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Gloria Victis updates animation tech, hires famous writers
We first heard of Gloria Victis during last year's unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign, but the medieval MMO has grown by leaps and bounds since then. The most recent update provides news on a reworked database, Warband creation, mo-cap animations, and the addition of three well-known writers for the game's lore. Jacek Komuda and Maciej Jurewicz have both worked on The Witcher and Bulletstorm, as well as dozens of other published works. Their "gritty, bloody, dark" style will show through in the game's storyline and the team at Black Eye Games hopes to show off a few lines for fans soon. [Source: Black Eye Games press release]
Developer Float Hybrid mixes Academy Awards with motion-control innovation
John Gaeta, the Academy-Award-winning visual effects supervisor behind the Matrix trilogy, founded entertainment-development company Float Hybrid in 2009, and now he's ready to plug us in. Float is working on a series of Kinect- and mobile-controlled sandbox games, many of which can now be previewed on its YouTube channel. Float is experimenting with real-time, 3D video capture, Kinect-powered sound games and mobile-device-controlled console games. One title, Infiltrator, uses both -- one person on iPad and one on Kinect -- to play a versus round. Float's projects are in the pre-alpha stage, but their potential for innovation already looks intense. Intense. Whoa, did anyone else just get deja-vu? Oh, no...
Researchers demo 3D face scanning breakthroughs at SIGGRAPH, Kinect crowd squarely targeted
Lookin' to get your Grown Nerd on? Look no further. We just sat through 1.5 hours of high-brow technobabble here at SIGGRAPH 2011, where a gaggle of gurus with IQs far, far higher than ours explained in detail what the future of 3D face scanning would hold. Scientists from ETH Zürich, Texas A&M, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University as well as a variety of folks from Microsoft Research and Disney Research labs were on hand, with each subset revealing a slightly different technique to solving an all-too-similar problem: painfully accurate 3D face tracking. Haoda Huang et al. revealed a highly technical new method that involved the combination of marker-based motion capture with 3D scanning in an effort to overcome drift, while Thabo Beeler et al. took a drastically different approach. Those folks relied on a markerless system that used a well-lit, multi-camera system to overcome occlusion, with anchor frames acting as staples in the success of its capture abilities. J. Rafael Tena et al. developed "a method that not only translates the motions of actors into a three-dimensional face model, but also subdivides it into facial regions that enable animators to intuitively create the poses they need." Naturally, this one's most useful for animators and designers, but the first system detailed is obviously gunning to work on lower-cost devices -- Microsoft's Kinect was specifically mentioned, and it doesn't take a seasoned imagination to see how in-home facial scanning could lead to far more interactive games and augmented reality sessions. The full shebang can be grokked by diving into the links below, but we'd advise you to set aside a few hours (and rest up beforehand). %Gallery-130390%
Organic Motion's OpenStage motion capture system grabs 200FPS, no backdrop required (video)
At just under $40,000 for an eight camera setup, we're hardly in hobbyist territory here, but Organic Motion's new OpenStage 2.0 motion capture system could certainly make do in the average basement. Unlike a few competing solutions shown here at SIGGRAPH, this one actually has no backdrop mandate, and better still, doesn't require you to latch a single sensor onto your subject. The magic lies within the cameras hung above -- kits are sold that contain between eight and 24 cameras, and even the latter can be handled with a single workstation. Multi-person tracking ain't no thang, and while you aren't capturing HD footage here, the high-speed VGA capability enables up to 200 frames per second to be logged. Not surprisingly, the company's aiming this squarely at the animation and medical realms, and should start shipping bundles as early as next month. Looking to take down Pixar? You'll need a lot more than 40 large, but perhaps the video after the break will give you a bit of inspiration. %Gallery-130288%
L.A. Noire's amazing MotionScan facial capture system demonstrated (video)
In gaming, 3D graphics get more powerful, environments get more expansive, enemies get more intelligent, but still facial animations haven't progressed much since Pac-Man chomped his first power pellet in 1980. Finally, a major breakthrough courtesy of Australian company Depth Analysis. It has developed technology called MotionScan, which enables a high-res 3D recreation of a person's face -- not just capturing bits and pieces of facial animation but their entire head, right down to the hairstyle. It's getting its first use in next year's L.A. Noire, a 1940s PS3 and Xbox 360 murder mystery game from Rockstar, and while we don't know enough about the title to be able to say whether it's worth plunking down a pre-order now, after watching the video embedded below it's clear that the bar has been raised.
