subject: L.A. Noire's Groundbreaking Facial Capture Animation System For Videogames [print this page] L.A. Noire's Groundbreaking Facial Capture Animation System For Videogames
If you are into videogames you will probably have heard of L.A. Noire by now. It is modeled after good old fashioned crime thrillers . The technology on display with Noire is very groundbreaking and hasn't really been seen in a videogame up until this point.It uses a specialized facial capture system. The characters are modeled, animated and textured by a series of cameras all in one shot. The L.A. NoireFacial Animation Capture is so detailed, it even picks up skin wrinkles.The technology behind this has been researched for a few years and this is the first time it is being applied to a videogame. Before, it was solely being utilized by special research groups. The new process means tossing out the dot markers of old and volumizing the entire face from many different angles. The resulted animation is astounding. It is so true to life, that the actors have to go through hair and makeup in order to be captured like their character that they are playing int he videogame.
Because, of the detail it picks up, voice actors may no longer be needed. The need to hire real actors for videogames may skyrocket. When the performance is captured in this capacity, who knowswhat voice actors would be used for once this tech is mainstream. While the fact that this is being used for the current gen of videogames, who knows how true to life the games of thefuture will be once there are proper skin simulations in place. You may not be able to tell the difference between watching a movie and a videogame. This technology is that good.It also helps eliminated the need for overly expensive animation, but will still require the use of animators for help touching up the 3d performances.
Hopefully, we'll see more of this in the near future. Right now, I've only heard of it being used by Rockstar games, but I'm sure other big videogame publishers will soon follow. The line of reality and videogames is getting blurred more and more by 3d technology and animation.
