Hi Folks,
Spent the day working on new lip sync tests.
Please note: Language is NOT safe of all ears. Profanity is heard.Father's Day was all about working on Lip Sync and so whom better to hang out with than George Carlin. The task I set for myself was a recreation of an old tired comic (with my apologies to GC) telling a story at a nightclub during the 1960's This first pass is the action only. I'm pretty happy with the characterization - less so with the sync. I will have to hit rounder "O's" for emphasis and find a better way to sell the dialogue. At 42 seconds, this took me about 2.5 hours from concept to completion - so my time allocation is good. As I continue to learn IC6, I can only hope for better control and fidelity with my work.
Once I completed this pass, I added some small particle interaction to see how this translates in the lighting plus a brick wall for a 'comedy club' feel. Intercutting on both clips is achieved in program. I'm including this pass here, but I wasn't overly happy. What I did notice was how stiff the character was towards the end of the bit so I added secondary animation to the head movements by puppeteering 'live' the character as the camera intercut - WHAT?!!! Yes, I could manipulate my digital avatar live as I worked with the figure allowing me to play to the camera and even share a look (or two) to the audience at home.
I also worked on a Chubby Pass today using a simple wav file from www.wavsource.com - it's fun to use these little bites to find some kind of feeling for the character tests. I'm still pretty stiff in my work - but it is about the practice. As I was unhappy with my work using Daz and Poser for the earlier animations (The Doctor's Wife, The Watchmaker's Apprentice and Closer), I know that my efforts here - and with my continued reading - shall hopefully pay off with more fluid and engaging character actions.
Here's the FINAL pass on the StandUp test with better head animations. Still catching some bounce flicker on the walls - but that is what tests are for. :)