Facial reconstruction is a kind of scientific technology which is based on the rules of the relationship between skull and skin. It is widely applied in the fields such as criminalistics

archeology and so on. This paper introduces the whole process of computer aided 3D facial reconstruction

which including 3D reconstruction of a digital skull

reconstruction of skin from skull data

facial expression and animation etc. Various existing methods about the phases mentioned above are also reviewed. The focus of this paper is on reproducing three-dimensional facial skin based on a small quantity of landmarks and their corresponding tissue thickness

and improving of surface fitting. At last

the tendency of facial reconstruction is given.