There are different types of facial rig controls. The rig I have been using for the stylised walk has a much easier face controls as I they are all set up (left & right controllers) but others have to be moved manually on the face which is harder and more time consuming.
When importing audio into Maya it needs to be in the format of either .wav or .mp3. I can use the programme Adobe Audition CC to convert audio clips into the right format if need be. The rate of the audio should be 32 000 hz and 16 bt.
Once imported to Maya the audio will show in the time line but needs to be in ‘real time’ in order to hear it correctly. In preferences I can make it that I can ‘repeat on hold’ which is useful when working on phonemes.
First I need to lock the face controls down before I make the first movement of the mouth. When I am using a rig I can add to the Studio Library so that different mouth shapes can be used over again and I don’t have to keep making the same poses over again. This would be very useful when animation a long sequence like a film. Means the characters mouth movement always stays the same.
Remember to include the jaw and tongue, not just the mouth movements.
I have added in two different examples of phoneme reference. One is 2D and the other is 3D. You can see the difference in how helpful they can be. I have decided to film myself simultaneously to the character so that I can make sure it visually is coherent.
1st final outcome
I was really impressed with my outcome. I didn’t realise just how difficult it was to lip sync for animators. Without the right facial controls on a rig it can be extremely more complicated depending on the rigs facial movement. I am lucky that this rig had those controls e.g. ooh, ee, tt etc… For my first go, I think this was a good rig to use to ease me into the process. For my performance animation I would like to try without the help of the facial controls so that I learn how to do it myself.