Adaptive Physics–Inspired Facial Animation

Abstract

In this paper, we present a new approach for facial animation. We develop a mathematical model from the physical properties of skin deformation which incorporates the action of externally applied forces and the material properties of the skin’s surface. A finite difference mesh which uses this model is generated automatically using a harmonic parametrization and interpolating nodes on the original surface. We determine the forces at these nodes of various face poses. By blending these forces at we can generate new intermediate shapes. In the interests of computational efficiency, we present a novel adaptive finite difference method which limits the calculation of surface constants to regions where significant deformation occurs.

Richard Southern

Head of Department
National Centre for Computer Animation

Researcher and Lecturer in Computer Graphics