Tip: When using the freeform deformation controls, FaceGen 'guesses' the
most likely facial deformation you are trying to achieve. If it doesn't
guess right, try moving slightly different points in slightly different
directions. Also remember that your control is only 2-dimensional. You
are only moving points in the plane perpendicular to your line of sight.
Tip: The freeform deformation tool will give you finer shape
control when you have a high-resolution mesh selected, and coarser
shape control when you have a low-resolution mesh selected.
Increase the size of the viewport by positioning the mouse
over its border and dragging the border. Note that you may have to
increase the size of the entire Modeller window first, in order
to make room for the viewport to expand.
Adds small-scale detail to the statistically reconstructed colour map.
This can be useful since statistically reconstructed colour maps tend to be
very smooth.
Some detail textures do not look correct with all faces (for example, beard
stubble detail doesn't look good on female faces).
Reset the detail texture to 'None' to remove it.
If you load a FaceGen file created with the PhotoFit,
you will get a 'Photo Detail' detail texture. This contains details from
the photograph which are not reconstructed by the FaceGen statistics.
The size of your exported colour map images depend on the size of the
detail texure. The provided detail textures give 1024x1024 and 2048x2048
colour maps when used with the default model set. Photofit detail
textures can be even larger if you have very large source photos.
You can create your own detail textures and add them to FaceGen:
Resize it to 1024 or 2048 if you desire a larger texture map.
Only use a power of 2 pixel size.
Make copy of the image and modify the copy to add the detail you
want. Do not change the layout of the features. Save
the result as a BMP.
Note that detail is only used in the face region - the region from
mid-forehead to the top of the neck, in front of the ears. Any
detail you do outside of that region WILL BE IGNORED.
Download and unzip the
extractDetailTexture.exe utility. From the DOS command line,
type 'extractDetailTexture -i meanTexture.bmp copy.bmp myDetail.jpg'.
Copy the file 'myDetail.jpg' (or whatever you have named it) into
the 'Detail' sub-directory of your FaceGen Modeller data directory:
XP: C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\FaceGen\Modeller3\Detail
Vista & 7: C:\Users\USERNAME\appData\Roaming\FaceGen\Modeller3\Detail
When you re-start FaceGen Modeller, it will appear in the Detail Texture
drop-down menu.
You can also edit detail textures already in FaceGen:
You can directly edit any of the detail textures in the 'Detail'
subdirectory of your FaceGen directory (we recommend working with
a renamed copy of the file).
To edit a 'Photo Detail' from an FG file, use the
the
extractDetailTexture.exe utility. From the command line,
type 'extractDetailTexture -f myFgFile.fg detail.jpg'.
Detail textures are modulation maps; pixels (R, G and B components)
with a value of 64
will remain unchanged from the statistical colour map created in
FaceGen, those with higher values will be amplified, and those
with lower values will be reduced.
To remove parts of a detail texture, just paint over with the color
(64,64,64).
Re-start FaceGen Modeller to see your changes.
Detail Texture Modulation
Allows you to increase or decrease the application of the current
detail texture in the face.
Useful for reducing the detail in light colored faces where
the detail texture is too harsh,
or increasing it in darker faces where the detail texture does not
have enough contrast.
Texture Overlay
Allows you to composite images over the FaceGen skin texture.
The default model set includes an example overlay for short
black hair.
You can create your own overlay textures for things like hair,
tattoos or shading.
The compositing approach differs from FaceGen detail textures
(discussed above) in that:
It is mesh specific.
It is not limited to the face area.
It works by compositing, not modulation.
To create your own overlay texture images:
Locate the root filename of the mesh you want to modify. It will be in
one of the 'csamXXX' directories in your FaceGen ModelSet directory:
XP: C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\FaceGen\Modeller3\ModelSets
Vista & 7: C:\Users\USERNAME\appData\Roaming\FaceGen\Modeller3\ModelSets
You can
see which root filename corresponds to which model part name by looking
at the '<root>.fr3d' files in that directory with a text editor.
