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The strange life of video game voice actor Ashly Burch
It took two years for Ashly Burch to record all of Aloy's dialogue in Horizon Zero Dawn. This was after about a year of auditioning for a mysterious new project from the creators of the Killzone series -- Burch had no idea what this new game was or even which role she was auditioning for. She had no idea it was the beginning of a new mainstream, multi-million dollar franchise from Sony Interactive Entertainment, and she didn't even realize she was reading for the lead role. "I think I'm just extremely lucky," Burch says. "I had no idea what Life is Strange was going to be when I auditioned. I had no idea what Horizon was going to be when I auditioned."
Disney can digitally recreate your teeth
Digital models of humans can be uncannily accurate these days, but there's at least one area where they fall short: teeth. Unless you're willing to scan the inside of someone's mouth, you aren't going to get a very faithful representation of someone's pearly whites. Disney Research and ETH Zurich, however, have a far easier solution. They've just developed a technique to digitally recreate teeth beyond the gum line using little more than source data and everyday imagery. The team used 86 3D scans to create a model for an "average" set of teeth, and wrote an algorithm that adapts that model based on what it sees in the contours of teeth in photos and videos.
Disney makes facial capture tech more practical for movies
If you don't see facial motion capture everywhere in movies and video games, there's probably a good reason for it. In order to train a capture system to match expressions, you frequently have to record the actor making all kinds of faces in different conditions... that's a lot of effort, especially for studios that don't have much time or money. Disney Research has a better way. It recently developed a face capture system that uses only a tiny number of recordings and synthetically generates the data you need to train the system. The solution is a uniformly-lit multi-camera rig (only one camera is active, the rest are for lighting) that creates an adjustable 3D model of the actor's face that you can use to create the info you need.
VR brings better motion capture to your video games
The problem with conventional motion capture is that you can't see the world you're supposed to be acting in. How do you get a feel for that epic fantasy landscape when you're staring at an empty room? Cloudhead Games has an idea. For its upcoming The Gallery: Call of the Starseed, it's using HTC's Vive virtual reality headset for motion capture, not just gameplay. The headset immerses actors in a scene while giving them more helpful teleprompting and visual cues. And when it's combined with a camera-free motion system like the Perception Neuron, you don't need a big, dedicated room -- performers can wander around a quiet corner of the office.
Kevin Spacey will teach you how to act for $90
Masterclass is an online education service with a twist: all of the teachers are household names in their chosen subject. The website launched with an acting track that included five hours of video coaching from Hollywood royalty, Dustin Hoffman. Now, however, the company has decided to add another two-time Oscar winner to its stable after signing a deal with Kevin Spacey. He'll be offering five hours of pre-recorded clips across 29 lessons as he takes a group of students through his process, plus guidance from Masterclass' slightly less famous online coaches.
Video game voice actors may go on strike
Voice acting in video games is serious and often thankless work. You have to recite hours of dialog that doesn't always get heard, and only a handful of actors (like Nolan North, John DiMaggio and Troy Baker) have high-profile careers. However, they're now fighting to get a bigger piece of the pie. The actor union SAG-AFTRA is considering voting for a strike that would push for more payments and greater rights for game voice actors. It's proposing that these performers should get bonuses every time a game sells 2 million copies, and stunt pay when they have to strain their voices -- think about every game where your character screamed from taking damage. The guild also wants stunt coordinators for motion capture work, and it hopes to prevent companies from both hiring their own unionless staff as well as instituting fines over relatively arbitrary faults, such as failing to audition for small roles.
Voice acting in Warlords of Draenor
There was a moment in the Warlords of Draenor beta when I realized that I was getting a quest from Frank Welker. Aka Megatron. Aka Nibbler from Futurama. Aka a million other voices. The man has 728 credits as an actor on IMDB, and here he is, doing a voice in the Warlords beta. Specifically, Reshad the storekeeper. See, they recently added a ton of voice acting to the beta - pretty much every character you interact with has significant voice work put into it, and for the most part it's frankly stunning. I'm not trying to exaggerate here, but the difference between this expansion and, as an example, Lady Sindragosa's Betraaaaaaaaays you dialogue is night and day. Heck, just pop over to Frostfire Ridge at level 90, or run through the Tanaan Jungle opening, and you'll hear a variety of voice actors, more so than World of Warcraft has ever boasted.
