Here's a sneak peak into face deformation tech/rig and R&D for #TheLastofUsPartII that I've contributed in the span of 5 years starting from my initial days @naughtydog. following video was the first animation rig prototype [tech thread] 1/ #gamedev #maya3d #rigtip
Spec :
mesh res – 20K
Target Count – 2019 shapes
Joint Count – 350
with this new rig I was trying to preserve legacy workflow (channel box attributes) at the same time introducing face controls(both have pros/cons). its achieved with proxy attributes/alias attributes. 2/
mesh res – 20K
Target Count – 2019 shapes
Joint Count – 350
with this new rig I was trying to preserve legacy workflow (channel box attributes) at the same time introducing face controls(both have pros/cons). its achieved with proxy attributes/alias attributes. 2/
blendshape head file was 125mb, I converted to rivet mesh(kept only used faces for rivet) file size reduced to 23mb. that resulted into faster load time and any world space deformer can be applied(softmod, cluster). Full head + rivetmesh used for SSD to generate auto skin. 3/ 
its all archived with skin and baked joints, except neck which is runtime rig to support cinematic to gameplay transition. soft mod controls are used in both scenes (bunch more but avoiding spoilers)@consperic and his team did an amazing job to produce best on screen kiss! 4/
Same tech used for all NPC, we wanted to push NPC face animation to next level, when player is in melee combat or performing stealth finishing move to feel pain,anger,fear,tense,panic. all NPC in #TLOU2 share 2 skeleton (base male and female) to support wide variety. 5/
supporting huge NPC cast face rigs and animation came with its own set challenges can could be GDC talk in itself. result is "Emotional Systemic Facial" by @keith_paciello @c_wohlwend @gameplayAnim @soria_sancho, mike hurihan and many more ... vimeo.com/434495096 6/
