For the face cloning, we use two pictures of the model: one from the front and another from the side. In Figure1, two JPG images are shown as examples.

Please keep the following in mind when you take the photos:
 

• Ask the person to take off the eye glasses and project a neutral face (no smile). Also, ask him/her to keep the mouth closed.  The teeth should not be visible.
   
• The ideal weather and place:
  -- It's best if the weather is cloudy since the skin color appears natural and no shadow casts on the face.
  -- If the pictures are taken indoor, select the lights and place that best emulate the cloudy weather condition.  In this case, we recommend using at least two lights to minimize the strong reflection off the skin from a single source.
   
• The ideal position of the camera:
  --Note that if the camera shot is taken up too close to the subject, the resulting virtual human will have an overall, deformed shape.  To avoid this, use the maximum zoom of the camera positioned at a distance to minimize such deformations.  If the space is limited, try to do the best of the given condition.
   
• The best hairstyle and face arrangement:
  -- Tuck the hair behind the person's ears so that they are visible, and make sure the forehead is visible, also.
  -- Ask the person to sit up straight with the eyes open and the mouths closed.
  -- For the side view, make the face straight so that we can see the profile properly.
   
• The format of images can be GIF, TIFF, JPG, or RGB.
  --However, JPG is the most preferable format.
   
•   The size of an image is not a problem, but it should not be too small or too big.  We recommend 480x640.
   

MIRALab, University of Geneva WonSook Lee Hyewon Seo Director : Prof. Nadia Thalmann