Stage 5: Act

Workflow & Phases Working in Face Robot --- Overview of Working in Face Robot --- Pre-flight Checkin --- Video Clips --- Hot Keys and Tips --- Stage 1: Assemble --- Stage 2: Objects --- Stage 3: Landmarks --- Stage 4: Fit --- Stage 5: Act --- Stage 6: Tune [edit] (http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/index.php?title=Template:Facial_Animation_TOC&action=edit)

Acting is the process of bringing the face to life! You can animate the face in Face Robot by either moving the animation controls and keying their positions, or by applying motion capture data to the animation controls. As well, there are tools to help you specifically with eye blink animation.

Then when you're all done, you can export the animation.

See the following sections for more information on each topic:

• Tools for Animation - Animation control set, Display tab, Floating Act panel, and Cameras tab

• Keyframing

• Animating Eye Blinking

• Motion Capture in Face Robot

• Exporting from Face Robot

• Game Export

• Animation Rig Export

Tools for Animation

There are several tools on the Act panel that help you animate, as well as tune. These include the animation control set, the controls on the Display tab that let you hide different scene elements and change the display, the floating Act panel you can use while working in the Tune panel, and the prefab camera viewpoints on the Cameras tab.

Animation Control Set

Face Robot provides you with a standardized set of animation controls that can be used to pose a human face into any expression. Together with the soft tissue parameters, the animation control set drives the animation of the face, either with keys or motion capture data.

Displaying and Hiding Elements

On the Act panel, click the Face > Display tab to select the elements you want to see or hide in the viewport, as well as change the display type.

If you save a scene with the Face Robot head and/or the animation controls hidden, then reload that scene, it loads as you had saved it, but then an evaluation timeline appears and the face and controls’ visibility is reset. As a workaround, you can select the Toggle Face and/or Toggle Controls on the Display tab to return the face and/or animation controls to their hidden status.

Floating Act Panel

You can easily go back and forth between the Act and Tune panels by clicking the appropriate buttons at the bottom of each panel.

You can also press F2 to display a mini floating Act panel to keep it available while working in the Tune panel. This makes it easy to tune and sculpt the soft tissue and set new keys for the animation based on these adjustments.

To display the floating Act panel

• Position the cursor where you want the floating panel to be and press F2: the middle of the left side of the floating Act panel is positioned at the cursor’s location.

• Press F2 again to hide the floating panel.

Switching Cameras

Switching to different cameras helps you quickly see different parts of the head while you're animating.