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Computer Generated Animation of Faces
First known computerized 3D facial animation, creating a parametric model of a human face and producing the first CG facial animation.
Abstract
This foundational paper presents techniques for representing, animating, and acquiring 3D data for realistic computer-generated facial animation. The face is approximated with a polygonal mesh of approximately 250 polygons defined by 400 vertices, laid out to support natural deformation. Animation is achieved through cosine interpolation of vertex positions between keyframe expressions to simulate acceleration and deceleration of facial motion. Three-dimensional coordinates for facial expressions are obtained photogrammetrically from orthogonal photograph pairs, with the approach producing realistic animated sequences of facial performance.
How to read this
- Category
- Method: a parametric facial model and the first CG facial animation
- Contributions
- A polygonal face representation (around 250 polygons, 400 vertices) laid out to support natural deformation
- Keyframe animation via cosine interpolation of vertex positions to simulate acceleration and deceleration
- Photogrammetric acquisition of 3D facial coordinates from orthogonal photograph pairs
- Context
- Foundational, standalone work (no prior context given) that originates 3D facial animation and seeds later parametric and muscle-based face models.
- Correctness
- Demonstrated by producing realistic animated facial sequences from photographed expressions; a reader should note it is an early, low-resolution mesh approach with manual keyframing rather than a validated, general-purpose system.
- Clarity
- Accessible as a historical primer; a first pass conveys the idea, a second pass repays attention to the interpolation and photogrammetric setup.
- How to read it
- Read it as the origin point of the field: focus on the mesh layout, the cosine interpolation choice, and the photo-pair acquisition; one pass suffices unless you want the acquisition details.
Builds on
Nothing in the archive, this is a starting point.
Built upon by
Related work
- Direct Manipulation Blendshapes 2010 / TOG
- Performance-Driven Facial Animation 1990 / SIGGRAPH
- Realtime Performance-Based Facial Animation 2011 / SIGGRAPH
- High Fidelity Facial Animation Capture and Retargeting with Contours 2013 / SCA
Keywords
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