Di-O-Matic has released an upgrade to its popular lip-sync package.
But are the new features something to shout about or just a load of waffle?

Voice-O-Matic originally reviewed in Issue 38 is an easy to use yet powerful lip-sync plug-in for 3ds Max. It works by analyzing audio files and identifying ‘visemes’ (mouth shapes created to make specific noises) which it uses to drive morph targets, keyframing as it goes. The bright and simple interface and standard Max workflow provide a very efficient format that you’ll fell right at home with.

The new release doesn’t boast any groundbreaking new features – which isn’t entirely surprising, considering the original did everything so well. But it does have enough tweaks to keep the software up to date and warrant minimal upgrade price for existing users.

The most notable adjustment to the package is an intensity scroller for each viseme which lets you adjust how subtle or extreme each face shape is. Beyond this there is support for the LWV audio format (which adds text data to audio tracks for more precise speech recognition), audio tags for each viseme so that you can be sure you are picking the correct sound, simplified viseme mapping and the ability to use the Max 8 keyframe tangent type on all the Voice-O-Matic produced keys.

Compared with its competitors, Voice-O-Matic 2 does very well. Functionality and ease of use set it very high to begin with, but it is its solid incorporation into the Max workflow that gives it the edge over its nearest rival, Magpie Pro.