1. A system for generating animated video messages using video images of human faces, comprising: a video camera; a processor; a network interface; and storage containing an animated message application, and a 3D character model; wherein the animated message application configures the processor to: capture a sequence of video frames using the video camera; detect a human face within a sequence of video frames; track changes in human facial expression of a human face detected within a sequence of video frames; map tracked changes in human facial expression to motion data, where the motion data is generated to animate the 3D character model; apply motion data to animate the 3D character model; render an animation of the 3D character model into a file as encoded video; and transmit the encoded video to a remote device via the network interface.