motion capture
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Global Agenda mo-caps U.S. soldier before he deploys for tour of duty
We hope our U.S. readers have been enjoying their Independence Day celebrations. Clearly most everyone working in the MMO industry has been chowing down on BBQ as there hasn't been much in the way of major gaming news stories breaking during the holiday. However, we did come across a Global Agenda story that we think is fitting for the 4th of July weekend. Hi-Rez Studios VP of game operations Stew Chisam writes that the Global Agenda team received this from the wife of U.S. Army Captain Chris Ficquette: "My husband is in the United States Army and will be re-deployed for his second tour of duty this summer. To date, I have not yet found a bigger fan of video games than him. Is there any way that I could have my husband involved in motion capturing so that he could be immortalized in your video game?" It turns out Hi-Rez Studios was willing to oblige.
WoW Mountain Dew ad was directed by Tarsem Singh
A number of sites have done a post-mortem on the Mountain Dew WoW Game Fuel ad (featuring two ladies battling it out through their WoW characters in a live-action supermarket), and they've uncovered a really interesting fact: the ad was actually directed by Indian director Tarsem Singh, one of my favorites -- he not only did the visually stunning sci-fi/horror flick The Cell a few years ago, but more recently made The Fall, which is an very well-done kind of mirror-life fairy tale. He's directed a number of commercials before, including some for Nike and Levi's, and teamed up with a company called Zoic Studios (they've done a few other spots for video games already) for this WoW commercial.The original CGI models for the ad did come from Blizzard (I'd guess that they're the original models from the WoW CGI trailer), though they were spruced up quite a bit by Zoic to add facial expressions and dynamic costumes and hair. They were then connected to motion captures from stunt artists (which were probably also tweaked to seem a little more than human, and then composited all together in the supermarket scene.Very cool stuff. This isn't the first time WoW characters have been used to sell soda, but hopefully we'll see more fun sequences like this come out of the deals between Blizzard and their partners.
Quantic Dream selling motion capture libraries
One look at Heavy Rain, and you'll know it was an expensive, expensive game to make. Looks like Quantic Dream is already thinking up new ways of recovering the costs of the enormous project. The developer of the upcoming PS3-exclusive adventure game is selling its motion capture data in library packages. The offering will be what Quantic Dream calls "the industry's first high-end, off-the-shelf solution for real-time 3D character animation," according to a report by Develop.Considering the developer spent nearly a year doing motion capture work on Heavy Rain, it's no wonder why the developers are touting their work.
Sony announces new PS3 motion controller
Sony just announced the rumored new motion controller for the PS3 -- the prototype looks like a wand with a color-changing ball on top. It's designed to work in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye, with the wand overlaid on-screen with a weapon or tool. Unlike Microsoft's Project Natal, Sony says they've learned "some experiences need buttons," which is why there's still a controller involved. The system is said to be "sub-millimeter" precise, and it was demoed drawing and playing a shooter -- it's sort of the middle ground between Natal and Wii Motion Plus. Sony says it'll launch in the spring of 2010, but we don't know what pricing will be like yet.Update: Video added after the break!
Microsoft's Project Natal demo video has us jumping with anticipation
We're itching to get our own, uh, body time with Microsoft's Project Natal real time motion-capture accessory for the Xbox 360, but until that happens we're eagerly soaking up every last bit of footage we can -- like this teaser video shown during this morning's keynote. Lots of little tidbits here, like voice and face recognition, custom texture scanning and mapping, video chatting, and all sorts of use-your-whole-body gameplay applications. Of course, we don't know how much of this is real and how much is TV magic, but it certainly seems like Natal's got tons of potential -- check the video after the break. [Via Joystiq]
Resistance Retribution uses mo-cap technology
Motion capture is the kind of tech reserved for big-budget PS3 games. Resistance Retribution doesn't care that it's coming to PSP -- it's a big-budget game and proud of it.IGN continues its week-long look at the upcoming PSP-exclusive, and the latest video reveals the motion capture technology that powers the animation in Bend's latest shooter. We're sure you know how this stuff works: guys wear tight black suits covered in white balls that get tracked by a computer. It's oh-so-familiar, but we're thrilled to see it used in a PSP game.