Use the mean colour map of this mesh, <root>.bmp as a guide for
creating your composite texture
Save the RGB component of your composite texture as a JPEG to the filename
<root>_ovi_<compositeName>.jpg in the same directory.
Save the alpha (transparency) component of your composite texture as a
JPEG to the filename
<root>_ova_<compositeName>.jpg in the same directory.
When you re-start Modeller, your new overlay should appear in
the Texture Overlay drop-down list on the bottom left whenever
that model part is loaded.
You can combine as many overlays as you want. Remember that the
order in which you overlay can make a difference. You can re-order
your overlays as you wish.
Texture Gamma Correction
Changes the gamma correction of the FaceGen colour texture
images. It will not affect non-statistical (non-face) texture images
or custom textures.
CRT screens suppress the middle of the brightness range. Correcting
color brightness values for this suppression is called gamma correction.
Most screens have a gamma around 2.2.
When you export your models, the current gamma setting will be used
to export the texture images.
Change Polys
A shortcut for the menu command 'Model' -> 'Change Model Parts'.
Generate Tab
Racial Origin Sub-Tabs
The racial origin group sub-tab effects all controls that tab
except Gender, Age and Asymmetry.
The racial origin groups are broad groupings which inevitably have
some amount of overlap.
Generate Button
Randomly generates a face from the current racial origin group.
If all the 'rand lock' selections are off (the default) the faces
will be generated completely randomly.
Those controls that have 'rand lock' set will constrain the
randomly generated face to the value of that control.
Set Average Button
Reset the face to the average face for the current racial origin group,
using the current gender and age values.
Note that this will result
in caricature and asymmetry having value 0.
The average 'All Races' individual is an equal blend of each of the
four other racial origin groups.
S/C Controls
Sync Lock
The S/C Controls are divided into shape and colour sliders.
Shape sliders affect only the underlying geometry.
Colour sliders affect only the underlying colour map.
It is convenient to adjust these synchronously, which can
be achieved using the 'sync lock' check-box.
Note that controls in other areas of FaceGen Modeller may affect
shape and colour differently, changing the relative positions
of the S/C Controls even though the 'sync lock' check-box remains on.
To return sync locked controls to the same relative position, uncheck
the sync lock, move one control level with the other, and re-check
sync lock.
Rand Lock
If you wish to fix the value of any of the S/C controls while
generating random faces, turn on the Rand Lock for that control.
Gender
Male faces really are darker than female faces on average, however
this may be exaggerated by FaceGen due to imperfections in our dataset.
Since color statistics do not extrapolate well beyond the normal range,
if you are
exaggerating gender values, you should unlock sync and exaggerate
the shape more than the colour.
This control is independent of the current racial origin group.
Age
This control is independent of the current racial origin group.
FaceGen does not currently model young children.
Caricature
Caricature measures how different a face is from the average face
of the same gender, age and racial origin group.
Most real people will have a caricature value close to 'Typical'.
Asymmetry
Most real faces have a perceptible amount of asymmetry - a value
close to 'Typical' on our asymmetry scale.
Adding some asymmetry to your faces is important in order to make them
look truly alive. Perfectly symmetric faces aren't as believable.
This control is independent of the current racial origin group.
Race Morphing Controls
There are as many ways to morph between racial origin groups as
there are pairs of racial origin groups.
Each control shows how the current face compares to the
difference between the averages of each of its racial origin groups.
This comparison combines shape and colour differences.
In most cases, you will want to select the racial origin tab that best
characterizes the current face before applying race morphing.
View Tab
Diffuse Shading Mode
Gouraud. Diffuse lighting is calculated at each vertex and
linearly interpolated over the facets, making the surface look
smoothly curved.
Phong. Diffuse lighting is calculated at each pixel. This
will generally make low poly models look a bit better than using
Gouraud, however it is slower (an extra render pass)
and can cause artifacts on highly foreshortened surfaces if
you aren't using 4x FSAA anti-aliasing (see
tips).
