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Total Lip Sync: Masterclass for Feature Animation

Animation SupervisorLaurent Rossi
  • Now Available
Maya3DCharacterAnimation
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Class Details

  • Now Available
  • Pro
  • Total 15 videos, 10Hours 46Minutes
  • English
  • English, Traditional Chinese [Auto]
  • Class materials included
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animationsupervisor,laurentrossi Details

Instructor
Laurent Rossi
Animation Supervisor

Laurent Rossi is currently an Animation Supervisor working on an upcoming, undisclosed animated feature film. His career spans 18 years, during which time he has worked on many feature films across 2D, 3D, and Stop Motion mediums, garnering four Oscar nominations: The Illusionist, Despicable Me 2, Missing Link, and Nimona.

A graduate of Gobelins, l'école de l'image, with work selected at festivals such as Annecy, Siggraph, Stuttgart, and many more, his passion for animation and strong work ethic have made him a key contributor to every team he has been a part of.

Among his areas of expertise, lip sync stands out as a particular strength—he has contributed to and influenced the facial animation libraries of Missing Link, Entergalactic, and Nimona, and oversaw the entire facial animation library of That Christmas. Building on this experience, he now shares his knowledge through a dedicated lip sync course.

Laurent Rossi

Laurent Rossi

Animation Supervisor
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Profile

[Current] - Animation Supervisor [Past] - Animation Supervisor at DNEG - Lead Animator at DNEG - Animation Supervisor at Studio AKA - Lead Facial Animator at LAIKA - Character Animator at Illumination [Notable Projects] - Undisclosed Feature (coming 2028) - Bad Fairies (coming 2027) - That Christmas (2024) - Nimona (2023) - Entergalactic (2022) - Ron's Gone Wrong (2021) - Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth (2020) - Missing Link (2019) - Secret Life of Pets (2016) - Minions (2015) - Despicable Me 2 (2013) - Titeuf Le Film (2011) - The Illusionist (2010) [Notable Awards] - Golden Globe Award: Missing Link - Oscar Nominations: The Illusionist, Despicable Me 2, Missing Link, Nimona - Emmy Award Nomination (Outstanding Animated Program): Entergalactic - Daytime Emmy Award (Outstanding Special Class Daytime Animated Program): Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth - Festival Nominations for One Day (2012); Annecy, Stuttgart, Siggraph, and more

Interview
Meet the Instructor
Question 01
Can you please share how you started your journey in the industry?
I started my animation journey in 2D. Like many of you, I loved drawing and the magic of bringing those drawings to life, so I studied 2D animation for three years before working on 2D feature films for four years. As job prospects in 3D animation grew, I taught myself Maya and, to strengthen my skillset even further, applied to and was accepted into Gobelins Paris, one of the top animation schools in the world. Before graduating, I was hired by Illumination as a 3D animator, and since then, my combined 2D/3D background has served me incredibly well in contributing to, influencing, and driving the shows I’ve worked on.
Question 02
What are some essential skills or "must-have" tools in this industry,
and why?
There are many things an animator needs to consider when working on a shot: body mechanics, the character's intention, and appeal in both the image and the motion. All of these can be taught, learned, and developed through practice over time.

An essential skill that is not so easily taught is the ability to work within a team. Animation is a joint effort; we create things together, and the combined experience of multiple people is far greater than what we could achieve alone. You want to be a team player, someone who communicates well, responds positively to feedback, is proactive, and thinks about the whole rather than just the individual. Bringing a positive attitude and the ability to work well with colleagues on a professional level will help you in your career, because if people enjoy working with you, you will always be recommended among your peers.

As for tools, I find AnimBot essential. Speeding up your workflow is vital to producing high-quality work within limited time, and once you really learn all of AnimBot's features, it can make you much, much faster.
Question 03
What are some common misconceptions about the industry, and how would you debunk them?
I think the most prominent issue is that animation is still seen as a genre rather than a medium. The general public often assumes animated films are for children. Some people are beginning to see the other side, with more adult-oriented content in recent times like Arcane, Blue Eye Samurai, I Lost My Body, and Entergalactic, but it’s still not quite there yet in mainstream theatrical releases or the more commercial side of things.
Question 04
Do you have any advice for your students?
Observe the world around you, learn as much as you can, and ask questions. Find people who know more than you, whose work you admire, and ask them questions, or ask them to look at your own work and give feedback. People are generally busy, but if you can phrase your request so that they only have to comment on one thing—“What do you think of the timing in my shot?” “How could I add a sense of more weight?” “What do you think of the lip-sync?”—you’re more likely to get a helpful response.

