image metrics emily cg facial animation blows my mind
August 20th, 2008 comments (14) stumble it! digg it! by: technabob
The other day, I showed you guys what I thought was some really impressive computer generated facial animation. Then, the guys over at Image Metrics sent me a video clip of their latest CG creation, Emily, and I was bowled over.
Emily is a truly monumental achievement, recreating every nuance of human facial expression, even though what you’re actually looking at is the face of a digital actor. Created through a partnership with USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), the team’s primary objective was to create a completely convincing, animated computer-generated face, and I think they succeeded.
Using ICT’s special scanning system that can capture facial details down to the individual pore, the face of actress Emily O’Brien was transformed into a digital representation of herself, which could then be entirely machine-manipulated. A special spherical lighting rig captured O’Brien in 35 reference facial poses using a pair of high resolution digital cameras. The facial maps were then converted into 3D data using Image Metrics’ proprietary markerless motion capture technology.
Image Metrics then generated a new animation sequence and precisely superimposed it onto the live actress’ head. As you can see from the video below, you’d be really hard-pressed to tell the difference between digital Emily and real-world Emily.
Amazing, no? Be sure to check out some of Image Metrics’ other CGI projects, which include work on Grand Theft Auto IV, Devil May Cry 4, and a most excellent Gnarls Barkley video featuring a anthropomorphic singing heart.
filed under: digital imaging technology
August 20th, 2008 comments (14): stumble it! digg it! by: technabob
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that is classs
I find this really impressive… because I know how difficult this is.
My wife does not. My wife would represent the average computer user, and to that average computer user it does not sound very impressive to make a digital reproduction of a real actress. I mean, in theory that is what a digital video camera does. So to an average user this does not sound any more difficult than some advanced video editing.
So maybe it would be a good idea to wow a bit more silently about this, or you know, detail what you are wowing about a bit more, so you do not sound quite as such a sad geek.
@frank:
maybe you should tell your “wife” to read the second paragraph since you obviously didn’t bother to explain “how hard it is.”
hum Frank is right, lol! no more then 2 people i know have an idea how difficult it os to mimick life with CGI. even my workmates who are cgi passionates think it is all about tool that you “press play” then you have your 3d character lol!
Frank is wrong. Anyone with half a brain can figure out how hard it is to do this. You need only try to figure it out yourself.
Frank, your wife isn’t using her imagination. Challenge her to describe how she would approach this CGI process. She doesn’t even have to know how to use a computer to do this. Challenge her to describe the aspects of a photo or animation that are just so easy to analyze empirically. Also tell her that the human brain is a very impressive supercomputer, and that the way she thinks is different from a digital equivalent. The human brain runs on analog signals (which is why we can have fuzzy memories; otherwise, we’d either have the memory or not have the memory).
*essentially a crystal clear video, like a HD picture resolution x 4, or more relatably, like natural human vision.
The problem with humans is that they don’t try to describe stuff. They let their brains do the thinking, so instead of commanding their brains, their brains command them.
that is truly amazing!.. can you imagine video games in years to come WOW!
I appreciate how difficult this is (now through my own personal experience, but I’ve been in the industry long enough to know), but I wouldn’t go so far as to call the clip mind blowing. If I didn’t know what I was watching, I’d think there was something wrong with her face…why are her mouth and eyes floating around? Very impressive, no doubt, but we’re a ways off from mind blowing if we’re striving for hyper-realism.
Hi levels retouching.
waooow
So maybe it would be a good idea to wow a bit more silently about this, or you know, detail what you are wowing about a bit more, so you do not sound quite as such a sad geek.
That is freaky but very cool. I dont know the first thing about creating these but enjoy the renderings very much
Thanks for the blog loaded with so many information. Stopping by your blog helped me to get what I was looking for.
regards
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Very interesting article! I enjoyed reading it and watching the video.
It is amazing what they can do with images it just blows me away. You got to love it!
Thank you for sharing. Great!