Mocap and motion tracking companies partner to provide studios with greater flexibility in the facial and full-performance motion capture process
Los Angeles – January 28, 2014 - Faceware Technologies, the leading innovator and most experienced provider of markerless 3D facial motion capture solutions, today announced that it has entered into a global partnership with Vicon, the 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.”
A number of resellers and mocap service providers use both Vicon systems and Faceware products, including Audiomotion, Metricminds, The Imaginarium, Crescent, and the Sony Visual Arts Services Group.
For more information on the new partnership, visit www.facewaretech.com or contact sales@facewaretech.com
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About Faceware Technologies
Sherman Oaks, California-based Faceware Technologies Inc. (FTI), which spun off from Image Metrics in 2012, is dedicated to meeting the needs of professional artists in the video game, film, television, and commercial industries. The company’s Faceware product line has been utilized in the production of more than 85 AAA video game titles, feature films, music videos, commercials, television shows, and stage plays, and is the most innovative and experienced facial animation solution provider for clients such as Double Negative, Digital Domain, ILM, Blur Studios, Activision-Blizzard, Rockstar Games, Microsoft, 2K Sports, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Sega, Sony, Bethesda, and Moving Picture Company. The Faceware Facial Motion Capture product line consists of the Faceware Headcam kits and systems; Faceware Analyzer, which allows clients to analyze and process performance videos automatically with little to no user input; and Faceware Retargeter, a Autodesk plug-in which allows users to create facial motion capture data at a much faster rate than traditional methods.
About Vicon
Academy Award®-winning Vicon is the world’s largest supplier of precision motion tracking systems and match-moving software. It serves customers in CG animation, film, visual effects, computer games, broadcast television, as well as engineering and life sciences industries.
Vicon is a subsidiary of OMG (Oxford Metrics Group - LSE: OMG), plc., a group of technology companies that produces image understanding solutions for the entertainment, defence, life sciences and engineering markets. Other holdings include: 2d3, a manufacturer of specialised image understanding software for defence applications; Yotta, a provider of software and services for infrastructure asset management; and OMG Life, a new consumer subsidiary.
Among many others, Vicon and OMG global clients include:
Entertainment: Audiomotion, The Imaginarium, Quantic Dream, SEGA, Konami, Activision, Sony, Dreamworks, ILM and USC
Life sciences: Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre - Oxford, Headley Court, University of Western Australia, Adidas, Digital Human Research Centre - Japan, Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, Shriners, Marquette, UMich and Red Bull
Engineering: European Space Agency, BMW, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – South Africa, ETH Zurich, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, NRL, UPENN GRASP, MIT, Ford and General Motors
For more information about OMG and its subsidiaries, visit: www.omgplc.com, www.vicon.com, www.vicon.com/boujou, www.moves.com, www.2d3sensing.com, www.yottadcl.com or www.autographer.com.
© 2014. Faceware Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. “Faceware” is a registered trademark of Faceware Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owner(s).