Quantic Dream renovates mocap studio
A lot of times game journalists complain that December is light on news, with all the big releases for the year behind us. But we've always thought they were just a bunch of Negative Nancys. In an industry as robust and busy as ours, how tough can it be to find something to write about? ... So, umm ... Quantic Dream renovated its motion capture studio. Now it's got like 64 cameras, and some sound-proof curtains and stuff, so that's ... you know, a good number of cameras. So ... We were going to make a Heavy Rain joke in which we suggest it "renovate" its voice capture studio by burning it to the ground. ... You know, because the acting was so bad? But it turns out that this new studio can do voice capture too, so that's not really that funny anymore. So, yeah.
Ford assembly line uses mo-cap tech to build cars years ahead of time (video)
Years ago, Ford would have to physically build all the parts for a new vehicle, and only discover afterwards whether it was feasible to have humans assemble the contraption. Now, it relies on the same motion-capture systems used to shoot your favorite 3D movies and games to test the vehicle's construction in virtual reality, years before a single scrap of metal needs to be cut. IDG got to see the system in action at Ford's Assembly Ergonomics Lab in Michigan; you can find their report at the source link and a video after the break.
LA Noire characters revealed by mocap casting call
Rockstar's LA Noire has been shrouded in so much mystery that its very existence has been called into question. A recent casting call for actors not only confirms the game's continued development, but also reveals the many (if not all) characters to be featured in the game. The call asks for "STRONG ACTORS, able to handle LOTS OF dialog" for a cast of supporting characters, comprised mostly of detectives, police officers and the occasional crook. The casting call is looking for a face similar to actors Gary Cooper or Gregory Peck (pictured above) for the protagonist -- Cole Phelps. Co-stars and supporting roles, such as jazz singer Elsa Lichtmann, will only be required to perform for 10 days or less. However, the actor chosen to play Cole Phelps will work for three months, from November to January, to record his performance for the game. It's evident from the large roster of characters and the use of Hollywood actors that LA Noire is intended to be quite the cinematic game. However, with only three months of mocap, it still pales in comparison to the upcoming Heavy Rain -- which demanded nine months of motion capture work. [Via Superannuation; Image Source]
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.
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.
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.
How Age of Conan mo-capped their horse mounts
MTV Multiplayer's Tracey John is their resident MMO expert, and today on the site she has a great post up discussing Age of Conan. Instead of the usual filler about PvP or the game's graphics, though, Tracey tossed a question to AoC Product Director Jorgen Tharaldsen about their mo-cap process. As we've previously discussed, one of Conan's back-of-the-box features is mounted combat. In order to get the realistic movement required for that sort of intricate system, Funcom used traditional motion capture processes on distinctly non-traditional subjects: horses.Tharaldsen responded to Tracey's query with several pictures taken at the session, and a few quick words about the individuals who did it for them. It seems, somewhere in England, there is an entire stable and stadium set up just for this sort of work. The submitted images also show the mo-cap transition process, moving the data to a final product state. If you haven't seen pictures of horses taped up with ping pong balls today, make sure to check it out. Then read on below the cut for a demo video of mounted combat, taken at this year's GDC event.
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.
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]
Andy Serkis talks mo-cap in Heavenly Sword
Yeah, we're impressed by the emotion delivered by the motion captured performances in Heavenly Sword. Andy "the guy who played Gollum" Serkis talked about his role as Dramatic Director of the game to CVG. Playing the game's villain meant internalizing a different kind of mentality for the actor: "Well, Bohan was this dictator that created his own moral universe where he was right. Rather than just playing an evil guy, you have to sort of believe in what you're doing - most dictators do. So I've been reading about dictators."Unfortunately, it appears that Serkis' skill at acting far exceeds his ability to play games. "I'm pretty hopeless at games," he admits. "I love playing Shadow Of The Colossus, just riding round on my horse looking for colossi. I haven't actually found any yet, though." Andy, one clue to you: look for the moving giant in the distance.[Thanks, Random1448!]
