All images from Inspired 3D: 3D Character Animation by Kyle Clark, series edited by Kyle Clark and Michael Ford. Reprinted with permission.

This is the next in a number of adaptations from the new Inspired series published by Premier Press. Comprised of four titles and edited by Kyle Clark and Michael Ford, these books are designed to provide animators and curious moviegoers with tips and tricks from Hollywood veterans.

Since animation is a communicative language, the more you expand your understanding of how motion and pose can be applied, you will expand your vocabulary and find the necessary elements to add depth and subtlety of meaning to your communication. Facial animation is a particularly challenging aspect of character animation, primarily because it has such a demanding need for both subtlety and broadness in what is being “said.”

Facial Animation
For the longest time, I relied on my innate sense of timing and expression to animate faces, relying on the gut instinct that I’d been blessed with. Unfortunately, that only carried me so far before I started falling back on old habits and patterns. I then got down to the nitty-gritty and analyzed how to approach facial animation in a moderately systematic fashion. My goal was to open up a world of principles to be used, mixed and matched to conjure up new combinations and possibilities. Keeping the fluidity of all great facial animation at heart, I want to show you the techniques, principles and thought processes you can experience while animating faces.

[Figures 1 & 2] The character’s smiling mouth and sad eyes (left) are contradictory. The character’s sad mouth and sad eyes (right) express the same thing.

The face, perhaps more than any other part of the body, is a window into the soul of a character. As such, there is a thin line between good and bad facial animation. The margin of error in executing facial animation is slim, more so than other parts of the body. Having said that, there’s plenty of room for loose interpretation in facial animation. Lip-sync and emotional posing of facial features can be as broad or as subtle as the detail of the character or the need of the moment allows. This opens doors to portray thought, motivation and emotion in your character in rich, subtle, and powerful ways. To achieve these results, you’ll have to think about facial animation in a way that is slightly different from other parts of character animation.

Singularity of Message
Animation is, at its core, a communicative language. As such, your primary goal is to clearly communicate your given message in such a way that there is no ambiguity or doubt about your character’s thoughts and actions. When you’re trying to convey a message, you must provide clarity. If your message lacks clarity, it becomes muddled, confused and oftentimes unintelligible. Say only one thing at a time and make sure your whole character is saying that one thing. Your message can be simple (I’m happy) or complex (I’m happy, but not quite as happy as I thought I’d be), but it must be singular. So make sure your whole character’s face is saying the same thing at the same time. (See Figures 1 and 2.)