melindaozel, Author at Face the FACS | Facial Expressions in Animation, AI, & Behavior

Free & Downloadable Vintage Facial Anatomy Books

November 10, 2025July 10, 2025 by melindaozel

4 free downloadable vintage facial anatomy books with epic visuals

8 Signs the FACS Manual Is Not For You

March 30, 2025March 14, 2025 by melindaozel

The FACS Manual was not made for everyone. If you’re hesitant to spend $350 on a PDF, here are eight signs you might want to save your money.

Viseme Variability: Gritted Teeth & Muted Speech

November 29, 2025March 3, 2025 by melindaozel

We try to simplify lipsync by assigning canonical shapes (or visemes) to each phoneme. However, the “right” shape does not exist – at least not in an absolute sense. Exploring why articulation is more complex than it seems.

Facial Blanching and Blood Flow

June 11, 2025January 26, 2025 by melindaozel

A deep dive into facial blanching: what it is, why it happens, and how to spot the difference between generalized and localized blanching in behavior and facial animation.

Facial Performance: 3 Essential Tips for Data Capture Protocols

February 18, 2026March 29, 2024 by melindaozel

Stop using dated facial capture protocols. Learn 3 essential tips for optimizing performance capture pipelines, from FACS grouping to ML training data needs.

Squishy Faces & Expressions

February 21, 2025July 18, 2023 by melindaozel

Facial volume is neither created nor destroyed.

What people are saying
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"Melinda Ozel's resources on face anatomy, motion, and FACS are industry standard. During my time working on The Last of Us Part II (and other unannounced Playstation titles) I referred to it almost exclusively on a regular basis. The free material is great but the pay material is worth the cost."
Eric Drobile | Technical Animator

"For most people learning traditional FACS is not feasible. It requires very costly specialized degrees and years long commitment. And the half century old research with fuzzy photos was not made for artists. What Melinda has done for our industry is take the dense scientific information and streamlined it into very easy to digest entries and videos catered to artists."
Paul Liaw | Principal Character Artist

"I've been working as a Facial Blendshape Artist across film and gaming and have watched the quality of my work improve exponentially since I've had access to this wealth of knowledge that Melinda has so thoughtfully put together. Her documentation is clear, appealing, and comprehensive. If Paul Ekman is the father of FACS, Melinda has become the cool aunt."
Ioana Alexandra Pirvu | Lead Artist: Blendshapes @ Rockstar Games

"Face the FACS in my opinion is bar-none, the best resource out there for any artist and company dealing with facial animation. The way in which Melinda delivers knowledge is detailed, but fun and compelling enough to make you want to keep learning. For a topic that could have easily been boring, she inspired me to keep learning."
Giovanni Nakpil | Senior Creative 3D Evangelist @ Adobe

"If you're doing AU's (action units), this is the site you're going to need to bookmark. Melinda has gone above and beyond to create what I feel is the ultimate resource guide for AU's. Each AU explained, annotated and demonstrated with extreme clarity. You'll experience plenty of "aha!!" moments using Melinda's work as your guide!"
Frank Gravatt | Facial Modeler @ Cloud Chamber