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Adding a lip-synced dialogue to a project can really enhance its quality and storytelling.
This article covers the basics on how to prepare for lip-sync in 2D animation.
For more information on using lip-sync in Harmony, see How do I create an automated lip-sync?
Preparing for lip-sync
When adding dialogue to a scene, there is a lot of preparation and analysis involved. Firstly, the dialogue should be recorded before starting any animation. You need the sound file so you can break down the dialogue into syllables and then turn those syllables into mouth shapes to be drawn on each frame.
Once the actual dialogue is broken down, then you have to analyze it on a second level: what emotion do you want it to convey? You need to understand what your character is saying and exactly how you want the character to say it once animated. The last thing you want is for your character to stand and do nothing while he or she talks.
If you are working with paperless animation, this will vary from frame to frame depending on the character’s position. If you are working with cut-out, you can match your mouth shapes to a mouth chart and use an auto lip-sync to set the timing for you. Either way, emotion and acting should always be considered before finalising the lip-sync.
Analyzing the voice track
Listen to the voice track and analyze it to identify the important elements. Here are some things to look out for:
- What is the timing of the dialogue? Is the manner of speech choppy and precise? Or slow and sloppy?
- What is the mood of the dialogue and how can this be reflected in the action?
- How does the rest of the body need to be positioned to support the mood?
- How can the body anticipate the dialogue?
- What is the character doing and why?
- Which words have the most emphasis? Can we use these as strong key positions?
- People do not enunciate every syllable. They "smudge" phrases. For instance, the word ‘elephant’ is often lip-synced as ‘elfant’.
- It is not necessary to animate every single letter. It is more important to look at the entire word and consider how it is emphasized in the dialogue.
Another great tip for preparing dialogue acting is to act the sentence out in the mirror and try to capture the natural movements the mood will create.
Using mouth charts
Once your sound is broken down or decoded, you need to assign a mouth shape to each frame so that you know what mouth to draw when animating. To do so, you need to refer to a mouth chart. A mouth chart is a simple page containing mouth shapes coded with a letter. This way you can easily mark down the mouth code (letter) beside each frame of your breakdown.
Here is a conventional mouth chart used in the animation industry. Note that there exists variants of the common mouth chart, but here is the main one listing the most common mouth shapes. This type of mouth chart is especially helpful if you plan on using the auto lip-sync feature in Harmony.
Here is an approximation of the sound each mouth shape can match:
| Mouth Shape Name: | Associated Sounds (Phonemes): |
|---|---|
| A | Mm, buh, puh, hh |
| B | Ss, duh, juh, kuh, tuh, th, ch |
| C | Eh, ee |
| D | Ay, ah |
| E | Oh |
| F | Oo |
| G | Vee, ff, ph |
| X | Silence, undetermined sound (similar to A) |
Using this chart as a guide, you can create a mouth chart for your own character.
| NOTE: The letters used to represent the shapes do NOT correspond to an actual sound, just an alphabetical order. |
Character Mouth Chart
Create a lip-sync chart for your character using the mouth chart above as a reference. If you are animating a paperless character, you only need to do one or two views. If it’s a cutout character, it’s best to do a chart for any view you feel the character will need.
Here are some things to consider when creating a chart:
- Is the character paperless or cutout?
- Create interesting mouth shapes that reflect the qualities of your character.
- Teeth: Either the top or bottom teeth are usually visible. Since they are solid, they should not change as the character speaks; there is generally no squash and stretch on teeth.
- Every person has a unique way of talking. What is the nature of your character's speech? For example, does your character show its top teeth, bottom teeth, or both when talking? Do the lips curl?
Once the lip-sync chart for your character has been created, you can now use it as a reference and apply it to your breakdown. You can do this manually, or using the auto lip-sync feature in Harmony.
For more information on using lip-sync in Harmony, see How do I create an automated lip-sync?