Injustice 2’s Facial Animation Wizardry Explained
Injustice 2′s story mode is worth YouTubing if you have no plans or interest in getting the game. Like Arkham Asylum‘s redemption for a good Batman game, NetherRealms Studios fought and beat the prevailing idea in the games industry that fighting games can’t have a good story. Following its first game that showed a darker look at DC’s finest, the sequel did not disappoint as there’s plenty of brilliant moments that make watching the campaign online an absolute delight. That said, one of the most notable upgrades to the sequel was the facial animations which really shone in the story mode.
CNET’s Brian Tong interviewed the developers to learn about the tech behind the realistic facial animations in Injustice 2. The superhero fighting game’s character art lead, Brendan George, told CNET that they capture 16 facial expressions to create a single character and these scans actually take two to three days to process on their workstations. Helping this quest, a new custom photogrammetry facial scanner that uses 44 DSLR cameras with 50mm fixed lenses allowed for more advanced facial rigs. “The data from the new scanner made it possible for us to create a more advanced facial rig which was based on the scientific research on human facial expressions,” said George. Besides that, the studio’s animation team use four head-mounted camera system in its motion capture shoots with three type of lenses depending on the actor’s head shape.
Andy Senesac, senior technical artist for cinematics, also noted the importance of nailing the animation for some of pop culture’s most iconic characters. “We are working with some of the most iconic, recognizable characters in history, so getting their final animation looking just right took a lot of love and tweaking,” said Senesac. When the team wasn’t satisfied with some results from the mix of voice-overs and facial expressions, they opted for manual animation to achieve their targets.
Another cool tidbit from the interview: all the rooms at NetherRealm are named after Mortal Kombat lore. Thus, the facial scanning took place in a room appropriately called “Flesh Pits.”
Injustice 2Â is out now for PS4 and Xbox One with Hellboy, Black Manta, and Raiden set to join the roster soon.
Source: CNET