Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1495163
22 cgw j a n u a r y • f e b r u a r y • m a r c h 2 0 2 3 V isionary filmmaker Robert Zemeckis has oen used his movies to push the boundaries of visual effects. From the spectacular climactic clock scene in Back to the Future (1985) to the seamless interaction of real-life actors and cartoon characters in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), his movies have oen utilized cutting-edge technology to help bring memorable characters and stories to the screen. In particular, Beowulf (2007) and The Polar Express (2009) chart- ed a revolutionary new direction for the future of the movie industry and beyond, as the first films where the CGI characters were recog- nizably based on real-life actors, including Angelina Jolie and Tom Hanks. They were also the first movies to use full performance cap- ture (PCAP), where face and body motion capture and voice record- ing were all acquired simultaneously. These techniques were further developed with the de-aging of Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and the pioneering performance capture process in James Cameron's sci- fi epic Avatar (2009). Video games also started adopting similar techniques, with Activision's Apocalypse (1998) being one of the first to use laser scanning to capture Bruce Willis in 3D, and Rockstar Games' L.A. Noire (2011) among the first to rely on nuanced facial an- imation of digital doubles. Remedy Entertainment's Xbox-exclusive game Quantum Break (2016) won awards for its in-game digital dou- bles of actors Shawn Ashmore and Aidan Gillen. For over twenty years, DI4D has been bringing animation to life Facial Animation THE EVOLUTION AND CHALLENGES OF CAPTURING REALISTIC FACIAL PERFORMANCES BY COLIN URQUHART IMAGES COURTESY OF INFINITY WARD / ACTIVISION PUBLISHING & DI4D