Partial update of active textures for efficient expression synthesis in model-based coding

An image-based facial expression synthesis method is presented in this paper for a realistic face animation in model based coding. Differing from the conventional whole texture update method, we propose a partial texture update scheme in active texture areas to reduce the bitrate efficiently. Facial expressions are synthesized using temporal blending and spatial filtering so that a smooth texture fusion can be achieved. Active texture extraction, compression and composition are the principal steps in realizing the proposed scheme. The experiments on video sequences demonstrate the advantage of the proposed algorithm in low cost transmission with high fidelity reproduction. The life-like expressive human faces with wrinkles are generated at a bitrate of less than 40 kb/s