What's on the Act Panel?

Acting is the process of bringing the face to life! Using the tools on the Act panel, you can animate the face by either moving the animation controls and keying their positions, or by applying motion capture data to the animation controls. As well, there are tools to help you specifically with eye blink animation.

The Act panel is divided up into two main sections: the Face panel on top and the Library panel below it. See the following image and table to find where all of the options on the Act panel are discussed:

A	The Select tab contains the animation controls and their key buttons — see Animation Control Set.
B	The Display tab contains options for toggling the display of certain elements in the scene — Displaying and Hiding Elements.
C	The Cameras tab contains buttons to let you quickly change the camera view — Switching Cameras.
D	The Import/Export tab contains commands for exporting the Face Robot head in different ways, as well as caching the animation — see Exporting from Face Robot.
E	The key buttons for animating the animation controls — see Keyframing the Animation Controls.
F	The Motion tab contains all animation clips you have loaded — see Applying Motion Capture Data.
G	The Pose tab contains all animation pose clips you have loaded — see Applying and Creating Poses.
H	The LipSync tab contains commands for creating lip-sync animation — see Lip-Synchronization Animation.
I	The Tools tab contains commands for several different animation issues — see I, J, and K.
J	These commands on the Tools tab help you work with motion capture animation data — see The Motion Capture Process.
K	The Lip Stiction command on the Tools tab controls "sticky lips" — see Solving the Sticky Lips Problem
L	The Blink command on the Tools tab lets you quickly animate eye blinking — see Animating Eye Blinking.

TipWhen you're in the Stage 6: Tune panel, you can press F6 to display an Act panel synoptic view. This makes it easy to keep the animation controls available while tuning — see Displaying the Act Panel Synoptic View.

Animation Control Set

Face Robot provides you with a standardized set of animation controls that can be used to pose a human face into any expression. Together with the soft tissue parameters, the animation control set drives the animation of the face, either with keys or motion capture data.

A	Head
B	Inner Left Brow / Inner Right Brow on other side
C	Left Orbital Upper / Right Orbital Upper on other side
D	Outer Left Brow / Outer Right Brow on other side
E	Upper Left Eyelid / Upper Right Eyelid on other side
F	Lower Left Eyelid / Lower Right Eyelid on other side
G	Left Eye Bag / Right Eye Bag on other side
H	Left Ear / Right Ear on other side
I	Middle Upper Lip
J	Left Upper Lip / Right Upper Lip on other side
K	Left Mouth Corner / Right Mouth Corner on other side
L	Left Lower Lip / Right Lower Lip on other side
M	Middle Lower Lip
N	Chin Pout
O	Jaw (tip of chin)
P	Adam's Apple (larynx)
Q	Right Neck Tendon / Left Neck Tendon on other side
R	Right Neck Side Bottom / Left Neck Side Bottom on other side
S	Tip of Tongue
T	Front of Tongue
U	Back of Tongue
V	Base of Tongue
W	Right Cheek Puffing / Left Cheek Puffing on other side
X	Right Nostril Flare/ Left Nostril Flare on other side
Y	Right Nostril Position / Left Nostril Position on other side
Z	Tip of Nose

Displaying and Hiding Elements

On the Act panel, click the Face Display tab to select the elements you want to see or hide in the viewport, as well as change the display mode.

Display Toggle Options

Toggle Controls	Toggles the visibility of the animation controls.
Toggle Face	Toggles the visibility of the face mesh.
Toggle Selectability	Toggles whether or not scene elements can be selected.
Toggle Vector	Toggles the visibility of red curves around the mouth area so that you can quickly check the lip animation. The face is hidden when you select this option, but the teeth, eyeballs, and animation controls remain visible.
Toggle Proxy	Toggles the visibility of a proxy mouth mesh so that you can quickly check the mouth's animation. The face is hidden when you select this option, but the teeth, eyeballs, and animation controls remain visible.
Toggle Xray	Toggles the Xray (see-through) display setting on and off.
Toggle Wireframe / Shaded	Toggles between wireframe and shaded display mode for the meshes.
Toggle Headlight	Toggles the head light on and off, making the difference between a matte (on) and shiny surface (off).
Toggle Fast Playback	Toggles the Fast Playback option on and off. See Saving and Loading a Fast Playback Cache File for more information.

NoteIf you save a scene with the Face Robot head and/or the animation controls hidden, then reload that scene, it loads as you had saved it, but then an evaluation timeline appears and the face and controls' visibility is reset.

As a workaround, you can select the Toggle Face and/or Toggle Controls on the Display tab to return the face and/or animation controls to their hidden status.

Switching Cameras

Switching to different cameras helps you quickly see different parts of the head.

To switch camera viewpoints

On the Face > Cameras tab, click a camera projection on the face to switch to that camera's point of view in the viewport.

A	Zooms in on and frames the eye area.
B	Displays the left side of the head.
C	Zooms in on and frames the mouth area.
D	Displays the whole head.
E	Returns to the last setting used for the User camera in the viewport.
F	Displays the right side of the head.

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