Thread by @wasim_cg

Another sneak peak into real-time muscle deformation tech we developed to ground our characters in the world of #TheLastofUsPart2 . following footage is captured from the game engine in slo-mo mode.  [tech thread] 1/5 #gamedev #maya3d

this was init prototype, whole rig is auto generated. evaluating skin+shape on multiple character in realtime is expensive, so approach we took is more towards Muscle training n Joint rig reconstruction. system needs base joint and seq of animated mesh to build final rig 2/5

I know what you're thinking, first proto is a DOG @Naughty_Dog (bad pun)but it was just a coincident. System is mesh/deformation agnostic. Next test was, If I can create procedural cloth rig? and voila! unfortunately this couldn't make it to final game(more on that in future) 3/5

Getting proto rig in ND engine was a monumental task and can be GDC talk in itself, worked very closely with our prog-dir @cgyrling, progs @cowbs n jerome to optimize and fit under budget. Below video was a testament of years of collab and engineering was coming to fruition. 4/5

Muscle shape sculpting was a huge task, we tried to generate shapes from tissue based muscle rig but failed training rom and poses were too extreme n used to break the muscle model. Horse, dog and Abby muscle shapes was hand sculpted by super talented @ColinThomasArt 5/5