ZenBlink Documentation / Zen Emotion

Zen Emotion

Zen Emotion applies authored MetaHuman facial expressions and combines them with ZenBlink’s idle, breathing, eye, blink, and lipsync animation.

Included Emotions

ZenBlink includes 51 base Control Rig poses:

Affection, Alertness, Amused, Amusement, Anger, Anxiety, Anxious, Aversion, Boredom, Concentration, Concern, Concerned, Confusion, Contempt, Cruelty, Crying, Dejected, Determination, Disdain, Disgust, Embarrassment, Ewww, Fatigue, Fear, Fear 02, Frustration, Grief, Happy, Indignation, Joy 02, Laughter, Melancholy, Neutral, Outrage, Pain, Pleading, Proud, Rage, Raging, Relief, Revulsion, Sadness, Satisfaction, Shock, Skepticism, Stern, Surprise, Suspicion, Terror, Wonder, and Yuck.

Each emotion is supplied as a MetaHuman-compatible Control Rig Pose Asset under Content/ZenEmotion/Poses.

Select an Emotion

1. Select the ZenBlink component.
2. Assign a MetaHuman-compatible Control Rig Pose Asset to Emotion Pose.
3. Enable Emotion Enable.
4. Adjust the Emotion settings as required.

ZenBlink presets can store the selected Emotion Pose together with the procedural settings.

Emotion Controls

• Emotion Enable: Enables or disables the selected emotion.
• Emotion Seed: Selects a repeatable variation of the expression.
• Emotion Randomization Scale: Controls how much natural variation is added.
• Emotion Blend Mode: Selects Blend by Weight or Override.
• Upper Face Weight: Controls emotion strength around the eyes and brows.
• Mouth Weight: Controls emotion strength around the mouth and lips.
• Jaw Weight: Controls emotion strength around the jaw and chin.
• Tongue Weight: Controls emotion strength for the tongue.
• Other Face Weight: Controls the remaining facial areas.
• Emotion Blend: Controls how strongly the emotion blends with incoming facial animation.
• Emotion Blend Time: Controls transitions when an emotion is changed, enabled, or disabled.
• Emotion Alpha: Controls the final emotion strength.

Percentage controls use a 0-100% range. A low Jaw Weight is recommended when preserving incoming dialogue or lipsync.

Variation is repeatable for the same pose and seed. It preserves the authored expression, keeps related left and right movements coordinated, and does not randomize eye direction, blinking, pupils, or the tongue.

Blend Modes

Blend by Weight

Combines the emotion with incoming facial animation. Use this mode when dialogue, captured performance, or another facial-animation source should retain influence. This is the default mode.

Override

Gives the selected emotion stronger authority over the affected facial regions. Regional weights and Emotion Alpha can still reduce its influence.

Create a Custom Emotion

1. Author the expression with a MetaHuman-compatible facial Control Rig.
2. Save it as a Control Rig Pose Asset.
3. Assign that asset directly to Emotion Pose, or store it in a ZenBlink preset.

Sequencer

Emotion properties marked as interpolatable can be added to Sequencer. Use Emotion Blend Time for normal transitions, or key the available strength and blend controls for shot-specific adjustment.

Emotion changes blend from the currently evaluated facial performance. The solver does not insert a neutral frame when a pose is selected, enabled, or disabled.

Use Bake ZenBlink Animations when the final combined result must be converted into animation assets.

Troubleshooting

• If no expression is applied, enable Emotion and confirm that Emotion Pose is assigned.
• If lipsync is reduced, lower the Mouth and Jaw weights or use Blend by Weight.
• If a transition is too fast or slow, adjust Emotion Blend Time.
• If an expression is too strong, reduce Emotion Blend, Emotion Alpha, or the relevant regional weights.
• If a custom pose looks incorrect, apply it directly in the facial Control Rig and verify it on the same MetaHuman setup.