February 21, 2008

Image Metrics Puts Its Game Face On

Image Metrics is presenting its proprietary performance-driven facial animation solution, used to create emotionally engaging characters for such videogames as Top Spin 3 from 2K Games, Unreal Tournament 3 by Epic Games, and Midnight Club Los Angeles and Grand Theft Auto IV by Rockstar Games. Each of these games used Image Metrics’ video-based facial performance capture solution to deliver titles with enhanced realism and believable characters.

"Creating dynamic and realistic characters that engage the player is increasingly critical to the success of today’s video games,” says Kelvin Duckett, chief operating officer at Image Metrics. “We’re pleased to be able to partner with innovative studios like 2K Games, Epic Games, and Rockstar Games to deliver superior facial animation pipelines in the shortest possible time while also creating vivid, lifelike characters to inhabit the games they’ve designed.”

Image Metrics produced 10 minutes of facial animation for the third installment of 2K Games’ tennis series Top Spin, focusing mainly on in-game reaction shots. The company also provided its first in-game software component, created to ensure that user-generated characters have the same facial animation capabilities as the game’s built-in tennis pro characters.

Providing a markerless and makeup-free facial animation solution, Image Metrics’ technology captures the minute details in each pixel of a particular individual’s performance.