I had a very similar setup with my mouth rig, but this one does a few VERY smart things better, such as setting those intermediary bones partway through the chain lip corner bone. I really hate when bones stack on top of each other, but I think I will just have to accept that as a natural part of rigging, and just be smarter about my bone collections and color schemes.
finally a great tutorial for facial rigging in blender🙏 there are no tutorials out there that do this manually, instead everybody is using auto rig pro and stuff like that, so this is perfect! also, if you could make a tutorial on eyebrows it would be great.
Thanks ! Eyebrows arent high on my priority list but eventually I'll probably make a short one, yes But if it can help in the meantime, I use the same technique of having a long bendy bone control a smaller chain of short bendy bones for the lips and the eyebrows
I just tried this… and it was painful. BUT it was the good kind of pain! I love learning new things in Blender and figuring out how things work. This video is amazing-most tutorials I find use paid addons, which I’m not a fan of. I know there are easier ways to do things, but I like to struggle a bit, and this video really motivated me to try rigging! I’ve never touched rigging before, but I do love suffering with weight painting. Is there any chance you could do a full face rigging tutorial? I haven’t found a good manual one besides yours!
Nice I'll make more face rigging tutos in the future, and maybe wrap it up with one about how to connect everything But in the meantime I suggest you learn how to rig a body first, it's much simpler than face rigging (though still painful, don't worry)
Very good version of BB lip rig and quite easy to follow. Can I suggest you add a copy of the bone hierarchy in the description? It's very easy to get the child/parent relations wrong during the build and tedious to find any mistakes. I think a copy of the bone hierarchy would certainly help those with beginner to intermediate rigging skills. Other than that, I've tried this on two of my models and it's worked both times with very good results, no weight painting required. Good job!
Thanks a lot ! I'm glad to hear the setup worked for your characters And adding a recap is a good idea, I'll try to add one when I find the time, and will do so for future tutos too
Hey, bro! Incredibly well done tutorial for B-Bone Mouth Rigging! Congrats! I have one important note and a technical question, but this is a big subject on its own (Facial Rigging with B-Bones): 1) I believe you're using a wrong technique for the B-Bone Handle Targets; like, so far as I understand, there is no need to stack the Stretch To + Damped Track Bone Constraints to a B-Bone, because the Handle Targets are suppose to solve these. Because the Tail/Tip Ball Joint of the Bendy Bone is Positioned exactly at the Head/Root Ball of the End Handle, and the End Handle is not Parented Connected to the B-Bone, then this is a case of using the Absolute Target for the End Handle property of the B-Bone (instead of the Tangent Target); though, in the other case, of the Start Handle Target, you're using correct technique (Tangent), a tricky case by the way: for when both Head/Root Ball Joints from the B-Bone and its Start Handle, are matching Positioning in the Rest Position. So, I think you need, for your Setup: Start Handle: Tangent, End Handle: Absolute; and then you can discard the Damped Track Bone Constraint (and just keep the Stretch To Bone Constraint); unless there is a specific need of Damped Track (which I supect it is a correction, because of erratic End Handle Target; but this correction wouldn't be necessary, with the correct End Handle Target for that particular Setup). Though, I don't know of any proper use of Tangent for End Handle specifically --and, least of all, I do not know of any use case for "Relative", either for Start/End Handles. 2a) Haven't you experience any strange or suspicious Deforming issue for DEF (Deform) B-Bones, actually for those which have their Weight Paint reaching the center of the Face (or the Global X Axis center, the Plane of Symmetry of the 3D Character)? I've had very difficult times trying to work with Symmetric DEF B-Bone which Weights 'touches' the Plane of Symmetry; I'm not confident that this would be _just_ a Mirror Modifier issue; to the point I had placed DEF Regular Bones to cover Weight Paint only for the central Edge Loop(s)/Edge Ring!! 2b) I know at least part of that issue should be related to the Y Axis Scale Stretchiness/Squashiness Deforms caused by the B-Bone Skinning method (Spline Skinning), (maybe with inadequate Weight Painting), since its Weights are usually Weight-Painted all accross the B-Bone, and this can sometimes cause some sort of weird Deform Artifact, something like 'Simultaneous Deforms on both of _the same_ B-Bone'! which is terrible for the eye. I don't know if you have experience this so far or if you know how to prevent this behavior. Then, in addition to this, when the B-Bone meets Weight Paint in the Mesh Plane of Symmetry of the 3D Model, the previous issue might 'stack' to something even more terrible (the Deforms can sometimes 'propagate' to the Opposite Side of the 3D Model, to some extend)! So, I know how to prevent the latter (by just avoiding Weight Painting B-Bones in the central Mesh Region), but I still do not know if there is any special solutions for preventing the former (more generic) issue. I love B-Bones Rigging in Blender, but they have a lot of caveats, and can be extremely difficult to maintain; but in a good deal, a lot can be developed, by research, and by making good technique available to the community. Sorry for the long text; take your time to answer.
