Creating the jaw controller
The action of opening the mouth is defined by the jaw bone. Although at first it seems like a simple movement, a more careful look shows there's more to it. More than just rotating in one axis, the jaw moves towards the front, back, and to the sides as well, allowing us to make somewhat complex movements.
When creating the jaw controller, we should not only pay attention to its unique movements, but also to the hierarchy of bones, since we'll have controllers such as the lips and tongue that should follow its movements.
How to do it...
Open the file
004-Jaw.blendfrom this book's support files. This file holds our character's head mesh along with some controllers for its eyes and facial expressions. You'll also see a visible Lattice for controlling the lower lip of our character, as a result of our previous recipe, as seen in the next screenshot:
Select the Armature , enter into Edit Mode, and add a bone to act as the jaw. It should have its root on the jaw's imaginary...