People often come to me for lip-sync advice at work, even if I’m not on the same project, because I’ve built a reputation for giving good guidance in this area. This is why I made this course: to help animators with one aspect of the process which, when combined with everything else, contributes to a complete skill set.
Class Details
You'll Learn
Analyzing Dialogue for Believable Lip Sync
Analyzing Dialogue for Believable Lip SyncAs is the case with many disciplines, we always want to jump to the fun stuff first, and in animation, that means moving things around. But before moving anything, we need to understand what we are actually trying to communicate and how to interpret it. Understanding the way our character is talking and how they’re using their mouth is the vital first step before animating anything.
Shape Placement & Understanding the Why
Shape Placement & Understanding the WhyYou’d think after over 100 years of animation, people would have settled on an agreed-upon answer to the question, “Where do we put the shapes?” Depending on the studio or even your lead, everyone may give a different answer—often without a legitimate explanation, just repeating what they’ve been told. You will learn the best method to time and place your shapes and why it works so you can approach your scenes with confidence.
Creating Appeal in the Image & the Motion
Creating Appeal in the Image & the MotionEvery frame of animation is your canvas, an opportunity to make an artistic statement. The care that goes into the silhouette, rhythms, and posing of the body should also go into the posing of the mouth. When all these shapes flow together, we get motion, and the principles you apply to body animation apply to the mouth and lower face as well. With the perfect shape, motion, and phrasing, your lip sync will sing—metaphorically, and maybe literally.
Building a Feature-Quality Lip Sync Library
Building a Feature-Quality Lip Sync LibraryA well-crafted library saves time and makes animating dialogue fun and effortless. It ensures characters stay on model and consistent across shots, and that whoever animates the character will have clean, appealing shapes. How many shapes do we need? How do you break down the phonemes? How do you ensure every shape blends correctly with proper travel and arcs? It’s all here.
Application: Producing a Dialogue Test
Application: Producing a Dialogue TestTake everything you’ve learned and use your crafted library to animate a dialogue test. Get comfortable using a library and applying techniques to blend shapes effectively, simulating a real feature production workflow.
Reviewing Work & Communicating Feedback
Reviewing Work & Communicating FeedbackBeing able to see your work with fresh eyes and having a checklist for notes ensures your shot is in the best possible place before showing it to your lead. Animation is a team game, and knowing how to give others feedback is essential for progressing into leadership roles. Learn from my experience as a lead and supervisor how to evaluate animation and provide constructive notes.
Curriculum
In-Depth Look

Release (Ch. 1 - Ch. 15) : 2025. 12. 30
**Class release dates and content are subject to change without prior notice.

  • Section 01
    OT
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    • 01. Orientation- Instructor introduction - Class objectives and learning outcomes

  • Section 02
    Foundations of Dialogue & Shape Placement
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    • 02. Accents & Dialogue Analysis- What to pay attention to when analyzing and interpreting dialogue - Overview of the learning material provided for the first exercise

    • 03. Shape Placement: The "Where & Why"- THE BEST way to place your shapes and WHY it's the best way - In-depth demonstration using the Jieun rig from Wonderwell

    • 04. Exercise: Shape Placement- Animating a dialogue clip in Maya and incorporating shape placement principles

  • Section 03
    Visual Appeal & Phoneme Theory
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    • 05. Visual Appeal: Image- Understanding what makes an image visually appealing - Drawing sessions exploring design principles and aesthetics

    • 06. Exercise: Visual Appeal- Practical draw-over assignments to develop the animator's visual language - 3D image matching exercise to develop observational skills - Tutorial on how to use Krita for animation and drawing

    • 07. Phoneme Theory- Core principles of phonemes in animation and analysis of their usage, complemented by examples

  • Section 04
    Building a Lip Sync Library
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    • 08. The Lip Sync Library - Part 1- In-depth look at the instructor’s method for creating specific phonemes in facial animation libraries - How a library can be used to store shapes for a streamlined workflow - Tutorial on how to use Studio Library

    • 09. The Lip Sync Library - Part 2- Understanding the nuances of phoneme creation and variations of those phonemes for feature films - Key considerations when developing a lip sync library

  • Section 05
    Motion & Performance Test
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    • 10. Visual Appeal: Motion- Exploring motion appeal and its role in lip sync believability through various examples

    • 11. Intent: Deep Dive- Delving deeper into intent when it comes to feature animation - How breakdowns can change the intention of a performance

    • 12. Animation Test- How lip sync integrates into production workflows - Animating a complete dialogue test with full phoneme application using the Leo rig from Wonderwell - Application of all the principles to culminate in students' final outcome

  • Section 06
    Review & Industry-Level Application
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    • 13. Review Session- Breakdown of beginner, student & professional scenes, analyzing where lip sync succeeded and where it could be improved

    • 14. Exercise: Review Session- Reviewing your own work - Tutorial on how to use SyncSketch - Practicing giving and receiving actionable feedback

  • Section 07
    Conclusion
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    • 15. Summary- Key takeaways from the course - Checklist of best practices for believable lip sync - Last words on lip sync for feature animation

Required Tools
This course will use Maya 2022 with Animbot and Studio Library, but students can follow along using Blender and an equivalent animation library tool. The 2D portions will use Krita and SyncSketch. Please install these programs in advance, as they will not be provided with the course.

For the best learning experience, students are also encouraged to purchase the Leo or JiEun rig from Wonderwell, for which a discount code will be provided as a class perk.
*These programs and/or materials will not be provided with the chapter.
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