Hi, thanks 1) The only reason I stack up damped track and stretch to is because, before I learned about bendy bones I was already used to combine both of them to avoid some issues with tracking It dates back to 2.8 so maybe it s now obsolete even on normal bones, this is just how I learned to do it, but you may be completely right on that point Since I've always used that I wouldnt even know if the Tangent Handle can cause issues whithout it 😅 Has for the type of end Handles, I've honestly found no difference between Absolute and Tangent, both gave me the same results each time. The start one *has* to be Tangent for sure in this setup, but the end is up to you I'm still on the fence about using Absolute for both handles of the DEF layer only, using the def bones themselves as handles (I used to do that in a previous technique, it gives perfect curvature but prevents twisting and renders the tweakers' rotation useless) "Relative" has always been labelled as unreliable so I've never found a good use for it either 2) I'm sorry I've not encountered this issue (yet), so I've no idea how to prevent it or even where to begin debugging :/
@@rakenval Thanks for the precise answers, bro. Oh, I see, there exist a classical B-Bone Setup for such Bone Constraints Combo; I believe it could play a role still (especially considering the variety of Handles' Setups). I've made further tests, you are mostly correct: on many cases, End Handle set as Absolute or Tangent seem to make 0 different; but I found specific situations where it does make, although usually slight, change on the B-Bone Ending Curvature; it's certainly not compromising as I was stating before 😅. Btw, after reading the Handles descriptions in the UI, and after some quick tests (for End Handle), my current conclusion is that? Absolute tries to emulate Automatic behavior (it reads that it respects the "Position" of the End Handle Bone, so I guess it`s about its Location only, or its Location+Rotation), whereas Tanget would focus on the "Rotation" only of the End Handle Bone (so this might why sometimes they are slightly different). Also, seems like Relative would be on those kind of cases in which the Skeleton's Rest Position is different than its Rest Pose: "Use the offset... from Rest Pose...").
@@rakenval _I'm still on the fence about using Absolute for both handles of the DEF layer only, using the def bones themselves as handles (I used to do that in a previous technique, it gives perfect curvature but prevents twisting and renders the tweakers' rotation useless)_ This is super-interesting! After messing around so much, I've found a method which allows the DEF B-Bones to be Parented Connected between themselves (as FK Chain, so Automatic Handles, hence perfect Curvatures on the Sequence, akin to Absolute that you've mentioned I guess), and, at the same time, and against all odds, they CAN still be sort of manipulated by Tweak Bones (I'm not 100% convinced it is the same as Handles' manipulation, but it does Bend the B-Bones a lot; those TWK Bones would be elongated Regular Bones, same Length of the B-Bones, instead of being tiny components floating around). Because of how crazy the Stretch To Bone Constraint works, by affecting the Tail/Tip Joint of the Bones only, these can trick the rigidness of Connected Parenting, and in the case of B-Bones this is probably relates to the Setup you were referring to. And then, those two Bone Layers (DEF+TWK), can be still controlled by any other overarching Skeleton --in my case, I've made a B-Bone CTL-IK Spine Skeleton, for Auto IK Option, but there should be more versatile choices. Here I've made a presentation of this Setup; I believe you'll be familiar these stuff: ua-cam.com/video/1M_YKfoiocM/v-deo.html After that Spine result, I've been considering, Inverse Kinematics for B-Bone structures on Facial Rig... (you may know, for instance, Spline IK Bone Constraint can offer some curious behaviors there). Like, imagine having all those B-Bones' Lips you've made for your composite Mouth Rig Setup, but with some Inverse Kinematics Automation system? I know the Lips can have other Automation Setups, but IK is interesting. _2) I'm sorry I've not encountered this issue (yet), so I've no idea how to prevent it or even where to begin debugging :/_ Thanks anyways, bro. I'll rewatch your tutorial, and try to verify, perhaps, if you're employing differently regarding the Weight Paint, the Symmetry, and perhaps some of the mechanical elements involving Volume/Scaling Transforms. I know it's a lot of text... for a commentary section; so, don't worry I guess.😅Overall, thanks for the original content and the observations.
