Shape Keys, Drivers, and the face rig in Blender for Beginners — Transcript
Full transcript
- 0:00We've completed the body's rig, so now
- 0:01it's time to fully complete this guy and
- 0:03add rigging to the face. But since there
- 0:05are some important parts of character
- 0:06modeling that this specific character
- 0:08doesn't need, the video after this will
- 0:10be going over those things. But for now,
- 0:12let's learn about shape keys and
- 0:13drivers, which we'll use to rig the
- 0:15eyes. Things might get a bit
- 0:16complicated, but I'll try to introduce
- 0:18everything in as beginner friendly a way
- 0:20as I can think of. I feel like they're
- 0:21simpler than people make them out to be,
- 0:23but there is going to be a bit of math
- 0:24involved, so I don't know.
- 0:27Shape keys are basically a way of
- 0:29storing a different shape of a model
- 0:30where you can slide between the original
- 0:32shape of the model and the new shape.
- 0:34For example, here we have a cube and if
- 0:37you go into the green data tab and
- 0:38scroll down, you see the shape keys
- 0:40section. If we add one, it adds the
- 0:43basis shape key, which is the default
- 0:45state of the model. It's super important
- 0:47to keep this one around. Then we can add
- 0:49another one. And this is a shape key we
- 0:51can edit. In edit mode, with that new
- 0:53key selected, I can move the verts
- 0:55around. And then if we back out into
- 0:57object mode, we can move the slider on
- 0:59the shape key to shift between the
- 1:01normal shape of the model and the new
- 1:02shape. It's kind of like a slider in a
- 1:04video game character creator. You can
- 1:06also add as many shape keys as you want
- 1:08and edit any part of the model using
- 1:10them. So I can make a new one. And for
- 1:12this one, I'll move some different verts
- 1:13around. And now I can move out both sets
- 1:16of verts whenever I need to using the
- 1:18shape keys. Now, if you look at the
- 1:20shape key up menu on your side, you'll
- 1:22see that it looks a little different,
- 1:23which is just because they have a nice
- 1:25little add-on to make shape keys more
- 1:26organized called shape keys plus. All it
- 1:29does, at least as far as I care, is let
- 1:31you sort shape keys into folders, which
- 1:33is extremely handy because you can have
- 1:35dozens of shape keys on a model for
- 1:37multiple different purposes, which
- 1:38normally you have to have all in the
- 1:40same flat list. I definitely would
- 1:42recommend it to anyone who does anything
- 1:44with shape keys, but it is just a
- 1:46quality of life thing, so it isn't
- 1:47absolutely necessary. I honestly hope
- 1:49they make this function a part of
- 1:50Blender itself.
- 1:53To see shape keys in action on a more
- 1:55practical model, here's one of my own
- 1:56models and what shape keys she has. This
- 1:58is what we're going to do with our
- 2:00character's eyes, where I've created a
- 2:01shape key for her eyes being closed, so
- 2:04I can pose that part of her to make it
- 2:05look exactly how it should without
- 2:07having to deal with bones and weight
- 2:08painting them. Using shape keys, you can
- 2:10bend the face exactly how your character
- 2:12needs to be bent to make the most
- 2:13appealing shape. Whenever you see an
- 2:15ultra profofessional rig with a
- 2:17character whose face seems to bend
- 2:18perfectly with every facial expression,
- 2:20they're using shape keys to get it
- 2:21right. Although, we're only going to use
- 2:23them for the eyes since all the other
- 2:24parts are simple enough to be rigged
- 2:26normally. Other programs call them blend
- 2:28shapes. So, I guess it's kind of weird
- 2:30that Blender of all things doesn't call
- 2:31them that. But you can see the shape key
- 2:33has a purple background to its value.
- 2:35Why is that? That's because the shape
- 2:37key is being controlled by a driver.
- 2:39Drivers are the way you can connect a
- 2:41shape key to a bone. So you can animate
- 2:43a shape key like any other part of the
- 2:44model. You can add key frames to the
- 2:46shape key value itself. But it's way
- 2:48more practical to just use a bone to do
- 2:50that since you can use bones to save
- 2:51your pose. Also, if you use drivers
- 2:54right, you can make one bone trigger
- 2:56multiple shape keys in different ways.
- 2:58Meaning you can make way more natural
- 2:59feeling rig out of shape keys. For
- 3:01example, my Pomny's eyes are actually
- 3:03just a flat plane shrink wrapped to the
- 3:05base eye just like our character. And it
- 3:07has shape keys for moving in each of the
- 3:09cardinal directions. Each of which has a
- 3:11driver attached to this eyebone. So I
- 3:13can just move this bone around to move
- 3:15her iris in every direction. I even have
- 3:17shape keys for size. So I can scale the
- 3:19bone up or down to change her iris size.
- 3:23Basically how drivers work is that you
- 3:25can take any of these numbers in the
- 3:26data of any object, bone, or whatever
- 3:28and apply that number to wherever we put
- 3:30the driver like a shape keys value or
- 3:32literally any number. Even the numbers
- 3:34you see in node editors or modifiers.
- 3:36You just add the driver to the thing you
- 3:38want to be controlled by something else
- 3:40and then tell it which specific number
- 3:41in that thing you want to use like its
- 3:43location, rotation or scale values and
- 3:46then it applies it. You can even change
- 3:48that number by making a math equation
- 3:49using it, which I'll explain in a
- 3:51second. You won't be able to change that
- 3:53number manually while there's a driver,
- 3:55but you usually don't need to once you
- 3:56set it up right. [music] Back in our
- 3:58cube example, here's how to add a driver
- 4:00and make it work. First, add an armature
- 4:02so we can use the bone to drive our
- 4:04shape keys. Now, right click the value
- 4:06next to the shape key or it's slider at
- 4:08the bottom and click add driver. It'll
- 4:10pop out this little window where we can
- 4:12choose what number in the program we
- 4:14want to use to change the number we just
- 4:15added the driver to. If the pop-up went
- 4:17away, just rightclick the driver and
- 4:19press edit driver to get it back. This
- 4:22little section here is where we tell it
- 4:23what number to use. So, if we want to
- 4:25use the bone we added, we add the
- 4:27armature object to the first section.
- 4:29And then, since it's an armature, it'll
- 4:31ask for what bone to use, which is the
- 4:32only bone there. So, select that. Then
- 4:34below that, since every object has a ton
- 4:36of different values for its location,
- 4:38rotation, and scale, we need to specify
- 4:40which one of its numbers we want. So,
- 4:42let's think about how we want to change
- 4:44the bone to trigger the shape key. I'll
- 4:46make it so if we move the bone down,
- 4:47it'll trigger it. A bone's up and down
- 4:49is its Y-axis. So, we need to use its Y
- 4:52location, but the part below that is
- 4:54also super important. It says world
- 4:56space, meaning it'll use the bone's Y
- 4:58location in the whole world as a
- 5:00reference for what number is being added
- 5:02to the shape key. But we don't want
- 5:03that. We want the shape key to be off
- 5:05when the bone is in its default
- 5:07position, but turn on when we move the
- 5:08bone down. So, we need to switch this to
- 5:11local space. This uses the bone's
- 5:13position relative to its default
- 5:14position. So, it'll only add a number if
- 5:16it's been moved or changed in any way in
- 5:18pose mode. Now, let's see what happens.
