Visual-effects company Digital Doman is working to create the long-dreamed-of virtual actor.



Called the "Digital Doug Project," it starts off by replicating the face and mannerisms of Doug Roble, Director of Software Engineering at Digital Domain.

The team begins by making extremely detailed scans of Mr. Roble, capturing the way the facial features wrinkle and pucker, and the way the blood flow changes with different expressions.

Digital Doug, courtesy Digital Domain

The method uses machine learning to process the data from an informal performance capture, made without all the special markers. The result is a virtual Doug that any actor could puppeteer.

It offers a hint of the powerful toolset that is emerging to assist movie makers and gave developers.



The ultimate output of this technology will be a whole cast of virtual actors, both human or non-human, which can be precisely controlled by any performing actor.

(Link to YouTube video)
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Meet Digital Doug: Digital Domain's Doug Roble On Motion Capture
The Near Future of Performance Capture
Unreal Engine podcast about Digital Doug