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Course

Stylized Character Workflow
feed Course Overview
Intro keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Introduction

    Free
  2. 02

    Introduction Update

    Free
1: Head Sculpting keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Defining Goals

    Free
  2. 02

    Research

  3. 03

    Blender Setup

  4. 04

    Sculpting a Primitive Head Shape

  5. 05

    Sculpting a complete Planar Head

  6. 06

    Smoothing the Planar Head

  7. 07

    Stylising the Head Sculpt

  8. 08

    Timelapse: Sculpting Rain's Head

    Free
  9. 09

    Timelapse: Vertex Painting

  10. 10

    Timelapse: Sculpting Hair

  11. 11

    Timelapse: Head Design Variations

  12. 12

    Timelapse: Finishing Rain's Head Design

2: Body & Outfit Sculpting keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Creating a Primitive Body

    Free
  2. 02

    Sculpting the Planar Torso

  3. 03

    Sculpting the Planar Arms & Legs

  4. 04

    Sculpting the Planar Hands & Feet

  5. 05

    Smoothing & Stylising the Body

  6. 06

    Creating Clothing Basemeshes

  7. 07

    Update: Optimal Clothing Basemesh

  8. 08

    Modelling additional Basemeshes

  9. 09

    Stretching vs Compression

  10. 10

    Sculpting Wrinkles & Folds

  11. 11

    Polishing the Surfaces

  12. 12

    Finishing the additional Elements

  13. 13

    Timelapse: Sculpting Rains Body

  14. 14

    Timelapse: Rains Autumn Outfit

  15. 15

    Timelapse: Adjusting Proportions and the Outfit

  16. 16

    Timelapse: Rains Summer Outfit

    Free
  17. 17

    Timelapse: Sculpting Rains final Outfit

3: Expression Testing keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Fast & rough Retopology for the Head

  2. 02

    Modelling the inner Head & transferring Details

  3. 03

    Adding the teeth, gums & tongue

  4. 04

    Basic Expression Shapekeys

    Free
  5. 05

    Sculpting an Expression

  6. 06

    Breakdown: Expression Guide Part 1

    Free
  7. 07

    Breakdown: Expression Guide Part 2

  8. 08

    Breakdown: Design Adjustments

  9. 09

    Breakdown: Adding extra Appeal

4: Clean Retopology keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Retopology Introduction

  2. 02

    Creating & Guiding Topology

  3. 03

    Planning the Facial Retopology

    Free
  4. 04

    Retopology Setup

  5. 05

    Facial Retopology - Edge Flow & Articulation

  6. 06

    Update: Strategic 2-Poles

  7. 07

    Facial Retopology - Patches & Poles

  8. 08

    Facial Retopology - Creases & Tweaking

  9. 09

    Timelapse: Head Retopology

  10. 10

    Timelapse: Body Retopology

    Free
  11. 11

    Timelapse: Inner Body & Transfering Volume

  12. 12

    Timelapse: Head Objects & Tweaking

  13. 13

    Timelapse: Hair Retopology

  14. 14

    Timelapse: Shirt & Pants Retopology Pt.1

  15. 15

    Timelapse: Shirt & Pants Retopology Pt.2

  16. 16

    Timelapse: Shoe modeling & additional Tweaking

  17. 17

    Timelapse: Scarf Retopology & Finishing Touches

5: Bonus Chapter: Snow keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Timelapse: Sculpting Snow's Head

