Faceware Technologies, which makes hardware and software for markerless facial performance capture systems, has adjusted most of its software prices downward and has begun offering annual subscription options in an effort to accommodate what it said is an expanding universe of customers.
Effective immediately, most of Faceware’s software is available for license as an annual subscription, including support, or as a perpetual license including one year of support plus the option to renew support each year thereafter. Annual pricing starts at $99/year for the company’s Retargeter 5 Studio software and $199/year for Analyzer 3 Studio, then ranges all the up to $499 for its Live 2.5 server software and $699 for the more fully featured Analyzer 3 Studio Plus. Shepherd, the company’s new facial operator software, is in open beta for $499/year or $2,700 for a perpetual license.
Perpetual licenses, meanwhile, start at $500 for Retargeter 5 Studio (formerly $1,200) and $750 (formerly $2,500) for Analyzer 3 Studio and range up to $2,750 for Retargeter 5 Studio Plus (formerly $2,500) and $6,750 for Analyzer 3 Studio Plus (formerly $6,500). The new prices dramatically lower the cost of entry for Analyzer and Retargeter while maintaining a premium on the “Plus” versions, which add features for collaboration and pipeline automation.
Hardware prices have also been reconfigured, with complete systems ranging from $13,000 for the company’s Mark III wireless head-cam system to $21,096 for a complete facial capture system including the wireless head-cams as well as an AJA KiPro Rack, QC Monitor, and annual licenses for Shepherd, Live, Analyzer Studio and Retargeter Studio software. The Mark III and Indie Headcam systems now come with a one-year extandable warranty covering repair or replacement of components.
Faceware also introduced new academic pricing, starting at $2,500 for turnkey systems. For more details, visit the pricing charts on Faceware’s website.
“Every year, we conduct a complete audit of our pricing, which includes a survey of our customers and resellers, as well as a review of all of our SKUs,” said Peter Busch, VP of business development, in a prepared statement. “What we noticed was a broader range of users with different pricing requirements, so our goal this year was to provide pricing options that would be attractive to existing and new users across industries.”
In addition to the pricing news, Faceware updated Analyzer and Retargeter with what it described as deep-learning techniques to improve results by using a data set of millions of images to revamp the technique for jaw animation. Watch the company’s marketing video, below, for more details.
