretty much all problems this way. I have made corrective shapes for the jaw opening, closing (when closed too much to produce a squash effect), and for a left and right rotation (grinding teeth for an example of implication).

Once made, it is a case of using the Reaction Manager to manage several transformations (set driven keys in Maya). So, by selecting the jaw's Z rotation channel (master) and set the open corrective shape (slave to the jaw) a series of states can be made. So I then animate the jaw moving in a series of extremes. Using Reaction manager is also eventually how I intend to control the face using a UI.






Morph Target setup clip - LINK