Flat. Each facet is considered flat and has the same lighting
over its surface. This allows for easy viewing of the underlying
polygonal surface.
Note that specular highlights are always Phong shaded in Modeller,
regardless of this setting.
Texture Mode
With texture 'Off', you can see the underlying geometry by itself -
no coloring. Better for examining shape.
Wireframe
Overlay the models with a wireframe of the mesh.
Shiny
Turns the specular component of your lighting up to 11 (in the Spinal
Tap sense). Easier to see shape detail while still seeing color.
Specular highlights are always Phong shaded in Modeller.
Object Rotation
Pan / Tilt. Easy to control, but you can't make the
face rotate around your line of sight.
3 DOF Harder to control but you can put the face
in any desired pose. To rotate the face around the view axis,
move the cursor in circles.
Background Color
Change the view window background color. To
restore it to the original black, use 0
for R, G and B.
Background Photo Mode
Once you have loaded a photo for comparison (see below)
you can choose to have the photo appear transparent on top
of the face (overlay) or have the face appear transparent on
top of the photo (underlay).
Background Photo
Load Photo To compare your face with a photograph,
use this button to load
the photo image. It must be stored as a BMP, JPG, TGA or TIF.
Transparency Adjust the transparency of the photo or face,
depending on the current background photo mode.
To translate the photo in the view window,
ctrl-shift-left-click and drag in the view window.
To scale the photo in the view window,
ctrl-shift-right-click and drag up/down in the view window.
Lighting Options
Lighting options will be remembered when you quit and restart Modeller,
and are useful for matching the rendering properties of your game engine.
Ambient Brightness
The ambient component illuminates all surfaces equally, regardless of
position or direction faced.
Light Source
Adjust the brightness of the light, and its incoming direction.
PreSets
60% Single frontal light, 40% ambient.
60% Off-centre frontal light, 40% ambient.
60% from 3 lights (front and each side, all elevated), 40% ambient.
Tip: To modify the shininess of a surface, edit the
corresponding text files ending in the suffix
'.fr3d' found in the directory 'csamDefault' in your FaceGen directory.
Camera Tab
Projection Mode
A perspective view is how we normally see a face - from a relatively
close vantage point. Orthographic projection allows you to view the face
as if through a telescope from a large distance.
Perspective Controls
FOV Angle. Adjust the angle of the camera field of view,
in degrees. You can also right-click-drag the mouse in the
viewport.
Distance Ratio. Adjust the distance of the camera from the
current model centre as a ratio to the largest dimension of
its bounding box. You can also shift-right-click-drag the mouse
in the viewport.
Orthographic Controls
Relative Scale. Adjust the size of the current object
bounding box relative to the view window.
Camera Rotation
Use these controls to adjust the pose of the head to specific values.
Pitch angle is only relative; there is no formal definition for zero pitch.
Note that using the mouse to update the head pose will not update this
slider view; to do this select another tab then return to the Camera tab.
Reset Camera
To allow precise comparisons, the bounding box is
not recalculated after you add or remove model parts. This
can sometimes cause parts of the model to be sheared off.
If this happends, just hit the Reset Camera button.
Shape and Colour Tabs
Symmetry Sub-Tabs
The shape statistics are divided into
symmetric and asymmetric components.
Labelled Controls
There are 56 symmetric shape, 26 asymmetric shape and 33
colour controls.
Each control ranges between plus and minus 10 standard deviations
of the distribution.
Note that although 10 standard deviations by itself is very
unlikely, one slider at 10 standard deviations out of many sliders
is more probable. In other words, moving just one slider
to an extreme value may not produce a totally unrealistic face.
The controls are not completely independent of each other; adjusting
one slider will usually affect several others. This is how the
FaceGen preserves the statistical validity of the face.
Note that sometimes the distribution of a control is not
normal (bell-curved). For instance, when moving the symmetric colour
control 'Eyebrows (whole) - Light / dark', you get unrealistic
results more quickly on the light side than the dark side.
