72 GAME ENGINES Character Creation
GAME ENGINES ARE MUCH MORE CONDUCIVE TO THE CREATIVE PROCESS
THE PIPELINE The first step of this pipeline is facial and full-body scanning. However, if someone can’t be scanned in person – if, for example, they’re a celebrity with a busy schedule or are deceased – Mimic Production is able to bring their digital doubles to life by stitching together photographs of that person from every possible angle. The next step is texturing and modelling, arguably the most creative elements of this process. “The skin texture is the most immediate and essential component that can truly characterise a living, breathing, organic 3D character,” says Mitford. “We have a range of skin textures, which are made up of a series of flat images we call ‘maps.’ These maps work in different ways to bring out certain aspects of the skin, such as pore detail, sweat or natural blemishes.” After this, the character goes through facial and body rigging, where the skeleton
and bone structure are captured. It is then animated and ‘cleaned up’ – essentially taking the captured performance and ensuring that every unique element is retained. This includes things like a deep breath through the nostrils, a nervous swallow or the rolling of eyes underneath closed eyelids. The final step is the character ’s integration into a real-time engine, where more rendering takes place. “It’s not enough to rely on texture maps once we’ve brought the character into a game engine,” says Mitford. “We then need to play around with texture maps again, working with new tools like shaders and lighting in order to optimise the realism.” CREATIVE FLEXIBILITY Once inside the game engine, the artist in charge of capturing the 3D character has extended creative reign over how to light them, where to place them and how to direct them. It’s like having the best studio in the world. “You have so many tools at your disposal,” explains Mitford. “Instead of working with just five lights, you can work with 500 – and instead of working in environments that are accessible, you can put your model in the most remote and outlandish locations.” Because game engines work in real time, the effects of these actions can be reviewed immediately. With pre-rendered content, you often have to wait a day or so for the frame to render before it can reviewed. “Game engines are much more conducive to the creative process; it means
SKIN DEEP Skin texture is an important part of achieving a life-like 3D character
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