Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1496872
ANIMATION www.postmagazine.com 12 POST MAR/APR 2023 T need for actors in t age of perfoce captu Will technology take the reins or play a supporting role? BY BRETT INESON, PRESIDENT & CTO, ANIMATRIK FILM DESIGN | WWW.ANIMATRIK.COM T hrough the use of performance capture, the world of entertainment has seen remark- able advancements in computer-generated characters. The technology has led to a revolution in the way actors approach their craft, and drastically changed how our favorite protago- nists in movies, TV and games are constructed. As boundaries are continually pushed, questions over whether actors are still a necessary aspect of de- veloping CG characters have started to hang over their heads. Are they fundamental? Or will actors be left behind in favor of technology? CREATING THE IMPOSSIBLE Tracking an actor's movements and facial expres- sions with sensors enables us to drive entirely fic- tional CG creations. By capturing the physical data of an actor's performance, studios have brought villains like Thanos (2018's Avengers: Infinity War) to life with exquisite realism, and imbued them with the actor's emotional qualities. The process isn't limited to the movements of an actor either. By incorporating facial capture while recording the voice, an entire performance can be reproduced. Thanks to performance capture, characters can now be generated that, even just a decade ago, were impossible. Those past, present and utterly fictional, with different body types, ages and even species, would have been immensely difficult to achieve using traditional makeup and costuming techniques. Today, studios can use technology to do it. In Avatar: The Way of Water, 73-year-old Sigourney Weaver was able to play the role of a young Navi girl — a lifelike representation of a much-younger character in a totally alien form. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story resurrected Peter Cushing's Grand Moff Tarkin using an entirely different actor's physicality. Studios now have near-limitless possibilities when it comes to casting roles and how they transpose likeness to computer-generated imag- ery. As films and video games with entirely-digital characters increase in popularity, digital humanoids are moving beyond the uncanny valley. Audiences no longer experience that uneasy feeling in re- sponse to near-human figures on-screen. Instead, advancements in CGI build excitement, and pop culture icons such as Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones can be reborn. THE NEED FOR HUMAN INPUT Although a powerful tool, performance capture isn't a perfect substitute for human actors. While we can create believable digital versions of real people and fictional characters, there are still limitations to what we can achieve with CGI alone. The final result might look realistic, but for them to act authentically, a human element is required. Facial expressions and body language are incred- ibly complex, and replicating them in a way that's indistinguishable from reality is difficult without an actor's involvement. There's an emotional depth and nuance to hu- man performances that's difficult to replicate with purely-digital imagery. Thanos' subtle inflections of voice, and the way Josh Brolin moves and interacts with his environment, are what made his interpretation so believable. Without elements of performance that are deeply rooted in human experience, there's a risk that audiences will be less engaged. For cinematic games such as Gears of War 5, the use of motion capture enabled the production to develop incredibly-realistic animations for the game's characters, allowing players to truly feel part of the action. Using a motion-capture vol- ume, performers interacted with practical stages and sets in a natural way to create believable gameplay moments. An experienced actor can bring a level of physicality that can't be replicated by technology. This isn't limited to performance capture either. Deepfake technology, in particular, uses AI and machine learning to replace someone's likeness in a video with a completely-different personality. Yet the physical component is still fundamental in bringing that whole character to life. These tools help to bring creations that don't physically occur into existence. Rather than being replaced entirely, human actors are what drive them. Motion capture allows us to create digital creatures and people that are more believable than ever before. At the heart of it all is the craft of talented actors. Actors remain a necessary component in this process, and it will be impossible to replace them entirely — nor should we even try. Bringing their unique talents and experiences to the table is fundamental in developing nuanced interpreta- tions, be that for cinema or gameplay. Performance capture opens up new possibilities and opportuni- ties for storytelling, allowing us to create charac- ters that were previously impossible to realize. But they're no substitute for human performance. Animatrik worked with Oats Studios on ADAM. ADAM is a series of CG-driven shorts. Animatrik's Brett Ineson