    Free
  2. 02

    Timelapse: Sculpting Snow's Body

  3. 03

    Timelapse: Polishing Snow

  4. 04

    Timelapse: Sculpting Snow's Outfit

  5. 05

    Timelapse: Remeshing & Adjusting Snow

  6. 06

    Timelapse: Snow's Expression Tests

  7. 07

    Timelapse: Posing Snow

  8. insert_drive_file Live: Face Retopology visibility_off
  9. insert_drive_file Live: Head Retopology visibility_off
  10. insert_drive_file Live: Hair Retopology visibility_off
  11. insert_drive_file Live: Upper Body Retopology visibility_off
  12. insert_drive_file Live: Body Retopology visibility_off
  13. insert_drive_file Live: Retopo tweaks & outfit visibility_off
  14. insert_drive_file Live: Outfit Retopology visibility_off
  15. insert_drive_file Live: Retopology Finale visibility_off
  16. insert_drive_file Live: Body UV Mapping visibility_off
  17. insert_drive_file Live: Outfit UV Mapping visibility_off
  18. insert_drive_file Live: UV Mapping Finale visibility_off
  19. insert_drive_file Live: Base Colors & Preparations visibility_off
  20. insert_drive_file Live: Tiles & Procedural Detail visibility_off
  21. insert_drive_file Live: Height Map Painting visibility_off
  22. insert_drive_file Live: Detail Extraction & Stitches visibility_off
  23. insert_drive_file Live: Textures & Procedural Eyes visibility_off
  24. insert_drive_file Live: Procedural Skin & Hair Anisotropy visibility_off
  25. insert_drive_file Live: Turntable & Hair Textures visibility_off
  26. insert_drive_file Live: Baking & Final Renders visibility_off
Bonus Videos keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Youtube Version: Stylized Character Workflow in Blender 2.81

    Free
  2. 02

    Snow Character Creation Recap

    Free
  3. 03

    Sculpting Fundamentals

    Free
  4. 05

    Preventing/Fixing Boolean Errors

Cheat Sheets keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file Topology Guides - Killing/Directing Loops visibility_off
  2. insert_drive_file Topology Guides - Poles & Edge Flow visibility_off
  3. insert_drive_file Topology Guides - Stretching & Pinching visibility_off
  4. insert_drive_file Topology Guides - Hiding Stretching visibility_off
  5. insert_drive_file Topology Guides - Strategic 2-Poles visibility_off
  6. insert_drive_file Topology Guides - Hard-Modeling Creases visibility_off
  7. insert_drive_file Facial Topology - Edge Flow visibility_off
  8. insert_drive_file Facial Topology - Landmarks visibility_off
  9. insert_drive_file Facial Topology - Articulation visibility_off
  10. insert_drive_file Facial Topology - Patches & Poles visibility_off
  11. insert_drive_file Facial Topology - Creases visibility_off
  12. insert_drive_file Facial Topology - Deformations visibility_off
  13. insert_drive_file Retopology Setup visibility_off
  14. insert_drive_file Body Topology - Seperate Limbs visibility_off
  15. insert_drive_file Body Topology - Joint Loops visibility_off
  16. insert_drive_file Body Topology - Finishing Touches visibility_off
Course Lesson .blend files keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file File 1: Head Sculpting Lessons visibility_off
  2. insert_drive_file File 2: Body Sculpting Lessons visibility_off
  3. insert_drive_file File 3: Topology Examples visibility_off
  4. insert_drive_file File 4: Facial Topology & Planning visibility_off
Final Renders keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file Rain - Final Render visibility_off
  2. insert_drive_file Rain - Turnaround visibility_off
  3. insert_drive_file Rain - Turnaround (Clay) visibility_off
  4. insert_drive_file Rain - Turnaround (Wire) visibility_off
  5. 05

    Rain - Turntables

    Free
  6. insert_drive_file Snow - Final Render visibility_off
  7. insert_drive_file Snow - Turnaround visibility_off
  8. insert_drive_file Snow - Turnaround (Clay) visibility_off
  9. insert_drive_file Snow - Turnaround (Wire) visibility_off
  10. 10

    Snow - Turntables

    Free
  11. insert_drive_file Rain & Snow - Final Render visibility_off
Rain - Character Development keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file 1 - Head Exploration visibility_off
  2. insert_drive_file 1 - Head Polish visibility_off
  3. insert_drive_file 2 - Body Iterations visibility_off
  4. insert_drive_file 2 - Outfit Variations visibility_off
  5. 05

