Markers

Markers are the smallest unit of data in a LipSyncData clip - they store the animation in an easy-to-use, character-agnostic format that can then be processed into an actual animation later on. There are three kinds of marker in LipSync Pro, Phonemes, Emotions and Gestures, each representing different properties.

Phoneme Markers

Phoneme Markers represent the core lipsync animation of your character - the mouth shapes that best match the dialogue being spoken. They contain the following information:

  • Phoneme - the phoneme represented by the marker, stored as its index in the current Phoneme Set.

  • Time - the time position of the marker, as a proportion of the clip's length.

  • Intensity - how much influence the marker has, blending between 0, where the marker has no effect and 1, where it is fully visible.

  • Sustain - holds a pose over a period of time by connecting two markers with the same phoneme.

  • Randomness - the ability to make a marker look subtly different every time it's used.

    • Use Randomness - randomness on/off.

    • Intensity Randomness - how much random variation to apply to the intensity value.

    • Blendable Randomness - how much random variation to apply to each blendable's value.

    • Bone Position Randomness - how much random variation to apply to each bone's position.

    • Bone Rotation Randomness - how much random variation to apply to each bone's rotation.

Emotion Markers

Emotion Markers represent an additional layer of animation, intended to be full-face shapes for adding expression to your clips. Unlike Phoneme Markers, Emotions last for a period of time and can fade in/out, either to the neutral pose or to another marker. They contain the following information:

  • Emotion - the emotion represented by the marker, stored as its name as set in the Project Settings.

  • Start & End Time - the times that the marker begins and ends, as a proportion of the clip's length.

  • Blend In & Out Time - how long the marker takes to fade in and out.

  • Blend To & From Marker - whether the marker fades into/out of another marker or not.

  • Variation - the ability to make a marker look different over time

    • Continuous Variation - variation on/off.

    • Variation Frequency - how often the values of the marker will be changed over time.

    • Intensity Variation - how much random variation to apply to the intensity value.

    • Blendable Variation - how much random variation to apply to each blendable's value.

    • Bone Position Variation- how much random variation to apply to each bone's position.

    • Bone Rotation Variation - how much random variation to apply to each bone's rotation.

Gesture Markers

Gesture Markers represent simple triggers for animations in Unity's Mechanim animation system. They can be used to cue gestures such as head nods or hand motions alongside your facial animation. They behave much like Phoneme markers but are much simpler, only containing the following information:

  • Gesture - the gesture represented by the marker, stored as its name as set in the Project Settings.

  • Time - the time position of the marker, as a proportion of the clip's length.

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