The creator Mumu Mundo has published a complete course on YouTube for learning 2D facial rigging in Blender, using procedural textures. The tutorial covers everything from basic face modeling to animating eyes, mouth, and eyebrows with armatures and shape keys. The most relevant aspect: it is completely free, allowing anyone to delve into advanced 2D animation without spending a euro.
Shape keys, drivers and constraints: the technical trio of movement 🎭
The course breaks down the technical process into clear stages. First, the face is modeled and shape keys are defined for expressions. Then, an armature with bones is created to control eyes, eyelids, and mouth using drivers and constraints. Mumu Mundo explains how to connect each shape key to the bones so that a single control moves multiple parts. The use of procedural textures avoids relying on external images, simplifying the workflow for content creators.
Finally, you'll be able to make your character keep a poker face 😏
With this tutorial, your 2D characters will go from having a fixed expression of I've drawn a blank to furrowing their brows as if they've seen your search history. The drivers will make the eyebrows raise skeptically, and the constraints will force the mouth to smile even if the character is in the middle of an existential drama. All for free, because the real luxury is having your puppet judge you at no extra cost.