    3 - Expression Tests

    Free
  6. insert_drive_file 4 - Retopology visibility_off
  7. insert_drive_file 4 - UV unwrapping visibility_off
  8. 08

    5 - Turntable Renders

    Free
  9. insert_drive_file 6 - Pose Exploration visibility_off
  10. 10

    6 - Pose Polishing

    Free
Rain .blend files keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file Rain - File 1: Head Sculpting visibility_off
  2. insert_drive_file Rain - File 2: Body & Outfit Sculpting visibility_off
  3. insert_drive_file Rain - File 3: Expression Tests visibility_off
  4. insert_drive_file Rain - File 4: Retopology & UV mapping visibility_off
  5. insert_drive_file Rain - File 5: Shading & Texturing visibility_off
  6. insert_drive_file Rain - File 6: Posing visibility_off
  7. insert_drive_file Rain - File 7: Lighting & Composition visibility_off
Snow .blend files keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file Snow - File 1: Concept visibility_off
  2. insert_drive_file Snow - File 2: Sculpting visibility_off
  3. insert_drive_file Snow - File 3: Testing visibility_off
  4. insert_drive_file Snow - File 4: Retopology visibility_off
  5. insert_drive_file Snow - File 5: UVs & Shading visibility_off
  6. insert_drive_file Snow - File 6: Rendering & Compositing visibility_off
Snow - Character Development keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file 1 - Concept Drawings visibility_off
  2. insert_drive_file 2 - Head Sculpting visibility_off
  3. insert_drive_file 3 - Full Body Sculpting visibility_off
  4. insert_drive_file 4 - Outfit Sculpting visibility_off
  5. 05

    5 - Expression Tests

    Free
  6. insert_drive_file 6 - Pose test visibility_off
  7. insert_drive_file 7 - Retopo (Face) visibility_off
  8. 08

    8 - Retopo (Head)

    Free
  9. 09

    9 - Hair Retopology

    Free
  10. 10

    10 - Body Retopology

    Free
  11. 11

    11 - Outfit Retopology

    Free
  12. 12

    12 - Turntable Tests

    Free
More Resources keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file Base Meshes visibility_off
  2. insert_drive_file Matcap: Default with Specular visibility_off
  3. insert_drive_file Matcap: Gradient visibility_off
  4. insert_drive_file Matcap: Ghost visibility_off
Addons keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file Screencast Keys visibility_off
  2. insert_drive_file Magic UV visibility_off

Course

Stylized Character Workflow
Intro keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Introduction

    Free
  2. 02

    Introduction Update

    Free
1: Head Sculpting keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Defining Goals

    Free
  2. 02

    Research

  3. 03

    Blender Setup

  4. 04

    Sculpting a Primitive Head Shape

  5. 05

    Sculpting a complete Planar Head

  6. 06

    Smoothing the Planar Head

  7. 07

    Stylising the Head Sculpt

  8. 08

    Timelapse: Sculpting Rain's Head

    Free
  9. 09

    Timelapse: Vertex Painting

  10. 10

    Timelapse: Sculpting Hair

  11. 11

    Timelapse: Head Design Variations

  12. 12

    Timelapse: Finishing Rain's Head Design

2: Body & Outfit Sculpting keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Creating a Primitive Body

