ALRIGHT SUP NERDS TODAY I'M GONNA LEARN U SOME ANIMATION MMK?
So a lot of people always like to have an MMD model for their UTAU, but what good does it do if you just let it sit and collect dust until you find a motion data AND UST to go with it? Sit your butts down because I shall learn you the thing 8)
So whatever model you use is up to you, I'm using the Ver2 Miku that comes with the program b/c tutorial lmao
Once your done with your pose, make sure you select all and register it! After that, move around anywhere 50-100 frames after, depending on how long you want her breaths to be. 100 is slow and relaxed! Move her center a little bit with x and z, and maybe rotate z a little here and there.
Click register and around that frame (not on the same one all the time), move random other major parts of the body--arms, elbows, wrists, upper body, neck, head, maybe even her legs a little! Don't let her keep still! Make sure you register all of them before changing the frame. Leave the eyes alone for now.
For a breathing effect, use the shoulders and chest to try and accent the way our shoulders really move when breathing. If they started low, move them up and vice versa.
Done? Good! Now you see that little line/curve in the corner? This is where a lot of people get confused, but it actually is a complete lifesaver if you don't want to take too long smoothing out the frames.
I usually select "all," but it has options to make your own curves separately for the rotation of a bone and separate X/Y/Z movements of a bone (only if it can, like IK bones). This is basically just a graph that says, "it starts out slow, then picks up speed, then smooths out again." For noise, it's my favorite kind of curve.
If you have a movement that requires two different frames, like a throw or something, you can change it to two frames:
This tells the program, "The throw starts off slow and gets fast when joined by the second movement." This is especially good moves for when a motion data is screwed up and the arms go through the body (you can move the arms around with these curves)
This is also exactly like S curves, J curves and r curves in UTAU. Just think of it the same idea when animating!! S curves are usually the best, but you can get some nice combinations when using all of them together.
If a curve is initially stuck with a line and a curve (usually IK bones are), then you can change it by clicking "liner" and it will change to the default line you can drag.
Finish doing all the curves and pose until you're satisfied.
Now we're gonna backtrack a bit to do the eyes/face!
You can do blinking quickly by doing the automatic "register random blinking" in edit, but I want to show you how to get some more polished results.
You know when sometimes you're sure someone's about to blink, and then they just kind of twitch their eyes? That's an everyday occurrence. To get a similar result, move the eye down gradually over a long time, then put it more down (not too close to completely closed, though) and then back up slightly. This creates a little recoil effect that just looks a lot more natural than if you were to blandly move it a little.
For blinking, depending on how long you want it, a normal blink lasts around 5-8 MMD frames. I normally go around 6, but if I want to slow it down I can make it up to 15-20 frames long.
Eyes move, too, but in a different way from the rest of our body. Unlike our normal body parts/joints, the eyes are very rapid and sudden in their movements. Eyes should move swiftly for the most realistic results. Sometimes if you're turning, it's okay to use a longer frame range with interpolation curves, but it doesn't always work. Of course, make sure to drag the eyes VERY SLIGHTLY over a long range if they're looking at the same place.
Once you did that, you're done with that area unless you'd like to adjust some more facials (which are manipulated similarly to the eyes). Now you keep going every 50-100 to register more breathing and movement. Never let the character stay still!
If you ever don't feel like making that much, but want to have your UTAU model lipsync to something, noise is extremely important!! Thanks for reading and I hope it helped??? OOP
I posted the VPD in the resource as well if you'd like to look for reference!
There's more advanced information on animating and interpolation curves by this person! Try not to get too confused though rip
//RUNS
So a lot of people always like to have an MMD model for their UTAU, but what good does it do if you just let it sit and collect dust until you find a motion data AND UST to go with it? Sit your butts down because I shall learn you the thing 8)
I assume y'all know how to do the absolute basics, load up the program and get the model in right? Good? OK!
So whatever model you use is up to you, I'm using the Ver2 Miku that comes with the program b/c tutorial lmao
Start a basic standing or sitting pose! Always make sure the hands aren't what they are as the default too; you don't rest your fingers like that, do you?? If you have trouble with hands, I have a small, old pose pack here! Just make sure not to rely on it too often, because you will need to learn to move the fingers yourself eventually, too!!
Once your done with your pose, make sure you select all and register it! After that, move around anywhere 50-100 frames after, depending on how long you want her breaths to be. 100 is slow and relaxed! Move her center a little bit with x and z, and maybe rotate z a little here and there.
Make sure you don't move the rotation too much! She might fall over!
Click register and around that frame (not on the same one all the time), move random other major parts of the body--arms, elbows, wrists, upper body, neck, head, maybe even her legs a little! Don't let her keep still! Make sure you register all of them before changing the frame. Leave the eyes alone for now.
For a breathing effect, use the shoulders and chest to try and accent the way our shoulders really move when breathing. If they started low, move them up and vice versa.
Done? Good! Now you see that little line/curve in the corner? This is where a lot of people get confused, but it actually is a complete lifesaver if you don't want to take too long smoothing out the frames.
I usually select "all," but it has options to make your own curves separately for the rotation of a bone and separate X/Y/Z movements of a bone (only if it can, like IK bones). This is basically just a graph that says, "it starts out slow, then picks up speed, then smooths out again." For noise, it's my favorite kind of curve.
If you have a movement that requires two different frames, like a throw or something, you can change it to two frames:
This tells the program, "The throw starts off slow and gets fast when joined by the second movement." This is especially good moves for when a motion data is screwed up and the arms go through the body (you can move the arms around with these curves)
This is also exactly like S curves, J curves and r curves in UTAU. Just think of it the same idea when animating!! S curves are usually the best, but you can get some nice combinations when using all of them together.
If a curve is initially stuck with a line and a curve (usually IK bones are), then you can change it by clicking "liner" and it will change to the default line you can drag.
Finish doing all the curves and pose until you're satisfied.
Now we're gonna backtrack a bit to do the eyes/face!
You can do blinking quickly by doing the automatic "register random blinking" in edit, but I want to show you how to get some more polished results.
Eyes aren't open 100% all the time. Be sure to drag the blink down a tiny bit every here and there.
You know when sometimes you're sure someone's about to blink, and then they just kind of twitch their eyes? That's an everyday occurrence. To get a similar result, move the eye down gradually over a long time, then put it more down (not too close to completely closed, though) and then back up slightly. This creates a little recoil effect that just looks a lot more natural than if you were to blandly move it a little.
For blinking, depending on how long you want it, a normal blink lasts around 5-8 MMD frames. I normally go around 6, but if I want to slow it down I can make it up to 15-20 frames long.
Make sure to add the little recoil!!
Eyes move, too, but in a different way from the rest of our body. Unlike our normal body parts/joints, the eyes are very rapid and sudden in their movements. Eyes should move swiftly for the most realistic results. Sometimes if you're turning, it's okay to use a longer frame range with interpolation curves, but it doesn't always work. Of course, make sure to drag the eyes VERY SLIGHTLY over a long range if they're looking at the same place.
Once you did that, you're done with that area unless you'd like to adjust some more facials (which are manipulated similarly to the eyes). Now you keep going every 50-100 to register more breathing and movement. Never let the character stay still!
If you ever don't feel like making that much, but want to have your UTAU model lipsync to something, noise is extremely important!! Thanks for reading and I hope it helped??? OOP
I posted the VPD in the resource as well if you'd like to look for reference!
There's more advanced information on animating and interpolation curves by this person! Try not to get too confused though rip
//RUNS
