Near-instant capture of high-resolution facial geometry and reflectance

Modeling realistic human characters is frequently done using 3D recordings of the shape and appearance of real people, often across a set of different facial expressions to build blendshape facial models. Believable characters that cross the "Uncanny Valley" require high-quality geometry, texture maps, reflectance properties, and surface detail at the level of skin pores and fine wrinkles. Unfortunately, there has not yet been a technique for recording such datasets that is near-instantaneous and low-cost. While some facial capture techniques are instantaneous and inexpensive [Beeler et al. 2010], these do not generally provide lighting-independent texture maps, specular reflectance information, or high-resolution surface normal detail for relighting. In contrast, techniques which use multiple photographs from spherical lighting setups [Ghosh et al. 2011] do capture such reflectance properties, at the expense of longer capture times and complicated custom equipment.