In this case the distribution is skewed.
Set to Zero Button
Set all controls in the current view to 0
Mirror Button
(Asymmetric views only) Create the mirror image of the current
asymmetry.
Genetic Tab
Generate.
The genetic interface is a good way to fine-tune a face to get a
specific, intangible 'look' that you can't find a slider for.
Just generate variants of the current face until you find one
that looks more like what you want, and click on it. Repeat
until finished.
Randomness.
You can adjust how different from the current faces you want the
random variations to be.
Tip: Since the genetic array has small windows, you should
maximize the size of the face in the view window to be able to
see subtle face differences in the genetic array windows.
Tween Tab
Load Target Button
The first step is always to load a target face. Now you can
morph between the current face and the target face, to an in-between
face, hence 'tweening'.
Tween Controls
You can separately tween symmetric shape, asymmetric shape and colour.
This can be an effective way of copying a shape you like without changing
the colour, or vice versa.
You can also exaggerate the differences between the current
and target faces by moving the slider past them.
To achieve a precise amount of tweening, left-click the slider to select it,
then use the up and down arrow keys to change the tweening by exactly 1%, and
the 'Page Up' and 'Page Down' to change the tweening by exactly 10%.
Morphs Tab
These controls affect shape only - not colour. Unlike
the controls in the 'Shape' tab, these controls are MESH SPECIFIC.
They are scaled from 0 to 1, where 1 is the morph target.
They are divided into four types:
Expressions should generally only be used one or two at a time.
Phonemes should generally only be used one or two at a time.
Modifiers can be used in combination with expressions and phonemes.
Morphs are anything else - elf ears and an elf nose for example.
These controls were created by an animation specialist and thus
have a more traditional look than FaceGen's statistically created
'Shape' tab controls.
PhotoFit Tab
Create a FaceGen face from one or more photos.
A frontal image is required. Left and right profile images
are optional
Photo Guidelines
The most important step is to take good photos. To ensure
good results, you must follow these guidelines:
Essential:
Faces must have the mouth closed and be in the neutral (relaxed) expression.
Eyes must be open and looking straight ahead.
The entire face must be in the photo.
Flash lighting must be used, and the face must not be otherwise brightly lit.
Images must be in color.
Recommended:
Glasses should be removed.
Hair should not cover the forehead or any part of the face.
The camera should be at least 5 feet away from the face.
The face should be at least 500 pixels high in the image.
Faces should be about 12 years of age or older.
In the frontal shot, your chin should slightly elevated as if you're looking just
above the camera.
Focus your eyes on something just above the camera, rather than into the distance,
to avoid a spacey look.
The size of the texture image is automatically determined by the number
of pixels in the face area, so use a large source image if you require a large
texture image.
OK:
Facial hair is OK.
Flashes on both sides of the camera can be used.
Flash diffusers can be used.
Bad:
The face should not be painted (makeup is OK).
Avoid taking photos outdoors in daylight.
Drawings of faces may not yield good results.
Save your photos in the JPEG (JPG), BMP, TIFF (TIF) or TGA
file formats.
Point placement
Left-click between points and drag to move them all.
Left-click on a point and drag to move it separately.
Right-click and drag to scale the size of the point layout.
The eye points should be in the centre of the eyes.
The outer cheekbone points should be inside of any sideburn hair.
Don't worry if the crosshairs
fall outside the zoomed placement window - you can adjust them by
hitting the 'Back' button.
The nose flap points should be on the outermost edges of the nose flaps.
The mouth corner points ... well you get the idea.
The outer jaw points should be horizontally in line with the mouth corner points.
It does NOT matter where the neck profile intersects the face profile.
The chin point should be at the bottom centre of the chin.
You should leave the 'preserve facial hair' option on unless you specifically want to remove
a beard or moustache. If facial hair is present, choosing not to remove it will add
the facial hair to the detail texture. This will allow the facial hair to appear on the
texture map of the final face, but it may not look appropriate
after you adjust controls for, say, a more female face.
