FACS, Round 2: Genesis 3 Edition

margrave

Last time, I tested out the Genesis 8.1 face rig by implementing FACS expressions, and I got some pretty good results. I finally decided put down money for the G3/G8 edition, so I'm back to document my findings again. I've never really gotten into G3, because all the promo photos look just terrible. Either dead-eyed stares and doll-like mouths or cartoonishly distorted gurning, neither of which was very appealing. I wasn't even sure if G3's geometry was capable of effective emoting. So, out of curiousity, I took my new product for a whirl.

As before, the FACS expressions are taken from the reference guide Anatomy of Facial Expression.

So, let's look at the results.

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SMILE

RAGE

FEAR

SURPRISE

SADNESS

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Surprisingly, you can get some good, realistic expressions out of Genesis 3. I probably wouldn't use any of these out of the box--the eyebrow raiser in particular isn't great--but it's definitely a nice base for modification. While I still don't think Genesis 3 was designed for expressivity, with a little work I think this tool can surpass all those vacant stares in the Daz shop.

Just like last time, though, my main criticism is with Daz's implementation of FACS. Unlike the 8.1 face rig, this one comes with a whole pose library, so you actually know which AU you're moving. Unfortunately, every time you use a pose it overwrites the previous one, meaning that to combine AUs you need to basically activate a pose, record what moved, then blank everything and move them all manually. On its own, that wouldn't be too bad, but the biggest issue is that the action units themselves are all numbered wrong.

According to the standard, Action Unit 1 is "Inner Brow Raiser" and Action Unit 2 is "Outer Brow Raiser". But Daz's face rig has 01 as "Brow Raise", 02 as "Inner Brow Raise", and 03 as "Outer Brow Raise". The standard says AU5 is "Upper Lid Raiser" and AU6 is "Cheek Raiser", but they're reversed on the Daz face rig. "Lips Part" is 25 on the standard but 42 in the face rig. Most of the mid-range AUs are shifted by 1. Why do this? It just makes looking for AUs a pain.

Daz's baffling implementation of the standard aside, I still think it's a useful product...if you can figure out how it works.