• Heavy Rain’s Dev Quantic Dream Introducing New Real Time Tech Demo: Kara

    // Gradly // blog, Consoles, Games, PS3, Sony, Tech., Trailer 3 Responses

    New Real Time Tech Demo: Kara

    New Real Time Tech Demo: Kara

    The footage you are going to see was created by Heavy Rain developer Quantic Dream. It’s not a pre-rendered cutscene but made entirely in real time. CEO and founder David Cage showcased the studio’s new tech at GDC on the PlayStation 3.

    Quantic Dream

    Quantic Dream

    Kara Demo was created by the the studio’s new engine and according to Eurogamer:

    Kara‘s not just the product of new tech and a better understanding of the PlayStation 3’s architecture – she’s also the result of a new approach to motion capture at Quantic Dreams, and an investment in the more sophisticated techniques that have become the norm in Hollywood’s CG industry as the studio moves across to using full-performance capture.

    David Cage had this to say about Kara and what they are trying to accomplish,

    What we call full-performance capture is shooting the body, the voice and face at the same time. Most studios right now in the game industry use what we call split performance, which means you shoot the face and voice on one side and then you use the body, and not in one take

    It works okay – there have been some great games made using this process, and Heavy Rain was done this way. But we felt that if we wanted more emotion, and more performance from the actor we needed to have everything from the same take, and we needed to shoot everything at the same time.

    So we invested a lot in our motion capture studio. Heavy Rain was shot with 28 cameras, and we’ve upgraded the studio to 65 cameras. Now we can shoot several actors – their body and their face – at the same time. It’s not a small change, but at the same time this is how Avatar and Tintin were shot, and it’s how the CG industry works because they know how much you gain from shooting face, voice and body at the same time.

    Kara voice performed by Valorie Curry. Watch the clip, and tell us what you think:

  • Crysis 2 PC Demo Goes Live

    // Gradly // blog, Consoles, Download, Games No Responses

    The long-awaited Crysis 2 PC demo, originally slated for release on March 1, is now available for your downloading pleasure. The demo gives players a sampling of two maps — the rooftop-laden Skyline and Pier 17, an open environment with limited cover opportunities.

    The demo we’ve found it is locked to DX9, while the full game will support DX11. Despite this, it still looks fantastic. Crysis 2 hits store shelves and digital distribution outlets on March 22 in North America.

    You can grab the demo from EA’s site here

  • Footage Shot at 2,564 Frames per Second with a Phantom Flex Camera

    // Gradly // blog, Rants & Raves, Tech. 2 Responses

    Check out this video shot by Tom Guilmette in a Las Vegas hotel room in 1080p at 2,564 frames per second. The video shot using a brand new Phantom Flex high speed digital cinema camera. The result was spectacular watch it for yourself. Here is what Engadget had to say about it:

    Ever wanted to see flowing water slowed down to the point of transforming into a series of airborne droplets? This video has that. And more. A chap by the name of Tom Guilmette got to work with a Vision Research Phantom Flex camera recently, and, being the true geek that he is, he put together a video composition of staggering slow-motion footage. When pushed to its limit, the Phantom is capable of filling every second of 1080p recording with 2,800 frames, though Tom mercifully ran it at a lower 2,564fps speed. That’s still sufficient temporal resolution to let you track the wave of an impact’s vibration as it travels up a BlackBerry’s body — oh yeah, it’s as awesome as it sounds.