ImageMetrics' facial animation used for UT3, GTA IV, others

Posted Feb 17, 2008 at 2:35AM by QJ Staff Listed in: PS3, Xbox 360, PC Gaming Tags: 2K Games, Epic Games, Rockstar North, Rockstar San Diego, San Diego
Ó


A game's graphics is one of the key features that heightens the gameplay experience. The more realistic it appears, the better it looks. Because of this, developers such as 2K Games, Epic Games, Rockstar North, and Rockstar San Diego have tapped ImageMetrics to do facial animations for their games.

Top Spin 3 (Xbox 360, PS3), Unreal Tournament 3 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3), Midnight Club Los Angeles (Xbox 360, PS3), and Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360, PS3) have all received the ImageMetrics treatment, as ImageMetrics developed (or is developing) the facial animations for the characters in these games.

ImageMetrics says that their animation technology animates faces without using markers or makeup and is able to convert human facial movement onto faces of game characters.

Epic Games' president, Michael Capps, commented that,

It was critical to maintain our high level of cinematic quality while reducing the amount of manual animation effort. We chose Image Metrics to be our partner on Unreal Tournament 3 and were quite pleased with their effort and the end result.


Having this said, why not check out the video below to see how ImageMetrics is able to perform their magic with facial animation.




Via Gamasutra

 
 
 

Comments [refresh]

by CHUCKINGROCKSATSPACESHIPS - 2008-02-16 23:40
» Awesome!

Now only if they would use this and remake Final Fantasy VII. Damn! The possibilities for it to be incredible are here now! Why not give us something great again. Oh well, I hope they prove Final Fantasy XIII to be even better, but how? Number 7 has one of the most, original, long, engrossing stories ever that help the player care about the characters, even though by todays standards, the game models are very crude and basic. Retelling it in detailed high def would be one of the ultimate experiences. If I was on my deathbed, I would request this to be my final game to play.

by Kingofdaberbz - 2008-02-17 18:26
» kewl

This would be more useful on the next-gen consoles though.The facial expressions don't look to good in GTA4 and UT3.

Add QJ.NET
Add to My Yahoo!
Google Reader Subscribe with Bloglines
Add  to your Kinja digest Subscribe in NewsGator Online
Subscribe with Pluck RSS reader Add 'www.qj.net' to Newsburst from CNET News.com
Subscribe with SearchFox RSS del.icio.us www.qj.net
Add to Technorati Favorite! Add to My AOL
furl! it Stumble for Treehugger!