- 5:20We move the bone down in pose mode, but
- 5:22it's not doing anything. What if we move
- 5:24it up instead? Now, it's changing. How
- 5:26do we make it work when it goes the
- 5:28other way? Back in the driver editor pop
- 5:30out at the top of the settings we mess
- 5:32with. There's this little equation that
- 5:33we can add things to to change the
- 5:35bone's y location value as it's coming
- 5:37through. When you add a driver to
- 5:38something, it'll try adding the value it
- 5:40had before you added the driver to the
- 5:42equation. So you'll have to delete that
- 5:44first. If you move the bone back down
- 5:46and check the driver, you can see what
- 5:48value it's getting here. Its y-value is
- 5:50negative since it moved below the
- 5:52default point and shape keys can't go
- 5:53into the negative, so it doesn't do
- 5:55anything. But if we go into the equation
- 5:56and put a minus or negative in front of
- 5:58the var, which is the variable being put
- 6:00out by the bone, it'll cancel out the
- 6:02negative y value and make it positive
- 6:04again. So now moving it down does
- 6:06trigger the shape key since its negative
- 6:08value is being flipped. And since the
- 6:11positive value from it being moved up
- 6:13will become negative, it doesn't change
- 6:14the shape key at all in that case. But
- 6:17we can add even more too. You can see
- 6:18it's moving a bit slow. So if you want
- 6:20to make it move faster, we can multiply
- 6:22the value coming through with an
- 6:24asterisk to make the number increase
- 6:26faster. Meaning we don't have to move
- 6:27the bone as far to trigger the shape
- 6:29key. In a similar way, you can divide
- 6:31the number to make it change slower. But
- 6:33I usually need to make it faster
- 6:34instead. There are a lot of different
- 6:36ways you can sort out this equation to
- 6:38edit the bar coming through. And you can
- 6:39even add different inputs to act as a
- 6:41second editable number in the equation,
- 6:43but we don't need those as much. That's
- 6:45all you need to know to get started with
- 6:46the shape keys and drivers. So let's
- 6:48start using these in our model.
- 6:51So I want to do it like I showed with my
- 6:53own model where the different eye shapes
- 6:54are different shape keys. So we have to
- 6:56do some special things since making
- 6:58shape keys is a pretty big checkpoint in
- 7:00the modeling process. When you add a
- 7:01shape key program will tell you that you
- 7:04can't apply any modifiers for the model.
- 7:06So now is the time to apply the mirror
- 7:07modifier. You have to apply it because
- 7:09we won't be able to make shape keys for
- 7:11only one side of the face if we don't. I
- 7:13don't usually save my model
- 7:15incrementally, but I do always have a
- 7:16separate file just before I apply the
- 7:18mirror modifier since that's usually the
- 7:20point you have to go back to when
- 7:22something screws up. So, do that just in
- 7:23case. I don't need it that much, but
- 7:25when I do, I'm always glad to have it.
- 7:27But if you forget, you can actually
- 7:29download an add-on called SK Keeper to
- 7:31forcefully apply modifiers to a mesh
- 7:33with shape keys. With it, instead of
- 7:35going to the modifiers panel, go to the
- 7:37object drop-down on this bar and you'll
- 7:39see the options to apply modifiers. It's
- 7:41still better to apply modifiers first
- 7:43anyway, but that's nice to have just as
- 7:45a backup. It does screw up with shape
- 7:47keys plus a bit though, where it turns
- 7:48shape key folders into normal shape
- 7:50keys, but it's not that big of a deal.
- 7:52Now, since we want to deal with the
- 7:53eyelash shapes as well as the eyelid
- 7:55shapes, I usually just keep them as a
- 7:57separate object and give them separate
- 7:58shape keys. But if you want, you can
- 8:00apply their solidify modifier and join
- 8:02them to the head. So, you can use only
- 8:03one shape key for both. I like keeping
- 8:05the solidify on it, though, so I'll keep
- 8:07them separate, but you have to apply the
- 8:08mirror modifier anyway. Also apply that
- 8:11for the iris since that needs shape keys
- 8:13too. Keep the shrink wrap modifier on it
- 8:15though so it'll always stick to the
- 8:17face. You can also do shape keys for the
- 8:19eyebrows, but I actually want to rig
- 8:20those with bones like normal. So we can
- 8:22leave the mirror on them. Everything
- 8:24else should be good the way it is. So
- 8:26we're applying the mirror modifier of
- 8:28the body, iris, and eyelashes. Just to
- 8:31recap. So the easiest shape keys to do
- 8:34are for the iris. All we need is a shape
- 8:36key for each cardinal direction and two
- 8:38for getting it bigger and smaller. Press
- 8:40the plus to add the bases shape key. And
- 8:42now with shape keys plus, you can hold
- 8:44down the plus so you can press add
- 8:46folder. If you don't want the add-on,
- 8:48just ignore the parts about the folders.
- 8:49It's just for making stuff more
- 8:50organized. Double click on the folder
- 8:52and rename it to movement.l. Then with
- 8:55it selected, just click the plus four
- 8:57times to add four keys. And then name
- 9:00them up.L, downl.
- 9:06So for one, we put L at the end of each
- 9:09because that's the way that Blender
- 9:11knows that these shape keys should be
- 9:12mirrored. And of course, the L stands
- 9:15for left. So for those shape keys, make
- 9:17sure to only change things on your
- 9:18character's left. You can also do R and
- 9:20do it all on his right, but I just do
- 9:22the left and mirror to the right. Then I
- 9:24called them in and out instead of right
- 9:26and left because when we mirror them,
- 9:28we'd have to rename the mirrored keys
- 9:30left and right since they'd be going in
- 9:32the opposite direction, which can get
- 9:33confusing. But if we call them in and
- 9:35out, their names will still make sense
- 9:36when they're mirrored. Also, really
- 9:38quick, if you have a shape key that
- 9:40isn't in a folder, you can add it to a
- 9:42folder by going under this dropdown and
- 9:44selecting set parent and then selecting
- 9:46the folder you want it to be under. Now,
- 9:48let's actually create the shape keys. In
- 9:50edit mode, pay attention to the top left
- 9:52of the screen because it will tell you
- 9:53what shape key you have selected. You
- 9:55want to be extra sure you have the right
- 9:57shape key selected. For example, if you
- 9:59have the basis selected, but you move
- 10:01the iris up because you thought you had
- 10:03the up key selected, you'll ruin the
- 10:05original placement of the iris, which
- 10:06will screw everything up. Just be extra
- 10:08careful, especially with the body. Since
- 10:10you might do the opposite where you edit
- 10:12the base mesh, but you have a shape key
- 10:14selected, meaning your edits will only
- 10:15appear when the shape key is active. And
- 10:17there's one last possible mistake you
- 10:19can make. In edit mode, there's a
- 10:21setting in the tool menu that lets you
- 10:23mirror your edits even without a mirror
- 10:24modifier, which can be handy, but in
- 10:26this case, you want to make sure it's
- 10:28off. We'll do one side shape key and
- 10:30then mirror the shape key itself. So,
- 10:32you don't want to edit both sides with
- 10:34only one shape key selected. There are a
- 10:36lot of ways to screw things up when
- 10:37dealing with shape keys. So, I needed to
- 10:39make sure you knew what could happen.
