Step5. Skinning

Find the constraint node for the group and connect the Mouth_Top_W0 out node to the Reverse.inputX.

So why'd we leave the skinning until after setting up the controls? First of all it's easier to see an accurate deformation working when you have controls to animate. Secondly we hold off just in case a bone "pops" or changes its position or rotation in the setup process. It shouldn't if you've been careful about everything, but accidents happen. Just ask my mailman.

Bind the head to the skeleton, and feel free to omit the chin and Mouth_Top and Mouth_Bottom bones as they're intended to be place holders.

Weight the vertices, keeping in mind that all you need to worry about is the weighting of the jaw and lip bones. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to do this with the Component Editor as opposed to painting the skin weights, but hey, whatever turns your crank. I prefer to weight everything to the head bone 100% and then add from there, starting by getting the jaw working correctly and then lastly adding in the lip bones.

Fig 14. Weighting the Head

Step6. Lip Control Attributes

Now that you have a working lip setup, you can add some overriding control object that you can stick on your main character and animate.

Make a NURBS circle controller (or whatever shape you’re most comfortable with). Rename it to Jaw_Control.

Constrain the jaw rotation and translation to the Jaw_Control object.

Setting up the driven keys is easy: Add whatever custom attributes to Jaw_Control you like (Sneer, Smile, etc.)