New 3D motion capture tools like MotionScan by Depth Analysis open up incredible possibilities for character creation in media. Just imagine a Hollywood that didn’t require the expense and annoyance of a real life Tom Cruise.
A while back we pointed out how much your robot sucks, but fortunately, the digital simulation of you seems to be doing just fine. Today RockStar Games released a trailer (also below) for their upcoming release LA Noire (available April 2011), which features an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at the new technology that drives the game. I’m not even a gamer, and I find this fascinating. While consumers are already probably starting to get a little ho-hum about the motion capture and computer generated imagery that James Cameron spent ten years perfecting, and that Robert Zemeckis seems to think is the future of cinema – after Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol, he’s now working on a 3D Yellow Submarine – it seems the technology is accelerating at a rate that may outstrip the pace of typical Hollywood production and lead to even more interesting uses. The possibility of real-time rendering combined with the amazing affordability – you can set up a full motion capture studio for about six thousand dollars – opens up all sorts of possibilities. Imagine, for instance, a Hollywood that doesn’t need the ongoing expense and public annoyance of a flesh-and-blood Tom Cruise, or virtual worlds like Second Life that don’t look like they were rendered in fifty dollar 3D home design software. If you’ve seen movies like Surrogates, you’re already aware of the benefits of not actually living your real life, but with lower prices and consumer-targeted software, we could do away with all this annoying “real life” stuff altogether! Of course, there are those who believe we’re living in a computer simulation already, but why not add an extra layer just to be sure? In the meantime, see the LA Noire trailer and some screen grabs below to reassure yourself that you are in fact living in the genuine reality, and that the technology doesn’t yet exist to make a Matrix-like existence possible.
The studio setup for the MotionScan 3D motion capture looks remarkably like a Matrix set prior to be “dystopified”:
This screen grab from the trailer is a good example of the dynamic facial expressions made possible by the cutting edge processes used for the game:
The trailer doesn’t make it clear whether or not the character is being rendered in real time:
A while back we pointed out how much your robot sucks, but fortunately, the digital simulation of you seems to be doing just fine. Today RockStar Games released a trailer (also below) for their upcoming release LA Noire