- 10:40[clears throat] If anything goes wrong,
- 10:41there are some ways to fix things. Like
- 10:43in this section, you can make the shape
- 10:45key only affect what's in a vertex
- 10:46group. So, you can limit where the shape
- 10:48key is being applied. Usually though,
- 10:50it's best to just delete the messed up
- 10:51shape keys and start from scratch. So,
- 10:53it's good to learn how things screw up
- 10:55when we have easy shape keys like the
- 10:56irises. Okay, so we're in edit mode with
- 10:59the iris. So, you can just select the
- 11:01shape key to edit them specifically. It
- 11:03shows its name in the top left. So,
- 11:05we're good to go. Hover over the left
- 11:07iris. Press L to select it all. And now,
- 11:10we just move it up to make the upshape
- 11:12key. You can see it shrink wrap to the
- 11:13eye as we move it. Just move it straight
- 11:15up and stop once the iris just barely
- 11:18goes beyond the eyelid. That should be
- 11:19good. So, let's confirm it worked in
- 11:21object mode. Turn on the up key and the
- 11:23iris goes up. So, it works. Now, we can
- 11:25stay in edit mode to do the rest. For
- 11:27down, just move it down until it goes
- 11:29out of the eye. For in, just move it
- 11:31inward towards the nose. For out, move
- 11:34it towards the far end of the eye. For
- 11:36this one, we might want to rotate it a
- 11:38bit so it stays level with the scara
- 11:40plane behind it. If we don't, the iris
- 11:42might warp a bit. Now that should be
- 11:44good. We can confirm they worked in
- 11:46object mode. The out key made it clip
- 11:48into the eye a bit. So I'll fix that by
- 11:50pulling it away from the scare more.
- 11:52Shape keys make verts travel in a
- 11:54straight line to their new position. So
- 11:56that can happen sometimes. Now those are
- 11:58all ready for drivers.
- 12:02But let's add the size changing shapes
- 12:03first. Select the basis so we don't add
- 12:06things to the movement folder and add a
- 12:07folder for size. L. Then select that
- 12:10folder and add two keys each named big.l
- 12:13L and small L. Obviously, in edit mode,
- 12:16just scale the iris up for big and down
- 12:18for small. We can mirror them now, but
- 12:21if we mirror them after adding the
- 12:23drivers, it'll copy the drivers over, so
- 12:25we have less work to do. So, let's add
- 12:26the drivers first. You can copy drivers
- 12:28over, too, but this is less work. Before
- 12:31we add the driver, we need to add a bone
- 12:33to the rig that the driver can
- 12:34reference. You can add a separate
- 12:36armature object and mess with the face
- 12:37rig separately, but I like adding those
- 12:39bones right to the full rigify rig,
- 12:41which we set up in the last video. It
- 12:43doesn't have to be a rigify rig, though.
- 12:44Any rig will work. I like doing this
- 12:46because you have to specify what
- 12:48armature group the bone is a part of in
- 12:50the driver. So, if you change what
- 12:51armature group it's a part of, you'll
- 12:53have to change that part of every
- 12:54driver, which can get annoying. But, if
- 12:56it's a rigify rig, I'll have to warn you
- 12:58to not regenerate the rig if you added
- 13:01bones that are not in the meta rig.
- 13:02Regenerating will erase all bones that
- 13:04aren't in the meta rig, meaning all your
- 13:06special shape key bones will be gone.
- 13:08I've done this more than once, so be
- 13:10warned. If you want to add them to the
- 13:11meta rig, you can give them the rigify
- 13:13type of raw copy, which will just
- 13:15plainly copy the bone over to the full
- 13:17rig. It's probably a better idea to do
- 13:19that, but I never bother. In edit mode
- 13:21with the full rig, select the face bone
- 13:23collection, so all bones we add will be
- 13:25in that group. So, you can use the face
- 13:26button on the rigified rig layers to
- 13:28toggle these bones we're going to add.
- 13:30You can press shift A to add a single
- 13:32bone that's not connected to anything.
- 13:34Move that bone to the center of the
- 13:35iris. Shrink it down so it's easier to
- 13:37look at, but it doesn't have to be
- 13:39exact. You do want it to be in front of
- 13:41the iris, though, like around where he
- 13:43would wear glasses, so it's a bit easier
- 13:45to use. Since bones rotate at their base
- 13:47joint, which is called their head, I
- 13:49like putting the base in the center, but
- 13:50it doesn't matter too much. Now, in the
- 13:52bone tab, call it iris.l, L, then select
- 13:55the iris bone, then the headbone, and
- 13:57then Ctrl + P to parent it, and press
- 13:59keep offset. That'll make sure the bone
- 14:01follows the head when we move it. Now we
- 14:03can mirror the bone, which is easy
- 14:05because we put a L at the end of its
- 14:07name. Just click it, rightclick, and
- 14:09then click symmetriize. That'll put a
- 14:11bone on the opposite side of the head,
- 14:13which is mirrored across the rig's
- 14:14origin point, and even rename the bone
- 14:16to iris.R for us since it's on the right
- 14:18side. This also means in pose mode, we
- 14:20can mirror a pose to that side as well.
- 14:22So, it's a really good idea to make sure
- 14:24bones on your rig are mirrored right.
- 14:25The bones only need to have the same
- 14:27name aside from having a L and R at the
- 14:29end. They don't even need to actually be
- 14:31mirrored into position, but it's usually
- 14:33better if they are. If it's not
- 14:34perfectly in the middle of the iris,
- 14:36that just means your rig's origin point
- 14:38and your iris's origin point aren't in
- 14:40the same place. Now that it's mirrored
- 14:42in edit mode, toggle on the X-axis
- 14:44mirror option to edit the placement of
- 14:46both bones if you ever need to in the
- 14:48future. Now that we have the bone, let's
- 14:50add the driver. In the iris's shape
- 14:52keys, right click the value next to the
- 14:54shape key and add driver. Select rig or
- 14:57whatever armature group the bone is a
- 14:59part of and then the iris.lb bone. Since
- 15:02this is the up value, we have to think
- 15:04about what axis is up for the bone. As I
- 15:06mentioned in the example, the bones up
- 15:08and down is its Y location. If you want
- 15:10to see them yourself, in the data tab
- 15:12with the rig selected, you can turn on
- 15:14axes to see what axis is what for each
- 15:17bone. I don't really know why a bone's
- 15:19axes are different from the global axes,
- 15:21but whatever. In the driver, select the
- 15:24Y location and then also like the
- 15:26example, select a local space. So, it'll
- 15:28give us a zero when it's in its default
- 15:30position. Now, if you go into pose mode
- 15:32and move that bone up, you can see the
- 15:34iris following along a bit. It's
- 15:36definitely slow. So, let's multiply it.
- 15:39This changes a lot depending on the size
- 15:41of your eye and the overall size of your
- 15:43character, meaning your shape key has to
- 15:44move farther to get out of the eye. Just
- 15:46keep changing the number you multiply by
- 15:48until it's how you want it. Ideally,
- 15:50where the center of the eye matches the
- 15:52location of the bone perfectly, but it
- 15:54can be whatever you want it to be. I
- 15:55[clears throat] landed on time 8 for
- 15:57myself, so we can see it follow pretty
- 15:58close to where the iris bone is. That
- 16:00looks good. So, we can copy this driver
- 16:02to the other values, so we don't have to
- 16:04constantly change every setting. Right
- 16:05click the value with the driver and then
- 16:07click copy driver. Then, right click a
- 16:10different value and press paste driver.
