New Skate Character Models...what uncanny valley??

[scooby_dooby]

Couple new SKATE character model screens from over at gamespot, the best character models I've ever seen as far as avoiding the uncanny valley and looking like real people:

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/015/935644_20070116_screen001.jpg
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/001/935644_20070102_screen001.jpg

Mod:
scoob, you've been around long enough to know the image size rules

 

[Ben-Nice]

Those actually look the real skaters. I've been skating for like 15+ years. Well at least one of them does. The first one is Jerry Hsu. He is super good in real life. The white guy is Jason Dill I think.i could be wrong though. If it's him it's a little off since I can't reconize him right away.Usually see him more "punk rock" looking. What I've seen of this game is pretty sick. Much different the Tony Hawk. The viewpoint is more like how they film skate videos nowadays. Pretyy damn cool.

 

[rabidrabbit]

If only they looked like than in-game too.
Impressive anyway, but I wouldn't go as far as say they're the best cgi character models today.

 

[rendezvous]

Couple new SKATE character model screens from over at gamespot, the best character models I've ever seen as far as avoiding the uncanny valley and looking like real people:

I'd like to see the models animated before claiming that they look like real people _and_ are avoiding the uncanny valley.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I'd like to see the models animated before claiming that they look like real people _and_ are avoiding the uncanny valley.

Definitely. There's been some great models before...until they move. Lip sync is extremely hard to make convincing, as is fluid motion and eye movement. I'll be surprised if more than a handful of titles get close to being convincing this gen, and not until some advanced natural motion tech comes into play that adds those natural movements needed to get past the robotic look.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Me don't like them... Though it's a bit scary to await when you'll criticize our work

 

[davepermen]

imho, they are fully in the uncanny valley... the skin looks really ugly, and they're rather lowpoly, i don't like how they look at all.

and yes, animation is the most important to make them look real or unreal. and canny or not

 

[MrFloopy]

imho, they are fully in the uncanny valley... the skin looks really ugly, and they're rather lowpoly, i don't like how they look at all.

and yes, animation is the most important to make them look real or unreal. and canny or not

My thoughts exactly. I would say that these are a prime example of "uncanny valley".

Great artwork none the less.

 

[scooby_dooby]

I would say look at:
Table Tennis
Brothers in Arms
Resistance
Mass Effect
etc

for uncanny valley. Everyone looks like zombies. These people actual look human, expecially the eyes, you guys are too harsh imo...

As for it being CG, pretty crappy ears for CG.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

They can't look real without subsurface scattering, the skin should be translucent, not this plastic-metallic thing. Specularity/reflection isn't right either and so on...

These are some of the best pieces of CG I've seen recently, and even they're not real enough:

It's too big, click!

Slightly bigger version

 

[bobthebub]

Dunno,

The ears push it into the uncanny valley for me

 

[Skrying]

I can't say the Skate images are good at all. Maybe for me they fall into the uncanny valley, but the second model is especially bad. The problem is not really the model but the clothing, which just so happens to be the majority of what you see.

 

[mckmas8808]

They can't look real without subsurface scattering, the skin should be translucent, not this plastic-metallic thing. Specularity/reflection isn't right either and so on...

These are some of the best pieces of CG I've seen recently, and even they're not real enough:

It's too big, click!

I think the link above is a mistake by you. That picture is a real guy. It has to be. Can you link to the CGI picture?

Thanks.

 

[Hardknock]

I think the link above is a mistake by you. That picture is a real guy. It has to be. Can you link to the CGI picture?

Thanks.

heh, I'm guessing you're joking but that is indeed CG. Looks amazing. I thought that Spiderman 3 demo on PS3 looked pretty amazing aswell. Anybody got some pics of that??

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Here's a previous work in progress picture from the guy, his name is Jacques Defontaine. Trust me, I won't try to fool you when I say something's CG

http://www.tkio.net/Beta/Mudbox/SLJ_WIP_000.jpg

 

[ninzel]

Those two first pics look very stylized to me,although authentic on some level I think that's why they avoid the uncanny valley problem.I wouldn't call them realistic looking.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Laa Yosh those images you linked too are amazing, no doubt. When I say uncanny vally I'm mainly referring to feeling of strangeness that you get from viewing an image, most attempts so far on the consoles have still been very creepy looking, while these are the first one's I've seen to really look normal.

Obviously they don't look 'real', but they avoid the creepiness associated with the uncanny valley effect imo.

 

[davepermen]

well, they have to look real to get close to the uncanny valley.. they are too off for me to get to that valley.. but they're close (they look simply too unnatural to me to like them.. neither as zombies nor as humans )

a prime example how style can help fighting the uncanny valley is zelda, wind waker.. great realistic animations and movements in a cartoon shaded world. somehow, it was the most natural feeling and looking game I've played.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

well, they have to look real to get close to the uncanny valley.

Very true. As long as the look isn't close enough to real to confuse the brain, you can treat the characters as fictious. It's only when the look gets close to realistic that the Uncanny Valley creepiness rears it's ugly head.

I dare say devs should perhaps avoid approaching realism and stick with abstractions, until UV can be avoided. It's a phenominum that'll ruin all their great artwork and time spent creating photorealistic models, only for them to creep out games players.

 

[pakotlar]

umm that samuel l jackson shot looks completely real to me. my roomate and i both stared at it for a minute, and the only thing he said was "he looks a bit weird". I was like dude, that's a cg rendering. He was blown away.