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john-labrie
Nov '15

This is a simple rigging pipeline question, but I can't seem to find a good answer:

When you create blendshape heads for different facial expressions, how do you attach them back to the body? What's the pipeline for doing blendshape heads? Do you start by deleting the body and keeping only the head, duplicating it a bunch of times to create different expressions, and then using Blend Shapes on them? But what then, how do you attach the body back to heads?

Thanks for answering this basic question.

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    Nov '15

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    Mar '16
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1 month later
lanza
Dec '15

What I usually do is duplicate the head then use that head as a base  and call is exp(Head01) then duplicate that head however many more time you need to and create your shapes. After you have all the shapes created. Select them all make sure the last one selected is (Head01). In maya 2016, Deform> Blend Shapes. You can name it whatever you like which you'll see at the top "Blendshape node"
then "Create" and you should see the name at the bottom under "input" in the Channel Box. just click on it and you'll see a drop down list of all the shapes you created.

Be sure to name the shapes acording to what you want them to be called in the end. 

1 month later
14 days later
christianmassyn
Mar '16

Hi the key is getting your point order correct. If you make your blendshape you can uncheck the check topoligy option and then you will be able to have a blendshape of only the head working on the whole body. So this is what I do:

1: Seperate the character mesh into 2 parts the head and the rest. ( can be more but this you can figure out later)

2: select first the head then the rest and combine the mesh and reveld the verts and uvs.

The point order wil now run from 0 to whatever the amount of verts in the head part and the body wil be the rest.

3: Duplicate the mesh and delete the faces that is not part of the head cut you made earlier

This is now your blendshape and can be duplicated  for all the blendshapes you want to make. I usualy make one that is effected by all the other and then only that one effects the character mesh but that is only my preferance and not needed.