Disney Develops New Streamlined Re-Aging Technology For TV and Film
Researchers have created a neural network that can readily alter the appearance of actors onscreen. Disney has developed a new, streamlined, re-aging technology for use in TV and film!
TV and Film
Although similar methods are already in use, this new process is more efficient in terms of time and money. Typically, special effects personnel re-age an actor by using 3D technology.
Photo: Disney
Scanning, modeling, or 2D frame-by-frame digital retouching can change a person’s appearance, much like Photoshop. Unfortunately, this current method can take weeks and time is of the essence.
New Streamlined Re-Aging Technology
Ars Technica reports that Disney’s new technique, the Face Re-aging Network (FRAN) automates the process. According to Disney, it’s “the first practical, fully automatic, and production-ready method for re-aging faces in video images.”
Photo: Disney
In order to build the network, researchers generated thousands of facial images from people ages 18 to 85 using a program called StyleGAN2. The data taught FRAN how a person’s face transforms with age.
After training, it incorporates what it learned into a live actor in motion, frame-by-frame. Researchers gave further insight into the technology in an academic paper, stating the following:
Photo: Disney
“Our network is trained in a supervised fashion on a large number of face image pairs showing the same synthetic and photorealistic person, labeled with the corresponding source and target ages.”
Ars Technica shares that, “by generating the training data synthetically, they bypassed the ‘seemingly impossible task’ of collecting images depicting ‘a variety of identities, ages, and ethnicities in different viewpoints.”
Photo: Disney
Pretty amazing isn’t it?! Disney refers to this as a “production ready” solution, meaning the quality meets the standards for real film or TV.
In addition, it’s possible that this is the very first AI that can dynamically alter an actor’s age despite expressions, lighting, and viewpoints. Its user-friendly interface allows artists to use the tool with ease in the midst of production.
Photo: Disney
Check out the video below to see the amazing process in action! It’s no secret that Disney frequently incorporates the re-aging process into their various entertainment offerings.
Disney’s Development
With so many prequels and sequels premiering as of late, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the new tech in future productions. For now, Disney has presented their research in a paper and no plans have been announced.
MickeyBlog will keep you updated as news develops on Disney’s new streamlined re-aging technology for TV and film!
