In recent years, the demand for sheet metal parts of lightweight aluminum and magnesium alloys have considerably increased in the automobile, aviation and mobile electronics sectors. The weight savings offered by these lightweight parts are expected to increase the fuel efficiency in aviation and automotive applications and the mobility of the consumer electronics.However, magnesium and aluminum sheets are more susceptible to defect formation during forming (pressing, stamping, deep drawing, piercing, etc.) operations compared to conventional steels. Microstructure induced defects must be precisely controlled in the automotive and aerospace panels and electronic cases where mechanical properties, physical features and surface quality are very critical. Indeed, innovation in lightweight metals and forming processes are identified as one of the priority areas in the NPM theme of FP7.This project aims to observe the in-situ formation and evolution of the surface defects during magnesium sheet forming through a novel test mechanism involving high-resolution photography and digital image correlation (DIC) techniques. At the end of the project, the mechanisms of the defect formation will be determined and the processing conditions for defect suppression will be established. These results will contribute to the widespread use of lightweight metal sheets in applications where surface properties and quality are critical. Moreover, the testing mechanism developed in this project will have applications in European manufacturing industry and interdisciplinary research, which will help researcher to reintegrate with the European Research Area.