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Camera Tracking

To access camera tracking settings, click the webcam icon on the right side of Puppetstring's window. At the top of Camera tracking screen, you can enable or disable tracking by clicking the toggle. You can also manage your camera tracking profiles by clicking the ... icon.

Multiple profiles can be saved, each with different settings regarding device and tuning. These profiles can be switched by using the context menu or by using keyboard control.

Device​

In this section, you can choose the device to be used for tracking by clicking the ... icon. These can be webcam or smartphone app.

When a webcam is selected, the preview section will show a 3D face model wireframe representing the face tracking algorithm result. You can switch Preview Mode between Wireframe and Full to choose whether to display the 3D wireframe only or the 3D wireframe overlayed atop the raw camera feed.

Choose between multiple Tracking FPS options to adjust how smooth the face tracking perform. More tracking FPS results in more accurate and smooth face tracking at the cost of system resources. 30-60 FPS is recommended, while Max is mostly placebo and only useful in testing purposes.

Depending on your desk layout, webcam placement and sitting position, most of the time your webcam is not going to perfectly aligned with your face. This can result in your model permanently looking to a certain direction. To solve this problem, you can click Calibrate Head Position and stay still in your preferred 'neutral' position for 3 seconds.

Tuning​

The face tracking algorithm in Puppetstring is provided by Google MediaPipe, which is great but not perfect. Oftentimes you will have various inaccuracies, such as eye not fully closed or mouth not fully open. This can be remedied by adjusting Sensitivity for various aspects listed at the top of Tuning section. You can also get creative and increase the sensitivity settings more to exaggerate your expression.

Depending on your mood or acting scenario, you might want to set up the face tracking algorithm to output a constantly happy/sad/angry face. You can do this by adjusting various aspects in the Default Expression segment.

In the Auto-Tune segment, you can enable some automatic adjustments for the face tracking algorithm:

  • Enabling Sync Eye Blink will synchronize the blinking between left and right eye to keep them symmetrical. The strength of this synchronization can be set via Sync Strength Min and Sync Strength Max. Minimum synchronization strength happens when you are looking straight, whereas maximum synchronization strength happens when your head is turned in either direction.
  • Enabling Snap Eye Blink will snap your eye shut when the face tracking algorithm detect eye closing movement. If you are experiencing jittery closed eyes, enable this to remedy the issue.

In the Additional Expression Features, you can adjust the intensity of various expression effects, such as face blush or teary eyes. To do this, click Add More, choose what feature that you want to adjust, then click OK. The chosen expression feature will now appear on the list, and you can adjust its intensity by inputting percentage (0-100) in the provided field.

caution

Please note that support for each expression feature depends on your model file. For example, setting up Eye - Tears to 100% won't do anything if your model file doesn't support teary eyes.

Unfortunately, most webcams available on laptops or all-in-one computers are maxed at 30 FPS. If you want a webcam specifically for face tracking, it's recommended to get one which is capable of at least 720p/60fps output. Some of these are:

Logitech (Business)​

  • Logitech MX Brio 705 (1080p/60fps)
  • Logitech Brio 4K (1080p/60fps)
  • Logitech Brio 505 (720p/60fps)
  • Logitech C925e (720p/60fps)

Logitech G​

  • Logitech StreamCam (1080p/60fps)
  • Logitech C922 (720p/60fps)

Razer​

  • Razer Kiyo X (720p/60fps)
  • Razer Kiyo (720p/60fps, this is what we use during development and testing)
  • Razer Kiyo Pro (1080p/60fps)
  • Razer Kiyo Ultra (1080p/60fps)

Elgato​

  • Facecam Mk. 2 (1080p/60fps)
  • Facecam Neo (1080p/60fps)
  • Facecam Pro (4K/60fps)