Source Filmmaker: creating phoneme tables for lipsync with custom models

[@teslavet2625]

11 years later, and its still the most useful tutorial to this day

[@ItalianNinjaa]

Max, I hope you'll read this cause I suck at SFM: 1) When I try to move the camera is very laggy and slow with kind of a bad quality, is there a way to fix that problem? Cause my steam friends have the same problem, i don't think is my graphic card cause mine is big 1gb! 2) How do you open the secondary viewport not in another window? (I'm not good at specificating) xD

[@lupinthenerd439]

Hot damn I found a old Italian ninja comment

[@azurenightcore2426]

nice joke bro LMAO

[@soldado2178]

lol that "I suck at SFM" r 9yrs later is a joke

[@rowdymatt]

I have been watching a lot of SFM recently, and your in depth tutorials and expert explanations are really tempting me to make things... Well done

[@ri_v]

I'm astonished as to how easy your tutorials are to follow for a complete novice such as myself. I pretty much got the grips of this by the second, thank you so much...!

[@FaczutMon]

So much better than other videos where they told you to move the mouth frames by frames.

[@HeavySandwichguy]

you sound like a magical wizard that tells people where the book of dfoasdhfposaghisa is

[@BandBFilms]

HOLY CRAP! I was having a phoneme problem with my heavy model, and this solved it! THANKS!

[@AlexClipsSFM]

You saved my life

[@Devil_wings-ij3ln]

HOW DOES THIS HAVE DISLIKES?!?! THIS IS PERFECT THANK YOU! LIKED AND SUBBED

[@tripdefect87]

Very nice ambient music you've got in the background there Max

[@OLH064]

Somehow, you just taught me how to use SFM by casually using the menus everybody else was ignoring while you focused on teaching how to lip-synch custom models.

[@Coxyworthy]

Your voice can bring any being to such delight

[@Dragoru]

This isn't regarding this video in particular, but... Damn it Max, your voice is incredible.

[@DickHertz0]

I find you to be one of the greatest animators in history.

[@DawnofNSSD]

had SFM for half a week and ur already a pro making tuts? :)

[@misseskisses6934]

This still works

[@KyleHultman]

I have no idea what you're saying but it's really fascinating. For some reason.

[@peenuut1498]

your voice is literally godlike oh my god

[@MrSnIcKeRz2]

Had a lot of problems with this beforehand. Thanks for this Max, it was pretty damn helpful!

[@thelump8519]

My goodness, gordon freeman... it really is you.

[@nkycarbon]

"This time its not warning us about swallow troopers that's missing. The entire group of Christmas was not found." You just keep working on auto transcribing words, Google.

[@MaxLebled]

Yay! I'm glad that helped out

[@RodyToRick]

Thanks for this problem, bro, you saved my day, I was doing a stylish spy lipsync, but wonder I saw his lips aren't moving, but thanks for this.

[@csforlifeful]

Thank God. You're a life savior, man.

[@UnawareBlaire]

It should also be mentioned probably that you can have more than one flex for each phoneme. Say you need to use two of your phoneme sliders to get p_b to look right, then you can delete all but two flexes, and make it go to those two phonemes.

[@ssj3fox]

I found two things that maybe helpful. First when I right clicked a model from DOTA 2 in the “Element Viewer” there was a “Create phoneme presets based on HL2 FACS controls”. This will create a blank template for the presets. Next if you right click the selected flex sliders there is a “Create Preset” setting that can be used to send them right to the phoneme preset. See Part 2...

[@maksuree]

you got featured on valve's sfm wiki, dude. that's a big achievement.

[@poisenbery]

i just got started in sfm and this really helps a bunch. thanks!!

[@KenDoStudios]

so what if i only have jaw open on any other model? can you do puppet style animation just using this one slider?

[@KenDoStudios]

answer just put the mouth name with Th or OO or whatever so it can be replaced

[@Saxilos]

max you just became my hero

[@343N]

Everytime I hear that voice I think you're doing a dramatic reading (not that it's a bad thing cause its amusing and makes me want to watch more)

[@SandmanD3]

Now you're all just feeding the troll. That individual isn't a brony at all, just some random individual inciting flame and hate on Max's videos. Quick judgement is a troll's best friend.

[@electrobob992]

9:42 So, what would you do if a model doesn't have midface, lower face, and tongue, or phoneme flexes?

[@whochew5573]

thanks so much! one of my regular scouts phoneme stuff got messed up so i couldn't add lip sync, but this fixed it

[@MaxLebled]

glad it helped!

[@elronman]

I litterally contorted my face inside itself when I read the description.

[@oof012]

Sir, sorry to bother you, but I have one question i need to said, like when you said we had to re-write each phoneme like the those p_b and others, If I use the Noble scout, like the one on my Icon, I can't find The noble scout's phoneme lipsync Systems, i don't know if there a way to open it, if you needed the model, i can get it for you, if you need to take a look, I tryed the same way as you did, and it didn't work, i don't know if it's the Noble model or I did something wrong...

