Thread by @KrisZadziuk

THREAD 👇

This video covers a small portion of the moves captured in our first 2 Motion Capture sessions shot at @Audiomotion in Oxford for @PLAYDestruction on #PS5 #gamedev #motioncapture

#1 June 2019 - [3 Days] - (core locomotion, parkour, idles, emotes of 6 characters)

#2 August 2019 - [3 Days] - (stunts, vehicle entries, attacks, passenger shared by multiple characters)

In Feb 2020, there was a final pickup shoot of 3 Days covering 8 characters core systems

These 9 days gave us plenty of data to play with once core systems were established and plenty more to take from for any remaining characters. Motion Capture data was heavily edited for core locomotion and direct gameplay actions using the data as a foundation.

The stunt session started off with a 20 meter tower and our performers attached to a wire system under the supervision of a professional stunt co-ordinator.

The idea was to capture unique footage for our "Arena Entries" seen at the start of each #DestructionAllStars match

We ultimately didn't use this data purely for the "Arena Entries", but we did manage to ultilize it for other moves and the data proved useful in other areas later on. This particular process took quite a while to setup and came with a quite a step learning curve to direct.

Using the tower as a jump off point our talented stunt performers could fake landing on a vehicle in motion. We attached markers to the landing platform that were used to drive the suspension giving us a more realistic contact.

This data was heavily modifed to work in game.

To help performers get into character the talented team of @MattLakeTA and @ConnorLing8 set up the LIVE LINK between #UnrealEngine and the #mocap setup, allowing the actors to see themselves as their virtual selves. This was an invaluable tool to all involved and a ton of fun.

This shows the side by side of the Live Link and the actors as we had them "play" in the space, the great thing about this setup was we could try out tons of moves and explore the performers creativity

For example the 1st shot here became a vehicle exit with some modification

To retain momentum from a run and jump onto a vehicle our stunt co-ordinator setup a challenge for the team, increasing the distance of the mini-tramp from the landing point to get a really dynamic sequence

We adjust the position of the landing for directions to make them unique

"Vehicle Entries" for safety were handled with a simple bar + mini-tramp setup, this allowed for maximum creativity of our performers to style it out.

We would provide simple style and end point direction and let the team try out different things, resulting in some unique ideas

To get the actors in the right frame of mind and "warmed up" at the start of a session we had them all perform a few tricks (usually to music). It loosened up the team with them trying to top one another

We secretly recorded these and many of them made it in #DestructionAllStars

This gives a closer look at the "Landing on Vehicle" setup, with the loosely restrained landing platform, the height of the jump wasn't important, it was more about the landing. So we allowed multiple actors to have ago under expert supervision. #DestructionAllStars #PS5

We encouraged a controlled "playground" feel whilst on set, keeping the energy levels high was key to getting some of the data, often even mistakes would make the cut. It would give us plenty to play with during production. We always had to be mindful of how the actors felt.

Chase Armitage was present at all 9 days of mocap (instagram.com/chase_armitage…)

His energy was infectious the entire time, he was always the first to "give it a go" often suggesting things that would get used in the game, like this drop kick, which was used for on foot melee attack

Mike Snow joined us for main stunt shoot
(instagram.com/stunty_smo/?hl…)

His experience as a high level #stunt performer and his experience with wire work provided us with incredible data, this particular action was for when you are thrown off of a moving vehicle #DestructionAllStars

The more comfortable Mike became and the more he understood what we were trying to achieve the more creativity he brought to the session, pushing ideas and personality further. This allowed for an extremely collaborative shoot.

As the sessions went on we found that we could capture various moves in pairs to help pace each other, keep energy high and reduce the amount of time the actors spent 'cold'.

For example these "Messy Plant Turns" were used for various characters. #mocaptip

Nicholas Daines is also experienced in wirework and has a background in high diving, so has immense body control.

He was also one of the smallest which made it easier to launch him, providing impact data. This was used as a base for getting hit by vehicles and on foot attacks.

Another advantage of Live Link was when performers started to become their virtual selves, we use these moments in many of our idles

Some of the more obscure moments became the basis of our early emotes. This was a product of having music as ambient noise in the background

There is MUCH MORE that I'm sure I will share in a later video from our session in Feb 2020 just before we were all locked down.

This session focused mainly on personality, so these performers were an eclectic mix of people and was some of the most fun I've ever had on set.

Hope you've enjoyed my brain dump of a thread and potentially found it insightful. I was lucky to work with an incredible team whilst directing these sessions, even with all this #motioncapture our animators still had a huge job to manipulate and enhance this strong foundation.

@PLAYDestruction was an incredible undertaking by a relitively small team at @LucidGamesLtd, it was a ton of fun and I hope it shows, #DestructionAllStars #Gamedev #animation #motioncapture

(High Res link: )