Skip to main content
Version: 4.2.0

Face Distortion

The Face Distortion template utilizes a 3D Face and blend shapes to create distortion effects on a human face.

face distortion demo

Download the following file for the mesh that is used for the face distortion created in this tutorial:

↓ face_distort.fbx

Open the Template

Start by opening Effect House and logging in with the account you want to use to publish your effect with. Go to Templates on the left-hand side and click the Face Distortion template.

Once the project is loaded, go to File > Save As to save any progress.

You can see that a 3D Face and FaceDistortionAssets are added.

3d face object in the hierarchy panel  facedistortionassets in the assets panel

Configure the Deformation Component

This template provides a face blend shape with 68 blend shape channels for you to configure. Click the 3D Face under the Hierarchy panel and play around with the many blend shape channels under Deformation in the Inspector panel. Use the slider or enter a value <1 to adjust the distortion of different facial features.

Reset

Click More next to Deformation and select Reset to clear all adjusted blend shape channels.

reset blend shape in the inspector panel

Visual Scripting

You can use nodes to drive particular blend shapes of the face in the Visual Scripting panel.

Option 1: Animate Particular Blend Shapes of the Face

animated eyebrow demo

Go to the the list of blend shape channels under the Deformation component in the Inspector panel.

For this tutorial, use the Brows_Up blend shape channel. Click the circle icon to the left of Brows_Up and select Set Brows_Up to get the SetBrows_Up node.

Use the Transit by Time node to change the value of the blend shape channel in every update of the frame.

transit by time node

Option 2: Use Detection Nodes to Drive the Changes of Particular Blend Shapes of the Face

Instead of using the Start node, use different detection nodes to trigger facial animation. For example, use Eye Blink to blink your eye to trigger the animation to play.

face_movement_detection_node