You can choose to use detail texture from the profile view as well
if you have both profile images. For good results, make sure your
profile images don't have bright reflections on the skin.
Save the PhotoFit result to an FG file before proceeding - loading
that FG file in the future will let you avoid repeating the PhotoFit.
Note that the gamma value (darkness and colour saturation) of the reconstructed face
texture may differ somewhat from photo. If you wish to preserve the exact look of the
photo, you can adjust the 'Texture Gamma Correction' slider on the lower left to
better match the photograph.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Arrow Keys - Adjust a slider control gradually.
Pg Up / Pg Dn - Adjust a slider control in bigger steps.
Tab - Select the next controls in the current view.
Shift-Tab - Select the previous control in the current view.
Alt then Letter - Select the menu starting with 'Letter'.
Ctl-N - File -> New
Ctl-O - File -> Open
Ctl-S - File -> Save
Ctl-E - File -> Export
Ctl-Z - Edit -> Undo
Ctl-Y - Edit -> Redo
Menus
File
New
Resets all controls to an all-races average female of age 30.
Open
Open a face in the FaceGen FG file format (.fg). The face
is applied to whichever meshes are currently loaded (see 'Model' menu item).
Several example FG files are provided with the download.
Modeller 3.5 will open FG files created with Modeller 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 or 3.4.
Save
Save a face in the FaceGen file format (.fg).
Only the face itself is saved:
Current morph settings are not saved.
Current model set and parts are not saved.
Current viewing options are not saved.
Export
Export your face model to 3DS, LWO/LWS, MA, OBJ/MTL, VRML1, VRML97, XSI or STL.
3DS Max Users: Note that the 3DS file format breaks all quads
into tris and duplicates vertices which map to more than one UV
point. We recommend using the OBJ format. See
A video showing Modeller with ZBrush and 3DS Max.
Lightwave Users: Note that endomorphs appear automatically in
lightwave if you read in the LWS (Lightwave scene) file generated
by FaceGen instead of the LWO (Lightwave object) file (assuming
you chose to export the animation morph targets).
STL users: Note that the STL format breaks all quads into tris and removes
all mesh connectivity information.
Only the meshes currently being viewed (see 'Model' menu item) will
be exported.
All texture maps will be exported to sequentially named BMP, JPEG, TGA or
TIFF files (a dialog box lets you choose).
The exported geometry includes texture coordinates (UVs) but not vertex
normals (except XSI which must include normals).
The vertex normals used within FaceGen
are calculated simply as the average of the adjacent facet normals.
Your software may use a slightly different algorithm.
Note that fixed values
cannot be used for different faces since the shape can vary widely.
The size of the exported texture maps depends on the size of the detail
texture. To increase the texture maps' size, use a larger detail
texture. Larger detail textures are available at the bottom of the
detail texture drop-down menu, or
you can use the photofit with a large source image.
Texture maps
up to 4096x4096 can be created with very large source images.
Exported texture maps have currently selected gamma correction
built into them.
Some accessory models (hair and teeth) make use of a transparency
(alpha) channel in their texture image.
Only the TGA and TIFF image file formats fully support this.
Be sure to export your textures to TGA or TIFF if you want to preserve
the transparency maps.
Export is only available to licensed users. For evaluation purposes,
you can download some exported models
to ensure compatibility with your workflow.
Save Image
Saves the current face image to either a BMP, JPEG, TGA or TIFF image file.
Exit
You guessed it.
Edit
Undo
Undo can be used to undo up to 40 changes.
It is applicable to changes made in all but the 'Animate' or 'Photo' tabs.
Redo
For the indecisive.
Model
Change Model Set
Re-targets the current face to the selected set of meshes.
Using the
FaceGen Customizer, you can turn any head mesh and accessory models
into a model set in FaceGen.
To migrate your custom model sets from a previous version of FaceGen Modeller,
copy them into the following folder (Windows Vista,7,8):
Where USERNAME is normally your login name, however on company networks using
Microsoft domains it can sometimes be something different like 'sysadm.my.000'.
