Hello Edward,
I have good news and bad news for you.
The good news: software does exist to make a three-dimensional, lip-synchonized, animated character that looks like your girlfriend! The bad news: it isn't free; it costs money.
The new "People Putty" program from
www.haptek.com does just what you ask. Here's how it works:
1. You start with a photograph of your girlfriend's face. To work properly, it should be a straight-on full-face shot, with your girlfriend looking into the camera lens, with her lips closed, and a neutral expression on her face. The photo should be evenly lit (no harsh shadows). It should be in .jpg format, preferably square, about 500 by 500 pixels.
2. The "People Putty" software allows you to import the photo. During the import process, you click and drag a set of targets over the photo to match up with your girlfriend's eyes, nose, and mouth. When you click "okay," the software "wraps" the photograph all around a three-dimensional head, like an electronic mannequin.
3. "People Putty" then lets you adjust the shape and size of the forehead, cheeks, nose, mouth, and jaw so that the mannequin has exactly the same head shape as your girlfriend. You then "decorate" the head with various hair, hats, jewelry, make-up, and whatever, all of which come with the software.
4. Once complete, the character you've created will move in all directions and lip-synchronize to speech synthesizers very realistically. You can write scripts for the character to perform. Recently, I've been testing the new plug-in from Zabaware that lets UltraHal 4.5 drive the character. It is absolutely amazing.
The bad news, of course, is the cost, which is $40.
I could be wrong, but I don't think it would work if someone else made the character for you, because you need either the Haptek program or the UltraHal 4.5 program to "play" the character.
If nothing else, you might look at the Haptek website to benchmark what you're looking for, to see if there's a demo or anything for free.
You may not believe this, but before you know it, being 16 and without funds will be a distant memory! Enjoy it now!
Sincerely,
Don
Don Ferguson
traininginc@cortrapar.com
www.cortrapar.com
