A new video from Ubisoft shows a motion-capture session for its upcoming open-world hacker/crime game Watch Dogs.
"We were lucky enough to start off with casting Sebastian Merlowe," says animation director Colin Graham. "He's almost too perfect for mocap, you know what I mean? He's super athletic, he can sometimes move better than [protagonist Aiden Pearce] can actually move." The animation team has to actually slow the actor's movements down, says Graham, which is the opposite of how things usually work in motion capture.
Aiden's walking pose with his hands in his pockets is unusual in gaming, says Graham, because it's difficult to get cloth to deform realistically around hands. To make sure Merlowe's pose was realistic, the team draped a rope around his neck with loops for his thumbs to help his hands hang in the proper position.
The team strove to make combat realistic rather than flashy, ensuring that almost all of Aiden's attacks were aimed at neutralizing a foe.
Watch Dogs hits Windows PC, Wii U, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this November, and will be coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at an as-yet-unannounced date.
