On Wednesday during Epic Games’ “State of Unreal” opening session, Ninja Theory’s Tameem Antoniades took the stage to reveal a historic real-time facial animation demo based on the studio’s upcoming PS4 and PC game Hellblade, powered by Epic’s Unreal Engine 4. Partners Cubic Motion created computer vision technology that tracks more than 200 facial features at over 90 frames per second and automatically maps the data to digital characters in real-time. In Epic Games’ keynote, audiences saw Hellblade character Senua’s performance streamed live in real time to the Unreal Engine. The advanced facial rig was built by 3Lateral. Watch the “State of Unreal” session here.
Leading facial capture companies Technoprops and Dimensional Imaging have announced a new collaboration, with Technoprops unveiling a new stereo 2K helmet mounted camera system that is compatible with Dimensional’s high fidelity facial performance capture software. The collaborative solution will allow for even more true-to-life facial animation in feature film, video game and vfx projects. Booth #2342.
Wacom will be highlighting the role of its technology in the 3D design workflow, demonstrating how its products — particularly the Cintiq creative pen displays — allow artists to efficiently created 3D objects from sketch to finished product. Brian Allan from 3D printer manufacturer Formlabs will be giving live demonstrations on a Cintiq 27QHD with various software suites to create 3D models which will then be printed on a Formlabs 2. Attendees can also check out the Cintiq 22HD and Cintiq Companion 2 portable model. Booth #831.
Allegorithmic has released Substance Painter 2.0, a new update that turns the popular texturing tool into a mini-pipeline, allowing artists to paint, render and share their 3D assets without leaving their viewport. Newly integrated NVIDIA Iray renderer can produce photorealistic renders at the touch of a button. The application and update are available now for Mac OSX, Windows and Linux. More information can be found here.
Geomerics (an ARM company) announces that its Enlighten real-time global illumination technology is now able to deliver large-scale dynamic lighting to open-world games. The improved tech can halve the performance cost of dynamic global illumination effects, such as time of day, in games with vast maps and long draw distances. Geomerics is showcasing the tech in a new PC and PS4 demo titled Seastack Bay at GDC, developed in collaboration with Hellblade developer Ninja Theory. Booth #1624; Suite BMR2640.
