Faceware Technologies, an innovator in markerless 3D facial motion capture solutions
, has entered into a global partnership with Vicon, motion capture technology specialists for the entertainment, defense, life sciences and engineering industries. The partnership will focus on providing mocap studios and service providers with more hardware and software options for capturing, analyzing and retargeting facial and full-body mocap data.
In the first phase of the partnership, Faceware has made its software products, Analyzer and Retargeter, compatible with Vicon’s Cara head rig when used in a single-camera configuration. Studios capturing facial performance data using Cara will now be able to process and retarget that data onto 3D characters using Faceware’s products. The Cara integration is complementary to Faceware’s own Headcam options. Faceware and Vicon have also started discussing additional integrations between their hardware and software solutions.
“Vicon is one of the leading providers of motion tracking hardware and software for entertainment,” said Peter Busch, vice president of business development for Faceware Technologies. “Their systems complement ours, and in many cases, are used alongside our software and hardware products. The main goal of this global partnership is to simplify the mocap process by making sure that studios and really anyone using both Vicon systems and our software products are not hindered in any way.”
Faceware’s software product line includes Faceware Analyzer, a facial tracking software application that converts any video of an actor’s performance into facial motion files, and Faceware Retargeter, a plug-in for Autodesk animation tools that utilizes the data created in Analyzer to help animators create facial animation through a quick and intuitive pose-based workflow. Both products are now fully capable of processing the information captured by the Vicon Cara headset just as if the information were captured by Faceware’s own head-mounted cameras.
Cara is Vicon’s pioneering facial motion capture system that enables film and games studios of any size to bring characters to life through advanced facial tracking and capture. Offering improved efficiency and performance, it sets the standard for affordable, accessible and high-quality character realism.
“Cara’s modular design gives users complete flexibility when dealing with the captured data and opens up the performance capture market to a whole new range of potential customers,” said Phil Elderfield, entertainment product manager, Vicon. “By partnering with Faceware, customers can seamlessly integrate Cara with Faceware’s Analyzer and Retargeter software.”