Inserting CGI Objects into Photos

Though computer generated images can now be created with such realism that we can't really say if they're real or not, there's still a lot to be done when you want to insert a CGI object into a real-life photograph. Though you can put a lot of effort into it, it isn't easy to make something artificial look like it belongs there...  until now.

Check these amazing examples that show not only how you can insert digital objects into still pictures... but even create realistic animations that interact with its surroundings.


Rendering Synthetic Objects into Legacy Photographs from Kevin Karsch on Vimeo.

Real Time 3D Facial Animation and Capture

If you want to see what you can accomplish - today - in facial expression capture and rendering, check this out:


Mova Contour Reality Capture in Unreal Engine 3

This capture system, from Mova - here shown using the Unreal Engine 3 and two NVIDIA 8800 GTXs in SLI for real time rendering - uses a camera array to create a 3D model from someone's face with 100,000 polygons accurate to one tenth of a millimete, without requiring reflective markers like other motion capture systems.

Pretty impressive. We're definitely on the right track for lifelike computer models for videogames and CGI movies alike.

If they can do this in realtime right now, what should we expect from James Cameron's Avatar? :)

via [Joystiq]