Dynamic Skin Microgeometry
Skin is a prickly thing to render in-game, whether it’s the subtle contours of the skin surface or the way light passes through skin. Unfortunately, in-game characters are going to continue to look like plastic dolls until skin rendering gets done right. Subsurface scattering, a staple in current-gen games, simulates light transport through skin. At the end of the day, though, it’s the small details that make or break visuals in the uncanny valley. New research at USC into simulating skin microgeometry offers a possible solution to render fine geometric detail on skin surfaces that would be missed through facial capture. With the introduction of life-like skin detail, characters in-game would look that much more compelling.
