Creating a Custom Video-Realistic Animation

The student, a family member, a therapist/tutor/teacher or anyone really, can replace one of the stock animated characters in some of the FaceSay games.   The first step is to take a high-resolution photo of the person.   We confess, to get the video-realistic quality that we believe is so helpful, this can take a few tries to get the right photo.  We think you'll agree it's worth the effort.  This feature is available in the Home Premium and Classroom Premium editions.

Tips for Taking the Photo

• What you'll need:
  
  - A digital camera capable of a capturing a high resolution image (at least a 3 MegaPixel image size).
  - Good lighting.  Ideal lighting is outdoors, morning sun, in even shade (cast by a solid roof, say, rather than dappled leaves)
  - Any non-reflective background is fine (no windows or mirrors, but no need for a green background, for example)
  
  
• Preparing your subject
  
  - Please ask your subject not to wear anything with a high collar.  A collarless style ala a T-shirt is perfect.
  - Please ask the person to remove any jewelry, glasses, hats, etc. that may cover or partially obscure the face, ears, etc.
  - Please ask the person to pull/tie/brush back any hair over the face (for example no bangs)
  
  
• Pose
  
  - Ask the person to look into the camera, as if the camera were the face of a good friend, close family member, favorite pet, etc
  - Ask the person to keep his/her mouth closed, and face relaxed, eyes open/bright, but not wide-eyed
  - Ask him/her to have a neutral or very slight smile (big smiles will look funny when morphed to a frown)
  
  
• Cropping/Composition
  
  - Take the shot at the same eye level as the subject (shots from above/below or left/right will be asymmetrical)
  - In framing the shot, please include at least two inches above the top of the head and two inches below the shoulders, as well as two inches on the left and right side of the head.
  
  
• Capture at least three really good shots/photos
  
  

How the Animation Process Works

First complete the "model release form", assigning to us the rights to use your photos, but only for your custom FaceSay.  Once the form is completed, you can upload or email your best photos to us.  We can usually have a draft animation for you to review within 2 business days.  Once you approve it, we'll send you a private link to install the custom animations on your PC.