Creating the Facial Rig

Only the facial rig is missing at this point, which Jim will need in order to have facial expressions. For that, you’ll be using shape keys. Shape keys store different shapes of the same object. For example, imagine one shape would be Jim’s smile; later, you’d be able to move the vertices from their neutral position to the smile position by sliding a bar from 0 to 100 percent and you’d see the transition. After you learn how to model these shape keys, you’ll create a few new bones and learn how to use them to control the shape keys. At the end of the process, you’ll be able to control Jim’s expressions with only a few bones!