    Free
  2. 02

    Sculpting the Planar Torso

  3. 03

    Sculpting the Planar Arms & Legs

  4. 04

    Sculpting the Planar Hands & Feet

  5. 05

    Smoothing & Stylising the Body

  6. 06

    Creating Clothing Basemeshes

  7. 07

    Update: Optimal Clothing Basemesh

  8. 08

    Modelling additional Basemeshes

  9. 09

    Stretching vs Compression

  10. 10

    Sculpting Wrinkles & Folds

  11. 11

    Polishing the Surfaces

  12. 12

    Finishing the additional Elements

  13. 13

    Timelapse: Sculpting Rains Body

  14. 14

    Timelapse: Rains Autumn Outfit

  15. 15

    Timelapse: Adjusting Proportions and the Outfit

  16. 16

    Timelapse: Rains Summer Outfit

    Free
  17. 17

    Timelapse: Sculpting Rains final Outfit

3: Expression Testing keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Fast & rough Retopology for the Head

  2. 02

    Modelling the inner Head & transferring Details

  3. 03

    Adding the teeth, gums & tongue

  4. 04

    Basic Expression Shapekeys

    Free
  5. 05

    Sculpting an Expression

  6. 06

    Breakdown: Expression Guide Part 1

    Free
  7. 07

    Breakdown: Expression Guide Part 2

  8. 08

    Breakdown: Design Adjustments

  9. 09

    Breakdown: Adding extra Appeal

4: Clean Retopology keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Retopology Introduction

  2. 02

    Creating & Guiding Topology

  3. 03

    Planning the Facial Retopology

    Free
  4. 04

    Retopology Setup

  5. 05

    Facial Retopology - Edge Flow & Articulation

  6. 06

    Update: Strategic 2-Poles

  7. 07

    Facial Retopology - Patches & Poles

  8. 08

    Facial Retopology - Creases & Tweaking

  9. 09

    Timelapse: Head Retopology

  10. 10

    Timelapse: Body Retopology

    Free
  11. 11

    Timelapse: Inner Body & Transfering Volume

  12. 12

    Timelapse: Head Objects & Tweaking

  13. 13

    Timelapse: Hair Retopology

  14. 14

    Timelapse: Shirt & Pants Retopology Pt.1

  15. 15

    Timelapse: Shirt & Pants Retopology Pt.2

  16. 16

    Timelapse: Shoe modeling & additional Tweaking

  17. 17

    Timelapse: Scarf Retopology & Finishing Touches

5: Bonus Chapter: Snow keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Timelapse: Sculpting Snow's Head

    Free
  2. 02

    Timelapse: Sculpting Snow's Body

  3. 03

    Timelapse: Polishing Snow

  4. 04

    Timelapse: Sculpting Snow's Outfit

  5. 05

    Timelapse: Remeshing & Adjusting Snow

  6. 06

    Timelapse: Snow's Expression Tests

  7. 07

    Timelapse: Posing Snow

  8. insert_drive_file Live: Face Retopology Free
  9. insert_drive_file Live: Head Retopology Free
  10. insert_drive_file Live: Hair Retopology Free
  11. insert_drive_file Live: Upper Body Retopology Free
  12. insert_drive_file Live: Body Retopology Free
  13. insert_drive_file Live: Retopo tweaks & outfit Free
  14. insert_drive_file Live: Outfit Retopology Free
  15. insert_drive_file Live: Retopology Finale Free
  16. insert_drive_file Live: Body UV Mapping Free
  17. insert_drive_file Live: Outfit UV Mapping Free
  18. insert_drive_file Live: UV Mapping Finale Free
  19. insert_drive_file Live: Base Colors & Preparations Free
  20. insert_drive_file Live: Tiles & Procedural Detail Free
  21. insert_drive_file Live: Height Map Painting Free
  22. insert_drive_file Live: Detail Extraction & Stitches Free
  23. insert_drive_file Live: Textures & Procedural Eyes Free
  24. insert_drive_file Live: Procedural Skin & Hair Anisotropy Free
  25. insert_drive_file Live: Turntable & Hair Textures Free
  26. insert_drive_file Live: Baking & Final Renders Free
Bonus Videos keyboard_arrow_down
  1. 01

