FaceFX Free Plugin - How to?

Development Character & Animation
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1

I want to use the free FaceFX plugin to get my actors talking. I am attempting to follow it’s documentation here;
Manual Page

I’m stuck on the step where it instructs me to make a new Blueprint Class which references the main Animation Blueprint.

I’m new to UE and don’t know what this means or how to do it. Please help. If it’s as complicated as casting then please be verbose.

2

Okay, I’ve made a little progress but I still need help.

Here’s my workflow so far;

  • Import a Fuse/Mixamo character into my project with rigging and facial morphs enabled.

  • Create an Animation Blueprint for the character. In the AnimGraph, add a Blend FaceFX node. Connect to the Final Animation Pose via a Componant To Local node.

  • Create a new Blueprint Class based on SkeletalMeshActor. In the details of SkeletalMeshComponant I change the Anim Class to the Blueprint from my previous step. I also change the mesh to the one used in the previous blueprint.

  • In the new Blueprint I add a Setup FaceFX node to the Construction Script. I drag in the SkeletalMeshComponant and wire it in.

  • I add a speech wav file to the Audio Componant.

  • In the EventGraph I wire a FaceFX Play node to EventBeginPlay for testing.

  • Drag the new Blueprint into my scene.

When I run it, the audio renders, but the guys face is not moving. When I try to assign an animation to the FaceFXPlay node, there is nothing to choose from. What step am I missing to get his jaw flapping please?

3

New progress;

  • I imported the SladeFaceFX.facefx file into my project from the FaceFX sample content.

Now I can choose one of three demonstration animations on the FaceFX Play node. But there is still no animation running.

I feel like I need to tweak the Mixamo face rigging to match the bones from the Slade FBX. Not sure how to tackle that…

4

I’m now thinking that FaceFX is not free at all. That this is all just an elaborate yet unusable demo. Can’t afford to throw money around every time I have a new simple skill to learn.

I ended up biting the bullet and migrating from Blender to the Student Maya. Lord help me I’m even starting to like it a little. All my Mixamo facial morphs are keyable on a dopesheet right alongside the audio wave. Basic Muppet-style speech animation takes literally minutes to block in.