<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide methods and apparatus for facial animation using motion capture data. <P>SOLUTION: A mathematic solution, based on minimizing a metric, reduces the number of motion capture markers needed to accurately translate the motion capture data to facial animation. A set of motion capture markers and their placement on an actor are defined, and a set of virtual shapes having virtual markers are defined. The movement of the virtual markers are modeled, based on an anatomical model. Initial facial capture is correlated with a corresponding virtual reference shape, and for each subsequent facial capture performed afterward, a delta vector is computed, and a matrix solution is determined, based on the delta marker, initial positions and a set of virtual shapes. The solution can minimize the metric, such as, mean-squared distance. This solution can be modified manually or edited by using a user interface or console. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT 
FACIAL ANIMATION USING MOTION CAPTURE DATA