Dialogue Tutorial with Monty: "I'm Outta Here"

Monty: "I'm Outta Here!" 

In the simple animation tutorial below we show how to animate Monty - 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/966665368

Monty "Outta Here" Pt 2

https://vimeo.com/966665884

Monty "Outta Here" Pt 3

https://vimeo.com/video/966666553

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.

Monty does "Riverdance"

Lipsync & Dialogue Resources
To find more resources on animating dialogue and lipsync, follow the links below:

• Why Lipsync Should be 2 Frames Ahead of the Audio
• Why Lipsync Needs Wide and Narrow Mouth Shapes
• Lipsync - Open Wide on the Big Vowels
• How to Block Out a Dialogue Shot
• Sesame St Sound Archive
• How to Animate Lipsync
• Lipsync Tutorial with Simone Giampaolo
• Animate Lipsync the Easy Way
  

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