- 16:12Now, that value has the exact same
- 16:14driver, but this is for the down key.
- 16:16So, we don't want it to be exactly the
- 16:17same. Like I said in the example, we can
- 16:19make the driver work when the bone moves
- 16:21down by adding a negative to the
- 16:23equation. You can make the var negative
- 16:24or the multiplied number negative since
- 16:26that's how multiplication works. Now,
- 16:28just tweak the number so it works there,
- 16:30but the copied number should be pretty
- 16:31close. Now, to do the in and out keys,
- 16:34copy and paste the driver over to them,
- 16:36but we have more to change. As you can
- 16:38see with the visible axes, if we want to
- 16:40make the driver activate when moving the
- 16:42bone left and right, we need to switch
- 16:43it to its X location.
- 16:46The axis is pointing out in the positive
- 16:48direction. So the out key will be using
- 16:49a positive number in the equation and
- 16:51the in key is going to use a negative
- 16:53number. So make sure all that is set
- 16:55right.
- 16:59And now we just need to tweak the number
- 17:01so it feels good to use. The keys are
- 17:03going to get drastically different
- 17:04numbers since it only has to move a
- 17:06small distance for the in key but a long
- 17:07distance for the out key. It's hard to
- 17:09put into words, but when a shape key
- 17:11doesn't move the stuff that far from its
- 17:13basis, its driver will need a much
- 17:14higher number since the bone ends up
- 17:16moving a much smaller amount and vice
- 17:18versa. So, my in key ended up needing a
- 17:21x 10 while my out key only needed a time
- 17:24six. Now, in pose mode, you can just
- 17:26move the iris bone to move the whole
- 17:28iris wherever you want it. Since there's
- 17:30a key for each cardinal direction, it'll
- 17:32apply the shape key for two different
- 17:34directions if you want to move it
- 17:35diagonally, so it can be moved anywhere.
- 17:37Before we do the size drivers, let's
- 17:39mirror the movement section. If you
- 17:41select the folder, then click and hold
- 17:43this clipboard with an arrow icon, it'll
- 17:45give you the option to copy and mirror
- 17:46the shape keys at the same time, which
- 17:48will apply to the whole folder. Now,
- 17:50it's both mirrored and even renamed each
- 17:52key for the right side since they each
- 17:54had L. You can also just click it once
- 17:57and then under this arrow, press mirror.
- 18:00But that won't change the names of the
- 18:01shape keys. So, it's better to do it the
- 18:03first way. But this won't mirror the
- 18:05drivers. It will keep them there though,
- 18:07so we just need to change each one. So
- 18:09it uses the iris dot rone instead. And
- 18:12that should be good for most of them.
- 18:14But since the in-n-out drivers are going
- 18:16in opposite ways now, just switch their
- 18:18negatives. So the in equation will be
- 18:20positive now and the out will be
- 18:21negative. That should be perfectly
- 18:23flipped. And you can make them look
- 18:25wherever you want. Now, if you don't use
- 18:27folders, you can just repeat the steps
- 18:28with each key individually. One common
- 18:31thing that rigs have is a singular bone
- 18:33that both eyes follow. But I won't tell
- 18:35you to make that here since it's a bit
- 18:37more advanced. But I will quickly
- 18:38explain how it works if you want to try
- 18:40anyway. Basically, add a new variable to
- 18:43each driver, which is the X or Y
- 18:45location of a new bone that is the
- 18:47parent of both iris bones. Then in the
- 18:50driver equation, just add that new
- 18:52variable to the original variable with
- 18:54parentheses around them. And then put
- 18:56the negative on the outside of the
- 18:58parenthesis. That'll add on the
- 18:59placement to the other iris bones. I
- 19:02explained the process in a bit more
- 19:03detail in my 2D eye tutorial at around 9
- 19:06minutes and 22 seconds. Although I use
- 19:08it in a different place. Don't worry
- 19:10about adding it though. You can just
- 19:11move each individual iris bone as well.
- 19:13For the size keys, let's just add a new
- 19:16driver since we're going to use much
- 19:17more different settings. We do still
- 19:19want to use the left iris bone, but with
- 19:21any one of its scales in local space.
- 19:23We're going to scale it out in all
- 19:24directions when resizing it anyway. So,
- 19:27it doesn't matter which scale it is. Now
- 19:29the problem with scale is that its
- 19:31default state is one, not zero. So you
- 19:33can see the shape key already turned on
- 19:35since one is 100% activated. But we want
- 19:37it to have a value of zero when the
- 19:39scale is at one since that's the
- 19:41default. So since this is the big key,
- 19:43we can just add a minus one. So when the
- 19:45value it's getting is one, it'll reduce
- 19:47it to zero. But if it goes above one
- 19:49when we scale it up, it'll still add on
- 19:51that extra bit of additional scale on
- 19:53top of the one. If you want to multiply
- 19:54it though, add parentheses around it and
- 19:57add the multiplier outside of M. Now,
- 19:59[clears throat] copy that to the small
- 20:00key. This one is much weirder and it's
- 20:02harder to explain in easy terms. We want
- 20:04this one to say negative bar + one. So,
- 20:08if it's getting a one, it'll turn into a
- 20:10negative one, which will then have one
- 20:11added to it, making it zero. Then, if
- 20:14it's getting scaled up, it'll be a
- 20:16higher negative number. So, the plus one
- 20:17can't fight against it. But if we scale
- 20:19it down, meaning the negative number is
- 20:21below one, the plus one will add on an
- 20:24extra positive value, meaning it'll turn
- 20:26on the shape key. If you didn't get
- 20:28that, don't worry. Just copy negative
- 20:30var + one. Also, since that equation
- 20:32means that we won't be able to max out
- 20:34the shape key unless we scale it all the
- 20:35way down to zero, which is really hard
- 20:37to do. Let's add some parenthesis around
- 20:39the whole thing and multiply it by two.
- 20:41The parenthesis mean everything inside
- 20:43of them will be completed first, then
- 20:45it'll be multiplied, which is how you
- 20:46get it to work right. If you remember
- 20:48PEMDAS and the order of operations from
- 20:51school, that's why. Now, if you copy and
- 20:53mirror that like before, all you have to
- 20:56do is switch the bone in the new drivers
- 20:58to the right iris bone, and it all works
- 21:00perfectly. You now have perfect controls
- 21:01for this kind of eye.
- 21:04If you're staring at your screen
- 21:05horrified because you just don't get
- 21:06shape keys, you can technically just map
- 21:09the iris to the iris bone one to one by
- 21:11parenting the iris to the rig with empty
- 21:13weights, then just applying a one to
- 21:16each iris's bone group and it'll work a
- 21:18similar way, but it's way more unwieldy,
- 21:20so I don't recommend it. This is a great
- 21:22place to get started with the shape keys
- 21:23anyway. So, try to learn them. There are
- 21:25plenty of other tutorials on this stuff
- 21:27elsewhere on YouTube. So, if my
- 21:28explanation didn't work, someone else's
- 21:30might, or just try again with the
- 21:32eyelids, which could be even easier. I
- 21:34don't know. Now, let's deal with the
- 21:36eyelids. Since I've got in detail about
- 21:38what to do twice, I'm going to go a bit
- 21:40faster since we're just doing the same
- 21:42overall process over again. The first
- 21:44thing we need is to decide how many
- 21:46expressions we want because we'll need a
- 21:48shape key for each expression. The good
- 21:49news is that we can just add more later.
