The MorpherThe Morpher modifier is a very powerful modifier that allows the animator to animate a vast range of different effects and movements. Some of those include: lip syncing, facial expressions, placing a dent in a can*, transformations, and I have even seen walk cycles completed with this modifier. I am going to walk you through the basics of this modifier and setting key frames with the Morpher.
The first step in the Morpher process is to set up your morph targets. This is very simple, but needs close attention. The way the Morpher works is by moving a vertex, which has a number, to a vertex in a reference model that has the same number. The trick is to just use copies of the model to be the correct vertex layout. DO NOT USE INSTANCES!
Simply just hold SHIFT and drag a copy of the object and make sure that it says Copy.
Then you can just modify those copies of that object to the desired look. Then you can use the Morpher to change the base object into the modified object which will be a Morph Target. For example if you want to make a character smile, copy the characters mesh and edit the geometry to make it smile. Or you can set up the mouths needed for lip syncing by use the same method. If you are trying for the dent in the can trick, then all you need is the can, copy that can and modify the mesh so that it is dented. The whole idea is you can not add geometry in any fashion. You can only modify the existing geometry. That means no extrudes, no bevels or chamfers, no connects or bridges, or cuts and welds. You can not modify the geometry in any way otherwise it will not work. Objects have to have the same amount of vertices to work, one more or less and the Morpher will not even see them.
Here are some examples of some morph targets I did for a skeleton character I am working with on a personal animation:
Base Object:
Happy:
Angry:
Blink:
Confused:
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The next thing is to select the main object that the modifier will be applied to. Go to the Modifier panel and add the Morpher modifier to the stack. I would place the modifier under any Skin or smooth modifiers. Then you will need to load in the morph targets that you have created. To do that make sure that the Morpher is selected in your stack. Then go under the Channel List rollout and use the Load Multiple Targets button.
When the Load Multiple Targets dialogue box pops up make sure to select the objects that you want to have as your Morphs. All objects that have the same number of vertices will be in this list so there is a change there may be an object or two that you do not actually want in the morph list. Once you have the correct objects selected hit the Load button. You will now notice that the Empty channels in the Channel List rollout now have the names of the objects that you designated to be your Morph Targets.
Do not delete the Morph Targets from the scene, you may hide them though.
You will notice that it you adjust the spinner that the base object will start to change into the corresponding Morph Target. You can even have multiple Morph Targets effect the object at once. You may want to play around with this, sometimes you will notice that combining two separate morphs will give you the exact look you are going for. This also allows you to separate your Morph Targets into different sections of you model. For example a face can be separated into the mouth, eyes, cheeks, and so on to give you more control over important areas. You also have the ability to change the amount you can morph. Under the Global Parameters rollout under the Morpher you will notice that you have a Minimum and a Maximum.
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You can change these numbers to get different effects. I like working with a range of -115 -> 150. You will notice that a lot of the time, especially with faces of emotion, if you go to the -100 value you will get a different Morph that you may not have. Smile turns into a frown; a blink turns into eyes wide open. Basically the Morph Target is a percentage. So values of 200 will push the vertices out twice as far as the original Morph Target.
To animate the Morpher you will need to use Autokey or your Curve Editor. If you use Autokey you have to make sure to double check your values and how you set your key frames. Warning: With auto key you usually need four key frames for each morph change. You need a key on the frame you wish the Morph Target to start with a value of “0”, you will need a key frame were you want the Morph Target to take place with the disiered value, you will need a third key frame were you want the Morph to start to end with the same value as the second key frame, and lastly you want a key with a value of zero were you want the morph to end. It sounds bulky but you will be able to produce several complex animations once you get the hang of it down.