Okay I've never made a setup where the bbones were parented to one another, that's interesting! Usually I tend to layer up DEF-> Tweaks-> and then IK, FK, Intermediaries, basically whatever is needed to achieve the desired level of control I still use the DEF bones as handles with Absolute for stuff like tails for example, the tweakers in this case are parented to a good old FK chain so I assume it'd work in the same fashion as your technique (or intermediaries if I want both FK and IK) Spline Ik is very nice for stuff like the tongue or long ears, for the lips I don't know As for the rest of the face, imo it could be a bit overkill to add actual IK constraints, but surely there are situations where it could be useful Maybe eyebrows could be good candidates 🤔
its cool but why we cant just duplicate the upper lip , rename, parent bones where its needed, and make it the bottom lip? its kind of confusing when you do the same thing twise. I messed up a few times while trying to recreate this rig. may be its only my problem but i dont get the point...
You can totally do that if you want The reason I don't like to duplicate the chains is because more often than not the bottom lip has a different shape than the top one, which means I have to readjust the position of of every duplicated bone, and reset all the constraints It may take longer but I find it less confusing to them separately To each their own preferences I guess 😄
9:28 When I moved "CTRL-Lips-Corner.L", Tweaks did not move just like in the video. So, I tried moving "CTRL-Rot-Lip-Corner.L" and now the "Tweak" move together like in the video. I wondered why "Tweak" would react to the movement of "CTRL-Rot-Lip-Corner.L" rather than "CTRL-Lips-Corner.L". I watched the video meticulously from the beginning again and worked on the blender, but the same thing happened. Can anyone answer this?
I had a very similar setup with my mouth rig, but this one does a few VERY smart things better, such as setting those intermediary bones partway through the chain lip corner bone. I really hate when bones stack on top of each other, but I think I will just have to accept that as a natural part of rigging, and just be smarter about my bone collections and color schemes.
i didnt check in detail but man this is one of the greatest lip rigs id follow for sure
finally a great tutorial for facial rigging in blender🙏 there are no tutorials out there that do this manually, instead everybody is using auto rig pro and stuff like that, so this is perfect! also, if you could make a tutorial on eyebrows it would be great.
Thanks !
Eyebrows arent high on my priority list but eventually I'll probably make a short one, yes
But if it can help in the meantime, I use the same technique of having a long bendy bone control a smaller chain of short bendy bones for the lips and the eyebrows
@@rakenval Thank you, I'll try that
I just tried this… and it was painful. BUT it was the good kind of pain! I love learning new things in Blender and figuring out how things work. This video is amazing-most tutorials I find use paid addons, which I’m not a fan of. I know there are easier ways to do things, but I like to struggle a bit, and this video really motivated me to try rigging! I’ve never touched rigging before, but I do love suffering with weight painting. Is there any chance you could do a full face rigging tutorial? I haven’t found a good manual one besides yours!
Nice
I'll make more face rigging tutos in the future, and maybe wrap it up with one about how to connect everything
But in the meantime I suggest you learn how to rig a body first, it's much simpler than face rigging (though still painful, don't worry)
Very good version of BB lip rig and quite easy to follow. Can I suggest you add a copy of the bone hierarchy in the description? It's very easy to get the child/parent relations wrong during the build and tedious to find any mistakes. I think a copy of the bone hierarchy would certainly help those with beginner to intermediate rigging skills. Other than that, I've tried this on two of my models and it's worked both times with very good results, no weight painting required. Good job!
Thanks a lot ! I'm glad to hear the setup worked for your characters
And adding a recap is a good idea, I'll try to add one when I find the time, and will do so for future tutos too
Incredible work! Gonna try and integrate this into my own rig! Cant wait for part 2!
thanks!
I aim to upload part 2 wednesday night or thursday 👍
Вы очень крутой! Спасибо за урок, я как раз изучаю риг, видео очень кстати. Буду ждать продолжение! С уважением, ваш подписчик из России)
спасибо for the support ! And you're welcome (I'm sorry I don't know any other russian word 😅)
Мак Высер вновь сменил род деятельности ❤
keep uploading sir
I will 👍
Waoooooooooo You are the Best 😍😍😍😍😍😍
Preciate't.
