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Real-time Cutscene Workflow ～ The Making of ＦＦＸⅢ Cutscenes ～
Real-time Cutscene Workflow～ The Making of ＦＦＸⅢ Cutscenes ～
Self-introduction
Yusuke Tanaka
Motion Designer: FINAL FANTASY VII, VIII, IX, X, X-2, XI
Cutscene Motion Director: FINAL FANTASY XIII
Koji Kobayashi
CG Movie Lead Artist: FINAL FANTASY VII, VIII, IX, X-2 FINAL FANTASY the Movie
Cutscene Director: FINAL FANTASY XIII
Overview
Live Editing
In-house
Tools
• Crystal Tools
• Plugins
No Going
back!
Multitaskin
g
Limited Work Schedule
Overwhelming Number
of Tasks
Preserving High
Quality
Cost
Bala
nce
High
Low
Various Cutscenes
Pri
ori
ty in
S
tory
tellin
g
High
Low
ABCD
Various Cutscenes
Multitasking
No going back!
Workflow Principles
The Teams
Scenario Story creation
Programming Game programming Tool development
Art Characters Backgrounds Props
VFX Battles Fields Cutscenes
Storyboard Storyboard
Sound Music Voiceovers SE
Planning Events Battles Fields
Character Modeling Characters Monsters Props
Character Texturing Characters Monsters Props Shader setup
Motion Battles Fields Character rigging and setup Cutscene body motion Cutscene simulation Facials MoCAPCutscenes
Layout MoCAP direction Lighting Post-effects
3DBG Environment
modeling Environment
texturing Props modeling Props texturing Shader setup
Menu Design Screen designing Icons
Localization Translation Subtitles
Cutscene Flowchart
Scenario
Storyboard planning
Storyboard
Storyboard review
STEP 1 movie
MoCAP planning
MoCAP shooting
POST processing
STEP 2 movie
Planning
Body motion Temp. facials
Simulation Final facials
Merge
On-target preview
Data integration
Lighting
On-target rendering
VFX design
VFX production
Layout
Motion VFX
Lighting
Cutscene Flowchart
Scenario
Storyboard planning
Storyboard
Storyboard review
STEP 1 movie
MoCAP planning
MoCAP shooting
POST processing
STEP 2 movie
On-target preview
Data integration
Lighting
On-target rendering
VFX design
VFX production
Planning
Body motion Temp. facials
Simulation Final facials
Merge
From the Storyboard, through Scene Creationto On-Target Preview
Cutscene Flowchart
ScenarioStoryboard planning
StoryboardStoryboard
reviewSTEP 1 movie
MoCAP planning
MoCAP shooting
POST processing
STEP 2 movie
STEP 1 movie
STEP 2 movie
Scene Creation Workflow
Storyboard
The Scene Creation Process
Creating the Previz
Using MotionBuilder for Scene Creation
A standard layout tool with plenty of features
Easy to manage MoCAP data
64bit OS compatible
Customized Camera Tool
Non-linear camera editing is made possible
• Autodesk MotionBuilder• In-house Custom plug-ins
Scene Creation Workflow
MoCAP Planning
Resource Documents for MoCAP Preparation
Resource Documents for MoCAP Preparation
Props for MoCAP Shooting
A Sword A Speeder Bike
A Cell Phone Guns
Shooting the MoCAP
Scene Creation Workflow
Using MoCAP Data to create scenes
Final Scene Creation Using MoCAP Data• Autodesk MotionBuilder• In-house Custom plug-ins
Scene Creation Workflow
MotionBuilder ⇒ In-house Tool
MotionBuilder ⇒ Target Tool
An automated pipeline from the MB-Story scene to the target in-house tool
MotionBuilder CrystalTools (CutEditor)In-house tool
MotionBuilder ⇒ In-house Tool
The in-house tool converts the MB sceneinto the desired format for the game
• Autodesk MotionBuilder• In-house Custom plug-ins
MotionBuilder Step 2 Scene• Autodesk MotionBuilder• In-house Custom plug-ins
In-house Tool (CrystalTools – CutEditor)
• Crystal Tools
Cutscene Flowchart
On-target preview
Planning
Body motion Temp. facials
Simulation Final facials
Merge
Scenario
Storyboard planning
Storyboard
Storyboard review
STEP 1 movie
MoCAP planning
MoCAP shooting
POST processing
STEP 2 movie
Data integration
Lighting
On-target rendering
VFX design
VFX production
Cutscene Flowchart
Planning
Body motion Temp. facials
Simulation Final facials
Merge
Scenario
Storyboard planning
Storyboard
Storyboard review
STEP 1 movie
MoCAP planning
MoCAP shooting
POST processing
STEP 2 movie
On-target preview
Data integration
Lighting
On-target rendering
VFX design
VFX production
Cutscene Motion Workflow
Step 2
Body motion Temp. facials
Simulation Final facials
Final voices
Motion integration
Temp. voices
Motion Teams
MoCAP Team
Facial Team
Body Motion Team
Simulation Team
Cutscene Motion Workflow
Step 2
Body motion Temp. facials
Simulation Final facials
Final voices
Motion integration
Temp. voices
Check!
