More Than 32 Hours of Facial Performance Captured and Rendered With Proprietary Masquerade 2.0 System; Less Than 0.5% of the 4,500 Shots Touched by Animators
Award-winning video game developer Supermassive Games has earned a reputation for creating some of the most immersive gaming experiences ever made, in part thanks to a heavy emphasis on building from real performances that bring its digital characters to life. For its latest title, The Quarry, it went further than ever before, and turned to Oscar-winning VFX powerhouse Digital Domain to help create one of the most visually immersive, photorealistic games of all time. But to get there, the VFX studio first had to expand and grow its award-winning tools, and invent a new one along the way.
“Right from the start we were blown away by Supermassive Games’ ambition, and we knew our experience with feature films put us in a unique position to help,” said Aruna Inversin, creative director and visual effects supervisor for Digital Domain. “We started with the same tools we use to create movies and episodics, then adapted them for game development. Basically, we came up with a new, faster way to animate photorealistic digital characters.”
The Quarry is an interactive survival-horror experience fueled by the performances of an award-winning, ensemble cast. Photorealistic digital versions of several well-known Hollywood veterans react throughout the story with the same level of nuance and emotion seen in a live-action film, but with the added bonus of having the players control the circumstances and actions. Will they choose to investigate the sounds in the distance, or hide? Will they help out the others, or try to survive on their own? There are several outcomes, and survival is far from guaranteed.