Star Trek Online goes behind the scenes with Denise Crosby
When Star Trek Online launches its first expansion, Legacy of Romulus, players will find themselves facing off against the formidable Empress Sela right from the start. The return of Sela also marks the return of veteran actress Denise Crosby to the game, and the community team behind STO had a chance to speak with Crosby about returning to the franchise and to the same characters she portrayed years ago on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Crosby mentions that while she enjoyed the chance to reprise the role of Tasha Yar (a character she jokingly says simply refuses to die), revisiting Sela is a chance to dive deeper into a character who was not fully realized during her first appearances. Sela's life is the Empire, and she feels that any means necessary to restore the power and prestige of her people is more than justified. Click past the break to see the full video and learn a little bit more about the face of the Romulan Empire in the expansion.
Actor teases new Kingdom Hearts voice work
Jesse McCartney is a voice actor for the Kingdom Hearts series; he's played Roxas for a few different games now. Earlier today, McCartney tweeted that he was "recording the next chapter" of the series, along with a picture of Roxas on a monitor, which you can see above. Unfortunately, the tweet and picture featuring the game have been removed; however, an earlier update confirmed McCartney is currently "behind the mic" working on something.The question remains: what game in the Kingdom Hearts series is McCartney working on? The likely answer is it's the North American release of Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix, which features Final Mix, Chain of Memories, and 358/2 Days. Time will tell.
Report: Ashton Kutcher is going method as Steve Jobs
Ashton Kutcher is currently shooting the first of two Steve Jobs biographical movies coming out soon, and the reports from the set via RadarOnline are that he's taking the role very seriously indeed. Crew members claim that Kutcher is trying to stay in the role of Jobs around the clock, demanding perfection and work from crew members even when it's not really appropriate. "He was preparing for a scene the other day where he had to fire a bunch of people and he got himself really worked up," says a source from the set. "We were taking a break between filming and sitting around relaxing when Ashton walked past and screamed at us, 'If you are just gonna sit in these fu**king cubicles like you're at home you might as well stay at home.'" Does that sound like Jobs? "Everyone thought he was actually yelling at us to leave," the report goes on, "we didn't realize first of all that he was just 'being in character.'" During the actual filming of the scene, Kutcher's Jobs was asked if he was going to fire everyone, and the crew member says the character just serenely responded, "Probably." We'll have to wait and see if the method acting works, I guess. Kutcher's film is called "Jobs: Get Inspired." James Woods, Dermot Mulroney and JK Simmons are also cast in the film, and it's set to come out next year. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Resident Evil 6 listed in voice actor's résumé
Here's your first sign that production has actually started on a Resident Evil 6 -- besides, you know, all those Capcom producers saying it's going to be a long, long wait. Voice actor Joe Cappelletti (whose voice you might not know but have probably heard anyway) lists the unannounced game as one of his recent voice credits, as you can see on the page with the distracting background above. Cappelletti also has Combat Wings listed as a Capcom title, however, and there is currently no game that Capcom makes with that name. There is a Combat Wings: Battle of Britain by City Interactive, but nothing Capcom has announced. Maybe Cappelletti is just confused -- he also lists Steel Battalion on there, but presumably that is the Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor title coming to Kinect. Not that he wouldn't know what he worked on, but clearly he's been busy. At any rate, if Resident Evil 6 production is underway, that's good to know -- hopefully we've got one or two of the eight years it's expected to take out of the way already.
