Speech Targets

Speech targets are used to form the mouth shapes that occur when a character is talking. The names of the speech targets are defined in the mapping.  When a particular phoneme is found, the speech targets in the mapping are activated.  You are free to define your own mapping, but if you use the Default Mapping, then you will need to create poses like the ones below.  The tongue targets are optional.

Mouth Targets

open

W

The W target makes the mouth look like it is whistling. The jaw is opened slightly. The upper lips are pulled down to cover the teeth. In the Default Mapping, this pose is important because it is used to round the mouth in vowels like when you say "bOOt".

ShCh

The ShCh target is used to make the mouth look like it is saying "Shhh". The upper and lower teeth should just touch and the lips are pursed to show the teeth. In the Default Mapping, this pose is important because it is also used to make the mouth form the "ER" sound like in "fevER".

PBM

The PBM target pushes the lips together completely to form a seal. If desired, the upper and lower lips can curl inwards (in a bone rig, some rotation may be used). The jaw can be opened just slightly behind the lips.

FV

The FV target tucks the lower lip behind the upper teeth. The jaw is opened slightly. The upper teeth are exposed by moving the upper lip slightly.

wide

The wide target brings the upper lip up slightly and the corners of the mouth out. No jaw movement is required. When combined with a little bit of the open target, the wide target creates the "EE" sound in "tree" or "beet". Moving the tongue to the roof of the mouth creates the "S" and "Z" sounds. Wide is also used as a component in many of the vowel targets to expose the upper teeth and widen the mouth. The wide target is used frequently in the default mapping, so be careful that it is not overly exaggerated.

Tongue Targets

The below tongue targets can be used with the Default Mapping. Not all mappings require tongue targets. You can ignore the tongue or include them with your mouth targets (if you use a more complete set of mouth targets). To create the below poses, only move the tongue, not the jaw or the mouth. Notice that the pictures below show an open jaw which is incorrect, but necessary for displaying the tongue correctly. Creating the targets can be tricky since only the tongue should move.
One technique is to create the below poses using the .facefx exporters is as follows:

1. Create a new actor in the .facefx exporters and export a reference pose with only the tongue bones in the neutral position.
2. Open the jaw the appropriate amount (depending on how open the mouth is in the mapping that is used), then create the pose for the tongue. 
3. Export the poses you have created. Because the reference pose only contains tongue bones, that is all that is stored in the pose. 
4. Save the tongue-only .facefx file. 
5. Load up your normal .facefx file that contains the reference pose with all the bones. Import the reference pose on the frame where you want the tongue pose stored. Now open the tongue-only .facefx file and import the appropriate tongue pose. All the bones are now in the correct position. 
6. Load up your normal .facefx file with all of the bones and export the tongue pose. 
7. Open FaceFX Studio. From the Workspace Tab, go into "Mapping Mode", select one of the phonemes using your tongue pose and make sure the tongue is in the correct position with respect to the mouth.
   

tBack

The tBack target moves the back of the tongue to the back of the mouth for making the "K" or "G" sound. Remember that the target should not include any jaw movement (unlike the picture shown to the left).

tTeeth

The tTeeth target brings the tip of the tongue in front of the upper teeth for making the "Th" sound. Remember that the target should not include any jaw movement (unlike the picture shown to the left).

 tRoof

The tRoof target moves the tip of the tongue to the roof of the mouth for making the "T", "D", "N", and "L" sounds.  Remember that the target should not include any jaw movement (unlike the picture shown to the left).