What do you feel about motion capture becoming more prevalent in game development?

[unwittyoneliner]

Motion capture technology has become very realistic, and it's always getting better. I was blown away by Ellen Page's facial expressions in the gameplay footage I saw of Beyond: Two Souls. Then there are games like Last of Us, the newest Tomb Raider, the upcoming Splinter Cell, and more that all utilize it and the characters look great. Apparently, using motion capture streamlines the animation process. Is this true? Are there any animators here to give their opinion on mocap?

 

[Pandsu]

I'm not sure it streamlines it but definitely makes it more realistic and impressive. All those little nuances that you would most likely not get with more traditional animation processes, no matter how long you work on it, go a long way.
I'm not an animator but at least I know that mo-cap doesn't make animation as easy as some people seem to think. It's not like they just record the mo-cap and then they're done. No, they still have to animate a lot, fix it all up to make it work and make it look natural, etc.

 

[NatureSun]

I for one loved L A Noire's facial motion capture.

Hopefully more and more games in the future can use them. It really adds another level of realism to the games, and with some better graphics it can really bridge the gap between reality and CGI.

 

[BlackSolaris]

I really don't know. From one point of view, i think it's pretty cool how advanced technology in games is and how realistic is turning out to be, but from another point of view i think developers should focus on other things, like gameplay, because i don't want every game to be realistic, that wouldn't be fun.

 

[Haze]

I for one loved L A Noire's facial motion capture.

Hopefully more and more games in the future can use them. It really adds another level of realism to the games, and with some better graphics it can really bridge the gap between reality and CGI.

Yeah I also loved the facial tech from LA Noire. I'm actually surprised no other game has tried it out (unless I've missed it?). I do wonder had Team Bondi's new game "Whores of the Orient" not been cancelled, if they would also use the facial tech since they used it in LA Noire.

 

[Esperahol]

It is okay, but I care less about facial twitches and more about story, gameplay, and just plan caring about the final product. So long as this new tech doesn't take away from those things - yay! Otherwise it can go die in a ditch.