Video conferencing method

A method comprising:

• during a setup period:
• accessing a target image depicting a face of a first user;
• representing a target constellation of facial features, detected in the target image, in a target facial feature container;
• initializing a target set of face model coefficients;
• generating a synthetic test image based on the target facial feature container, the target set of face model coefficients, and a synthetic face generator;
• characterizing a difference between the synthetic test image and the target face detected in the target image;
• adjusting the target set of face model coefficients to reduce the difference;
• and
• generating a first face model, associated with the first user, based on the target set of face model coefficients;
• and
• during an operating period succeeding the setup period:
• accessing a first frame depicting the face of the first user;
• detecting a first constellation of facial features in the first frame;
• representing the first constellation of facial features in a first facial feature container;
• and
• generating a first synthetic face image based on the first facial feature container, the first face model, and the synthetic face generator.

A method comprising:

• during a setup period:
• accessing a target image depicting a face of a first user;
• deriving characteristics of a target set of facial features detected in the target image;
• initializing a target set of face model coefficients for the first user;
• tuning the target set of face model coefficients to produce a synthetic test image approximating the face of the first user depicted in the target image when the target set of face model coefficients and characteristics of the target set of facial features are loaded into a synthetic face generator;
• and
• generating a first face model, associated with the first user, based on the target set of face model coefficients;
• and
• during an operating period succeeding the setup period:
• accessing a first frame depicting the face of the first user;
• deriving characteristics of a first set of facial features detected in the first frame;
• and
• generating a first synthetic face image based on characteristics of the first set of facial features, the first face model, and the synthetic face generator.