Why Lipsync Should be "Two Frames Ahead"

Cliff Nordberg

Why should your lipsync always be at least two frames ahead of the audio? Because there is a very slight time delay between our mouths making a shape, and the sound being expelled from our lips.

For your audience to be able to read the lip sync clearly you'll want to offset the jaw opening at least two frames before the audio is actually heard. 

If you have the jaw opening and closing exactly on the frame that the audio is heard, your lip sync will feel slightly "off sync", ie a little late. 

Sesame Street Audio Archive

For animators looking for inspiration for some cartoony animation with dialogue, one great place to search is the Sesame Street Sound Archive, which you can find here. 

The Sesame Street Sound Archive is full of cartoony audio clips, which work well with cartoony characters such as Mr Buttons and also the Willy rig.  It's especially useful for our Character Performance Module DA702. 

To get started, try picking a very short line of dialogue, download it and then drag and drop it into your timeline in Maya. To see more about how to use audio files in Maya, follow this link.  To see more about how to use the "Willy" rig, see this blog post.

How to Plan a Dialogue Shot

This month our MA students are animating a dialogue shot, preparing to enter the monthly 11 Second Club competition.

But how do you get started with dialogue animation? One of the most common problems encountered by student animators is how to block out a shot from scratch, starting with nothing but a blank screen and a line of dialogue. How do you begin?

After all, in animation you get nothing for free. You start off with a digital puppet, usually in a stiff "T-pose", and have to figure out the rest yourself.

How to Animate Lipsync

Above is an excellent video on how to animate lipsync, showing how to break the process down into easy sections. The idea is to make sure that your work starts off simple and gradually grows in complexity as you layer in the detail.  At its simplest, good lipsync is just about opening the character's mouth on the vowels, and closing it on the consonants. But, developing a system to keep it simple and at the same time get a sophisticated result, is all part of mastering the art and craft of animation.