Post on 10-Jul-2015
transcript
Explore current technical challenges for
computer games:
Advanced character animation
(including motion capture)
By Abi Belsham
"Almost every video game today uses character animation.
It’s become a standard element in modern entertainment
software"
Mark Stuart (video games designer for Bionic Games)
Animation has developed
and moved on from the
traditional ways of using a
pen & pencil.
Video games have evolved
since the early days of the
two-dimensional table tennis
game ‘Pong’, which was first
released as an arcade game
in 1972.
These days, gamers demand a far more immersive gaming
experience involving fully believable and realistic characters
who inhabit elaborate worlds and are involved on complex
missions.
Computer game animations are created in loops, with action
sequences starting and ending with the same pose, which is
looped to the next action sequence. A seamless transition
between one loop cycle and the next is necessary.
Animated characters need to carry out different types of
actions, such as walking, running, completing tasks and
fighting.
There is a limited list of actions for computer game animation
characters:
Idle
Walk
Run
Jump
Crouch
Attack
Get hit
Death
Gamers need to identify with, and be sympathetic to, the characters. By creating
empathy for the animated character, gamers become more involved in the game.
Gamers must believe in the world of the game and not put off by any strange
facial animations or uneven motion of the animated character.
The animated character will need to be seen from all angles in the game so it
must look correct from all points of views.
Animated characters must seem real.
Different techniques are used in character animation, such as Key framing,
Skeletal Animation and Motion Capture.
Motion Capture is an advanced animation technique that speeds up the
development time of skeletal animation and increases the level of realism.
Motion Capture is where the motion of a living person or animal is captured using
video cameras and sensors attached to key points on the real persons body.
eg computer game Battlefield 4:
During the motion capture process, a real person acts out the required sequence
of actions as if they were the computer character.
The actors movements are recorded to a computer through video cameras and
sensors. The movements are then applied to the animated computer character.
Developments in the use of motion capture for computer games are ongoing. For
the game L.A. Noire, the actors were recorded by 32 cameras to capture facial
expressions from every angle. eg computer game L.A. Noire
Animal characters are also required for video game characters.
Horses play important roles in games such as Call of Duty and Red Dead
Redemption and motion capture is used to obtain realistic movement of the
animal.
Obtaining good acting performances from the motion capture actor is becoming
increasingly important.
When animals are used as the motion capture actor, there are additional
challenges: getting the animal to perform when required or to remain still can be
hard and the sensors are often shaken off their bodies.
The actor’s body and facial structure may be very different to the animated
character. Animators are required to bring the animated characters to life, to make
sure the movements of the actor look good when performed by the animated
characters.
Improving the detail, quality and realism of facial animation is an ongoing
challenge. Facial animations need to come close to conveying realistic human
likeness and although facial capture will reproduce a smile, it still takes an animator
to make it a sarcastic smile or a bashful smile.
Crying is rare in games – fluid simulation is extremely challenging.
Computer game animation has taken big leaps forward through the use of
technology like motion capture.
Achieving realism isn’t cheap and costs could get out of control with the ongoing
drive to increase the quality of the animated characters.
Smart phones and tablets have their own challenges although mobile isn’t that far
away from the current games consoles.
New challenges lie ahead now that the language of cinema is being incorporated
into the game, a good example being Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.
Animators still have a really important job to do, regardless of the technology used.
"Though our tools and technology are constantly changing,
the core of what we do as animators remains the same."
Martine Quesnel (animator at Ubisoft) (Ref. 1)
http://www.animationarena.com/character-animation.html http://www.develop-
online.net/tools-and-tech/putting-the-character-in-animation/0117503
http://www.develop-online.net/tools-and-tech/the-next-gen-step-in-character-
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storytelling-video-games-
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1%2FCharacterAnimation.pdf&ei=Oq6UU9KZJ8XH7AbKioH4DQ&usg=AFQjCNG6
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http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/papers/furniss.html
https://www.mixamo.com/fuse/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Noire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong
http://forums.cgsociety.org/archive/index.php/t-68289.html
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeletal_animation
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http://www.penny-arcade.com/report/article/animation
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/breaking-in-the-digital-horses-of-red-dead-
redemption/1100-6261863/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/05/02/the-best-black-
ops-2-screenshot-treyarch-motion-capture-horse-ridden-by-man-with-toy-ak/#null
http://singledoc.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/ianface1.jpg
http://gamequiche.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/pong.jpg
http://static.tumblr.com/73xd9qg/xX3lpulq3/heavyrain.png
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7IfChvivKo#t=47
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL9wsEFohTw
http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/05/02/the-best-black-ops-2-screenshot-treyarch-
motion-capture-horse-ridden-by-man-with-toy-ak/#null
http://reddead.wikia.com/wiki/Horse_Breeds
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18456747
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_development
http://forums.cgsociety.org/
http://www.xsens.com/customer-cases/insomniac-games-resistance-3/
http://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2013/Volume-36-Issue-3-Mar-Apr-2013-
/Games-to-Film-and-Around-Again.aspx
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kinematics
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