Image Metrics Inc. has announced the availability of FACEWARE™ 3.0, its revolutionary video performance and artist-driven facial animation software for the videogame, film, visual effects, commercial, and television industries. FACEWARE™ 3.0 incorporates several new features to ensure creative consistency within animation teams, and to increase productivity and ease of use. A full version of the software is available to download at  www.Image-Metrics.com including assets for free evaluation.

FACEWARE 3.0 is the result of more than a decade of animation production experience creating AAA game titles, Oscar-winning films and Grammy-winning music videos. FACEWARE™ utilizes a marker-less video analysis technology and artist-driven performance transfer toolset to deliver ultra-high-fidelity, truly believable facial animation in a fraction of the time of traditional and alternate methods. FACEWARE offers studios full creative flexibility, empowering them to handle all creative decisions and iterations in-house.

"Last year's launch was a direct response to our customers' desire to internally own creative control of their work. This year's release is the answer to our customers' stated definition of that creative control," said Image Metrics CEO Robert Gehorsam. "We're delighted to provide the entire creative community access to the identical technology we've used in-house to great success over the past several years."

New features include:
· Auto-Pose: Automatic pose suggestion quickly shows artists the most extreme and physically different video performance frames that should be added as relationship poses.

· Shared Pose Database: Increase efficiency and consistency with a shared pose database allowing lead animators to establish a character's 'feel' prior to the animation process.

· Curve Refinement: New curve refinement tools allow animators to take results output from the retargeting stage and adjust them to suit the intended usage.

For more information about FACEWARE 3.0 contact Image Metrics or visit them in meeting room #113 at the Game Developer's Conference from February 28 - March 4, 2011 in San Francisco at the Mascone Center.