GRAPH SIMULATION FOR FACIAL MICRO FEATURES WITH DYNAMIC ANIMATION

Number: 20240346734
Published: 2024-10-17
Filed: 2024-04-05
Assignee: DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.
Inventors: Bradley; Derek Edward et al.
CPC: G06T13/40; G06T15/04; G06T17/20
Verdict: Low Notable software
Source: Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline

The keeper's note

Graph-simulation technique for facial micro-feature animation.

Abstract

The present invention sets forth a technique for simulating wrinkles under dynamic facial expression. The technique includes receiving a wrinkle graph, including a plurality of nodes associated with a plurality of pores included in a three-dimensional (3D) representation of a facial structure and a plurality of edges associated with a plurality of wrinkles included in the 3D representation of a facial structure. The technique also includes assigning one or more of the plurality of wrinkles associated with edges in the wrinkle graph to one of a plurality of bins and generating, for each of the bins, a plurality of pre-computed displacement texture maps. The technique further includes generating a per-frame displacement texture map and modifying an animation frame based on the per-frame displacement texture map, such that the modified animation frame depicts the plurality of pores and the plurality of wrinkles included in the 3D representation of the facial structure.

Background

BACKGROUND Field of the Various Embodiments

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to machine learning and computer vision and, more specifically, to techniques for modeling facial wrinkles under dynamic facial expression. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

The accurate representation of facial micro features, including wrinkles and other skin texture, is an important step in creating, rendering, and animating digital avatars and other three-dimensional (3D) character representations. A digital avatar may be a static representation of a character as a still image or a dynamic representation of a user in, e.g., a chat, telepresence, or entertainment application. Accurately modeling facial micro features provides a digital avatar with a more natural and organic appearance, rather than an overly smooth or plastic appearance.

Existing techniques for representing facial micro features may uniformly apply one or more generated noise patterns to an avatar's skin. The applied noise pattern modifies the uniform representation of skin texture to simulate micro features in the skin. These techniques are generally computationally simple and may be suitable for real-time modification of a digital avatar.

One drawback of noise-based texture modification is that the uniformly applied noise patterns do not include sufficient structure to accurately model or simulate micro features such as wrinkles. Wrinkles may include a structural directionality chara

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for simulating skin wrinkles, the computer-implemented method comprising: receiving a wrinkle graph, wherein the wrinkle graph includes a plurality of nodes associated with a plurality of pores included in a three-dimensional (3D) representation of a facial structure and a plurality of edges associated with a plurality of wrinkles included in the 3D representation of the facial structure; assigning one or more of the plurality of wrinkles associated with edges included in the wrinkle graph to one of a plurality of bins; generating, for each of the bins, a plurality of pre-computed displacement texture maps; generating, based on at least one or more of the plurality of edges and the pre-computed displacement texture maps, a per-frame displacement texture map; and modifying an animation frame based on the per-frame displacement texture map, such that the modified animation frame depicts the plurality of pores and the plurality of wrinkles included in the 3D representation of the facial structure. || 8. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of: receiving a wrinkle graph, wherein the wrinkle graph includes a plurality of nodes associated with a plurality of pores included in a three-dimensional (3D) representation of a facial structure and a plurality of edges associated with a plurality of wrinkles included in the 3D representation of the facial structure; assigning one or more of the plurality of wrinkles associated with edges included in the wrinkle graph to one of a plurality of bins; generating, for each of the bins, a plurality of pre-computed displacement texture maps; generating, based on at least one or more of the plurality of edges and the pre-computed displacement texture maps, a per-frame displacement texture map; and modifying an animation frame based on the per-frame displacement texture map, such that the modified animation frame depicts the plurality of pores and the plurality of wrinkles included in the 3D representation of the facial structure. || 15. A system comprising: one or more memories storing instructions; and one or more processors for executing the instructions to: receive a wrinkle graph, wherein the wrinkle graph includes a plurality of nodes associated with a plurality of pores included in a three-dimensional (3D) representation of a facial structure and a plurality of edges associated with a plurality of wrinkles included in the 3D representation of the facial structure; assign one or more of the plurality of wrinkles associated with edges included in the wrinkle graph to one of a plurality of bins; generate, for each of the bins, a plurality of pre-computed displacement texture maps; generate, based on at least one or more of the plurality of edges and the pre-computed displacement texture maps, a per-frame displacement texture map; and modify an animation frame based on the per-frame displacement texture map, such that the modified animation frame depicts the plurality of pores and the plurality of wrinkles included in the 3D representation of the facial structure.