Original Post
I am doing research for implementing a high-quality lip-sync plugin in a 3D CG application for animation with audio (thus, not posting in the Game forums). So far, the APIs/SDKs encountered have been monetarily prohibitive for a single developer like myself and in these times (see Annosoft for $9500/year as a prime example). If there is one that is less costly supporting Windows and Mac in C++ for much less, links would be appreciated (haven't found one yet). Foregoing that if I must, then it'll be time to implement one myself. My background isn't strictly as a CG programmer and have no formal schooling, so it wasn't something that came up in my past (which would have been long before it was normal course material). This will be a cold start in developing a 3D lip-sync system. I'm looking for beefy information on quality lip-sync algorithms - not 'Joe's quick and dirty method'. My IEEE and ACM memberships/subscriptions have lapsed (again, thanks to the ever optimistic financial situation of late) so those resources have been barred except individual purchase of papers where possible. One book that is being considered is "Graphics Programming Methods" by Jeff Lander (who has a tutorial on lip-sync here iirc). "Stop Staring" by Jason Osipa is also under consideration but I haven't been able to determine if this is a programmers book or a users book yet (leaning towards 'users'). Basically, as part of the research stage, I am trying to gather as much useful, quality information as possible in various forms (papers, books, code, websites, etc.). It is a very complex field and the term 'lip-sync' intersects with many other non-related fields (lip-sync on DVDs/TVs, in other media formats, cartooning, and so on). Please, could anyone with previous experience please provide golden nuggets of where to find the best information? Thanks