Using Digital Actors for Documentaries

The research lab at Animationsinstitut of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg is known for a number of projects focused on the recreation of convincing human faces and their application across Animation, VFX and Interactive Media. Their latest project shows the potential of digital actors in the sphere of documentary production. 

First, check out the team’s VFX breakdown:

This example, in particular, shows the convincing digital recreation of a historical character. When it comes to digital characters, even the smallest wrinkles can be taken into account. The team here studied techniques that can help create natural looking and appealing digital actors. In this case, Albert Einstein was the focus. The scientist’s face is well-known, but there are almost no color images of him. Isn’t that a challenge? 

The team created several short episodes with Albert Einstein giving comments on recent events. The thing is that this whole project showcases tools for fully artistic approaches. Three short films have been released throughout December 2017 on the team’s Youtube channel.

The technological basis for creating these shorts is said to be based on former research initiatives at Filmakademie (Facial Animation Toolset). The technical innovation has been originally presented at the SIGGRAPH Asia 2017 workshop on Data-Driven Animation Techniques. 

Make sure to share your thoughts on the whole projects in the comments below.