Head Driven Body Movements

In order to maintain a natural connection with the head and upper body during the mocap process, the Motion LIVE 2D plugin provides the Pose Blend Value sliders, which can also be used to make the animation more vivid and lively. You can accentuate or diminish the values to match the personality of the character you are using. The benefits are:

  • Control the signal input strength from head movements to trigger the motion patterns for the upper body.
  • Enhance the facial expressions with proper Pose Blend Value settings.
  • Save the settings for the characters.
ClosedThree Motion Patterns Triggered by Head Movements

ClosedHead Movements - Roll Left / Right


Adjust the Head Roll Left / Right slider to determine the facial body motion strength for tilting the upper body left and right.

  • Rolling the head to the left drives the body to bend towards the left side.
  • Rolling the head to the right drives the body to bend towards the right side.

ClosedHead Movements - Move Up / Down


Adjust the Head Turn Up / Down slider to determine the facial body motion strength for stretching and squashing the upper body.

  • Moving the head up drives the body to stretch upward.
  • Moving the head down drives the body to squash downward.

ClosedNote
  • If you are using facial mocap for head nodding, you may need to lower the value of this slider to correct the head movements for the current version.
  • In the current version, if you are using the facial mocap for a character with a side face pose near 270 degrees and capturing the head nodding motions, please use the Head Roll Left / Right slider to correct the head movements.
ClosedHead Movements - Move Forward / Backward


Adjust the Head Scale slider to determine the facial body motion strength for enlarging or reducing the size of the head.

  • Moving the head close to the camera makes the head look bigger.
  • Moving the head away from the camera makes the head look smaller.

ClosedNote
  • By double-clicking on the name of the sliders, you can reset the values back their default values.
ClosedAccentuating Body Performance

With the additional effect of the body movements, the original facial expression of a cartoon character can become more exaggerated and eye-catching.

Facial mocap only (without upper body motions).

Facial mocap with body movements (with additional upper body motions).

You can add the following body movements during the facial mocap:

ClosedUpper body swaying left / right motions

Facial mocap only (without upper body motions).

Facial mocap with body movements -
head rolling triggers the upper body to bend sideways.

ClosedUpper body stretching up / down motions

Facial mocap only (without upper body motions).

Facial mocap with body movements -
head moving triggers the upper body to stretch.

ClosedHead close-ups / far away motions

Facial mocap only (without upper body motions).

Facial mocap with body movements -
head enlarges as it moves forward.

ClosedDiminishing Body Performance

If you feel that the body movements are too exaggerated for human-like characters, simply diminishing the strength sliders. In the case below, lower the Head Turn strength to restore the natural head movement and nodding motions for the girl.

With the default Head Move strength, the body sways and stretches too much, and the zoom in on the head is unnatural.
Head Roll Left / Right = 100
Head Move Up / Down = 100
Head Scale = 100

After adjusting the Head Move strength, the body sways gently, the body stretching and the zooming is diminished for a natural head nod gesture.
Head Roll Left / Right = 25
Head Move Up / Down = 0
Head Scale = 50