Why Animators Should Hold on the Final Vowel

"O" shape by Cliff Nordberg

When animating Lipsync, animators should never forget to hold a few frames longer on the final vowel shape, and not snap back into the default mouth position too quickly.

This is because when we say a word, like "ooh", our lips stay in the "oo" shape for a while, even after we have stopped making any "oo" sounds.  Junior animators will often snap back to a default mouth position, just a couple of frames after the sound stops, instead of holding the pose for longer, and staying in the mouth shape. 

Try it yourself. Say the word "shoo" and see how long your lips hold the "oo" shape. It's probably about 6-8 frames longer than the sound itself lasts. 

Animation Apprentice Lipsync & Dialogue Resources

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

• The Secret to Animating Dialogue and Lipsync
• Speed Lipsync - How to Animate Dialogue Fast
• Dialogue and Lipsync Tutorial
• Animating Lipsync - Avoid Famous Lines of Dialogue
• How to Block Out and Animate a Dialogue Shot
• Why Animators (Usually) Leave Lipsync Until Last
• Lipsync Resource - The Sesame St Sound Archive
• Why Animators Need to "Hit The Accent"
• Why Animators Should Hold "M"s "B"s and "P"s for two frames
• Why Lipsync Should be "Two Frames Ahead"
• Why Lipsync Needs Wide and Narrow Mouth Shapes
• Why Animators Should Open Wide on the Big Vowels
• Lipsync Resource - The Sesame St Sound Archive
• Why Animators Need "Head Muppeting"

Lipsync Tutorials

• Animate Monty saying "Oh Yeah!"
• Animate Monty saying "Smokin'!"
• Animate a Sneeze with Monty: "Achoo!"
• Dialogue and Lipsync Tutorial

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.