Accurate human rendering in game [2014-2016]
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Please continue this post. What is this scan and blend shape system? Not sure what I'm looking for.Evolution of their scan and blendshape based system . Remember how I've told you that it has great potential for nextgen and will probably look good in H5?
mm..
Were there? I thought the only non-realtime stuff was intro/outro and the spliced in stuff half-way through the game when Master Chief becomes space jesus.In engine though. Also, I kinda remember some pre-rendered stuff from Halo4...
And the SpOps scenes.
Wait. I know those guys!Halo 5
I've made some long posts about H4's system back then, about 2 years ago after attending a talk at FMX. I don't have time to find it right now, maybe later tonight...
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what do you mean you know these guys?
Thanks I really appreciate it.
This is going to be a cool read.
They look like two Hollywood actors I'll never find the name of...
Have you ever seen Firefly?
Wow Yes! That's it!
both look very good to me, what do you think ?
http://images.gamersyde.com/image_uncharted_4_a_thief_s_end-28644-2995_0019.jpg
http://images.gamersyde.com/image_rise_of_the_tomb_raider-28633-2982_0001.jpg
http://images.gamersyde.com/image_uncharted_4_a_thief_s_end-28644-2995_0019.jpg
http://images.gamersyde.com/image_rise_of_the_tomb_raider-28633-2982_0001.jpg
They both look great but Uncharted gets the nod here. Everything is so well defined. The expressions are insane.
She looks older. Maybe she had some work done.
Very nice work overall, especially when you compare them to the overall lineup at this year's E3.
It's not nice to bash the work of other artists, especially because there could be a lot of unknown issues involved, but still, there are some far less successful attempts in some games. Let's just say that certain hunky space marines don't seem to look as good as others.
However, there is something common between these two images - neither of the characters are completely realistic or 'accurate'.
Both faces are stylized (Lara a bit more) and idealized, and thus they lack a certain subtlety found in real people. I know that straight comparisons are frowned upon here, but still I have to use some example images to illustrate my point.
First Nathan Fillion from Halo 5:
Obviously this model is based on scanning, and I'm relatively sure that they've also measured other data like skin reflectance and such. The result is that there's a lot of realism or accuracy in the smaller scale forms and shapes of the face, and the skin translucency also feels more correct. I'd also say that while far from perfect, the hair still looks a bit better than on Lara or Drake.
Then there's Until Dawn and Peter Stormaire:
Again scanning, and again a lot of subtle realism in the forms and the skin shading itself; although it seems to be heavily post-processed too, which makes it hard to get into the details.
So, one thing that I believe to be obvious is that hand-crafted characters are still a step from being accurate, no matter how madly talented the artists are. There's always something not entirely right with them, and the only way to overcome this final step seems to be to rely on scanning.
But hiring some talent and building or renting a complicated scanning system is not going to solve all problems either, as we can see in practically every sports game. My opinion here, based on a lot of hands-on experience, is that even scanned assets require a strong polishing pass from some very talented artists to get everything as close as possible - and sports games can not afford this extra work because they have to feature dozens or perhaps even hundreds of characters.
However, while both these scanned characters and many others in other games are looking very good, they still share a few issues with the hand crafted faces in UC or TR or Metal Gear.
Perhaps the most important is the reflections on the eyes: first, the main highlights are still relatively simplified; then there's no sign of the thin layer of fluid on top of the surface and the thicker strips near the eyelids where it accumulates a bit more.
Then, the facial wrinkles and skin folds and such are mostly created with normal maps, which are not accurate enough, they do not affect the silhouettes and the self-shadowing, and the shading isn't good enough either.
There's also a lack of micro-scale skin detail - the textures include the skin pores, but not the sub-mm sized patterns in the skin tissue itself, which has a very strong effect on the specular reflections on the face.
Also, there is no "peach fuzz", which means the thin layer of tiny white hair over most of the face (and body as well). These hairs are highly transparent and tend to pick up lights coming from the back, creating a sort of halo around the face.