Bob Hoskins is not the biggest Super Mario Bros. fan
In a recent interview with Guardian, legendary actor Bob Hoskins went on record about the highlights of his prestigious cinematic career. In one section of the quickfire Q&A, Hoskins talked about one of his greatest film achievements to date: "What is the worst job you've done? Super Mario Brothers. What has been your biggest disappointment? Super Mario Brothers. If you could edit your past, what would you change? I wouldn't do Super Mario Brothers." We're having trouble comprehending why Hoskins is so hostile towards Cinergi Pictures' 1993 blockbuster -- we think it set the bar for video game-to-movie adaptations. It just set that bar very, very low. Like, low enough for Street Fighter to hurdle over with grace and ease, which is saying something. [Thanks, Chris!]
Gaming's worst voice acting set to hilarious face acting
Dean is a man after our own heart. This video, in which he mimes the 50 worst video game voice acting lines with brilliant facial expressions, reveals a natural talent for acting. One day, this guy will be a star -- maybe just on YouTube and gaming blogs, but a star nonetheless! Are you watching, James Lipton?
Milo's 'drama director' discusses emotion-capture
Milo and Kate -- Lionhead Studios' industry-wowing Kinect demo, first revealed at E3 2009 -- has been in limbo following last September's comment from Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer, who wasn't "convinced" the product would make it to market. We're still waiting with bated breath for news of some kind of playable implementation, but in the meantime, Milo's so-called "drama director," John Dower, has released a video diary featuring the real Milo (well, the mocap actor) and a behind-the-scenes look at creating the emotion within this would-be virtual boy. Check out the video (which contains a fair share of gameplay footage) after the jump. We warn you, though: It's just as intriguing and exciting as the first time you saw "Project Milo," which might send you into uncontrollable spells of worry that a finished product will never materialize. As always, we'll keep our fingers crossed.
LotRO's Yule Festival Theatre transforms players into actors
It started as a simple idea: To include an interactive theater experience with Lord of the Rings Online's revamped Yule Festival. However, as Turbine's "Rhidden" writes in a new dev diary, the simple idea became fiendishly complex in application. With the advent of next week's festival, players will be invited to Frostbluff Theatre in Winter-home to watch "The Curious Disappearance of Mad Baggins," the story of Bilbo's vanishing at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring told from the Hobbits' point of view. What's interesting is that Turbine wants players to be involved, both as audience members (throwing flower petals or rotten fruit, based on the performances) and as potential actors (who may "choose their own adventure" with emotes to complete the story). Because the LotRO team wanted this to be more than just a "Simon Says" game, they created an intricate script and whipped up a powerful, yet invisible, NPC called "The Audience" that handles the interaction and score-keeping. Based on performances, actors can be rewarded with titles for stellar performances as well as horrible ones. Rhidden promises that no two performances should play out the same. Read more about this truly unique festival event over at LotRO's site!
Geminoid-F takes the stage for Japanese play
Japan's uncannily realistic robots have been creeping us out for years, but one was deemed emotive enough to have a stint on stage -- yesterday evening, Hiroshi Ishiguro's Geminoid-F made its debut in a Japanese play. It's a fairly small step for robotkind, really, as the android was completely controlled by a real-life human actress from a soundproof room behind the stage, and no attempt was made to pass off the robot as human, as Geminoid portrays a caretaker android assigned to a dying girl. Still, the possibilities must have Hollywood agents agape -- it's only a matter of time before the world's highest paid actors can literally phone in their lines.
Anti-Aliased: History of the world, part one
So, besides the Mel Brooks reference in the title, what do I have in store for you this time? Well, in short, I have an idea. Nay, I have an inspiration. Plus, I have a story to boot, so it's really a two for one deal this week in my column. You better read fast, for this deal won't last long! The one thing that many MMORPGs completely miss is making the player character feel triumphant and heroic. When making the conversion from roleplaying game to online roleplaying game, we frequently miss out on the one thing that makes pen and paper RPGs so unique: a history. This week in Anti-Aliased, I really want to cover the concept of history as it pertains to MMORPGs, and make the appeal that more MMOs need to invest in a persistent storyline in addition to the standard canned quests that we already utilize in every game under the sun.
