Thread by @delaneykingrox

One thing I noticed about Starfield is the character smiles have an issue with the orbicularis oculi muscle not contracting to give a "Duchenne smile".

When you smile and this muscle doesn't contract, you get a "fake smile" or a "liars smile".

Here is a good example of the difference from a paper () researchgate.net/figure/A-Magni…

This muscle here has to contract for a smile to read as a genuine smile. The cheek apples should also rise, otherwise you look like you are actively resisting the smile, giving a constipated look.

This smile probably bugs you for some reason you can't put your finger on as will. Allow me.

This is the zygomaticus major muscle. It contracts when you smile, pulling the corners of the mouth up towards the Zygomatic process.

But here it isn't

If you activate the buccinator muscles without the zygomatic muscles you get this.
(The masterful Anthony Starr)

András Arató is famous for his smile. It appears his orbicularis oculi doesn't contract very far even with a genuine smile, resulting in that classic "dead inside" meme.
The crows feet suggest the muscle is tense, but it just doesn't seem to go as far as your average joe.

The zygomaticus major is here, and tense enough to create the nasolabial fold, but not lift the sides of his mouth as much as the buccinator pulls his lips back.

(Bless you András)

See what I mean?

I am not sure what solution they are using for their faces- if it facial capture fed into bones or blend shapes, but it definitely needs a manual tweak pass to get those smiles working.

It's just creepy.

I do see movement in the orbicularis oculi, and crows feet so they are in the set up... but they don't engage in coordination with the mouth.

Quite often the mouth moves and the cheek apples follow a bit, but they don't reach far up enough for the mouth motion.

Also, for the love of god people, stop rolling the eyes around in the sockets without moving the upper eyelid to cover the upper eye white.

The upper whites of the eyes are only exposed on humans when we have a fight or flight response.
We open our eyes wide to allow more light in. This means we are either terrified or about to attack.

The only time the upper eye whites should be exposed is when you pull out a fucking gun or if they do.

To fix this needs a little code, but the upper eyelid stays just above the pupil as the eye rolls up and down.

See?

The upper eyelid moves relative to the pupil.

Exposing the upper whites of the eyes should be intentional.

Note how Margot exposes just a little white at the start, but it is relative to the pupil, as she looks around the upper eyelid follows it.

Upper eye white exposure is a choice of the performance. It shouldn't be a symptom of your character rig just tracking the player camera.

Aaaaanyway, I hope that helps.

If you are having issues with your characters feeling off in your game, I am available for consulting. Drop me a DM and we can arrange a review session.

Or contact me via

I do documention reviews, troubleshooting, friendly chats and asset adjustments.delaneyking.com

I hope this thread makes you smile. Just... not a smile like this.

Enjoy the lesson? Drop me a few bucks here for a coffee.

ko-fi.com/dellak

@UnknowableEnby Joking aside, Todd clearly isn't enjoying this one photo session.

Or, yunno, throw a few tens of thousand of dollars at me. Who am I to stop you?

Good night folks.

@pixelnostalgia A bunch of people across several departments have to coordinate and have the money and time to do it right.

@pixelnostalgia And the odds of them all knowing both human facial anatomy, expressions and visual comunication queues isn't high.