Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/19812
Gaming n n n n of six Vicon MX-3 cameras r unning Vicon’s iQ2.5 softwar e. B izarre uses this facility for both pr ototyping and some final captures; animators label these animations in iQ befor e importing them into MotionBuilder to create final in-game cycles. “Our rigs,” says lead rigger D arren Vaile, To construct the sets, which teemed with destructibility, the crew used Maya, along with Bizarre’s in-house editor. The high-end vehicles used in the high-speed chase scenes were built in Maya and then received the manufacturer’s stamp of approval. importantly, that of D anjaq, LLC, the holding company responsible for the Bond copyright. For G reco’s henchmen and other NPCs, Bizarre flirted with a complex system, called Te Club, that randomized several base mesh- es with clothing assets, heads, and textur es. “However, we found that this was too ran - dom, because ther e was as much chance for bad aesthetic combinations as ther e were for good ones,” notes Rowles. “On Blood Stone, we wanted to av oid twins in cr owds and gr oups but keep some control over how they looked, maintaining everyone at a certain quality and still recognizable to their archetype.” Te re- quirements for each character type depended a lot on grouping, frequency, and the rate they were spawned, so a global method wasn’t prac- tical, according to Rowles. Utilizing the same cor e system, the gr oup employed varied methods for differing situa- tions. In some instances, the selection of assets was more controlled, whereby complete, pre- assembled outfits and heads would be chosen, and then given an additional level of color or texture variation. Other scenes could afford a more random approach, mixing tops, trousers, textures, and heads that w ere then assembled to be aesthetically effective. Stunt Work Craig’s Bond is one of br utal physicality, and that contemporary vision could only be r eal- ized through close collaboration with Cooke and the motion-capture team at Audiomotion in crafting the hand-to-hand combat for both the in-game animations and the cut-scenes. “We would hav e a clear idea of what w e needed our Bond to do, and then w e’d work with Ben to get that result,” says lead animator Will Hallsworth. “For example, while working on the cover takedowns, we knew we wanted the moves to be quick, br utal, and efficient, and, where possible, exploit the environment. Moreover, we needed these moves to start and end in a cover position. Tis would allow Ben to be extremely creative with his moves.” Audiomotion (Oxford, England) acquired the mocap data and plotted it onto the base skeletons. B izarre’s animators then wor ked with this data in Autodesk’s MotionBuilder to create final in-game cycles. Bizarre also has its own small motion-captur e facility consisting of explosions, working out the source of the explosions—from a flammable liquid to a missile, and so forth. Next, they would de- sign its visual representation within Autodesk’s Maya, creating interesting shapes, colors, and values, while still keeping with the realms of reality. “Triggering the events at the right moments was very impor- tant, both to amaze the player’s eye and to keep the escape challenging and thrilling,” says Middleman. “We used a variety of techniques, implemented through Horizon’s physics engine, to make the player feel as if the refinery was crumbling around them. For example, we’d trigger explosions that would send tow- ers collapsing one or two seconds before the player reached them, creating a sense of anxiety and anticipation. “We really wanted players to feel as if they needed to speed up to make sure they wouldn’t be caught in the devastation,” he adds. Once the Aston Martin has fled the refinery, driving away comfortably with the receding refinery imploding in the rearview “work on the primary principle that it is better to calculate than to store. Our rig consists of a simple, animatable skeleton (ex cluding the face) of about 22 body bones, augmented b y 30 finger bones. All the muscles and clothing are calculated on the fly in-game using a com- bination of constraints, set-driv en keys, and our own selection of dynamic bones.” Te hand-to-hand combat and melee take- downs w ere par ticularly difficult to animate; with two skeletons interacting so closely, the ani- mators had to sear ch for the right connections, weight, and timing. All told, the group authored more than 5000 animations during the develop- ment of Blood Stone. Te Bond character alone boasts over 3000 cycles, including full-body ani- mations, lay ered (or par tial-body) animations, and facial animations. I n addition, Bond can execute more than 60 individual hand-to-hand takedown moves, all of which ar e context-sensi- tive to weapon, location, emotion, and direction, and can be split up fur ther into v arious sub- moves for player control. With so many animation cy cles at Bond ’s disposal, the challenge was in dev eloping a blending system to knit them together fluidly during gameplay. “Animators hav e to under - stand technically what driv es the character from a code-gameplay perspectiv e as w ell as from a design perspectiv e, and what actions the characters need to per form in-game. Tis involves close collaboration betw een anima - tors, designers, and gameplay pr ogrammers,” mirror, “we would then trigger explosions far ahead, in areas you know you’d be traveling toward. These would be huge explo- sions visible from a couple miles away that would be still smok- ing and erupting once you drove past, with fireballs and debris raining down onto Bond’s car, making the player feel as if loss of life would be imminent,” Middleman continues. “Maintaining this level of intensity for so long was challenging without the level feeling too over the top and becoming unfair.” Effects artists created the explosions for this and other scenes with layers of particles and dynamic lights simulating the blast. Then, they used an animated mesh with a refracted shader to create a shockwave that visually simulates the force of the blast. “Next, using Horizon’s physics engine, we set the surrounding objects’ behavior to react to the blast accordingly, providing some spectacular physics-based destruction,” says Middleman. To finish off the effect, artists layered in debris and smoke, using the particle system, to finalize the blast. —Martin McEachern November 2010 23