The Tattered Notebook: Roleplaying advice for veterans and newbies alike
Hello there adventurers! Seccia has taken the week off to go visit the remainder of her family in Neriak so I'm stepping in to help out with her column! This week in The Tattered Notebook, I thought it would be a good time to talk about roleplaying a character. Roleplaying isn't just jumping into a game world and talking in a funny accent. It's also not just making up a character and spamming a scene with emotes. Good roleplaying skills take both time and practice to learn. And while I can't teach you everything in the space of a single column, I can give roleplayers, both veterans of the craft and newbies, a few tips to polish up your roleplaying skills and enhance the power of a scene.
VGA 2009: Claudia Black talks about our favorite subject, Claudia Black
This past Saturday brought us the Spike TV Video Game Awards and – before experiencing the litany of world exclusives that awaited us inside – we spent some time outside cruising the red carpet and talking (briefly!) to many of the game developers and talent. We squeezed them for information as fast as we could while simultaneously wishing them holiday cheer and good tidings. Yes, it was as awkward as it sounds. Here's what we learned from the voice of Chloe from Uncharted 2, and star of Farscape, Stargate, and more, Claudia Black.. So you've jumped genres from science fiction television shows to swashbuckling video games. How has that been? Oh, I think it is all one in the same, isn't it? It is all part of the same genre. So I mean for me, it has been a very easy segue into this, and I think it has sort of corresponded at the same time with the industries starting to coalesce, too. You know, the film industry, which is sometimes considered, I think, to be a snobbish cousin of the gaming industry, is now really starting to take notice. I'm sure the smell of money is helping a bit. Yeah. I mean I think it really came to the floor when Van Helsing the film was kind of like the launch pad for the game, and the game was sort of more relevant and important, in a way, than the movie. You've done a lot of video game voices, but was this the first time you did motion capture? Yes, this was my first motion capture experience. I am a huge proponent of it because I think what impressed me about Naughty Dog's is that they respect and appreciate the magic that occurs over time between the performers. That you can have a great script, and you can have great voice actors in the booth, but you are never going to recreate that incredible alchemy that occurs with people in a room together. And they hired such amazing actors, you know, theater trained, very experienced actors to work together. And also, they were very specific and particular about whom they hired based on personalities because they wanted us to be a really tight knit family. And every single day it was fun. Every single day. And I know that games have become a very serious business, but they wanted the levity and the bonding to be the overriding essence on the set. What is next for you? Well I just wrapped up a little independent film called Rain from Stars which is written and directed by Steven Wallace and French Stewart, a wonderful comedic actor, and Jeremy London, Brian Krause ... a really lovely cast. It's called Rain from Stars, and is like 12 Angry Men meets Saw.
VGA 2009: Nolan North talks about Nolan North
This past Saturday brought us the Spike TV Video Game Awards and – before experiencing the litany of world exclusives that awaited us inside – we spent some time outside cruising the red carpet and talking (briefly!) to many of the game developers and talent. We squeezed them for information as fast as we could while simultaneously wishing them holiday cheer and good tidings. Yes, it was as awkward as it sounds. Here's what we learned from Nolan North. You're quickly becoming one of the recognizable stars of video game voiceover acting. How did that happen? You know ... I don't really know how that happened. I was lucky to land a lot of good roles in good games that became really popular ... Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, Prince of Persia, and they became really popular so fast and my name just happened to be attached to them. And you know, with the success of Uncharted -- the first one and then the second ... I don't know. It's just a phenomenon that I'm just lucky to be a part of. Claudia Black told us that the motion capture sessions were the real key to making the relationship between Nathan and Chloe seem real. What do you think? Absolutely. A lot of times we're just in a booth behind a microphone, unshaven and just ready to go ... and alone, more than anything. I mean, working with all of these actors, it's like doing theater somewhere. As a matter of fact, it's like what we used to call Black Box Theater back in college. There really wasn't much of a set ... we were just out there doing our thing, but the interaction was there and I think that's what translated so well to a video game.