Check!
Check!
Simultaneous
Simultaneous
The Motion Pipeline
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Facial
Ｍｉｇａ
Simulation
ＤＣＣ Tool
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Body
On-target rendering
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Motion Work fileASCII data miga
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Merge
Crystal Tools or DCC tool
Cutscene Motion Workflow
Step 2
Body motion Temp. facials
Simulation Final facials
Final voices
Motion integration
Temp. facials
Body Motion Adjustments
Advantages of MoCAP Data Post-processing
Cooperating with the Cutscene Team
Predominance of Humanoid Characters
• Autodesk MotionBuilder
MotionBuilder XSI
Body Motion
Mig
Model
Ｍｉｇａ
Motion
CCF
Camera
Specialties Speed
Quality
ToolFeatur
es
Cutscene Motion Workflow
Step 2
Body motion Temp. facials
Simulation Final facials
Final voices
Motion integration
Temp .voices
Facials• Autodesk XSI
Lip-synch with the Phoneme Analyzer
Hand-made on the XSI
Phoneme Analyzer
Pri
ori
ty in
S
tory
tellin
g
High
Low
ABCD
Facial Creation Workflow
■ MoCAP
• Temp. voice recording
• Finalizing dialogue
■ Final voice recording
• Final voice data• Final layout
■ Step 2 movie
• Temp. voice layout
• Pre-final layout• Temp. work file
■Body motion tweaking
■ Stub creation
• Temp. voice data• Pre-final layout• Temp. body
motion
■ Finalization
• Final voice data• Adjusted body motion
Sound Data and Layout
csv
Sound Layout Cutscene Team
xls
File IDs and Dialogues Sound Team
wav
Sound Files Sound Team
Integrate related information with PHP: ・ Dialogue text ・ Layout info ・ WAV file availabilityAccess above info through web browser interface.
Load voice data from XSI NetView
Facial Rigging• Autodesk XSI• In-house GUI
Asahi Kasei『 VORERO』
Lip-synch with the Phoneme Analyzer
Cutscene Motion Workflow
Step 2
Body motion Temp. facials
Simulation Final facials
Final voices
Motion integration
Temp .voices
Operate on a PS3 or XBox
No pre-calculated data needed due to in-game calculation
Low-cost secondary animations
Operate on a PC
No calculations needed due to the Animation DB
Full control by the artist
Simulation in Real-time Cutscenes
DCC tools CrystalTools
Simultaneous use
Manual AdjustmentsBatch Processing
Ideal Workflow for SimulationLoad rigs for physics calculations and body
motion
Specify the frame range for physics calculation
Set up a pre-roll frame
Setting the cache path to store calculation result
Set additional force
Add collision objects
Calculate cloth and spring physics
Bake the result on to the character
Render the animation
Spring Rigs (hair)• Autodesk XSI
Cloth Rigs and Offset Tools• Autodesk XSI
Tweaking the Physics Model
Polymesh and Bones• Autodesk XSI
Weight Mapping• Autodesk XSI
Cutscene Motion Workflow
Step 2
Body motion Temp. facials
Simulation Final facials
Final voices
Motion integration
Temp .voices
Cutscene Flowchart
VFX design
VFX production
Scenario
Storyboard planning
Storyboard
Storyboard review
STEP 1 movie
MoCAP planning
MoCAP shooting
POST processing
STEP 2 movie
Planning
Body motion Temp. facials
Simulation Final facials
Merge
On-target preview
Data integration
Lighting
On-target rendering
Creating Cutscene VFX
Creating Cutscene VFX
Calculate a cost estimate based on
the Previz
Setting up a Resource Library
Model Resources• Autodesk Maya
Creating Effects with EffectEditor• Crystal Tools
Implementing Effects into the Scene
Integration with Pre-rendered Movies
Pre-rendered movie
Real-time Composition
Cutscene Flowchart
Data integration
Lighting
On-target rendering
Scenario
Storyboard planning
Storyboard
Storyboard review
STEP 1 movie
MoCAP planning
MoCAP shooting
POST processing
STEP 2 movie
Planning
Body motion Temp. facials
Simulation Final facials
Merge
On-target preview
VFX design
VFX production
Lighting and Post-effects
Advanced hardware calls foradvanced lighting
Lighting
Vanilla
Lighting
Tweaked
Lighting
Vanilla
Lighting
Tweaked
Lighting
Efficient Lighting Workflow
Final results can be monitored via live editing
Efficient Lighting Workflow
• Crystal Tools
An essential element to creating the final image
Post-effect Filters
Without filters
Post-effect Filters
Color correction
Post-effect Filters
Depth of field (final)
Post-effect Filters
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Ａｆｔｅｒ
without filters
Post-effect Filters
Color correction
Post-effect Filters
Depth of field
Post-effect Filters
Glare (final)
Post-effect Filters
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Ａｆｔｅｒ
The Future of Real-time Cutscenes in Console Games
Lighting and Post-Effects Summary
Now on Sale!!
Now on Sale!!
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