very good content
Hey, bro! Incredibly well done tutorial for B-Bone Mouth Rigging! Congrats! I have one important note and a technical question, but this is a big subject on its own (Facial Rigging with B-Bones):
1) I believe you're using a wrong technique for the B-Bone Handle Targets; like, so far as I understand, there is no need to stack the Stretch To + Damped Track Bone Constraints to a B-Bone, because the Handle Targets are suppose to solve these. Because the Tail/Tip Ball Joint of the Bendy Bone is Positioned exactly at the Head/Root Ball of the End Handle, and the End Handle is not Parented Connected to the B-Bone, then this is a case of using the Absolute Target for the End Handle property of the B-Bone (instead of the Tangent Target); though, in the other case, of the Start Handle Target, you're using correct technique (Tangent), a tricky case by the way: for when both Head/Root Ball Joints from the B-Bone and its Start Handle, are matching Positioning in the Rest Position. So, I think you need, for your Setup: Start Handle: Tangent, End Handle: Absolute; and then you can discard the Damped Track Bone Constraint (and just keep the Stretch To Bone Constraint); unless there is a specific need of Damped Track (which I supect it is a correction, because of erratic End Handle Target; but this correction wouldn't be necessary, with the correct End Handle Target for that particular Setup). Though, I don't know of any proper use of Tangent for End Handle specifically --and, least of all, I do not know of any use case for "Relative", either for Start/End Handles.
2a) Haven't you experience any strange or suspicious Deforming issue for DEF (Deform) B-Bones, actually for those which have their Weight Paint reaching the center of the Face (or the Global X Axis center, the Plane of Symmetry of the 3D Character)? I've had very difficult times trying to work with Symmetric DEF B-Bone which Weights 'touches' the Plane of Symmetry; I'm not confident that this would be _just_ a Mirror Modifier issue; to the point I had placed DEF Regular Bones to cover Weight Paint only for the central Edge Loop(s)/Edge Ring!!
2b) I know at least part of that issue should be related to the Y Axis Scale Stretchiness/Squashiness Deforms caused by the B-Bone Skinning method (Spline Skinning), (maybe with inadequate Weight Painting), since its Weights are usually Weight-Painted all accross the B-Bone, and this can sometimes cause some sort of weird Deform Artifact, something like 'Simultaneous Deforms on both of _the same_ B-Bone'! which is terrible for the eye. I don't know if you have experience this so far or if you know how to prevent this behavior. Then, in addition to this, when the B-Bone meets Weight Paint in the Mesh Plane of Symmetry of the 3D Model, the previous issue might 'stack' to something even more terrible (the Deforms can sometimes 'propagate' to the Opposite Side of the 3D Model, to some extend)! So, I know how to prevent the latter (by just avoiding Weight Painting B-Bones in the central Mesh Region), but I still do not know if there is any special solutions for preventing the former (more generic) issue. I love B-Bones Rigging in Blender, but they have a lot of caveats, and can be extremely difficult to maintain; but in a good deal, a lot can be developed, by research, and by making good technique available to the community.
Sorry for the long text; take your time to answer.
Hi, thanks
1) The only reason I stack up damped track and stretch to is because, before I learned about bendy bones I was already used to combine both of them to avoid some issues with tracking
It dates back to 2.8 so maybe it s now obsolete even on normal bones, this is just how I learned to do it, but you may be completely right on that point
Since I've always used that I wouldnt even know if the Tangent Handle can cause issues whithout it 😅
Has for the type of end Handles, I've honestly found no difference between Absolute and Tangent, both gave me the same results each time. The start one *has* to be Tangent for sure in this setup, but the end is up to you
I'm still on the fence about using Absolute for both handles of the DEF layer only, using the def bones themselves as handles (I used to do that in a previous technique, it gives perfect curvature but prevents twisting and renders the tweakers' rotation useless)
"Relative" has always been labelled as unreliable so I've never found a good use for it either
2) I'm sorry I've not encountered this issue (yet), so I've no idea how to prevent it or even where to begin debugging :/
@@rakenval Thanks for the precise answers, bro. Oh, I see, there exist a classical B-Bone Setup for such Bone Constraints Combo; I believe it could play a role still (especially considering the variety of Handles' Setups).
I've made further tests, you are mostly correct: on many cases, End Handle set as Absolute or Tangent seem to make 0 different; but I found specific situations where it does make, although usually slight, change on the B-Bone Ending Curvature; it's certainly not compromising as I was stating before 😅.
Btw, after reading the Handles descriptions in the UI, and after some quick tests (for End Handle), my current conclusion is that? Absolute tries to emulate Automatic behavior (it reads that it respects the "Position" of the End Handle Bone, so I guess it`s about its Location only, or its Location+Rotation), whereas Tanget would focus on the "Rotation" only of the End Handle Bone (so this might why sometimes they are slightly different). Also, seems like Relative would be on those kind of cases in which the Skeleton's Rest Position is different than its Rest Pose: "Use the offset... from Rest Pose...").
