I AM ALIVE - Face FX solution

These screenshots shows our first Real Time Face FX Test [Facial animation system inside Unreal Engine].
Back in 2007, I was in charge of improving the character pipeline, and character quality of "I AM ALIVE" [Darkworks version].

What did i do ? :

-Hiring a new lead.
-Making Zbrush adopted by the team. [Yeah at that time Zbrush wasn't a standard yet].
-Set the production character workflow (Including 3 genre caucasian, asian, and afro american, and 3 corpulences M, L, XL that will share the same skeleton and the same skin with FaceFx (facial animation integrated system).
-Set the outsourcing workflow for characters including Modeling, Sculpting, Baking, Skining. (Outsourced in Ubisoft Shanghai).
-For that purpose Benoit Martinez [Art Director], Regis Capotosto [New Lead Character] and myself [Technical Art Director] built proxys meshes already skinned, that will allow artist to Skin faster. [With Skinwrap - transfer skin from mesh to meshes].
-I did basic character that will be used as proof of concept.
-Set Textures and memory budgets.
-Proove that we can achieve better result with less polygons and textures.
-Worked with Lead Animator Ingrid Sanasse to improve retargeting and skeltons.
-Wrote technical docs than once everything was "On track" i moved to Environment topic.

Model on this picture was made by Jocelyn Zeller and face FX animation by Jean Baptiste Natali.

My challenge was to make the outsourcing possible, with as much quality as the one made in House.
Even the producing didn't thrust it was. Until Regis and i proved it :-)