All About Lipsync
An artist’s guide to phonemes, visemes, & speech mechanics
From linguistic foundations to FACS blendshape formulas – support natural, expressive lip sync with modular approaches tailored to performance contexts.
This Course Includes
- A streamlined deep dive into phonemes, visemes, and articulation
- 2-hour lecture with Q&A options
- 300+ slides of strategies, references, & formulas
- Downloadable PDFs for personal or team reference
Skill Level
All
Time to complete
2 hours
Sections
8
Slides
300+
Trusted by
About this course
All About Lipsync is your comprehensive guide to speech mechanics. In this course, we begin with articulation basics and build up to customizable, anatomy and FACS-based blendshape formulas. You’ll learn which features are essential to each sound as well as how to leverage that information to develop your own in-house systems and strategies for performance quality refinement.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to lip sync. So, stop relying on generic phoneme-to-viseme mappings and arm yourself with core knowledge on what truly matters for your unique context. The science of human speech is complex, but All About Lipsync teaches you to embrace the complexity through modular approaches that leave room for emotion, stylization, and other situational elements.
Intended audience
A: This lesson is built for animators, modelers, and riggers working on stylized or realistic speech animation. For teams building viseme systems from scratch or refining performance quality, this course gets everyone speaking the same language and grounds lipsync decisions in articulatory mechanics with repeatable strategies.
A: No phonetics background is needed. This crash course breaks down essential concepts from speech science and reframes them for production. Whether you’re new to the world of visemes or a seasoned animator looking to upgrade your system, you’ll leave with practical tools and a deeper grasp on how to approach lipsync.
NOTE: For the Shape Building Ingredients sections, some FACS background is recommended. You can supplement knowledge gaps with my free FACS resources, or reach out to me for a course bundle discount (FACS Cram Session + All About Lipsync).
What you walk away with
Here is what you can expect to gain from the All About Lipsync course:
- A foundation in phonetics and articulation mechanics
- Insight into flexible FACS & blendshape-based viseme building strategies
- 2 hours of lecture time (107 minutes for pre-recorded course)
- 20 minutes of Q&A for live lectures or email support for pre-recorded lectures
- 300+ slides of viseme strategies, references, & blendshape formulas
- PDF copies of slides for you and your team to keep
- 5-years of access to pre-recorded sessions (with extended options for live sessions)
A look inside the lecture
Over 300 slides of charts, references, viseme strategies, and flexible blendshape formulas…
Broaden your understanding of lip sync through linguistic foundations, anatomical breakdowns, and FACS-based formulas.
Course Options
On-Demand Lipsync Course
Perfect for solo learners and small teams
$
420
One-time purchase
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Instant-access 2-hour lecture + email Q&A
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300+ slides of strategies, references, & formulas
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5-year access to recordings
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Downloadable PDFs to keep
Studio Lipsync Training
Designed to align larger teams and departments
Flexible rates
Pricing based on team size and scope
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Customizable 2-hour lecture + live Q&A
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300+ slides of strategies, references, & formulas
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Flexible scheduling & recording options
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Downloadable PDFs to keep
Syllabus
1 Lesson | 8 Sections
- What is phonetics?
- What is a phoneme?
- What is a grapheme?
- What is a viseme?
- What is a consonant?
- Consonants classifications & how to assess primary consonant features from IPA charts
- What are the viseme categories for consonants?
- Intro to the Core Viseme Principles
- What consonants should we prioritize & why?
