FaceBuilder

PRICE £18/$23 monthly / £180/$230 annual COMPANY Keen Tools WEBSITE keentools.io

- Paul Hatton

FaceBuilder came into existence in 2018 when KeenTools released a unique piece of software that made it possible to accurately reconstruct 3D meshes from photos.

In its short existence, it has managed to create quite a storm and integrates well into various workflows, including MetaHuman and Character Creator 4. Now available for Blender, KeenTools is eager to expand its offerings and make it as simple as possible to turn photos into models.

SIMPLE WORKFLOW

The best results are generated when multiple photos of the same actor are used. While FaceBuilder is able to generate a model from just a single photo, you’ll find that you have to do more clean-up work.

But on the whole, it’s still a much quicker process than modelling from scratch.

Version 2024.1 makes it possible, for the first time ever, to create a single head texture blended from multiple photos. This is such a powerful and simple workflow that makes the process of not only creating the model, but also texturing it an absolute breeze for artists.

One of my favourite features in FaceBuilder is the ability to control the resulting mesh by simply dragging pins around in the Viewport. Rather than having to get involved at the vertex level, this tool makes the process much more natural and seamless.