- 21:51So, I'm going to add four keys. One for
- 21:53a closed eye or a blink, one for a happy
- 21:56closed eye, one opening both eyelids
- 21:58further for a surprised expression, and
- 22:00one for bringing the lower lid up. So,
- 22:03we can make a squint alongside the blink
- 22:05expression used halfway since these will
- 22:07work for each eye individually. It'll
- 22:09also count for expressions like a wink.
- 22:11So, I'll add a folder and call it Il.
- 22:14And with it selected, I'll add four keys
- 22:16and call them blinkl, happy, L,
- 22:20surprised. L and bottomup L. Now to
- 22:24actually edit the keys, first hide the
- 22:26eyelash with H. We're going to add the
- 22:28same keys to it later, but for now, just
- 22:30get rid of it. If you joined it to the
- 22:31main mesh, you can hide it in edit mode.
- 22:33Then with blink selected now, we just
- 22:35have to pull the verts at the top of the
- 22:37eyelid down to the bottom and edit them
- 22:39so it looks nice. It's usually a good
- 22:41idea to bring down the inside parts of
- 22:43the eyelid, too, so you aren't fighting
- 22:45against the subdive modifier.
- 22:48Just move things around until it looks
- 22:50pretty and you're good. The eyelash will
- 22:52cover some of this though, so don't
- 22:53worry about it too much.
- 23:05Onto the happy blink. But why would I do
- 23:06all that again when the blink shape key
- 23:08is pretty close to what I want? Delete
- 23:10the happy shape key. Then just copy the
- 23:12blink key by clicking the clipboard
- 23:14icon. Then rename the copied to happy.l.
- 23:16Now it's just like the blink. So we can
- 23:18just move up the middle vert with
- 23:20proportional editing to make the happy
- 23:21blink expression. That's all you need.
- 23:32The last two are easy. Just move the
- 23:33eyelids up and down respectively with
- 23:35proportional editing and that should be
- 23:37good enough. If your scara plane isn't
- 23:39big enough, just make it bigger. Then
- 23:41for the last one, just move the bottom
- 23:43lid up a bit. You can tweak everything
- 23:45later, even after you've added the
- 23:47drivers. So, let's just get it all set
- 23:49up for now. Before we do the bones,
- 23:51let's set up the eyelashes shape keys.
- 23:53It's pretty simple. Just add a folder
- 23:55and keys named the same things as the
- 23:57eye so they're easier to keep track of.
- 23:59Now, when you're editing each key, just
- 24:01turn each similar key on the body up to
- 24:03one, so you know exactly where to place
- 24:05the eyelash so it looks perfect with
- 24:07everything else. You can follow the
- 24:09exact same process. I'll make it flop
- 24:11downwards since that's how the lashes
- 24:13usually work.
- 24:25[music]
- 24:27Since I realize I don't want the happy
- 24:29lashes to plop down, I don't want to
- 24:30copy the blink key. So, I'll just make
- 24:32it from scratch. The eyelash verts are
- 24:34much easier to move anyway.
- 24:43The surprised one is pretty easy,
- 24:50and the bottom up one barely needs any
- 24:52changes. We'll set up the drivers so
- 24:54both the bodies and eyelashes keys
- 24:56activate at the same time, so it'll look
- 24:58exactly how you'd expect it to. Now,
- 25:00let's figure out what bones we want to
- 25:02create these shapes. You can just have
- 25:03individual bones for each off to the
- 25:05side to trigger each one. But it feels
- 25:07way more natural to set them up in a way
- 25:09that makes visual sense and where you
- 25:11can make multiple keys work with one
- 25:13bone. I like setting it up where there's
- 25:15just one bone at the top lid, one at the
- 25:17bottom, and then just one off to the
- 25:19side for the happy expression since that
- 25:21one's harder to work into everything
- 25:23else.
- 25:24I'll call them top lid, bot lid. L, and
- 25:28happy L. Don't forget to parent them to
- 25:31the head. We'll make the blink and
- 25:33surprise work with the top lid and then
- 25:35the bottom up key will work with the bot
- 25:37lid. I usually split the surprise
- 25:39expression into a top up and a bottom
- 25:41down key too, but it's not necessary.
- 25:43It's just nice to have the option to use
- 25:45them individually sometimes. Select each
- 25:47bone, right click, and press
- 25:49symmetriize. If symmetriize ever fails,
- 25:51it's because you need to have L at the
- 25:53end of the name. Add a driver to the
- 25:55blink key and make it use top lids Y
- 25:57location in local space and make it
- 26:00negative since blinking is a downward
- 26:02motion. Mess with the multiplication
- 26:04until the bone and the upper eyelid
- 26:06basically move in unison. Seven worked
- 26:08for me. For the happy key, just copy
- 26:11over that driver, but switch it to the
- 26:13happy bone. That's basically good
- 26:14enough. For surprise, copy over the
- 26:17blink driver and make it positive again
- 26:20since we'll be moving that bone up to
- 26:21activate surprise. Then mess with the
- 26:24multiplied number again until moving it
- 26:25up moves it in unison. That
- 26:27[clears throat] number will probably be
- 26:28higher since it's moving a shorter
- 26:30distance. I went up to 25. Then finally
- 26:33copy that driver to the bottom up key
- 26:36and just change it to the bot lid bone.
- 26:38And then again mess with the multiplied
- 26:39number. Since there's nothing strange
- 26:41going on here, we can do a lot of
- 26:42copying. Now each of the bones can be
- 26:45used to move around the eye as you need.
- 26:47Let's get the eyelash set up too since
- 26:49it's super easy. Just copy each driver
- 26:51from the body shape keys to the eyelash
- 26:52shape keys, making sure they're in the
- 26:54same spot as they were on the body.
- 26:56That's it. Now, since the drivers are
- 26:58identical, the eyelash should move in
- 27:00the exact same way with the same bones.
- 27:03So now we just need to copy and mirror
- 27:05everything and then change each bone to
- 27:07their right version. And it's all set up
- 27:09perfectly. Both eyes can be posed and
- 27:12the iris can be moved and scaled. If you
- 27:14can think of more expressions to add,
- 27:16just add another shape key and maybe a
- 27:18bone to create that expression. You can
- 27:20have as many as you want. Things might
- 27:21not work so well depending on what your
- 27:23face is like, but in this case, it does
- 27:24work.
- 27:27We're done with the eyes, so let's get
- 27:29the rest of the face done, which should
- 27:31be the last part of making this
- 27:32character. We aren't going to use shape
- 27:34keys, but I do want to remind you that
- 27:36you can use shape keys if you want. If
- 27:38you want a ton of usability, you can
- 27:39make a shape key for moving each point
- 27:41on the mouth in all cardinal directions.
