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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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

http://www.listal.com/list/ranked-50-most-favourite-videogame

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_frame

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeletal_animation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_animation

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

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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

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/Games-to-Film-and-Around-Again.aspx

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kinematics

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om_2002.php

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character-animation-in-unity/