Just look at the right side or the back of the neck here:
(another important element is the make-up - you can almost see the tiny powder pieces on her face)
Now the above mentioned features have one important thing in common - they're pretty hard to implement in a real time engine. They require a lot of extra geometry and complex shading, and respond pretty badly to the lack of supersampling. So it's not reasonable to expect any game to have a good solution for them!
So, all in all, my point is that as good as the work on hand crafted faces in some games is, it's still not 'accurate' enough. However, this does not mean that scanning is the only way to go! In fact, I'm a big fan of artistry and creativity, and I'd be really sad to see games without them. So perhaps 'accurate' human rendering is not the Holy Grail for games (or movies) to aim for.
It's not nice to bash the work of other artists, especially because there could be a lot of unknown issues involved, but still, there are some far less successful attempts in some games. Let's just say that certain hunky space marines don't seem to look as good as others.
However, there is something common between these two images - neither of the characters are completely realistic or 'accurate'.
Both faces are stylized (Lara a bit more) and idealized, and thus they lack a certain subtlety found in real people. I know that straight comparisons are frowned upon here, but still I have to use some example images to illustrate my point.
First Nathan Fillion from Halo 5:
Obviously this model is based on scanning, and I'm relatively sure that they've also measured other data like skin reflectance and such. The result is that there's a lot of realism or accuracy in the smaller scale forms and shapes of the face, and the skin translucency also feels more correct. I'd also say that while far from perfect, the hair still looks a bit better than on Lara or Drake.
Then there's Until Dawn and Peter Stormaire:
Again scanning, and again a lot of subtle realism in the forms and the skin shading itself; although it seems to be heavily post-processed too, which makes it hard to get into the details.
So, one thing that I believe to be obvious is that hand-crafted characters are still a step from being accurate, no matter how madly talented the artists are. There's always something not entirely right with them, and the only way to overcome this final step seems to be to rely on scanning.
But hiring some talent and building or renting a complicated scanning system is not going to solve all problems either, as we can see in practically every sports game. My opinion here, based on a lot of hands-on experience, is that even scanned assets require a strong polishing pass from some very talented artists to get everything as close as possible - and sports games can not afford this extra work because they have to feature dozens or perhaps even hundreds of characters.
However, while both these scanned characters and many others in other games are looking very good, they still share a few issues with the hand crafted faces in UC or TR or Metal Gear.
Perhaps the most important is the reflections on the eyes: first, the main highlights are still relatively simplified; then there's no sign of the thin layer of fluid on top of the surface and the thicker strips near the eyelids where it accumulates a bit more.
Then, the facial wrinkles and skin folds and such are mostly created with normal maps, which are not accurate enough, they do not affect the silhouettes and the self-shadowing, and the shading isn't good enough either.
There's also a lack of micro-scale skin detail - the textures include the skin pores, but not the sub-mm sized patterns in the skin tissue itself, which has a very strong effect on the specular reflections on the face.
Also, there is no "peach fuzz", which means the thin layer of tiny white hair over most of the face (and body as well). These hairs are highly transparent and tend to pick up lights coming from the back, creating a sort of halo around the face.
Just look at the right side or the back of the neck here:
(another important element is the make-up - you can almost see the tiny powder pieces on her face)
Now the above mentioned features have one important thing in common - they're pretty hard to implement in a real time engine. They require a lot of extra geometry and complex shading, and respond pretty badly to the lack of supersampling. So it's not reasonable to expect any game to have a good solution for them!
So, all in all, my point is that as good as the work on hand crafted faces in some games is, it's still not 'accurate' enough. However, this does not mean that scanning is the only way to go! In fact, I'm a big fan of artistry and creativity, and I'd be really sad to see games without them. So perhaps 'accurate' human rendering is not the Holy Grail for games (or movies) to aim for.
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