Actor Ken Lally mo-capped as Resident Evil 5's Wesker
Umbrella stockholder Albert Wesker will have more than classy shades and sadistic banter to his credit when he returns in Resident Evil 5, complete with moves from a General Hospital heartthrob. IGN reports that the former S.T.A.R.S. captain will be played by stunt man and former daytime TV actor Ken Lally, who will lend an extra motion-captured step to Wesker's swagger.The actor, whose on-camera resume also includes playing "The German" in two episodes of Heroes as well as an unnamed security officer on Enterprise, got his combat chops early on as the son of an N.S.A. operative, leaving us hoping that this role will be a case of art imitating life. Well, without that whole virus thing.
Goodbye, virtual environments. Hello, real environments.
With all the talk about virtual environments (virtual world is, after all, something of a misnomer), what if you could use the real environment and bring the virtual to you? That's been the fundament of Augmented Reality for some time, and the core of many a spirited discussion -- the overlaying of information, images, representation onto what we perceive of the real world. Information about products, places, people, directions to destinations. What about games? What if you could layer a gamespace into your physical environment? Or a non-game virtual environment, like Second Life, for example? The Escapist's Howard Wen talks to Blain MacIntyre, Associate Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology who has been one of several researchers there hacking on the Second Life viewer, adding Augmented Reality features to the software. Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.
The emperor's new suit
Back in the day, when Kevin Alderman (Second Life's Stroker Serpentine) was selling his hugely successful and popular virtual Amsterdam setting, he hinted that he was moving into a related line of business. Well, we know now what business it is that he's been getting into: wearable, affordable, consumer-grade motion-capture suits. Frankly, the expensive professional capture systems that have largely been de-rigueur for motion capture for most of the history of the art require a ton of space, huge amounts of computing power, and that you dress like a luge sled pilot that's been infected with evil-alien-mime DNA and is being assaulted by amorous Pythagorean solids. Those days are soon to be over. Alderman's company Strocap is working on a simple, wireless, wearable motion-capture suit that doesn't make you look any more retarded than the average outfit of expensive athletic gear. You can wear this with regular clothing -- or without it, depending on just exactly what sorts of motions you want to capture.
Reistance 2 gets mo-capped
Insomniac's darling FPS is returning later this year. Expect it to be far more involving than the previous effort. Insomniac has mastered the PS3 tech, and will churn out some jaw-dropping visuals and some truly realistic animation. Watch this motion capture video, being used in Insomniac's upcoming FPS. It's silly, yes -- but it's the kind of stuff that needs to be done when making a game. Make sure you watch it in HD, to appreciate everything that's happening across all six of these cameras.
GDC08: Motion capture is serious business
We don't claim to be experts on motion capture technology, but here's what we gleaned from walking around the GDC Expo Hall: it's complicated. So complicated, in fact, that Organic Motion's system can claim to be a simpler solution than most even though it uses an array of 14 cameras and ships with a structure in which to record motion capture. That's right, you don't have to use the familiar mocap suit thing, but you buy the room. Apparently one artist can record the motion capture from this in real-time with no training. No word on whether or not the system comes with a dude doing continuous tae kwon do.
GDC08 exclusive: Mova brings lifelike motion capture to Unreal Engine 3
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Incredible_facial_animation_video_running_in_real_time'; Traditional, point-based motion capture (the kind brought to you by guys in black suits with reflective balls) has been great for developers that want to capture basic skeletal motion for their in-game characters. But for realistic facial work, even setups with hundreds of reflective dots leave developers with rough, blocky data that requires a lot of post-production work to even start approaching the uncanny valley.Enter motion capture company Mova, whose Contour Reality Capture system uses an array of cameras to create 100,000 polygon facial models that are accurate to within a tenth of a millimeter -- no special reflective balls required. At this year's GDC, the company is trying to attract the game industry's attention by unveiling examples of their facial modeling running in real-time on the popular Unreal Engine 3. Continue reading for exclusive, real-time video of the technology and excerpts from an interview with the Mova founder Steve Perlman.
Cinemassively: Making of Richard Hawley's Second Life
It's not every day that a musician takes you behind the scenes on how he performed. However, that's exactly what the team behind Richard Hawley's appearance in Second Life did. Hawley was there as a cheeky response to a ban on smoking in the UK, dubbing it the "first" virtual gig for "puffers." He even encouraged his fans in-world to light up. The American Cancer Society would not be pleased ...What I'm more interested in, though, is the technology behind the performance. As you can see from the video, he was fitted with motion capture sensors, so that his real-life movements would be mimicked in-world. Most performers in SL use canned animations, which makes this quite refreshing!
