|
This story is from the category Total Immersion
Date posted: 19/09/2011 Flashing a wink and a smirk might be second nature for some people, but computer animators can be hard-pressed to depict such an expression realistically. Now scientists at Disney Research, Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have created computerized models derived from actors' faces that reflect a full range of natural expressions while also giving animators the ability to manipulate facial poses. The researchers developed a method that not only translates the motions of actors into a three-dimensional face model, but also sub-divides it into facial regions that enable animators to intuitively create the poses they need. The work envisions creation of a facial model that could be used to rapidly animate any number of characters for films, video games or exhibits. "We can build a model that is driven by data, but can still be controlled in a local manner," said J. Rafael Tena, a Disney research scientist, who developed the interactive face models based on principal component analysis (PCA) with Iain Matthews, senior research scientist at Disney, and Fernando De la Torre, associate research professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon. Previous data-driven approaches have resulted in models that capture motion across the face as a whole. Tena said these are of limited use for animators because attempts to alter one part of an expression -- a cocked eye, for instance -- can cause unwanted motions across the entire face. Attempts to simply divide these holistic models into pieces are less effective because the resulting model isn't tailored to the motion of each piece. See the full Story via external site: www.sciencedaily.com Most recent stories in this category (Total Immersion): 28/02/2013: Workstation design improvements for drone operators may reduce costs & mishaps, researchers suggest |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