- 27:44So, you can drive them just like we did
- 27:46with the iris. Or if you just want
- 27:48something quick, you can make a single
- 27:49shape key for the whole mouth or brow
- 27:51shape and then just activate it whenever
- 27:53you need to. For me though, I prefer
- 27:55having solid control points for a bunch
- 27:57of different parts of the mouth so I can
- 27:59make any expression I want on the fly so
- 28:01I don't have to stick to a couple
- 28:02predetermined shapes. So, I'll tell you
- 28:04how to make that. I think it's both
- 28:05easier than shape keys and way more
- 28:07versatile. The eyebrows will be super
- 28:10quick, so let's do them now. First,
- 28:12select them and turn on wireframe and
- 28:14all edges. If you can't see the
- 28:15wireframe that well, make sure to make
- 28:17the black materials viewport display
- 28:19color a little lighter. What we want to
- 28:21do is just map each vertical edge on the
- 28:23brow to one bone so it's super easy to
- 28:26move around. If you added a ton of edges
- 28:28to it, I'd recommend deleting some, but
- 28:30you can also just rig it however you
- 28:32want. It's not the end of the world. In
- 28:34edit mode with the rig, if we copy one
- 28:36of the eyebones with X mirror turned on,
- 28:38it'll automatically be mirrored. Let's
- 28:40add a bone to the inner tip of the brow
- 28:42and call it brow.l. We'll need to
- 28:44manually rename the right side in this
- 28:46case, so call it brow. R, and it'll stay
- 28:49symmetriized. Then, if we copy it, it'll
- 28:51copy its name, too. I only have four
- 28:53total loops on my brow. So, I only need
- 28:56four bones. They also don't need to be
- 28:58exactly on top of each edge, just close
- 29:00enough. parent them with keep offset to
- 29:02the headbone, but since the eyebones
- 29:04were already parented, these are too.
- 29:06Now, parent the eyebrow to the rig with
- 29:08empty groups. This will add a vertex
- 29:10group for every single bone in the rig,
- 29:12and we definitely don't need them. So,
- 29:14find the brow vertex groups and press
- 29:16this lock symbol on the right. You can
- 29:18click and drag across to select them
- 29:20all. Now, we can go to the drop down on
- 29:22the right and click delete unlocked
- 29:24groups. It'll get rid of every other
- 29:26group, which is way easier to look at.
- 29:27You can also sort by name so they aren't
- 29:30alternating back and forth. Now in edit
- 29:32mode, apply a value of one to each edge,
- 29:35switching to match their nearest bone.
- 29:37Since I copied them in order from left
- 29:38to right, it'll be brow.l brow.l.001
- 29:42and so on. So we can just do it in that
- 29:45order. Since it still has the mirror
- 29:47modifier, it'll automatically mirror the
- 29:49weights to the mirrored side. Just
- 29:50remember to put the armature modifier
- 29:52below the mirror but above the shrink
- 29:54wrap. Then we can just move the bone to
- 29:56change the shape of the eyebrow whenever
- 29:58we want. When posing, you might want to
- 30:00rotate them, too, so the edges are at a
- 30:01good angle for forming the shape. You
- 30:04don't have to add this, but you can even
- 30:06add a shrink wrap to the bones, too,
- 30:08since we're going to want them to stick
- 30:09to the head anyway. Just go to the bone
- 30:11constraints tab when you're in pose mode
- 30:13and add a shrink wrap and make it use
- 30:15the head as a shrink wrap. Constraints
- 30:17are kind of organized like modifiers,
- 30:19but mostly just work for other purposes,
- 30:21like limiting their location or making a
- 30:23bone point at an object. Now, you can't
- 30:25pull it away from the head, which would
- 30:27make the brows look a bit weird. To
- 30:29apply it to all of them, select them all
- 30:31and then select the one with the
- 30:32constraint and then press copy to
- 30:34selected in this drop down. Now, they
- 30:36all have it, but again, you don't need
- 30:38it. We want to do a similar thing for
- 30:40each part of the lips. So, let's add all
- 30:42the bones we need first. Turn on
- 30:44wireframe and all edges, but there's way
- 30:46too much detail visible because of our
- 30:48outline solidify modifier, so just turn
- 30:50it off for now. Add one bone for each
- 30:52edge around the mouth. There are a
- 30:54couple more edges than I usually aim
- 30:56for, but it'll technically work. It'll
- 30:58just give us an annoying amount of bones
- 30:59to pose. You can map two edges to one
- 31:02bone instead if you don't want as many
- 31:04bones. They're overlapping each other,
- 31:06so I'm going to rotate the ones on the
- 31:08bottom lip down. If you change the pivot
- 31:10point to individual origins, you can do
- 31:12them all at once. Medium point won't
- 31:14rotate them at their base in edit mode.
- 31:23I'm going to name them from the top to
- 31:24the edge of the mouth like mouth T,
- 31:27mouth T. L mouth T. L. That but with two
- 31:32and then mouth E.L. then at the bottom
- 31:35it's mouth B and so on. Remember the
- 31:39order you added the numbered bones in,
- 31:41so you don't have to constantly check
- 31:43back. Then symmetriize. The middle bones
- 31:46obviously don't need to be symmetriized.
- 31:48Don't parent the head yet. We still want
- 31:50some more bones. It's way more natural
- 31:52looking in animation to use a jawbone,
- 31:54too. So, we need to add one. Place it so
- 31:57its head or its base joint is just
- 31:59around this area relative to the ear.
- 32:01And its tail or its top joint is near
- 32:03where the front of the chin is. You can
- 32:05change this X location to zero over here
- 32:08to get it to the center. Just do it for
- 32:10both the head and tail.
- 32:13The last bones we need to add are for
- 32:15the teeth and tongue. To keep things
- 32:17simple, just add one bone for the top
- 32:18teeth, bottom teeth, and tongue. You
- 32:21usually want to add multiple bones for
- 32:22the tongue, but it's only really
- 32:24necessary if you plan on posing it a lot
- 32:25more. So, for now, I just give it one.
- 32:27For [clears throat] the teeth, I usually
- 32:29like having the bones head be in the
- 32:30middle of the teeth, but it doesn't
- 32:32matter too much. I'll call them teeth. T
- 32:34teeth.b and tongue. Now we need to
- 32:37parent everything to these bones. Let's
- 32:39do it with the teeth and tongue first
- 32:41since it's super easy. Just select both
- 32:43shift select the rig parent with empty
- 32:45groupoups and like with the eyebrows,
- 32:47find the teeth groups on the teeth and
- 32:49the tongue group on the tongue and lock
- 32:51them. And then on the right, delete
- 32:53unlocked groups. Now in edit mode, just
- 32:55select the top teeth with L and apply a
- 32:58value of one to the top vertex group.
- 33:00And then do the same for the bottom
- 33:01group. Then do the same with the tongue.
- 33:04They're all sorted. So, let's deal with
- 33:06the jaw now. Parent the body to the rig
- 33:09again, but make sure to only parent with
- 33:11empty groups. Now, since the body
- 33:12already has a ton of vertex groups for
- 33:14the rest of the rig, what empty groups
- 33:16actually does is just add groups we
- 33:18didn't have before, but keep all the
- 33:19groups we already had the exact same.