    Youtube Version: Stylized Character Workflow in Blender 2.81

    Free
  2. 02

    Snow Character Creation Recap

    Free
  3. 03

    Sculpting Fundamentals

    Free
  4. 05

    Preventing/Fixing Boolean Errors

Cheat Sheets keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file Topology Guides - Killing/Directing Loops
  2. insert_drive_file Topology Guides - Poles & Edge Flow Free
  3. insert_drive_file Topology Guides - Stretching & Pinching
  4. insert_drive_file Topology Guides - Hiding Stretching
  5. insert_drive_file Topology Guides - Strategic 2-Poles
  6. insert_drive_file Topology Guides - Hard-Modeling Creases
  7. insert_drive_file Facial Topology - Edge Flow
  8. insert_drive_file Facial Topology - Landmarks
  9. insert_drive_file Facial Topology - Articulation Free
  10. insert_drive_file Facial Topology - Patches & Poles
  11. insert_drive_file Facial Topology - Creases
  12. insert_drive_file Facial Topology - Deformations
  13. insert_drive_file Retopology Setup Free
  14. insert_drive_file Body Topology - Seperate Limbs
  15. insert_drive_file Body Topology - Joint Loops
  16. insert_drive_file Body Topology - Finishing Touches
Course Lesson .blend files keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file File 1: Head Sculpting Lessons
  2. insert_drive_file File 2: Body Sculpting Lessons
  3. insert_drive_file File 3: Topology Examples
  4. insert_drive_file File 4: Facial Topology & Planning
Final Renders keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file Rain - Final Render Free
  2. insert_drive_file Rain - Turnaround Free
  3. insert_drive_file Rain - Turnaround (Clay) Free
  4. insert_drive_file Rain - Turnaround (Wire) Free
  5. 05

    Rain - Turntables

    Free
  6. insert_drive_file Snow - Final Render Free
  7. insert_drive_file Snow - Turnaround Free
  8. insert_drive_file Snow - Turnaround (Clay) Free
  9. insert_drive_file Snow - Turnaround (Wire) Free
  10. 10

    Snow - Turntables

    Free
  11. insert_drive_file Rain & Snow - Final Render Free
Rain - Character Development keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file 1 - Head Exploration Free
  2. insert_drive_file 1 - Head Polish Free
  3. insert_drive_file 2 - Body Iterations Free
  4. insert_drive_file 2 - Outfit Variations Free
  5. 05

    3 - Expression Tests

    Free
  6. insert_drive_file 4 - Retopology Free
  7. insert_drive_file 4 - UV unwrapping Free
  8. 08

    5 - Turntable Renders

    Free
  9. insert_drive_file 6 - Pose Exploration Free
  10. 10

    6 - Pose Polishing

    Free
Rain .blend files keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file Rain - File 1: Head Sculpting
  2. insert_drive_file Rain - File 2: Body & Outfit Sculpting
  3. insert_drive_file Rain - File 3: Expression Tests
  4. insert_drive_file Rain - File 4: Retopology & UV mapping
  5. insert_drive_file Rain - File 5: Shading & Texturing
  6. insert_drive_file Rain - File 6: Posing
  7. insert_drive_file Rain - File 7: Lighting & Composition
Snow .blend files keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file Snow - File 1: Concept
  2. insert_drive_file Snow - File 2: Sculpting
  3. insert_drive_file Snow - File 3: Testing
  4. insert_drive_file Snow - File 4: Retopology
  5. insert_drive_file Snow - File 5: UVs & Shading
  6. insert_drive_file Snow - File 6: Rendering & Compositing
Snow - Character Development keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file 1 - Concept Drawings Free
  2. insert_drive_file 2 - Head Sculpting Free
  3. insert_drive_file 3 - Full Body Sculpting Free
  4. insert_drive_file 4 - Outfit Sculpting Free
  5. 05

    5 - Expression Tests

    Free
  6. insert_drive_file 6 - Pose test Free
  7. insert_drive_file 7 - Retopo (Face) Free
  8. 08

