Animate Dialogue with Monty: "I'm Outta Here!"

Monty: "I'm Outta Here!" 

In the simple animation tutorial below we show how to animate a character with no mouth saying a line of dialogue.  

But how can you animate dialogue and lipsync - with no lips?  The answer is - it's all in the performance.  If the body language is working, then the audience will believe that the character is speaking - even if it has no mouth. 

"I'm Outta Here"

Monty thumbnails: "I'm Outta Here"!

In this tutorial we animate "Monty" saying a line of dialogue - "I'm Outta Here" - from Disney's Aladdin.

Lipsync with Monty

This simple Lipsync exercise uses the free "Monty" rig, a green pea with legs, which you can read about here, and download for free from highend3d.com. 

Body Language

Monty has no mouth, so we have to use his body to make the shot work.  

I'm Outta Here!

Thumbnails

As always, we start with thumbnail sketches to plan our work.  On the right (above) are some rough thumbnail drawings to figure out how the animation will look.  There are three basic poses: a start pose, an end pose, and a middle pose. We don't animate Monty out of the shot; instead we add a "smear drawing" to whizz Monty off stage right.

How to Use the "Monty" Rig

To find out how to get the best out of Monty, see this blog post. 

Monty "Outta Here" Tutorial

The Monty "I'm Outta Here" tutorial is password protected but free to all our current students. 

Monty "Outta Here" Pt 1

https://vimeo.com/954845282

Monty "Outta Here" Pt 2

https://vimeo.com/954845476

Monty "Outta Here" Pt 3

https://vimeo.com/video/954845619

Work Method

Monty.

To see how to animate this tutorial, follow the steps below:

1. Download a copy of Monty. 
2. Create a project in Maya and set to it. Import a copy of Monty into your scenes folder. Also import a simple set, such as a theatre. You can find a free stage set at Turbosquid here. Also import a free hat; there are many at Turbosquid. 
3. Attach the hat to Monty's squash and stretch control.
4. Create a Shot Camera and lock the camera off.
5. Working in Stepped Curves, create a start pose with Monty at frame 1, following the thumbnails.
6. Create an Anticipation pose at frame 25.
7. At frame 26, remove Monty from the shot.
8. At frame 26, create a green "smear frame" cylinder.
9. At frame 27, animate the "smear frame" cylinder to screen right.
10. At frame 28, remove the smear frame from the shot.
11. Animate Monty's hat so it flies up in the air, spins around, and bounces on the ground.

Lipsync & Dialogue Resources

Monty does "Riverdance"

To find more resources on animating dialogue and lipsync, follow the links below:

• Animate Monty saying "Oh Yeah!"
• Animate Monty saying "Smokin'!"
• Why Animators Should Hold Ms Bs and Ps for two frames
• Why Lipsync Should be "Two Frames Ahead"
• Why Lipsync Needs Wide and Narrow Mouth Shapes
• The Secret to Animating Dialogue and Lipsync
• Speed Lipsync - How to Animate Dialogue Fast
• Why Animators Should Open Wide on the Big Vowels
• Dialogue and Lipsync Tutorial
• Animating Lipsync - Avoid Famous Lines of Dialogue
• How to Block Out and Animate a Dialogue Shot
• Why Animators Leave Lipsync Until Last
• Lipsync Resource - The Sesame St Sound Archive
• Why Animators Need to "Hit The Accent"

To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our next classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link.