Capturing facial characteristics in 3D
The CUSTODIEV project has designed artistic shaping technology through the process of creative pull which focuses on innovative ways of creating animation. One of its results is a 3D dynamic capture system which has tackled the challenging application of non-contact real-time 3D capture. The system captures video from as many as 24 cameras in real time and post processes the combined video streams. It then creates a 3D model that matches the subject's behaviour and appearance. The goal is to capture the characteristics of prominent points on the face and head to be used for MPEG-4 Facial Animation Parameters (FAPs). In turn, these drive an animated face and head model. The FAPs are also able to include points which are difficult to capture in other motion capture means such as the iris of the eye. The main reason the dynamic capture system was developed was to facilitate the portrayal of historical figures in animation. Although faces are easy to animate, retaining a specific character of facial behaviour is quite difficult. Following some additional streamlining, dynamic capture can possibly result in new styles of facial animation in the future.