    8 - Retopo (Head)

    Free
  9. 09

    9 - Hair Retopology

    Free
  10. 10

    10 - Body Retopology

    Free
  11. 11

    11 - Outfit Retopology

    Free
  12. 12

    12 - Turntable Tests

    Free
More Resources keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file Base Meshes Free
  2. insert_drive_file Matcap: Default with Specular Free
  3. insert_drive_file Matcap: Gradient Free
  4. insert_drive_file Matcap: Ghost Free
Addons keyboard_arrow_down
  1. insert_drive_file Screencast Keys Free
  2. insert_drive_file Magic UV Free

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3: Expression Testing

Sculpting an Expression

Dec. 2nd, 2019

info License: CC-BY
Report Problem
Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar Publisher

For this lesson I will show how to sculpt our first expression: A simple smile. I'll be comparing a creepy and a genuine smile with references and examples and I'll guide you through the sculpting process of creating an expression out of multiple shapekeys.

Links mentioned in the video:
  • 02:37- Rain - File 3: Expression Tests: The file of the expression tests made for the character Rain.
General Links
  • Short version of the creation of Rain
  • Recap video of the creation of Snow
  • Rain .blend files
  • Snow .blend files
  • Course Resources

Join to comment publicly.

15 comments

sanepark
sanepark Dec. 26th, 2019

lol! thanks for the references! and also felt amazed that how those muscles groups cooperate each other to make a 'simple' expression like smiling! wow!

Christian Haas
Christian Haas Jan. 21st, 2020

>It looks like a nice series. I will watch it to get more understanding of stylized facial character facial expressions. I would like request one thing. I find it often that there are not a lot of facial rig setup workflow tutorials which can be more helpful in production. If you can make time for it and add one more chapter facial rigging. It would be nice if you can include topics like creating face rig UI combining with shape keys and bones. May be more advance workflows like which can make this character more production ready. Other than that, keep up the good work. Thanks!!

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar Jan. 21st, 2020

*@c.haas* Thanks! The course overall is already a big long-term undertaking but I'll add as much content as I can. Unfortunately I am not a rigger so I can't really teach much in that area. Perhaps someone else will create a full rigging course at some point.

tane
tane Dec. 29th, 2020

This is truly amazing content, not just for sculpting but for drawing and understanding faces as a whole! Thank you!

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar Jan. 4th, 2021

@tane Thank you :3 I'm glad you are enjoying it.

ArcticFox
ArcticFox Jan. 30th, 2022

It is amazing to know that just one smile connects with such complex muscle movements. Thanks a lot! BTW, is it possible to store this shape-keyed smile into Pose Library in Blender 3.0?

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar Jan. 31st, 2022

@ArcticFox Thanks! The Pose Library is just storing actions (armature animation), so no. The only way of storing shapekeys in a pose library is by hooking it up to a bone via a driver and adding a pose via that bone.

Anna Ho
Anna Ho May 30th, 2023

I am trying to sculpt my character expressions, and I am having trouble with the open smile. my character looks okay from most angles, but when you look at him from the top angle he looks terrifying. Could you possibly look at it and tell me what I could be doing wrong stylistically?  I definitely mixed up the mouth_openSmile and eye_openSmile shapekeys by forgetting to switch between editing aspects of the expression.   https://drive.google.com/file/d/14JP6evz-JSeO7jJnlN_7q3y-CSntEffu/view?usp=sharing

Anna Ho
Anna Ho May 30th, 2023

@Anna Ho Here are some screenshots of the specific issue I'm having https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1n6eqz9GMkoiaf3NY5YFQ_SmGzE3Sqdex?usp=sharing

Show more replies
Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar May 31st, 2023

@Anna Ho I think the result already looks fantastic! The expression could be exaggerated more. But the different angles do feel different because of the eyelashes and eye shape. Looking from above he seems more tired and from below even more happy. To some extent that's unavoidable and animators usually try to force a "good" angle on the character during animation or they need to tweak the eyes themselves to fit the particular angle. Try to give the eyelashes a different angle or size to see if it makes a difference in how 'open' the eyes look like from different angles.