@@rakenval _I'm still on the fence about using Absolute for both handles of the DEF layer only, using the def bones themselves as handles (I used to do that in a previous technique, it gives perfect curvature but prevents twisting and renders the tweakers' rotation useless)_
This is super-interesting! After messing around so much, I've found a method which allows the DEF B-Bones to be Parented Connected between themselves (as FK Chain, so Automatic Handles, hence perfect Curvatures on the Sequence, akin to Absolute that you've mentioned I guess), and, at the same time, and against all odds, they CAN still be sort of manipulated by Tweak Bones (I'm not 100% convinced it is the same as Handles' manipulation, but it does Bend the B-Bones a lot; those TWK Bones would be elongated Regular Bones, same Length of the B-Bones, instead of being tiny components floating around). Because of how crazy the Stretch To Bone Constraint works, by affecting the Tail/Tip Joint of the Bones only, these can trick the rigidness of Connected Parenting, and in the case of B-Bones this is probably relates to the Setup you were referring to. And then, those two Bone Layers (DEF+TWK), can be still controlled by any other overarching Skeleton --in my case, I've made a B-Bone CTL-IK Spine Skeleton, for Auto IK Option, but there should be more versatile choices.
Here I've made a presentation of this Setup; I believe you'll be familiar these stuff:
ua-cam.com/video/1M_YKfoiocM/v-deo.html
After that Spine result, I've been considering, Inverse Kinematics for B-Bone structures on Facial Rig... (you may know, for instance, Spline IK Bone Constraint can offer some curious behaviors there). Like, imagine having all those B-Bones' Lips you've made for your composite Mouth Rig Setup, but with some Inverse Kinematics Automation system? I know the Lips can have other Automation Setups, but IK is interesting.
_2) I'm sorry I've not encountered this issue (yet), so I've no idea how to prevent it or even where to begin debugging :/_
Thanks anyways, bro. I'll rewatch your tutorial, and try to verify, perhaps, if you're employing differently regarding the Weight Paint, the Symmetry, and perhaps some of the mechanical elements involving Volume/Scaling Transforms. I know it's a lot of text... for a commentary section; so, don't worry I guess.😅Overall, thanks for the original content and the observations.
Very interesting
I don't think I ever had a case where the skeleton's rest position was different from the Rest Pose...how does that work ? 😮
Okay I've never made a setup where the bbones were parented to one another, that's interesting!
Usually I tend to layer up DEF-> Tweaks-> and then IK, FK, Intermediaries, basically whatever is needed to achieve the desired level of control
I still use the DEF bones as handles with Absolute for stuff like tails for example, the tweakers in this case are parented to a good old FK chain so I assume it'd work in the same fashion as your technique (or intermediaries if I want both FK and IK)
Spline Ik is very nice for stuff like the tongue or long ears, for the lips I don't know
As for the rest of the face, imo it could be a bit overkill to add actual IK constraints, but surely there are situations where it could be useful
Maybe eyebrows could be good candidates 🤔
Great videos! do you have a version without the song in the background? gets super annoying
no I'm sorry 😅
you could turn off the sound entirely
this work for all model low poly
I assume you need a minimum amount of topology for it to look good but otherwise yes
What's the name of the shader you are using on your characters? They are so well made, love your style so much.
thanks ^^
It's a custom Toon shader made in Eevee
wowwwwwwwww
its cool but why we cant just duplicate the upper lip , rename, parent bones where its needed, and make it the bottom lip? its kind of confusing when you do the same thing twise. I messed up a few times while trying to recreate this rig. may be its only my problem but i dont get the point...
You can totally do that if you want
The reason I don't like to duplicate the chains is because more often than not the bottom lip has a different shape than the top one, which means I have to readjust the position of of every duplicated bone, and reset all the constraints
It may take longer but I find it less confusing to them separately
To each their own preferences I guess 😄
@@rakenval hm.. sounds reasonable
9:28
When I moved "CTRL-Lips-Corner.L", Tweaks did not move just like in the video.
So, I tried moving "CTRL-Rot-Lip-Corner.L" and now the "Tweak" move together like in the video.
I wondered why "Tweak" would react to the movement of "CTRL-Rot-Lip-Corner.L" rather than "CTRL-Lips-Corner.L". I watched the video meticulously from the beginning again and worked on the blender, but the same thing happened. Can anyone answer this?
9:08
There was a commotion about establishing a parent relationship for Bone's child. Now it's settled!
Sorry I didn't see your comment earlier, glad it's settled !