Face tracking AR filters in Spark
Meta Spark has come a long way over the years.I needed a quick and dirty way to prototype an AR project
Spark has a ton of demo projects ready, and right from the start, I could plug-n-play my idea. This was my 3rd AR in Spark. I wanted to do something a little more complex, and I had the idea of a "Tiger Mask" stuck in my head for some reason. I did a little poking around to get some ideas on design and began building out the components in Modo. There were SEVERAL problems between Modo and Spark, and I saved out multiple versions of OBJ and FBX until the textures worked.
Inspiration
Like almost everyone else, I'm a Mike Mignola fan. So this was the obvious direction.
Reference
I wanted to explore the tiger mask design, and got inspired by the 3rd eye image.
Modeling
Nothing to it, but to do it. Thanks Modo for picking up the slack Lightwave left behind.
Development
Spark's tools were a little awkward at first, but everything went pretty smoothly.
Retro Sci-Fi Goodness
My second mask was kinda based on old diver's helmets ideas. I liked the space-age retro look. Working with transparency in Spark AR is less than optimal, and reminds me of the early days of DirectX. I got the look where I wanted it, and my friends call it 'condom head' so that project ended early.
Sven the Clown and other delights
While working on PepTalks Podcast, I wanted the talent to have digital make-up for some of their characters.
The first Spark AR project was based on Eddie Pepitone's 'Sven the Clown' character. I wanted to do something easy, and I thought face-paint and 3D would do the trick. I later came back and added a 'honk' for when the nose was touched, and tears when the eyes closed. Pretty happy with this one.
