Eyetronics' work on next-gen videogames will set a new standard for character realism and accuracy, as seen above with MLB superstars Derek Jeter (left) and David Ortiz (right). All images © MLBPA. Courtesy of Eyetronics. 

With the introduction of PS3 and Wii this holiday season, gamesters are going to be spending the new year looking for the most realistic next-gen games to play on their new platforms. Game producers, for the most part, will be hard pressed to meet the demand for realistic life-like characters. But if a gamester is also a sports enthusiast and, in particular, a baseball fan, they need to look no further than MLB 07 The Show and Major League Baseball 2K7.

While they may not have the same impact as, say, Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron's home run record, MLB 07 and 2K7 will be groundbreaking events for the electronic game industry. They will most likely set the standard by which videogame characters are judged for realism and accuracy from here on out. And there is one company that is responsible for this breakthrough: Eyetronics.

Eyetronics specializes in high-resolution scanning services that enable faster production of animation-ready 3D models. Its scanning products and services are being used for a wide range of entertainment applications, including complex visual effects for feature films, television and commercials, as well as realistic character generation for computer games. In addition to entertainment, Eyetronics also provides custom 3D scanning hardware for various markets like medicine, sports, fashion and industrial applications where 3D models are required for measurement, analysis or quality control. All of their 3D models are ready for animation within various 3D animation packages such as 3ds Max, LightWave, Maya and Softimage.

However, their work on MLB 07 and 2K7 makes them especially proud because of the massive volume of scans and the strict time limits imposed by the Major League Baseball Players' Assoc. (MLBPA). It took some ingenious alterations in Eyetronics scanning systems to bring the entire project to fruition.

Eyetronics developed the RotoScanner, a rotating table, to scan a large group of five or more. Light is projected onto the players as they go around and pictures of the grid are taken from a stationary position. Above is Alex Rodriguez.

Eyetronics has two main systems that they use for scanning. Nick Tesi, Eyetronics' vp of operations, explains how Shapecam works, a process that allowed them to first take their technology out of the studio and on the road. "Shapecam is used for scanning people, animals and objects like cars and trucks. It projects a light pattern onto the character. The projected texture map is then photographed by a Canon digital camera with up to 4000 x 4000 resolution. It's an extremely portable unit that fits into one case."

But what if they needed to scan a large group of five or more like they did for Major League Baseball? That would be quite time consuming using Shapecam, which has to scan each character individually from all sides. So, Eyetronics developed their RotoScanner, which is essentially a large turntable. "With the rotating table, light is projected onto the characters as they go around and pictures of the grid are taken from a stationary position," Tesi adds. "It's not as portable as the Shapecam but can be loaded into six cases and carted to a location," which is exactly what Eyetronics did for the MLBPA. In fact, they did it no less than 30 times.

Originally it was reported that Eyetronics had scanned 1,200 major league players for the MLB contract awarded jointly by the MLBPA along with game developers Sony Computer Ent. America (SCEA) and 2K Sports to run on their PlayStation 3 (MLB 07) and Xbox 360 (2K7), respectively. In fact, the actual number of players scanned was closer to 1,450.