- How to leverage phonemic features to create variable phoneme-to-viseme groupings
- pbm
- How to not confuse pbm graphemes from pbm phonemes
- “Rules” for pbm sounds
- How to build pbm shapes
- How to build straight form pbm shapes
- How to build cross form pbm shapes
- How to build rolled form pbm shapes
- How to NOT build (any) pbm shapes
- fv
- How to not confuse fv graphemes from fv phonemes
- “Rules” for fv sounds
- How to build fv shapes
- How to NOT build fv shapes
- wr
- How to not confuse wr graphemes from wr phonemes
- “Rules” for wr sounds
- How to build wr shapes
- How to NOT build wr shapes
- th
- How to not confuse th graphemes from th phonemes
- “Rules” for th sounds
- How to build th shapes
- How to NOT build th shapes
- chsh
- How to not confuse chsh graphemes from chsh phonemes
- “Rules” for chsh sounds
- How to build chsh shapes
- How to NOT build chsh shapes
- sz
- How to not confuse sz graphemes from sz phonemes
- “Rules” for sz sounds
- How to build sz shapes
- How to NOT build sz shapes
- nl (& É«)
- How to not confuse nl graphemes from nl phonemes
- “Rules” for nl sounds
- How to build nl shapes
- How to NOT build nl shapes
- td
- How to not confuse td graphemes from td phonemes
- “Rules” for td sounds
- How to build td shapes
- How to NOT build td shapes
- Â kghng
- How to not confuse kghng graphemes from kghng phonemes
- “Rules” for kghng sounds
- How to build kghng shapes
- How to NOT build kghng shapes
- What is a vowel?
- Vowel classifications & how to assess primary vowel features from IPA charts
- What are the viseme categories for vowels?
- What vowels should we prioritize & why?
- How to build rounded vowel shapes
- How to build widened vowels shapes
- How to build relaxed vowels shapes
- Reshaping your views of emotional speech
- FACS-based action unit formulas for surprise, fear, sadness, disgust, anger, & happiness
- Breaking down rounding shape ingredients
- Visual references and breakdowns of:
- lip funneler + upper lip raiser + lower lip depressor
- lip pucker + lip funneler
- lip pucker + lip cincher
- Lip presser & other actions that assist in increasing lip compression
- Rounding vs. spreading neighbors
- Stepping away from ideas of absolute position and embracing relative position thinking
- Visual example walkthrough
- Observing visual outcomes of various phonemes in different contexts
- Biomechanical efficiency principles
About the instructor
Hi! I’m Melinda, a consultant and educator on all things face-related. I specialize in facial expressions, FACS (Facial Action Coding System), and facial anatomy. My background in faces originated in academia, migrated to tech, and now lives in the space between art, science, and technology.
I apply my expression expertise to a range of industries (film, game, tech, etc.) and products/media (Emoji, AR/VR face tracking, AAA game characters, photoreal animals, AI, deepfake technologies, etc.). If it has a face, you’re in the right place.
Explore my multidisciplinary project history below.
- Here – AI Facial Expression Consultant with Metaphysic (film, credited)
- Watch the Skies – AI-based Lipsync Expert (film, credited)
- Jane, Apple+ TV – Primate Expression Consultant (show, credited)
- Gigi & Nate – Primate Expression Consultant (film, uncredited)
- Notorious B.I.G. HyperModel by Hyperreal – Expression Researcher
- Meta Quest Pro, face tracking – Expression Researcher & Expression Data Specialist
- System and method for applying an expression to an avatar (patent 10970907) – Co-inventor
- Systems and methods for improving animation of computer-generated avatars (patent 11270487) – Co-inventor
- Systems and methods for improving animation of computer-generated avatars (patent 11468616) – Co-inventor
- Oculus LipSync – Expression Researcher
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- Facebook Care reaction – Emoji Expression Consultant
- Facebook Emoji Sets – Emoji Expression Consultant
- Facebook Newsfeed Reactions – Emoji Expression Consultant
- Facebook Feeling/Activity – Emoji Expression Consultant
NOTE: All About Lipsync is a newly rolled out lecture, and I’m still collecting testimonials for it! In the meantime, you can check out testimonials from my past courses.
