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Cyberpunk Face Tattoo Effect – Lens Studio Guide

Concept Overview

Create a glowing or animated cyberpunk-style face tattoo that wraps around the user’s face using Face Mesh UVs. Think circuit lines, barcode IDs, or neon tribal markings that react to user actions or audio.

Key Tools & Features to Use

• Face Mesh: To anchor the tattoo texture onto the user's face.
• Custom UV Texture: Tattoo design baked onto the face UV layout.
• Material Editor (Graph): For glow, pulsating light, or animation effects.
• Audio Reactivity (optional): Make tattoos pulse to music or voice.
• Expression Triggers (optional): Tattoos animate when the user smiles, blinks, or opens their mouth.

Types of Cyberpunk Tattoo Effects

1. Glowing Circuit Lines

Design neon circuit paths that follow the user’s jawline, temple, and cheeks. Color options include electric blue, red, purple, or green.

• Use emissive textures in the material.
• Animate glow using a sine wave in the shader or tweening.

2. Augmented Reality Barcode ID

Add a small futuristic ID tag or barcode on the cheek or neck that displays a code or blinking light.

• Place near the jaw or below the eye using UV positioning.
• Add blinking animation to make it feel alive.

3. Reactive Pulse Tattoos

Tattoos that pulse in brightness or scale based on voice, music, or facial expressions.

• Use audio amplitude input to drive emission.
• Or use behavior scripts to pulse when the user smiles.

4. Nano-Tattoo Build-up Animation

Start with blank skin, then animate the tattoo lines being "printed" onto the face.

• Use animated opacity mask or reveal shader on UV texture.
• Add a sound effect like electric buzz or scanning sounds.

5. Dynamic Tattoo Selector

Allow users to tap or raise their eyebrows to cycle through multiple tattoo styles.

• Use scripting or Behavior component.
• Include styles like tribal tech, minimal lines, circular glyphs, glowing kanji.

Design Tips for Tattoo Textures

• Use Snapchat's Face Mesh UV reference image to map tattoos accurately.
• Keep linework clean and minimal for a futuristic aesthetic.
• Export textures in PNG with alpha transparency for layering.

Bonus Effects to Combine With Tattoo

Effect	Description
Animated Sparks	Particle FX that flicker from tattoo lines during activation.
Scan Beam	A laser beam scans the face and "activates" the tattoo.
Digital Glitch	Tattoos momentarily glitch with RGB split or flicker on face gesture.
Data Feed UI	Floating text or numbers linked to tattoo, simulating a data stream.

Suggested Lens Studio Workflow

1. Import Face Mesh – Use Snapchat’s default or custom face mesh.
2. Create Tattoo Texture – Align design using UV layout.
3. Build Material – Use Unlit or PBR Shader with emissive properties.
4. Attach to Face Mesh – Position and scale as needed.
5. Add Interactivity – Use scripting, behavior triggers, or audio input.
6. Test Expression Tracking – Smile, blink, head turns trigger animations.

Next Steps

Would you like:

• A UV reference image to place your tattoo design accurately?
• A template project file to get started?
• Sample shader code for glowing or animated tattoos?

Let me know how deep you'd like to go with this!