This was a super simple exercise I did back in 2019 to practice something we all do: Blink! In the above clip we have a regular, fast, half, and offset blink. As it turns out, there’s a lot more to a blink than meets the eye. The face itself is a whole interconnected web of muscles and other tissue. So when we blink, not only do our eyelids move, but so do the various muscles surrounding the eye.

In some places the movement is subtle, like around the cheeks or near the nose. In other places the motion is lot more noticeable, like with the brows. In the above attempt, I pushed that “interconnectivity” a bit further than is usually necessary and included subtle (or maybe not so subtle) movement of the nose, mouth, and ears. Regardless, it’s important to show that face is an organic form with muscles that push and pull.

Since the exercise is pretty simple, I also wanted to practice animating breathing. Including some movement of the chest, shoulders, and head can go a long way towards making your character feel alive. It was another great opportunity to practice using Maya’s animation layers too.

I’d definitely like to give this one another try. I’d probably approach animating the brows and upper lids a bit differently now than I did back then. But that being said, I remember using a lot of what I learned here on the facial animations I’ve done since then. So as a learning experience this was a success.

Koala Bob Rig by fRigging Awesome Studios

My Links: ArtStation / Instagram / Vimeo