Jonathan Doe
Jonathan Doe Dec. 8th, 2021

Hey there!

I feel as though I understand the shape keys well enough but had a question about something that might be a bit more specific and or advanced concerning their use. 🤔

( Please see below link for references. )

My character’s lower jaw is synced with his chin ( if that makes sense ).

When I move his jaw, his teeth move accordingly, but not the proper way they would in a person. That is, there should be more spacing between the last molars and the overall jaw should be less exaggerated in the angulation.

So for the end frame ( ie 1.0 marker ) I manually edited that pose. But when I close the jaw it now juts at an insane angle.

What is it I’m doing wrong?

Here’s my google folder with a link to the original file, the experiment file, and a visual guide of the abve question.

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1Oq3311r-SeWuZ44-wRG9icdqQOMbSxtV

Thanks! 😊

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar Dec. 8th, 2021

@Jonathan Doe Thanks for the detailed comment with the link. That made it very clear.    These are exactly the things that are found out while expression testing! I have some solutions to your problem:

First off you are probably adjusting the open mouth angle & position of the lower teeth on the base shape and not on the shapekey. That's why the original shape is now messed up. Try to never make adjustments on the base shape but always on the existing or new shapekeys, since that is easier to undo.

But I think there is another solution to your problem. Look up skull pictures from the side. You can notice there that the teeth & jaw are actually angled slightly. Your model has very horizontally straight teeth. So if you angle the teeth and gums to point upwards towards the back of the head, then you will have more space to rotate the lower teeth with the jaw.

Definitely keep in mind that the lower teeth are stuck to the jaw. So they have the exact same rotation point under the ears. In your tests the teeth are rotating at the molars which looks unnatural.

But really great work so far! Keep it up :D

Jonathan Doe
Jonathan Doe Dec. 9th, 2021

@Julien Kaspar

Thanks so much for the workarounds, Julian! : D

Also oh my god, you’re right about the teeth! Google is indeed one’s friend lol.

I angled the teeth and gums for both jaws slightly. But because they are both altered to be slightly angled at the same degree, this still replicates the initial issue I was having. The good news however is if I were to exaggerate the bottom jaw to get what I want, it does allow more room for it!

The bad news is I’m still having the issue illustrated in my initial post of the lower jaw becoming misaligned despite making all of my edits on the “mouth open” shape key.

I rewatched section-3 video-4 to see if there was something I missed concerning the drivers, but they all appear to be synched. Yet I’m clearly doing something wrong. What is I do not know. 🤔

I’ve put in a new blender file for the new arrangement of the teeth.

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1Oq3311r-SeWuZ44-wRG9icdqQOMbSxtV

In the meantime ( when you get the chance to check this new file out ), I’ll keep messing with it and researching to see if I can find a solution.

Julien Kaspar
Julien Kaspar Dec. 9th, 2021

@Jonathan Doe I don't think you made the edits on the "mouth open" shapekeys. If the base shape is misaligned then you accidentally made edits on the base shape.

For the jaw vs teeth issue: I think you need to make a creative decision to either make the jaw less steep or angle the teeth even more. That way both have roughly the same angle and can rotate together.

Jonathan Doe
Jonathan Doe Dec. 16th, 2021

@Julien Kaspar  Hmm - so if it's the first error, what would be the workaround? Would I need to [1] somehow reset the base key or [2] remove the drives from the mouth and teeth and reset those?

✅ Update: You were absolutely correct, Julian. 😂 I was thinking the error was with the base driver on my body. Not the case! It was the base drivers on the teeth and gums themselves. Slowing down the video and noticing the error I made in following along did the trick. 👍

Thanks for taking the time to help me through this. I seriously appreciate it.

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