[@ssj3fox]

Part 2 If this does not work you have to click the “+” and “Create Preset”. Just give it a name and set the group to “phoneme”. The original preset will need to be deleted first as you cannot override an existing one. What I did with the first one was name it “b”, deleted “p_b” then renamed “b” to “p_b”.

[@BetterArtsAnimation]

wow... not I just need to get around to learning how to make facial flexes. Informative, thank you.

[@MrRandomMizer]

Activate the interactive transcript then let the magic begin :D

[@Pantherophis]

I like Max's tutorials even though they may be a bit long and a seemingly- one moment, he's explaining something, click... ... ...(talking)... ... click. okay -tedious.

[@GoreTorn16]

I love how he says "Fu-neems"

[@jesternario]

you know, I don't have source filmmaker, nor do I intend to get it until I at least have a better computer. but this was quite interesting to me.

[@spld3rp1g]

''hates'' is such a strong word...

[@Nopounet]

C'est là qu'on voit que Max est français et ca fait plaisir - keep up the good work ;)

[@DemonOverlordful]

Well this method works for some models, but not all I guess... I'd really hate to go through the preset editing part, but if this is what makes the lip syncing work, then I'll do it. Hopefully, that same edited preset would work with every other custom model

[@TehStylishNoob]

You sir, deserve a cookie. This helped me so much. Thumbs up so people can see.

[@maksuree]

i was not expecting that to be your voice o.0

[@maksuree]

Ok, so I was wrong. That doesn't mean you have to throw a wobbly, I wasn't attacking you. *hides*

[@adamata64]

So basically, after I make the position for how the mouth should look like in the camera, while I'm in the file for that sound, so like how you did, p_b for how their mouth should look like when they pronounce the sound B, i just hit enter in the motion editor while i'm in the file of p_b in the element viewer and it will save it and then I just move on to the next sound and changing it will not let it forget what p_b should look like?

[@Rascus75]

Ah, but see, those are already all over the place -- though they lack the quality of Max's videos.

[@DavidWKimber]

For anyone still playing with this, a note on the note: I haven't been able to get the .pre file to autoload when I add a model.

[@Mr4585danny]

Can you make a tutorial on how to get non-SFM models, props, in SFM?

[@MyoticTesseract]

Actually, I'm a brony and I stay subscribed to your channel. I'm only here for the videos.

[@NST-games]

Such accents are good for epic voice acting. =)

[@adamata64]

So after making all the phonemes the same way you did, hitting ctrl + s everytime I made a new one and enter in the motion editor, I exported it. Then I imported the new model of the same one I was using. I then opened it in element viewer and imported the phonemes into the same folder that you did, preset groups. I then add a wav clip to the time line and press show waveform. Then I click on the timeline and then click on the model in animation set editor and extract but it doesn't lip sync. :(

[@virtueisdead]

dude.. your computer is a BEAST. it loaded the map in like... 3 seconds! I have a 4.1, and it takes max an hour and a half! WTH!

[@QuinnBrand]

mine takes 1 min and mine is crap

[@Rascus75]

Why not? If you're thinking it'll mean a surge of SFM pony videos, don't worry, that's already happening. It would just potentially boost their animation quality slightly.

[@adamata64]

Very useful. A little complex for me to understand. This can be done with any model, by just taking the phoneme from one of the nine classes, copying it and then throwing it into the new model and then deleting the presets and then creating your own by scratch? So let's say something like a Dota 2 Model. Hopefully I understood this correctly. I'll look at the transcript but thank you for this important information.

[@yatagano3969]

I'm sure that this guide is great, but actually I'm from Belarus and I probably can't understand what exactly I should do according to the second part of this video. If somebody could help I'll be very gratefull to this person.

[@IrishSkruffles]

never going to use this but watching it anyway..

[@Mmmmkay126]

I'm trying to apply phonemes to the Male citizen from Half Life 2, but when I open up the individual phonemes under the "phonememap" tab there doesn't seem to be any control group for any of them? As in the group with the green text that corresponds to model manipulation.

[@Tronicate]

Tried doing it with Left 4 Dead models. The playback doesn't even play.

[@tcp3059]

Me: Alright, this seems fairly simple. 6:10 "What you have to do now is painstakingly long..." Me: .... Damn.

[@ToyokaX]

Good tutorial! Also a plus for Solar Fields music :)

[@Liam9787]

JEEEEZUS, I never knew he sounded like this xD

[@ogonplayzgames7823]

LOVE YOUR VOICE MATE!!!

[@Permamiss]

Open task manager like Kite117 said, but now click Processes. It may take some time to load, but once it does, scroll down the long list until you find "sfm.exe". Select it by left-clicking on it and then click the "End Process" button. That should fix it!

[@i-4027]

you need to extract phonemes using hl2 logic, it's an option in the extract phonemes

[@spleekster]

Extremely thorough video - thank you very much! However it is such a laborious process. Makes me wonder if the 'emotion/phoneme/viseme' scheme is a practical foundation as far as SFM being a tool for filmmakers, at least beyond the standard models provided by Valve.

