What Is Face Robot?
Autodesk(R) Face Robot(R) is a new computer graphics software for digital acting, intended for professional character animators in the film and game industries. It addresses the technical problems of creating life-like facial animation for realistic human characters with a novel set of algorithms.
Face Robot is a new technology, so its scope and usage patterns are still evolving as we collaborate with customers. As Face Robot is used for more project, more information is provided to us about best practices and working methods. With your help, we are doing our best to outline the most up to date information on Face Robot as part of a standardized workflow that encompasses all steps from conceptual artwork and data acqusition to facial design and animation.
Life-like facial animation is arguably the hardest problem in computer graphics today and the most important thing to get right in computer animation. We are attuned to reading and evaluating facial features and expressions that any deviation from a truly lifelike representation is immediately obvious.
The human face only has one movable joint (the jaw), while everything else is based on deformations of soft tissue that are nearly impossible to capture with existing computer graphics tools.
Soft tissue simulation
Face Robot is the only system that realistically and consistently simulates how the soft tissue of the human face slides and deforms. Based on this soft tissue model, Face Robot allows artists to work at a higher level of abstraction. Instead of building shapes for each expression, the face can be manipulated directly through the salient features of facial anatomy, such as the corners of the mouth, the eyebrows, the jaw, etc. For motion capture animation, Face Robot requires a smaller number of markers (only 25 to 30) than traditional high-end approaches, yet provides high quality results because the markers drive a landmark-driven soft tissue model that fills in the gaps.
Face Robot Features
Soft Tissue Solver
- Automatic generation
- High quality deformation
- Works on a wide range of human heads
- Sculpt to define facial expression
- Wrinkle painting
- Connect skin stress to displacement and shading
- Symmetry tools
Animation Environment
- Direct manipulation of facial controllers
- Visual animation interface
- Re-author and alter performances
- Reuse animation among different faces
Face Pipeline
- Point caching system to 3D applications
- SDK and multiple scripting languages
- Can be layered with shapes and facial rigs
- Imports C3D motion files
- Exports face rigs for games or shapes
Face Reference
- HD footage of actors performing facial expressions and phonemes
- Male and female examples
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Who Does What with Face Robot?
- The face modeler creates a 3D polygon mesh for a humanoid head.
- A facial motion capture expert may acquire motion data for various performances.
- The actor tuning artist makes the head animatable.
- A facial rigging TD may add higher-level, studio-specific control systems.
- The digital acting animator applies animation to the head.
- A scene assembly TD / runtime assembly TD may then export the facial animation data for further processing or rendering.
How Face Robot compares to other options