Just look for the subdirectory 'appData\Roaming\FaceGen\' to be sure.
Also note that the 'AppData' directory is not visible in Windows Explorer
unless you've selected (hit 'alt' key to get menus):
tools: folder options: view: advanced settings:
Show hidden files, folders and drives
Change Model Parts
Gives you a dialog box allowing you to
load and unload any of the parts within this model set.
The model set that ships with FaceGen Modeller 3
includes high-resolution, medium-resolution and low-resolution
meshes of the face and eyes, and low-resolution teeth.
These models are considered a set since they were constructed to fit
together, in the same coordinate system.
Custom Texture
Allows you to replace the texture map for any of the model parts
with one of your own.
Note that when you are using a custom texture, FaceGen controls will
have no effect on the texture of that model part.
Help
Online User Manual
Takes you to this web page.
License
View the FaceGen Modeller 3 license agreement.
Registration
Purchasing FaceGen Modeller will allow you to save or export your work,
and will allow us to continue to improve this product.
About FaceGen
Useful if you need to know which release build you
are running.
Tips & Tricks
Windows File Type Associations
Modeller supports drag-and-drop for FG files, so you can drag them onto the
running application.
Modeller does not currently support Windows file type associations for FG files,
so you cannot double-click on an FG file to display it.
Getting Rid of the Jaggies
If you have a decent 3D graphics card you can adjust your rendering
settings to greatly improve the look of the face by telling your system
to use FSAA 4x, sometimes known as oversampling:
Right click on the background and select 'Properties'.
In the 'Display Properties' window, select the 'Settings' tab and click
on the 'Advanced' button in the bottom right.
NVIDIA users select the 'GeForce' tab and enable manual FSAA 4x.
Radeon users select the 'OpenGL' tab, then choose the 'SMOOTHVISION'
button then select 'anti-alias' 4x.
For cards based on other graphics chips, play around ... let us know
what you find.
Restart Modeller.
Note that this setting will cause the PhotoFit to slow down dramatically
and sometimes produce errors.
Creating Attractive Faces.
Everyone has personal preferences, but on
average, the most attractive faces are those that are close to the average.
Psychologists have found that the most attractive female faces are those
which look like the average 17 year-old female, in which the degree of
femininity is exaggerated by about 25%.
To achieve this in FaceGen Modeller, select the race you want,
slide the age to 17, move the gender just past 'female'
and bring the caricature
values as close to average as you think necessary.
The most attractive male faces are those which look like the average
25 year-old male, but with a slight amount (5%) of femininity !
Attractive faces are also more symmetric, so reduce the amount of
asymmetry - but leave a little to keep the face looking real.
Creating Children From Two Parents
Create the father's face (if it isn't already saved) and save it to an FG file.
Create the mother's face or load it from an FG file.
Select the tween tab.
Select the 'Load Target' button and load the father's FG file.
Move both sets of sliders half-way between the two.
Adjust the gender and age sliders as desired.
For young ages, reduce the detail texture modulation using the slider
on the lower left.
Making Your Own Detail Textures.
See the discussion under the 'Detail Textures' sub-section of the
Viewing Window section.
Changing The Look of All Your Faces
You can change the look of all your faces, for instance to
change the average skin colouring or shading details, by modifying
the base face texture image(s) of your mesh.
This approach differs from FaceGen detail textures and
overlay textures (discussed above) in that:
It works by differencing, not modulation or compositing.
It is similar to overlay textures in that:
It is not limited to the face area.
It is model specific.
To modify the average face texture of your mesh:
Locate the root filename of the mesh you want to modify. It will be in
one of the 'csamXXX' directories in your FaceGen Model Sets directory:
XP: C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\FaceGen\Modeller3\ModelSets
Vista & 7: C:\Users\USERNAME\appData\Roaming\FaceGen\Modeller3\ModelSets
You can
see which root filename corresponds to which model part name by looking
at the '<root>.fr3d' files in that directory with a text editor.
