Abstract: Described herein are systems and methods for systems and methods for applying a 3D scan of a physical target object to a virtual environment. Embodiments described herein focus particularly on examples where a 3D scan of a person's head (or part thereof) are to be applied to a virtual body in the virtual environment. In some implementations, this is used to provide realistic faces and facial expressions to virtual characters in a video game environment. In overview, some embodiments make use of a hybrid approach including surface analysis for the generation of a 3D scan, and relatively traditional motion capture (mocap) technology for providing spatial context for association with the 3D scan.

Abstract: Described herein are systems and methods for managing the production of video-based animation, described particularly by reference to the example of free-viewpoint video-based animation. In overview, hardware, software, facilities and protocols described herein allow known and subsequently developed video-based animation techniques to be implemented in commercial environments in an improved manner, particularly as compared with the manner in which such techniques are implemented in a research and development environment.