With the continuous advancement of 3D and human–computer interaction technologies, digital human systems have been widely implemented in our daily lives, such as 3D games, online education, and virtual assistants. This paper provides a comprehensive literature survey of the technologies vitally important to digital humans in 3D facial modeling, animation, and rendering. Firstly, we combed through the research development of 3D face modeling technology and summarized the 3D facial models. Then, we summed up various methods for animating the 3D face based on data from images, videos, and the like. Lastly, we delved deeply into the techniques for 3D face rendering, comparing traditional rendering with neural network rendering. In conclusion, we provided a forward-looking perspective on the current challenges and future development of 3D digital humans.