We literally listen to the recordings of the actors and slowly animate the lipsync. It gets a lot easier once you’ve done it a lot, but each animator has their own way of doing it. Some do the open/mouth shapes first (like a puppet) then add details for each sound. Some (like me) will do it “straight ahead” and listen for sounds and match shapes to it. That’s why every animator has a mirror on their desk, to look at their own faces when they say dialogue or make expressions.
You’re not really animating each letter or word, but rather the sound they make together. So let’s say a character’s line is “Can I come over?” You really only need a few shapes from that (closed C, open A, closed A, N that opens into the I, straight into the M, a slight E open shape, V and R).
Hope that makes sense
Latest Answers