Need help getting character's expressions correct

[Zekewolf]

Two people helped me with this their ideas work, but I'm still having trouble with getting things to work the way I want. Below is an example of what I'm looking for. For the eyelid shapes the make up the expressions on the eyes not to cover the eyelashes as if the eyelid shapes are masked to the eye shape below with the highlights. I don't care about tweening for the blink at this point I don't think I'll need the tweening for blinking I have the images need to make the character blink without tweening in a switch layer hooked to a smart bone.

I do however want the sad and mad expressions to tween if thats possible. Below is the most recent file I have. Let me know if you have any ideas.




Anime studio work file.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/220rog7g5nus0 ... anime?dl=0

[synthsin75]

You didn't follow my directions at all. viewtopic.php?p=165415#p165415
Good luck.

[Zekewolf]

I did follow your directions to a tee, I have a test file for it. I just made changes to it because the eyes wouldn't behave the way I wanted them to.

For example, I the switch layer for blinks has both the eye shape and lashes while another group has the eyelids and highlights masked to the switch layer, so I can mask the lids to the eye shape so that when I separate the eyelashes it wouldnt cover them. I put them back in the switch layer.

The issue is now the lashes are being a mask with the eye shape. So when I use the action for the sad expression, the eyelashes get covered.

Here's the picture.

[synthsin75]

I have no idea why you gave up interpolation on the switch only to have to add a "Mid" layer. Your switch layer already has eyelids. So why have a second "Eyelid sad"? And why have a "Mid" layer when a blink action (or a "tired" expression) can do that for you?

My directions, and example file, showed that all the smart bone actions for expressions were done INSIDE the switch layer...not above it. There is no need for a mask on the eyes, since you already have perfectly working eyelids in your switch layer (and you could easily add the highlights and expression smart bone actions to that layer).

[Zekewolf]

I gave up on interpolating the switch layer for the eye, because it caused the eyes to deform at the bottom, as I saw in you example file, Your idea worked great. Your example file with the pupils shows the pupils being masked by the switch layer, my highlights are set up the same, Only with the addition of the eyelashes on the switchlayer did it become a problem, because in your file the switch layer is a mask for the pupils, so following that, my switch layer is a mask for the highlights. Which means everything in the switch layer becomes a mask including the lashes.

So I created the eye sad layer, put back the mid layer in switch, made an action for the sad expression and made some fixes between that and the switch layer for both blinking and sad actions. So now they're not conflicting or deforming.

Upload to tinypic is acting wonky so I can't show you the gif. Tried a few times already.

[synthsin75]

My example showed how to do interpolated blinks without unwanted deformation, so I don't know where yours might be coming from (if you followed my example). The pupils in my example only need to be masked because they move outside the bounds of the eye (and why I included an unmasked version). If your highlights never leave the eye, there's no reason to mask them. But even if you did, there's no reason to have an extra set of expression eyelids masked by the switch. The switch can handle all your expressions, and the eyelid of your switch layers can cover the highlights.

You're not even using the mask for your highlights. In your blink action, you're just making those layers invisible as the eyelid covers it. And there's no reason to mask the "Eyelid sad" layer, because it is already on top of, and covers, the eye (and already masked to the body by the face group).


You don't need that mask at all. You already have the body masking the face group. That is all the masking you need. Get rid of the rest. Get rid of the "Eyelid sad" layer and copy/paste the highlight layers' shapes to the switch layers (and move them below the eyelid shapes), and delete the highlight layers. Then we can talk about whether you feel you really need to animate the blinks with a smart bone.