Make a backup copy of the original mean texture image (<root>.bmp) or
make a copy of the entire model part (<root>.*).
Now modify the mean texture image as desired but
do NOT change the UV layout. You can also choose to double the size of
the image one or more times, but do not change the aspect ratio or increase
the size by any value other than a power of 2.
When you re-start Modeller, all your faces will share this modification
when you have the affected model parts loaded.
Modifying Hair Textures (or any other transparent texture):
Export the hair model (preferably by itself by removing all other
model parts using the 'change polys' button), and choose TGA as the
exported image format, since this format supports transparency.
Modify the TGA as desired. Ensure the pixel dimensions remain a power of 2.
In Modeller, from the 'Model' menu, choose 'Custom Texture' and
substitute your new TGA for the hair texture.
If you'd like your new texture image to become the default for that model part,
replace the TGA file corresponding to the model part
you are editing, in its CSAM directory (csam) within the
FaceGen Modeller directory.
Troubleshooting
I installed successfully but when I run the program the face is all gray
with no texture images, or only one eye appears or is textured, or the
program says 'No model set data is available'.
This can happen if your username contains non-english characters. Until a
fix is released, run the program with a username containing only english
characters.
XP - C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\FaceGen\Modeller3\ModelSets\
Note that you'll need 'Show hidden files, folders' enabled in the
View tab of Folder Options in Windows Explorer.
Restart Modeller.
I installed successfully but when I try to run the program the
screen just flashes and nothing happens.
Check that your display is set to "True Color" (24 or 32 bit) mode. Some
systems will not render in "High Color" (16 bit) mode.
Select 'Display' from the 'Control Panel' (in 'Start Menu' -> 'Settings')
and choose the 'Settings' tab.
Re-start FaceGen Modeller.
The colour texture on the face looks strange or checkered
From the 'Model' menu, select 'Change Model Parts'. Ensure that the Hires Skin is being
shown and the Medres and Lores Skins are NOT being shown. If this solves the problem,
you should perform the fix above.
Check that your display is set to "True Color" (24 or 32 bit) mode. Some
systems will not render properly in "High Color" (16 bit) mode.
Select 'Display' from the 'Control Panel' (in 'Start Menu' -> 'Settings')
and choose the 'Settings' tab.
Re-start FaceGen Modeller.
The PhotoFit says I have 'Incorrect placement of markers'
Ensure the points are placed on the face as demonstrated in the smaller photo
on the right.
If your photograph is rotated the points may be interpreted incorrectly. In this
case, rotate the image so that the face is upright (the PhotoFit will do 90 degree
rotations for you but smaller rotations require the use of an image editing program)
and try again.
This message can also happen for extremely unusual faces, or drawings of faces. In
this case, make a compromise between the intial 'average' point positions and the
positions for your extreme face.
I get the error 'File not writeable:' when I try to export/save
FaceGen Modeller has trouble with non-english characters. Please save to a folder path and filename that use only English characters.
The exported hair texture doesn't look right in my rendering application
Make sure you export the textures to TGA or TIFF formats in order to preserve the
transparency information (it's not preserved in JPG or BMP).
If you're still having problems in Lightwave:
Extract the alpha channel info and save it as a separate grey scale map.
In the surface editor use this as a transparency map for the hair texture.
Note that you have to invert the grey scale map since in Lightwave black is
opaque and white is transparent.
The eye texture stretches when using the LookL and LookR morph controls
FaceGen lacks colour information outside the visible area of the eye, so
we implement eye movement by deforming the eye model, which does create
some stretching.
The textures don't import correctly into Mudbox
Ignore the UV warning given by mudbox and just select 'keep all'.
Next since mudbox doesn't automatically load the texture images you have
to do that yourself. Select a mesh (for instance the skin), then in the
Layers windows select 'Paint', right click and select 'import layer' then
select the appropriate texture image.
