We have explored facial rigging this week. Facial rigging is the process of adding controls to a face for animating facial expressions. These controls are commonly bound to either deformers or blendshapes, both together modify the shape of the face.
Customization of the Head Model
The first part of our assignment was to customize the model of the head to give it a unique and personalized look. I decided to give it a hybrid creature look. I used the sculpting tool to make some adjustments in the jaw and forehead bone. I also added some boils on the head and gave the creature a very unique nose and chin. I transformed the ears into elf’s ears and gave the eyes a very cunning look by adjusting the shape. Lastly I modelled horns to give the head a more Godly and magnificent look.
I have attached step by step images of my model below.
Making the Joints
After making the head I made a basic rig by adding joints in the neck, head and lower jaw. Then we connected eyes with the head joints by adding parent constraint so that it moves with the rig. After that we selected the bones and mesh and bind the skin.
Weight Painting
After binding the skin we painted the skin weights. Weight Painting is the most crucial thing in the rigging process. If not done properly it will not give the right feel to your model and it will look less life-like or believable. I painted the weights of neck, head and lower jaw so that the influenced part of the mesh moves with a specific joint.