- 33:21This is partially important since we
- 33:23don't want to make the hairbones affect
- 33:24the head at all. We're going to have to
- 33:26use weight paint mode for real this
- 33:28time. So find that jaw vertex group so
- 33:30we can add to it. Before we do anything,
- 33:32we need to select some options in our
- 33:34weight paint tool. I mentioned these in
- 33:36the last video, but I'm going to mention
- 33:38them again. First, make sure mirror is
- 33:40on and mirror vertex groups. So it'll,
- 33:42you know, mirror the changes. So we only
- 33:44have to do half of the work. Mirror
- 33:45vertex group specifically will find the
- 33:47mirrored group and match the weights
- 33:49there. So it's obviously important. But
- 33:51even more important than that, in
- 33:52options, select autonormalize. This is
- 33:55probably the most necessary button to
- 33:56push in this whole process. Basically,
- 33:58it makes sure each weight group will max
- 34:00out at one, and it'll replace weights
- 34:02from other vertex groups to make sure of
- 34:05it. We're going to be painting on top of
- 34:06the spine six group, which is the head.
- 34:08So, we'll need to make sure we replace
- 34:10some of that as we paint. When using
- 34:12vertex groups for non-rigg things, it's
- 34:14completely fine to have them add up to
- 34:15more than one. But, when it comes to
- 34:17rigging, it's much more necessary that
- 34:19it only adds up to one. I learned while
- 34:21making this tutorial that it actually
- 34:22safeguards against most things going
- 34:24wrong, but you should still try and keep
- 34:25all the weights at one. Anyway, if we
- 34:28paint on now, it'll take away from other
- 34:30groups to let the jaw group go up to
- 34:31one. So, paint it so that the bottom of
- 34:33the head is all red, which means the
- 34:35jawbone is influencing those areas 100%.
- 34:38We want to blur it out to the side so it
- 34:40pulls along the head smoothly.
- 34:45You might want to rotate the jawbone
- 34:47down in pose mode so the vertices will
- 34:49move when we paint them so we can know
- 34:51if it looks all right. This is also a
- 34:53situation where you might want to turn
- 34:54off the subdiv modifier because the
- 34:56weight painting tools are way more
- 34:58reliable when you know exactly where
- 35:00each vertex is.
- 35:03You'll probably have to hide the teeth
- 35:05and tongue while painting the inside of
- 35:06the mouth. There. We need to make the
- 35:08bottom part follow the jaw, too. So,
- 35:10paint that red. We also want the bottom
- 35:12lip to be red, but we'll be changing
- 35:13that later. So, just get it started with
- 35:15the jaw first.
- 35:21Since our lips are intersecting, you
- 35:24might want to apply the weights in edit
- 35:25mode so it's more precise. I'll
- 35:28control-click on the other side so it'll
- 35:30select this whole grid from here to
- 35:31there.
- 35:34You can set the weight in the tool
- 35:36settings to zero [music] to erase
- 35:38weights.
- 35:42Now just blur the sides until it looks
- 35:44all right. So the sides of the mouth are
- 35:46blending along nicely.
- 35:52Also make sure that the back of the jaw
- 35:54is very blurred out so it doesn't bunch
- 35:56up back there. Don't forget you can
- 35:57change the strength of the blur in the
- 35:59tool settings. We can tweak this all
- 36:01later, so don't worry about getting it
- 36:03perfect right away. Let's do the lips.
- 36:05Let's actually start off in edit mode. I
- 36:07want to apply a weight of one to each
- 36:09part of the lip so each bone pulls along
- 36:11that edge 100%. It'll be easier to see
- 36:14if we toggle on something on the
- 36:15armature modifier like the triangular on
- 36:18cage button. There's also the square
- 36:19button which actually lets us see what
- 36:21it's changing in edit mode. So if we
- 36:23toggle that on for the armature
- 36:24modifier, we can use the jaw to open up
- 36:26the mouth and edit the lips easier. We
- 36:29just want to select the verts around
- 36:30each part of the lip.
- 36:34Make sure autonormalize is turned on
- 36:36here and apply one to each related bones
- 36:38vertex group. This button was added in
- 36:40version 4.5 so you won't have it if you
- 36:42have an earlier version. If that's the
- 36:44case, just do it with weight painting
- 36:46instead. You need a normalizing anyway.
- 36:48Now you just need to remember which bone
- 36:50is which so you can apply them easily.
- 36:57If it returns to its original spot, you
- 36:59can tell it erased the jaw weights and
- 37:01replaced them with the lip weights,
- 37:02which is what we want. We'll parent the
- 37:04bones in a second.
- 37:09Once it's all done, make sure you test
- 37:11each bone to make sure you did it right.
- 37:13It's agonizing work, so don't assume you
- 37:15did it perfectly.
- 37:20If that's all in place, we should just
- 37:22be able to blur each of the mouth
- 37:23weights to make them look a bit nicer.
- 37:25It won't be perfect, but it'll
- 37:27definitely be good enough. Also, with
- 37:28mirror vertex groups on, it'll perform
- 37:30each action on the mirrored vertex
- 37:32group, so you only have to blur one
- 37:34side. Just keep blurring each group
- 37:36until it looks right.
- 37:39You don't want the gradient to be
- 37:40blobbing off to the side. So, just blur
- 37:42it until it looks somewhat like this.
- 37:45I'll also blur the jaw weights a bit,
- 37:46too.
- 37:55Now we just need to parent the bones to
- 37:57each other. We want the lower parts of
- 37:59the mouth to all be parented to the jaw
- 38:01and the top parts to be parented to the
- 38:03head so it mimics real life. So select
- 38:05all the bones of the top lip and the
- 38:06edges of the mouth and also the top
- 38:08teeth and parent those to the headbone
- 38:10since those parts are more locked onto
- 38:12our skull. Then parent the jawbone to
- 38:15the head too. But now select all the
- 38:17bottom lip bones, the bottom teeth and
- 38:19the tongue and parent those to the
- 38:21jawbone.
- 38:23Now we can just rotate the jawbone to
- 38:25move the whole lower portion of his
- 38:26face, which is so much quicker than
- 38:28moving each bone individually. And on
- 38:30top of that, you can still pose these
- 38:31bones on top of where the jaw moved
- 38:33them. There are ways to use constraints
- 38:36and other bones to make the mouth more
- 38:38round as you move the jawbone, but since
- 38:40this is a beginner tutorial, I'll just
- 38:42say that this is really all you need.
- 38:44Also, they should all be hidable using
- 38:45the face button in our rig layers. If
- 38:47they're all a part of the same face bone
- 38:49collection, if they aren't, then just
- 38:51remove them from any bone collection
- 38:52they're a part of and then add them to
- 38:54the face collection. Then the button
- 38:56will work.