Studio testimonials (from my FACS Cram Session)
Mark Flanagan
Animation Education & Training Manager
Workshops with Epic Games & Netflix
I’ve had the great privilege of working with Melinda at my last 2 companies, Netflix and Epic Games. I have no hesitation in recommending her to anyone wanting to increase their knowledge, understanding, and application of facial expressions, in particular FACS (Facial Action Coding System).
There is simply no expert in the subject who I know of with more passion, dedication and intellectual curiosity. She combines this with a talent for teaching, and a gift for explaining via personal demonstration.Whether as a consultant, or a lecturer the value that she brings to any company or project is extraordinary, and I’m certain that I will be working with her again in the future. If you need to know about FACS, she is the number 1 “Goto” person in the world!
Shannon Thomas
Artist Supervisor
Workshops with Blizzard
Melinda Ozel’s knowledge of FACS is exceptional, and her classes are the best I’ve ever seen on this subject. Where she truly excels is the level at which she understands facial anatomy and expressions, how and why each shape fires, combines or breaks, but also what tone or emotion they are to convey.
Of all the the classes I’ve seen on this subject none have ever married the technical aspects with this level of artistic execution, nor explained it so clearly, enthusiastically and thoroughly as Melinda has. From the beginner level all the way to the most senior artists, I’ve witnessed everyone learn and improve from her detailed instruction. If you are seeking to learn or level up your team, I cannot recommend her enough.
Josh Dicarlo
Character Technology Director
Workshop with Insomniac Games
I’ve had the privilege of hosting one of Melinda’s Studio talks for our character development teams at Insomniac Games and I can assure you will not be disappointed! Her talks are jam packed with goods for both the novice and the professional. Highly recommend checking this out.
Whether you’re an animator trying to craft more believable performance, a character artist or TD trying to create more plausible characters or rigs, an ML engineer trying to qualitatively evaluate your research against its anatomical basis, or a supervisor / director trying to help your team squeeze every last bit of realism out of an on screen performance – there is something in this talk for you.
Holly Price
Character TD
Workshop with undisclosed studio
Melinda joined us for an incredible 2-hour FACS Cram session last month and it was one of the most informative training sessions I have ever attended! Melinda is highly skilled at presenting potentially complex information in an engaging and clear manner. Our team were left feeling educated and excited to delve deeper into FACS!
I can’t recommend Melinda’s presentation services, or plethora of exhaustive and in-depth information on her website highly enough. Don’t hesitate to contact Melinda if you are looking for any FACS training – she is an absolute pleasure to work with and a huge asset to any team education!
Individual testimonials (from my FACS Cram Session)
Derrick Sesson
Senior Facial Artist
This course was an extremely beneficial to my understanding of FACS. The in-depth exploration of primary shapes provided me with a deeper understanding of primary shapes and facial anatomy for my career as a facial artist in film and games. Melinda does an excellent job correcting common misconceptions, making complex concepts easier to grasp.
The diagrams and video examples were incredibly helpful, offering clear visual guidance that I could apply immediately. This course was a fantastic value for the cost, and it has significantly improved my ability to create more accurate and expressive facial shapes. Would highly recommend to anyone who’s looking deepen their understanding of FACS.
Quentin Defrance
Real-time Rigging Supervisor
If you have any interest in getting up to speed with FACS and its terminology, I can’t recommend Melinda’s FACS Cram Session enough. It’s packed with details, schematics, anatomical references and actual real-life examples that you really can’t find elsewhere and it’s all presented in a very clean and compelling way. Definitely an essential resource for anyone trying to understand or emulate facial animation.
Steven Ekholm
Senior Character Artist​
Even after being recently laid off, I paid to participate in this class knowing I would learn a lot… and it was worth every penny. Melinda conveys information in a succinct, intelligent way that translates confusing elements into making perfect sense. With the added bounty of reference and resources she leaves with the attendees., it turned out to be one of those wonderful and rare experiences that really helped me to add to my expertise and inspired me to update my approach as a professional. Melinda is clearly an expert and a solid teacher, and I highly recommend learning from her.
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