Brekel Face / v2
Brekel Face v2
Markerless face motion capture for up to 6 people with a Kinect v2 sensor
Works with MotionBuilder, Unity, Unreal Engine
Brekel Face v2 is a Windows application for real-time markerless face motion capture with a single Kinect v2 sensor (Kinect for Xbox One or Kinect for Windows v2). It tracks head position/rotation and 20 face shapes for up to 6 people at once, no markers, makeup or calibration needed, and records the result as animation data or streams it live into MotionBuilder, Unity and Unreal Engine.
The Kinect v2 dates from 2013 and Microsoft ended production in 2017, so it is second-hand only now, but it still works and so does this app on Windows 10/11. One sensor per machine is the limit, a Microsoft driver restriction, and an Xbox One unit needs the separately sold USB 3.0 adapter to reach a PC.
The sensor is fussier about the PC than the app is. It needs a USB 3.0 port on an Intel or Renesas chipset, since other brands may or may not work, which is the thing most likely to trip up an otherwise fine machine. Beyond that a DirectX 11 capable GPU is enough (even old ones like an Intel HD4000 or GeForce 610M), along with a dual core i5 or i7 around 3.1 GHz; slower CPUs run but may drop frames.
If the sensor keeps dropping out and reconnecting a few seconds into a capture on Windows 11, that is a Windows audio setting rather than the sensor, the cable or the port: see Kinect v2 keeps disconnecting on Windows 11.
For face tracking with modern hardware, look at Brekel Body v3: it does face tracking from its supported sensors or from an HMC (Head Mounted Camera), alongside body capture.
Installs like any other app. No subscription, no cloud processing, no login. All data stays on your machine.
Windows 8 / 8.1 / 10 / 11 (64-bit). Windows 7 and older are not supported, their USB stack cannot handle the sensor bandwidth · from $99 (excl tax)
Tracking
The tracker uses the full data of the Kinect v2 sensor and works in real time, no offline processing or per-actor training needed.
- Tracks 1 to 6 faces simultaneously (at 6 the camera view is pretty much filled)
- Head position and rotation per person
- 20 animation units for driving blend/morph shapes, including left/right asymmetric shapes and eye blinks
- Optional actor calibration builds a face mesh resembling the performer, which also helps tracking accuracy
- Adjustable smoothing/filtering, symmetry constraint, and scale/offset per animation unit
- Shows Color, InfraRed, Depth, 3D pointcloud and the tracked face mesh live in the viewport
- Can run at the same time as Brekel Body v2, sharing data from the same sensor
- Eye blinks are tracked, gaze direction is not
Recording and export
Recordings export to FBX (including the face mesh with blendshapes/morphs, usable to drive your own characters), BVH, Poser/DAZ compatible PZ2, CryEngine FSQ, TXT and CSV. Audio records in sync from the Kinect microphone or any other audio source, saved as WAV, and the 2D views can be recorded as video.
Other options: resampling the 30 fps sensor data to custom frame rates, synced recording between multiple Brekel apps on the same machine or across machines on the same network, and recording pointcloud data in sync for use in Brekel PointCloud v2.
Want to see the output before buying? Grab the sample data. There is also a third-party Blender add-on script by Gregory Bond for hooking the data up to drivers.
Live streaming
The app comes with plugins for Autodesk MotionBuilder (up to 2026) for live streaming directly in MotionBuilder, an example C# script and scene for Unity, and an example scene for Unreal Engine 4.x and 5.x via Live Link. Shape and point data can also stream over TCP/UDP or OSC (Open Sound Control) to other apps.
Licensing
The free trial is the full application with two limits: recordings stop at 10 seconds, and live streaming is disabled, both into MotionBuilder, Unity and Unreal Engine and over TCP/UDP/OSC. Tracking, actor calibration and every export format work, so you can judge the shapes on your own performer before buying.
A license is perpetual: it never expires and updates within the v2 branch are free. There is no maintenance plan for Face v2. How trials, evaluations and licenses work in general: see licensing.
Videos
More videos
Supported sensors
- Kinect for Xbox One / Kinect for Windows v2 (one sensor per machine, a Microsoft driver/SDK restriction; the Xbox One version needs the separately sold USB 3.0 adapter)
Full specs for these, and 91 sensors in all: depth sensor comparison.
Exports
- Recording: FBX, BVH, PZ2, FSQ, TXT, CSV, WAV, AVI
Requirements
- Windows 8 / 8.1 / 10 / 11 (64-bit). Windows 7 and older are not supported, their USB stack cannot handle the sensor bandwidth
- USB 3.0 port, Intel or Renesas chipset (other brands may or may not work)
- DirectX 11 capable GPU (even older ones like Intel HD4000 or GeForce 610M work)
- Dual core i5/i7 CPU around 3.1 GHz (slower works but may drop frames)
- 4 GB RAM or more
- 1280x1024 screen (1920x1080 or higher recommended)
Compare versions
| Face v2 latest | Face v1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Supported sensors | Kinect v2 (Xbox One / Kinect for Windows v2) | Kinect v1 (Xbox 360 / Kinect for Windows) |
| People tracked simultaneously | Up to 6 | 1 |
| Tracked face shapes (animation units) | 20 | 11 |
| Left/right asymmetric shapes + eye blinks | yes | no |
| Tracking distance | 0.5 to 4.5 m | 0.8 to 4 m (0.4 to 3 m in near mode) |
| Live streaming | MotionBuilder, Unity, Unreal Live Link, TCP/UDP, OSC | MotionBuilder, Unity, Unreal, OSC |
| Recording formats | FBX, BVH, PZ2, FSQ, TXT, CSV, WAV, AVI | FBX, BVH, PZ2, FSQ, TXT, CSV, WAV, AVI |
| Price (excl tax) | $99 | $49 |
scroll sideways for every version, the labels stay put
Trial / Buy
Free trial
Trial restrictions Limited to 10 seconds of recording, no live streaming into MotionBuilder/Unity/UnrealEngine or over TCP/UDP/OSC.
The documentation PDF ships inside the installer, and is also a separate download (zip).
Buy a license
- License $99 Shop
prices excl tax · perpetual license · free v2 updates
How licensing works (trials, evaluation licenses, delivery).