[@corinnegrey]

Okay, fine. That wasn't really the root of my point either, most of it was that you'd unsub based on his attitude towards a group you happen to be in and not the content that is featured on his channel. HOW DO YOU UNSUB SOMEONE WHO MAKES AWESOME ANIMATIONS AND HAS A SEXY ACCENT? REALLY.

[@UnawareBlaire]

One of the main problems I see it that my model isn't a traditional human-like character, so it doesn't have the same mouth gestures as the Scout would. Still, I am fine with animation the lipsync manually with the phonemes in the animation set.

[@kaarinaruotsalainen5752]

Another easier but propably slower way: make a tf2 character say the line/sound, copy the face's anims from the green box, paste them to the custom model! (custom model needs to be hwm tho)

[@gopnikkasarj6797]

what should I do if I put lipsing on an enlarged head, then the head returns to its size

[@TopShoyu]

Right click on the little icon and choose to close window. Or go into Task Manager and choose to end the task. If it's not popping up, sorry, that's the only solution haha

[@adamata64]

I think I might have an idea as to what happened. The controlValues. What I did for them was just rename them to whatever the main file was. Was I supposed to rename them to whatever part was moving? Because my model did not have MB or such, it had Open, or Close, or Frown2. Was I supposed to rename the controlValues to the same ones on the model?

[@maksuree]

excuse me for being happy for you. and its a closed wiki. its not TECHNICALLY a wiki, just hosted by them. its owned and written by valve.

[@Jadod145]

for some reason all of my tf2 models dont have any type of phoneme groups

[@childOFtengu]

Simple!!!! #1. Have a certain interest and develop Fan Mynopia (see Tv tropes) #2. Create work based off said interest #3. Subscribe to a person on a video sharing site, particularly but unknowingly one who does not share same interests as yourself and does not like said interest for valid reasons #4. Ask question regarding work relating to interest and receive negative feedback #5. Unsubscribe because user was negative, despite having a sexy voice.

[@SuperSoupy]

Verrrrry nice, thanks Max!

[@Myaggic]

you should have said "thanks, and have fun" at the end, it would funny

[@artjom1985]

i thought thats what he was gonna say

[@buzzbeebeebuzz6632]

What if the Model doesn't work with the Phoneme extractor? The models I've been trying to extract are Mass Effect Turians, and when I extract It does nothing.

[@PawelusY]

omggg thaaanksss

[@LlamaNL]

dude i love your accent

[@Ironside451]

All right will do!

[@elayerFawkes45]

Hi I am creating a French mode for Black Mesa. I managed to change voices. BUT no lipsync !

[@Mahboison]

I seem to be having a problem. When I open the preset category in the element viewer there is only Emotion and Viseme, no Phoneme. (On all tf2 ragdolls, hwm and normal). Help?

[@NaughtyKnaves]

Guys would you say I shouldn't bother with a phoneme table if I'm doing it manually?

[@adamata64]

Fuck. Ok, welp; back to the drawing board I suppose. I think that's all I have to ask. Overall thank you for being so helpful and with these questions already answered, others will be able to see what not to do and what to do. Love your work sir!

[@Chaosrain112]

Dat ambient background.

[@gellax111]

I hate to ask for help in the comments of an old tutoriel (5 years already), but i have a problem: I tried to create a phoneme table for the tf model of the Soldier. Did the manip with phoneme B, everything goes perfectly. Tried again with phoneme M, SFM crashes. It is related to the fact they both use the MB setting of the jaw, or from somewhere else? Does someone knows what to do? Thanks in advance.

[@MaxLebled]

No idea, sorry :(

[@gellax111]

After a few tries, it seems that SFM randomly crashes when I do the manip, so I spam Ctrl + S after each phoneme. Impractical, but at least, it works. But despite that part, the rest seems to work perfectly, so thank you for the tutorial ^^

[@01FNG]

i have a problem , auto lipsync works fine for me , then suddenly it stopped working i can see the movement in the time manupilation but no movement in the viewport WTF

[@ColdRider112]

When I do this, my models don't speak. But I added animation, is that why?

[@SillyMakesVids]

Please someone explain to me... Where did the bow come from?!

[@flamingraffles2228]

How can i get the FemmeScout into my Sourcefilmmaker? I can't find any download links ...

[@TheRamseybros]

what's the name of the relaxing music in the background???

[@UnawareBlaire]

So I deleted all but one facial flex like you did, and I renamed the one I kept to the name of the name of the phoneme on my model that I want it to point to(in my case, Mmm), then I set the value to 0.8 like you did in the video. Does this mean I should be able to adjust the p_b phoneme preset now? Because it isn't working for me. Does it have to do with the 0.8 value?

[@devinfung5341]

your voice is deep

[@childOFtengu]

Max not being a fan had absolutely nothing to do with it. It was the type of reply he gave to TikeRike's question that resulted in him un-subbing.

[@ISBE91]

I didn't know that :o Oh well, it still has good quality compared with those low-end mics.

[@ericanimations4243]

Is there any way to expand the waveforms so you can see them better?

[@gellax111]

Ctrl + scroll... unless it's Shift + scroll Try both, one expand the timeline vertically, the other one horizontally.