Namco, Japan, one of the world's leading games developers, has selected endorphin to help produce its upcoming TEKKEN 5. Due to hit arcades before the end of the year and to debut on consoles in 2005, TEKKEN 5 represents the next iteration of what is arguably one of the biggest game franchises.
"endorphin allows us to create realistic fight actions and reactions very quickly, helping us to build great content for TEKKEN 5," offered Shinichiro Yoda of Namco.
Based on the company's cutting edge Dynamic Motion Synthesis technology, endorphin uses AI and dynamics simulation to create 3D character animation in realtime, thus dramatically accelerating 3D animation pipelines in games and visual effect studios. Among other things, endorphin allows game developers to simulate toward desired endposes, thus creating seamless transitions between the resultant animation clips. Due to its realtime synthesis technology, NaturalMotion estimates that endorphin can cut animation costs by up to 80% for action-related titles.
"We are proud that Namco has selected endorphin for such a high-profile title," added Torsten Reil, ceo of NaturalMotion, "And we are delighted to see that they have already used it in the TEKKEN 5 trailer."
endorphin 1.6 is available now from $12,795.
NaturalMotion Ltd. (www.naturalmotion.com) is the creator of Active Character Technology (A.C.T.), a breakthrough in 3D character animation based on Oxford University research on the control of body movements. Founded in 2002, the privately-owned company has received funding from the games, film and finance sectors. Its development team of software engineers, biologists, physicists and animators is located in Oxford, U.K.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
