It's Time To Take Gaming Seriously

It's Time To Take Gaming Seriously
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As an athlete runs, jumps, catches or throws a ball the sensors report back to the computer creating a detailed and accurate skeletal model of the athlete. The animator then builds onto that model clothing, skin and other details, such as the fingers.

"Motion-capture data does contain all the subtitles of human movement which leads to something very different than when an animator draws the entire sequence," says Thomas. "You might see the slight movement of a hand before a player begins a run. Remember, we are creating a game using real players that have certain trademark moves and actions and we need to capture that.

"We don't just want an athlete running, but a run that is reflective of a certain player."

Here Comes Competition
While DreamCast may be on the market, the Sony Playstation II and Nintendo Dolphin are expected on shelves well in advance of the 2000 holiday season.

Sony, who has announced plans to ship an initial one million units by September 2000, is promising video game fans a remarkable play experience through a combination of cutting edge digital graphics, superb sound and DVD video. Presently Sony is reporting that forty-six North American companies have signed letters of intent to create and publish games for the new console.

At the heart of the Playstation II (PSX2) is a 128 bit CPU processor, dubbed the Emotion Engine. The resulting "Emotion Synthesis" will allow the system to not only simulate how an image may look, but how the characters and objects in a game think, act and behave.

For the game player this means that the PSX2 will be able to process massive amounts of graphical data at the fastest speeds. For the animator developing a game for the PSX2, this means that real world physics and simulations of materials such as water, wood, metal and gas will be possible. Creators will be able to allow a "digital wind" to ripple the water on a still lake or the hair of a character.

It Will Take Talent
One company creating games for the advance technology consoles is Disney Interactive.

"With more polygons being available on the video game, we will start to see game animation that is as quality driven as what you see the brilliant people at Pixar creating," predicts Dan Winters, Senior Producer, Video Games, Disney Interactive. "This creates additional challenges for the animators to really push themselves to have new levels of expertise when it comes to how they are going to collect motion data that will be applied to the 3D character."

Collecting that motion data may include using footage from the feature film.

As game sales become a larger chunk of the overall marketing pie, Disney Interactive finds themselves in the position of not only creating titles to support feature films, but also to enhance those existing universes. For example, Winters reveals that for titles such as Tarzan and Toy Story 2 the developers are not only applying 2D and 3D animation skill, but also creating original characters to work within and enhance the game.

Furthermore, the creators of Toy Story 2 the movie have a 90 minute window within which to work and build story lines. The interactive target is up to forty hours of unique story line and game play.

A current Disney Interactive illustrator needs to bring to the project a variety of skill sets, the first being the ability to illustrate from scratch and shape things on model. "We provide support to our publishing partners, so the people we bring in must understand the animation, and between processes," Winters explains. "If the person understands animation and is a Disney quality artist, we will put them through the training and help them to learn the digital side of the business."

Winters relates that computer entertainment development requires a varied number of artists such as digital artists who specialize in backgrounds or who have a specific skill in texture mapping.