Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@aflaxman
Created November 9, 2012 01:12
Show Gist options
  • Star 26 You must be signed in to star a gist
  • Fork 7 You must be signed in to fork a gist
  • Save aflaxman/4043086 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save aflaxman/4043086 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Chernoff Faces in Python with Matplotlib
from pylab import *
def cface(ax, x1,x2,x3,x4,x5,x6,x7,x8,x9,x10,x11,x12,x13,x14,x15,x16,x17,x18):
# x1 = height of upper face
# x2 = overlap of lower face
# x3 = half of vertical size of face
# x4 = width of upper face
# x5 = width of lower face
# x6 = length of nose
# x7 = vertical position of mouth
# x8 = curvature of mouth
# x9 = width of mouth
# x10 = vertical position of eyes
# x11 = separation of eyes
# x12 = slant of eyes
# x13 = eccentricity of eyes
# x14 = size of eyes
# x15 = position of pupils
# x16 = vertical position of eyebrows
# x17 = slant of eyebrows
# x18 = size of eyebrows
# transform some values so that input between 0,1 yields variety of output
x3 = 1.9*(x3-.5)
x4 = (x4+.25)
x5 = (x5+.2)
x6 = .3*(x6+.01)
x8 = 5*(x8+.001)
x11 /= 5
x12 = 2*(x12-.5)
x13 += .05
x14 += .1
x15 = .5*(x15-.5)
x16 = .25*x16
x17 = .5*(x17-.5)
x18 = .5*(x18+.1)
# top of face, in box with l=-x4, r=x4, t=x1, b=x3
e = mpl.patches.Ellipse( (0,(x1+x3)/2), 2*x4, (x1-x3), fc='white', linewidth=2)
ax.add_artist(e)
# bottom of face, in box with l=-x5, r=x5, b=-x1, t=x2+x3
e = mpl.patches.Ellipse( (0,(-x1+x2+x3)/2), 2*x5, (x1+x2+x3), fc='white', linewidth=2)
ax.add_artist(e)
# cover overlaps
e = mpl.patches.Ellipse( (0,(x1+x3)/2), 2*x4, (x1-x3), fc='white', ec='none')
ax.add_artist(e)
e = mpl.patches.Ellipse( (0,(-x1+x2+x3)/2), 2*x5, (x1+x2+x3), fc='white', ec='none')
ax.add_artist(e)
# draw nose
plot([0,0], [-x6/2, x6/2], 'k')
# draw mouth
p = mpl.patches.Arc( (0,-x7+.5/x8), 1/x8, 1/x8, theta1=270-180/pi*arctan(x8*x9), theta2=270+180/pi*arctan(x8*x9))
ax.add_artist(p)
# draw eyes
p = mpl.patches.Ellipse( (-x11-x14/2,x10), x14, x13*x14, angle=-180/pi*x12, facecolor='white')
ax.add_artist(p)
p = mpl.patches.Ellipse( (x11+x14/2,x10), x14, x13*x14, angle=180/pi*x12, facecolor='white')
ax.add_artist(p)
# draw pupils
p = mpl.patches.Ellipse( (-x11-x14/2-x15*x14/2, x10), .05, .05, facecolor='black')
ax.add_artist(p)
p = mpl.patches.Ellipse( (x11+x14/2-x15*x14/2, x10), .05, .05, facecolor='black')
ax.add_artist(p)
# draw eyebrows
plot([-x11-x14/2-x14*x18/2,-x11-x14/2+x14*x18/2],[x10+x13*x14*(x16+x17),x10+x13*x14*(x16-x17)],'k')
plot([x11+x14/2+x14*x18/2,x11+x14/2-x14*x18/2],[x10+x13*x14*(x16+x17),x10+x13*x14*(x16-x17)],'k')
fig = figure(figsize=(11,11))
for i in range(25):
ax = fig.add_subplot(5,5,i+1,aspect='equal')
cface(ax, .9, *rand(17))
ax.axis([-1.2,1.2,-1.2,1.2])
ax.set_xticks([])
ax.set_yticks([])
fig.subplots_adjust(hspace=0, wspace=0)
@Phlya
Copy link

Phlya commented Nov 16, 2016

This is amazing, thank you for sharing! I am just wondering, what is the license for this code?

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment