How do they synch the lip movements to the voiceovers?!

Okay...this is going to be a technical question..but it also holds a bit of a fascination with me. As I'm a graphic designer by hobby not profession I'm curious to learn how did they synchronize the lip movements of the characters to almost match the voice actors?

I was watching Act 26 yet again, but this time from a technical point of view. And I was amazed at how "closely" the lips moved to the words spoken. And it didn't seem generic movements of the lips either. Notice the scene with Alex Rosewater during the final stage confrontation with Big O. As Alex Rosewater says "Big Fau, I give you all that I am now...because I know that's what you wanted!"

But look at the lips. They didn't just move...they seem to actually mouth the words spoken in that scene. And it seems they did this to mimic English, too. I'd like to know how exactly did the animators accomplish this feat? Because the only thing I can think of at this point is 3-D modeling of the characters using sophisticated software.

As a sidenote...I'd also like to know if the artists who did the series started from storyboarding the scenes before they actually did the detailed artwork while doing the frame by frame. So if there are any experienced artists and animators here I'd love to hear your comments and speculations on this. Thanks.

Take a closer look, notice anything about the animation? When they talk the rest of their bodies don't move. It's all careful splicing of the animation when they talk.

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Originally posted by DorothyFan1 Okay...this is going to be a technical question..but it also holds a bit of a fascination with me. As I'm a graphic designer by hobby not profession I'm curious to learn how did they synchronize the lip movements of the characters to almost match the voice actors? I was watching Act 26 yet again, but this time from a technical point of view. And I was amazed at how "closely" the lips moved to the words spoken. And it didn't seem generic movements of the lips either. Notice the scene with Alex Rosewater during the final stage confrontation with Big O. As Alex Rosewater says "Big Fau, I give you all that I am now...because I know that's what you wanted!" But look at the lips. They didn't just move...they seem to actually mouth the words spoken in that scene. And it seems they did this to mimic English, too.

For that, you can thank the ADR script writer; for that episode (and many others), Lia Sargent. She took the translated script by David Fleming and rewrote it to match the mouth movements of the characters (this causes some of the discrepancies between the subbed and dubbed words that you've noticed). Sometimes, things fall together so well it seems as if the animation were done to the script!

Pygmalion

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Originally posted by Pygmalion quote: Originally posted by DorothyFan1 Okay...this is going to be a technical question..but it also holds a bit of a fascination with me. As I'm a graphic designer by hobby not profession I'm curious to learn how did they synchronize the lip movements of the characters to almost match the voice actors? I was watching Act 26 yet again, but this time from a technical point of view. And I was amazed at how "closely" the lips moved to the words spoken. And it didn't seem generic movements of the lips either. Notice the scene with Alex Rosewater during the final stage confrontation with Big O. As Alex Rosewater says "Big Fau, I give you all that I am now...because I know that's what you wanted!" But look at the lips. They didn't just move...they seem to actually mouth the words spoken in that scene. And it seems they did this to mimic English, too. For that, you can thank the ADR script writer; for that episode (and many others), Lia Sargent. She took the translated script by David Fleming and rewrote it to match the mouth movements of the characters (this causes some of the discrepancies between the subbed and dubbed words that you've noticed). Sometimes, things fall together so well it seems as if the animation were done to the script! Pygmalion

I actually have the original Japanese verison of Act 26 (Thank you Megadeus!) I've noticed, and at one point made a thread about the differences between the two. Aside from the coloring being more "colorful" in the US DVD, there are other changes that aren't as noticable unless you have the two playing side by side.

For the moment I'll just say this:
A great example is just before Alex gets plugged in to Fau. His mouth moves more, and opens wider and is in general redone. Same for Roger when he wakes up, in the English DVDs.

I will try to dig up that old thread, and if the images still work, I'll repost them (as gifs and such). If not, I will redo some of it, but not all of it.

quote:

Originally posted by DorothyFan1 Okay...this is going to be a technical question..but it also holds a bit of a fascination with me. As I'm a graphic designer by hobby not profession I'm curious to learn how did they synchronize the lip movements of the characters to almost match the voice actors? I was watching Act 26 yet again, but this time from a technical point of view. And I was amazed at how "closely" the lips moved to the words spoken. And it didn't seem generic movements of the lips either. Notice the scene with Alex Rosewater during the final stage confrontation with Big O. As Alex Rosewater says "Big Fau, I give you all that I am now...because I know that's what you wanted!" But look at the lips. They didn't just move...they seem to actually mouth the words spoken in that scene. And it seems they did this to mimic English, too. I'd like to know how exactly did the animators accomplish this feat? Because the only thing I can think of at this point is 3-D modeling of the characters using sophisticated software. As a sidenote...I'd also like to know if the artists who did the series started from storyboarding the scenes before they actually did the detailed artwork while doing the frame by frame. So if there are any experienced artists and animators here I'd love to hear your comments and speculations on this. Thanks.

As I understand it, there's always a person sort of re-writing the script in English to match the mouth movements. That's why, if you ever look at the subtitles while watching the show in English, there are differences here and there. Usually they are changes that mean approximately the same thing, but ocassionally it seems like the changes do somewhat change the meaning, at least from what I've seen.

Well, here are two threads I made noting the differences between the original Japanese version and the English one.

Differences between Japanese and American Act 26

Differences between Japanese and American Act 25

Act 25's thread isn't as complete.

Also I've noticed a few other changes, and if anyone is interested, I will revive the Act 26 thread with the new additions.

Psst... Wrong link on act 26.

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Originally posted by X Prime Psst... Wrong link on act 26.

Thanks X Prime, when I copied the url, I somehow cut the last digit off.


Anywhos, I'll gladly make some gifs of the changes.

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Originally posted by R.Smith Well, here are two threads I made noting the differences between the original Japanese version and the English one.

I think the changes were done for the DVD release. We must likely got the DVD masters, not the ones used for broadcast. It's pretty common for anime nowadays to have improvements on DVD.

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Originally posted by Umino quote: Originally posted by R.Smith Well, here are two threads I made noting the differences between the original Japanese version and the English one. I think the changes were done for the DVD release. We must likely got the DVD masters, not the ones used for broadcast. It's pretty common for anime nowadays to have improvements on DVD.

Hmm, you know what?

I think your right Umino, this is most likely the reason for the changes.


I still find it interesting to see what changes they've made though, too bad I only have the original Act 26.