Wearable MoCap suits to put animators out of a job
Well, not really. One always goes for the sensational headline. This New Scientist Tech article describes a new method of capturing motion that doesn't require a huge room, a team of software engineers, and a marked ability to refrain from feeling silly about wearing the little balls all over oneself. Instead, this system is vastly more portable, captures a wider range of motion, and doesn't make the wearer feel like too much of a feeb (presumably). There's even a video to see.Okay, that's great and all, but why is this story on Massively? Because someday I envision this suit, or a modified version of it, being worn by a Second Life resident to more accurately portray her avatar's movement in-world. Or maybe a shirt-only version that allows an elaborate system of hand and arm gestures to simulate the casting of spells in Fury. The possibilities are astounding, and probably inevitable. And honestly, from the look of many of us, I'd say that anything requiring us to exercise our bodies while playing is a welcome invention.[Via Slashdot]
Cheap sensors could enable next-gen mo-cap games
Now that the Wii's thoroughly indoctrinated everyone and their mothers (and grandmothers) into the joy of motion-sensitive gaming, it's only natural to ask what's next -- and a system of cheap accelerometers, gyroscopes, and ultrasonic sound emitters developed by a team at in Switzerland could provide some answers. The sensors are linked up and used like a rudimentary motion-capture suit -- only instead of needing a controlled environment and special cameras, microphones worn on the torso pick up beeps from the emitters to locate your limbs as you flail about. The system is flexible enough to be used during active sports like skiing or bicycling for more accurate motion capture or just to control video games, since no silly ping-pong ball suit is required. The team says the $3000 system is built from off the shelf parts, yet compares favorably to commercial mo-cap systems costing tens of thousands more -- and what's more, they expect the price to fall to "hundreds of dollars" soon. Excellent -- we were thinking it was about time to do some real damage in Wii Boxing. Check a vid of the system in action after the break.
Uncharted documentary showcases mo-cap'ed characters
Heavenly Sword isn't the only game from Sony to feature extensive motion capture. The upcoming Uncharted is all about believable characters in an unbelievable story, sort of like the classic "Indiana Jones" movies. This promotional video (which will be made available on the PS Store soon) highlights the extensive motion capture required for Uncharted's cinematics. Just like Heavenly Sword, the team at Naughty Dog wanted to get real actors to play the roles of these characters, and even had them ad-lib some of the lines, just to add the subtle nuances that only a real performance can bring.[Via PlayStation.blog]
Motion capture gets slightly less embarrassing
It looks like the profession of motion capture artist could soon become a slightly more dignified one, with one upstart company doing away with the trademark spandex suit and ping-pong balls in favor of a come as you are approach. That bit of of freewheelin' technology comes to us from Organic Motion, who showed off their wares at the big Games Developers Conference in San Francisco. According to the company, instead of relying on reflections from a few markers placed on a person's body, its system automatically visualizes and captures thousands of natural points on a subject, turning it into a complete 3D scan in real-time. On the downside, the current implementation of the technology (set to launch later this year) can only scan one person at a time, although a version that scans two people is apparently on track for 2008. On a related front, a team from Germany's Max Planck Institute for Computer Science have developed a system that can scan a high-resolution 3D image of a person and quickly turn it around into a model ready to be animated or, for instance, imported as an avatar into a game. It appears that it's slightly further down the line, however, with no indication given as to when, if ever, we might see it commercialized.Read - Newsweek - Level Up, "Organic Motion's Marker-Less Motion Capture"Read - New Scientist, "Animation tool puts you in the frame, or the game"
Seen@GDC: Mocap man! On the phone!
It's hard to tell from the picture, but this man was just standing in the middle of GDC's Moscone West Hall talking on a cell phone in a full motion-capture suit. We'd like to think he was filming an animation sequence for "X-treme Cell Phone Simulator 2: Voice Mail Hell." In our imaginations, the game is going to be released for PS3 and Xbox 360 but, ironically enough, not for cell phones.
Today's hottest game video: VGA 06 motion capture skit
Today's vid is from last night's Video Game Awards on Spike TV. Granted, the awards themselves were pretty lackluster and boring, but this motion capture skit was one of the funniest things from the whole show. It's about time we learned about the more glamorous jobs in the industry, like this guy's. Check it out after the jump. Say what you will, but the guy has balls (hey, you saw that one coming a million miles away).
