Enabling Translatability of Generative Face Video Coding: A Unified Face Feature Transcoding Framework

Generative face video coding (GFVC) can achieve high-quality visual face communication at ultra-low bit-rate ranges via strong facial prior learning and realistic generation. However, different kinds of feature representations hinder the interoperability of GFVC, as the bitstream generated from one type of feature representation can only be correctly understood by the corresponding decoder. In this paper, we make the first attempt to propose a face feature transcoding framework that enables translatability in GFVC. By integrating a face feature transcoder at the decoder side, received face features can be translated to decoder-specific ones for subsequent face reconstruction. Furthermore, the translation between different types of face features can be achieved using a unified transcoding framework, facilitating seamless interoperability between different facial representations and their associated decoders. Experimental results demonstrate that three main-stream GFVC codecs, each utilizing different face features, can be effectively adapted to one another while retaining promising coding performance, largely extending the generality of the GFVC system. The project page can be found at https://github.com/xyzysz/GFVC_Software-Decoder_Interoperability. © 2024 IEEE.