Remedy working on new facial animation tech, aiming to overtake LA Noire [update]
Edge recently visited the offices of Alan Wake developer Remedy Entertainment, where the studio is hard at work implementing brand new facial animation technology. Created by lead animator John Root, the system uses motion capture to generate scans of actors (accurate to within 0.02 inches) and encapsulates 64 different facial poses.
Root claims those are a basis for every possible human expression. Animators can manipulate faces in real-time rather than rely on canned recordings, and future improvements to the technology may allow them to adjust coloring based on simulated blood flow beneath the skin. The first showcase for Root's kit is a new model of Alan Wake -- a fitting subject, considering he had some trouble with lip syncing in his debut game.
Remedy CEO Matias Myllyrinne says Rockstar and Team Bondi has "set a bar" for facial animation, but that the studio wants to push it higher. Further clarifying via Twitter, Myllyrinne complimented LA Noire, saying it remains "the benchmark for emotional characters today." It looks like Remedy doesn't have any hard feelings toward Rockstar for that whole, you know, May 2010 thing.
