Sydney-based Depth Analysis has revealed MotionScan, a new system for 3D motion capture designed for the film and video game industries.
The system will make its debut in Rockstar and Team Bondi's L.A. Noire, where all involved say it has streamlined post-production processing and reduced budgets.
"Traditional motion capture could never bring to life the subtle nuances of the chaotic criminal underworld of L.A. Noire in the same way as MotionScan," says Team Bondi founder and director Brendan McNamara.
Thanks to the tech, "the emotional performances of the actors allow the story to unfold in a brand new way," McNamara enthuses. "Through this revolutionary technology, we’re able to deliver audiences a truly unique and revolutionary game."
Depth Analysis explains that MotionScan uses 32 high-definition cameras to capture 3D performances at up to 30 frames per second -- according to the developer, it's able to capture up to 50 minutes of final footage and capable of processing up to 20 minutes of facial animation automatically per day.
It doesn't require phosphorescent paint be applied to the actors, nor staff to clean up data or animate fine details by hand, the company asserts.
"2010 continues the trend of high production values in both triple-A video games and blockbuster movie releases," says Depth Analysis research head Oliver Bao. "Audiences now expect detailed CGI actors and realistic performances that pop onscreen with any game or VFX movie they see, and we developed MotionScan technology with this in mind."
LOL at the bit which states "streamlined post-production and reduced budgets" and thankfully we don't have to spend time on game design and writing anymore either. LIDAR scanning could be interesting but a human is still going to need to do the job of 'discriminating' which data to use, start points, end points, tagging it, and making adjustments so that it blends well with other animation. Alot of this press release just doesn't make any sense ..
Motion-scanned + life-sized carbonite figure printed Brendan McNamara for the win. Every studio could have one mounted outside their building as a gargoyle to scare away those pesky young, overtiming, Rockstar-spousing game developers that are trying to make your game ok while you leap from burning ships.
"Traditional motion capture" can capture at (at least) 120 FPS, and capture much more than 50 minutes a day. What is this new technology, actually? All he says is what it isn't, but it doesn't sound as good as even traditional mocap so far. (And nowhere near the phosphorescent paint solution, which seems to work pretty well for film, at least according to this: http://www.ted.com/talks/ed_ulbrich_shows_how_benjamin_button_got_his_face.html .)
Interesting, but I'm pretty dubious until I hear a description of what the technique actually entails.
LOL at the bit which states "streamlined post-production and reduced budgets" and thankfully we don't have to spend time on game design and writing anymore either. LIDAR scanning could be interesting but a human is still going to need to do the job of 'discriminating' which data to use, start points, end points, tagging it, and making adjustments so that it blends well with other animation. Alot of this press release just doesn't make any sense ..
Motion-scanned + life-sized carbonite figure printed Brendan McNamara for the win. Every studio could have one mounted outside their building as a gargoyle to scare away those pesky young, overtiming, Rockstar-spousing game developers that are trying to make your game ok while you leap from burning ships.
-- Chuan
Interesting, but I'm pretty dubious until I hear a description of what the technique actually entails.