What is a Faceware Singer?
Please meet Nathan Rodriguez and Jennifer Caraluzzi, our intrepid Faceware singers. What, you may ask, is a Faceware singer? Nathan and Jenn use their faces and lips to power PermaDeath‘s avatars’ faces and lips so that the avatars are lip syncing to live singers. They mime the Computer Generated Images (CGI) parts of the show, “singing” multiple parts. This may sound easy, but it’s a very difficult and delicate operation as you have to sit absolutely still, move only your face, and these movements have to have just the right degree of exaggeration.
Jennifer and Nathan’s facial movements are captured by cameras and the Faceware software transmits them in real-time to the avatars.
In the picture above, you see Nathan’s face in real life, his face on the monitor and MiniB on the righthand screen. This cutie’s facial movements are being driven by Nathan’s face.
And in the last picture, you see the director, Sam Helfrich, our Director of CGI and Professor of Interactive Media at Becker College, Curvin Huber, and yours truly being thoroughly entertained by the efforts of our heroic Faceware singers!
Photos by Paul Cotnoir