so guys, i saw a showreel of a guy called Joe Sandstrom at joesandstrom.com. he has used the method of achieving facial deformations with the help of joints.
i thought that was indeed a nice idea, as the results i have been getting with blendshapes hasn't satisfied me all that much.
it seems that using blendshapes is always a bit limiting; as there are only a number of expressions that you can model beforehand. whereas joint controlled facial rig might give more control to the animators. but i think the setup would be very tough...
how about you guys out there? what sort of rig do you like to use? which one do you think is a better option?