Ophelia's Gaze: How To Use Lip Sync To Make Second Life Avatar Screenshots Come Alive

Exclusive to NWN, Iris Ophelia's ongoing showcase of all things stylish in SL

Avatar photography is a wildly popular hobby in Second Life. Between sites like Flickr, Koinup, and even NWN's own New World Tableau feature, it's clear that photography in Second Life is advancing dramatically. But something that has always held us back is the lack of facial expressions, which take the form of "morphs", like the avatar's hands, controlled on the animation level. This makes human facial expression as we recognize it a very elusive thing, which was explored in Hamlet's Uncanny Valley Expo. The expression morphs (commonly activated through Gestures or EmoterHUDs) give is the choice of a calm-faced avatar or the complete opposite, a hyperbolized and rather cartoonish mask. Thankfully, a gift to SL's photographers has come in an unexpected form: the Lip Sync feature. Read on for more details about making the most out of this new tool.

The Lip Sync option can be activated through the Advanced menu (which you may have to enable by holding Ctrl+Alt+D on Windows, Ctrl+Opt+D on Mac). From there, go to Character, then click Enable Lip Sync. The purpose of this feature is likely to make voice dialogue less detached from avatars themselves (which can work against immersiveness), and it's undoubtedly a boon to machinima directors and live performers, but I think it has the potential to be just as key a development for the photographers.

To test it out, you (or your model, if you're using one) will need to turn voice on and speak. Some models will be uncomfortable speaking, so it works just as well to tap the microphone or play some music into it. This will make the avatar's lips move, whether in a voice IM or public voice channel. You will only be able to see the lips moving if you have Lip Sync enabled, and once you do you will see any speaking avatar's lips move, whether they have it enabled on their end or not.

I've enlarged the expressions on my model, Haver Cole, from the header to illustrate the subtle changes Lip Sync offers in avatar expression. The closed lips are the default expression of her avatar, the gaping mouth is the "shocked" setting on an EmoterHUD, and the two in-between steps were achieved while taking snapshots of Haver with Lip Sync enabled while she spoke. While the differences may seem small, subtlety is the reason this is such an interesting tool for photographers, who until now have had to work with one of two extremes with only Photoshop to bridge them. I've personally been jealous of Launa Fauna's photography in Second Life for her mastery of lightly parted lips, which add a very sensual note to her work. The idea that a similar look is a few microphone taps away from myself and the amazingly gifted avatar snapshot artists in the community is thrilling, like an Uncanny Valley Renaissance. The full range of Lip Sync motions runs from gently parted lips as pictured, to a natural looking kiss-pout.

It takes a little patience to get the right pout, so if you're a one-shot snapshotter like I usually am, you'll have to get used to taking multiple shots to get the best results. It can be inconsistent and frustrating, but I have no doubts that the payoff to the artistic community will be well worth it. So what do you think of the Lip Sync feature? Take it for a spin and tell me (or show me) how it goes!

 

Iris Ophelia has been featured in the New York Times and has spoken about SL-based design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.

 

Comments

[Connie Sec]

I'd like to share some tips on getting avatar emotion into a screen shot,instead of that blank gaze of disinterest.
A simple one is to use an emoter and if taking a portrait, choose an emotion. Then, turn on slow motion animations. As the emotion kicks in, your face will move toward that 'emotion". Take the pic at some point either coming to or relaxing from that emotion.
Another is to turn on your mystitool emotion expressor. This holds a certain emotion on your face. Next, if u have another emoter..choose a different emotion. As above, use slow motion animations and try to catch your face moving from one to the other.
Here is an example of that technique http://www.flickr.com/photos/conniesec/2902046664/
Another simple trick i use is the cut/replace. For example, i sometimes want a big smile, without that half closed eyes. So i take 2 pics of the same shot.. one with the smile, one without. I then cut the big smile out of one and superimpose that onto the "normal" shot.
Here is an example of that http://www.flickr.com/photos/conniesec/2896986231/
There u have it..wide eyes and big smile..also, don't forget..u can usually adjust eyebrows in appearance..want raised brows..well change them there.
Hope these little tricks are of use and a little fun

[Hamlet Au]

Thanks Connie!

[Marianne Little]

Thank you for those tips, I have wondered how they make pictures with halfopen mouth without eyes going totally weird. I will definitly use this!
I only have 150 pictures in flickr and isn't so good at editing. My solution to the closed eyes was to make a "Toothe smile" shape that has more open eyes. It worked well with 20% wider eyes and the lip corners turned a bit down instead of up. I have an cheap hud who plays the expression the whole time. It is more easy to take pictures when it doesn't turn expression on/off constantly. To change shape goes fast.
I also has a "grumpy face" shape with smaller eyes for the expressions who turn my eyes huge.

But how do I turn on slow motion animations? That REALLY sounds interesting. Hope you can explain that, please.

[Mm]

Marianne, in the Advanced menu, select Character -> Slow Motion Animations.

This doesn't change the lip sync, though. To modify lip sync look at the article http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LipSync#How_to_babble

[Ana Lutetia]

This is great. I didn't know! ^^

[Jacek Antonelli]

Great tip! Thanks, Iris!

[Tim]

that was great tips .you did a great job.