Output details

Facial Animation system for Image Metrics in collaboration with Passion Pictures for the Rock Band 2 (2008) game and commercial.

Can an animation interface be driven by both motion capture and an animator, and can an animator push the shapes beyond their original delta? Maguire was invited by Image Metrics, the premier facial animation company in Los Angeles to solve this problem based upon his research with Facial Action Coding System FACS[ Ekmann 1977], for animation. FACS, is an anatomically based system for describing all observable facial movement. Maguire was already familiar with the approach that Image Metrics were using in their targeting method having previously worked with Image Metrics on Microsoft’s Project Natal (2009).

Maguire interfaced with Image Metrics client, Passion Pictures, to determine the design and structure of the deliverables to fit within their pipeline, workflow and aesthetic style. He researched and implemented a facial system initially based upon Jason Osipa’s normalised 2D controllers [Stop Staring. Hoboken, NJ: Sybex, 2006]. Image Metrics were able to retarget their proprietary animation data to the interface. He created another layer of control using a curve with falloff to filter the data that enabled the artists at Passion Pictures to push the performance and style beyond the motion capture data and beyond the original shape delta.

The cinematic was first employed publicly in Rock Band 2 (2008) and during the worldwide commercial. Like its predecessor Rock Band 1, Rock Band 2 met with critical acclaim. The Xbox 360 version of Rock Band 2 (2008) was the third best-selling game in the US in September 2008, selling 363,000 copies and gained an average critic review score of 92% on Metacritic, tying it for the 11th highest-rated game for the Xbox 360 and the 7th highest-rated game on the Playstation 3.