- 38:58You're in the final stretch. We're
- 39:00almost done. Technically, the last thing
- 39:01we need to do is just cosmetic, but I
- 39:03think you'll want to know about it. If
- 39:05you look at the rigify rig, it has all
- 39:06these different wiry shapes to separate
- 39:08each bone from each other. We can add
- 39:10them to our new bones too super easily,
- 39:12especially since the rigify rig made so
- 39:14many we can use. If you find this
- 39:16WGTS_rigs
- 39:18collection, these are all the shapes
- 39:20that the rig uses. And we can use these,
- 39:21too. WGTS is short for widget. Here's
- 39:24how you change a bone shape. Let's say
- 39:26we want to make these mouthbones little
- 39:28cubes. If you select the bone in pose
- 39:30mode, then in the bone tab, go down to
- 39:32viewport display. This is where you add
- 39:34bone shapes. In the custom object part,
- 39:37just select whatever object you want to
- 39:38be that shape and then it'll turn into
- 39:40it. If you look at the rig, you can see
- 39:42that the torso bone in the rigify rig is
- 39:45also a cube. So if you type torso into
- 39:47this section, you can use the same
- 39:48widget that the rigify rig uses. Now you
- 39:51can edit location called its translation
- 39:53for some reason, rotation and scale to
- 39:55make it exactly how you want. This won't
- 39:57change the placement of the bone itself,
- 39:59just where the visible part of the bone
- 40:01is. The custom object is placed where
- 40:03the head or base of the bone is. So, if
- 40:05it's a bit out of place, that's why.
- 40:07Just change its translation, so it's
- 40:09where it should be. Now, we can change
- 40:11its color, too, in the area above it.
- 40:13It's set to default colors, but we can
- 40:15change it to any of these color sets. Or
- 40:17select custom to make it any color you
- 40:19want.
- 40:21These three slots are for when it's not
- 40:23selected, when it's selected, but not
- 40:25the active selection, and when it's the
- 40:27active selection. What I like to do is
- 40:30copy the colors from a rigify bone and
- 40:32just change its unselected color. You do
- 40:34that by selecting it, shift selecting a
- 40:36rigify bone, and then pressing these
- 40:38arrows on the right. That'll apply that
- 40:40color to every selected bone. So now it
- 40:42matches the style of all the other
- 40:43bones. You might want to copy over both
- 40:45the bone color and the pose bone color.
- 40:48Or just set the ladder to default
- 40:49colors. Now you can copy all of this
- 40:52customization to the other bones by
- 40:54selecting them all, selecting the bone
- 40:55with the special shapes, and then on
- 40:57each of these parts here, just right
- 40:58click and press copy to selected or copy
- 41:01all to selected. That'll make each bone
- 41:03identical. I'll adjust each rotation
- 41:06manually and copy that around.
- 41:11Also, you can copy the colors like
- 41:13before. I want to use the style for the
- 41:15brow bones and the main eyelid bones,
- 41:17too. So, I'll copy them from there, too.
- 41:21For the eyebrows, I'll actually rotate
- 41:22them a bit and scale it up on its Y-axis
- 41:25so it mimics the edges they're attached
- 41:26to a bit more. For the happy expression,
- 41:30I'll actually take the chest shape since
- 41:31it's close enough to the upturned shape
- 41:33of the eye. I'll make it smaller and
- 41:35flip it around, scaling it down on the
- 41:37Z-axis so it's flatter.
- 41:39I'll also use that one for the jaw since
- 41:41it looks kind of similar to the bone
- 41:43shape that the rigify face rig uses. I
- 41:45want it to just be around the chin since
- 41:47I don't want this giant bone to always
- 41:48be visible inside of the head. For the
- 41:51iris bones, I just want them to be the
- 41:53same shape as the irises, so I need a
- 41:55circle. The toe and breast bones are
- 41:57circles, so use those. And then scale it
- 42:00up on the Y-axis so they fit the shape.
- 42:03The hair bones actually don't have a
- 42:05special color either, so I'll give them
- 42:06one, too. For some reason, I like making
- 42:08the hair bones orange, so you can copy
- 42:10over the finger bones color. You can
- 42:12also edit their shapes and any of the
- 42:14rigify shapes, too.
- 42:17If you ever want to make your own
- 42:18shapes, you can just add a curved
- 42:20circle, edit that to be whatever shape
- 42:22you want, and then select it for the
- 42:24bone. You can also use a normal mesh,
- 42:26but it's generally nicer to have a
- 42:28wireframe for these bone shapes than a
- 42:30full mesh. So, if you select all these
- 42:31verts, X to delete, but then delete only
- 42:34faces, so we'll be left with a wireframe
- 42:37cube, which should be much nicer. Also,
- 42:39you can even add a text object to use
- 42:41for bone shapes. If you go into edit
- 42:43mode with it, you can just type whatever
- 42:45you want. Change the fill mode on its
- 42:47data tab to none, and then just select
- 42:49it for the bone.
- 42:51There are also these objects called
- 42:52empties, which are just empty wire
- 42:54objects, which you can also use for bone
- 42:56shapes. There's tons of customizability
- 42:58here, so do what you want. You'll figure
- 42:59out what you want in the rig the more
- 43:01you use it.
- 43:25And we are finally done. As far as this
- 43:28character design is concerned, there's
- 43:29nothing else to really do. But I am
- 43:31going to make another video after this
- 43:32to add some things that this specific
- 43:34character wouldn't need, like textures
- 43:36and clothes, since whatever character
- 43:37you want to make will surely want that
- 43:39stuff. As for what to do until then,
- 43:42feel free to post whatever character you
- 43:43made in the art channel of my Discord
- 43:45server. I'd love to see what you made
- 43:46out of the series. It makes all this
- 43:48effort feel worth it. Or as usual, if
- 43:50you're having any problems related to
- 43:52this video, this process overall, or
- 43:54anything going wrong in Blender, you can
- 43:56comment them below or go to the help
- 43:58channel of my Discord server to ask
- 44:00about it. I'll try to answer as much as
- 44:01I can for as long as I can. I'm sure I
- 44:03missed some important part of this
- 44:05tutorial that beginners would totally
- 44:06get lost in, so there's a solid chance
- 44:08that that's not even your fault. If I
- 44:10miss anything major, I'll add it to a
- 44:11pin comment or something. Also, don't
- 44:14forget if you want to look back on any
- 44:15piece of info in this character modeling
- 44:17series, I have the whole script in one
- 44:19big dock where you can use Ctrl+F to
- 44:21search for keywords in it, so you can
- 44:22find specific pieces of info in this
- 44:24giant wall of text. I decided to cut
- 44:26some parts from the videos that I left
- 44:28in the script, so there is some more
- 44:29info there, too. There are also tons of
- 44:31ways of making a character, so
- 44:33definitely still look up other tutorials
- 44:34about character modeling to learn even
- 44:36more things you can use. If you got
- 44:37through this whole series, I'll say that
- 44:39you're confidently no longer a beginner
- 44:41in Blender anymore. So, any tutorial
- 44:43will do. I mean, some are probably still
- 44:44too much, even for me, but I guess you
- 44:46don't need to use beginner in your
- 44:48search anymore. Anyway, thanks for
- 44:50sticking through all these tutorials.
- 44:51There are still more to come, so stay
- 44:53tuned. Making this series definitely
- 44:55took a lot out of me. So, after the
- 44:56textures and clothes one, I won't make
- 44:58more tutorials for a while, but I have a
- 45:00few in mind. Some of them are how you'd
- 45:02port a character like this into VR Chat,
- 45:04which I know people would want to know.
- 45:05How to do sculpting and rettopology, how
- 45:07to 3D print character models like this,
- 45:09and more. Let me know if you really want
- 45:11one of those or something else. Since
- 45:13videos take a long time, I might try to
- 45:15make text tutorials out of them first.
- 45:17We'll see though. I still have one video
- 45:19to make. See my link tree for a link to
- 45:21all the other sites I post art on. See
- 45:23you later, and thanks for watching.
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