Why Animation Is the Most Crucial Aspect of Games, Yet It's Neglected
summary
Claims that animation is the most crucial yet neglected part of games, backed by concrete examples: vertex-based animation in Crash Bandicoot, Prince of Persia as early motion-reference, Shenmue popularizing mocap, LA Noire’s facial scanning and The Last of Us Part II’s interpolation system that matches breathing, dialogue and weight. Notes problems: Red Dead Redemption 2’s excessive choreography and FIFA’s 1,200 run variants. Proposes solutions: procedural generation, IK and control rig systems, machine learning to tweak a few base clips — think 13 keyframes plus realtime adaptation rather than mass mocap.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (16)
- 0:00Animation disappointing
- 0:42History of game animation
- 2:06Early animation limits
- 3:07Motion capture evolution
- 3:49Realism gone too far
- 4:51Good game animation
- 5:53The Last of Us 2 animation
- 6:58Animation enhances gameplay
- 7:38Animation for immersion
- 8:20More animations not better
- 9:05Procedural animation future
- 9:49Simplicity in animation
- 10:30Animation overlooked
- 11:12Stylized vs realistic
- 11:57Overcomplicating pipelines
- 12:38Automation in animation
related talks
26mThe Future of Animation in Unreal Engine
53mFirst Pass Final Pass: making animation rock while on the indie clock
01h 08mAnatomical Tips for Animation...in Games and Beyond
01h 06mDreams of Electric Sheep - Aspirations for the Future of Game AI
25mAnimation for cinematic’s video game
50mR&D in Facial Animation
23mThe vitality of visual storytelling in games
47mWhat is animation engineering?