Developer Insight #3: Animations

phpBB [video]

This is the dumbest out of all the videos.

the ball in between the legs thing dunk was stupid but some info is better than nothing.

I would rather like the know the background of these animation developers to actually see how much they know about NBA basketball and why they have such garbage textures in this game.

I played NBA Live 10 about a month ago and the wood textures and team colors were perfect.

In 2k, the wood textures are horrible and the Bulls wear pink jerseys apparently to them.

Idk if these guys do graphics or not, but regardless most of the times when the finished product comes out and you see all the flaw,s and conclude that these guys have a degree and that's why they're working there. Instead of having actual insight into the NBA and knowing how things are.

Smaller distance between the hands and the ball, plus 4,000 new animations is a good thing in my book.

EDIT: Here's what I wrote for the front-page article that presents this developer insight. Should give you an idea of what's in the video, if you can't watch it right now.

Over 4,000 new animations were shot using full motion capture. The video actually lets you see the work that is put into getting a new animation in the game, stage-by-stage, by showcasing a warm-up stunt acted out by the Team Flight Brothers.

The video also talks about the work that was put in the transition (or “in-between”) animations that are the reason the main animations blend so nicely this year as we saw in the Gamescom videos. The animations team also worked on making sure the distance between a player’s hands and the ball is minimized, so the players will seem to actually hold the ball, rather than have it levitate between their hands. The same work was put on the hands-and-rim interaction, so now you’ll actually see the fingers wrap tightly around the rim, rather than surround it from a distance. Wrinkle maps have also been used to enhance the facial expressions.

As an extra, the 2K Insider makes a surprise appearance, although he’s completely covered by a black color mask and his voice’s pitch has been lowered, to keep his identity a secret. For the few seconds he’s on-screen, he mentions his favorite animations in 2K13, which we won’t spoil for you.

EDIT 2: If the video got you curious about motion capture and you want to see some impressive work on that front, check out a developer video from Rockstar's L.A. Noire.

phpBB [video]

2K Insider might be Jay-Z.

My money's on Madonna.

dumbest dunk ive ever seen...

I'm surprised at the negative reactions to the video. The work that's gone into animations sounds quite promising to me, a step up from previous years when there was still a bit of awkwardness here and there. I think some of those subtle improvements will turn out to be very much appreciated, especially when people are watching their own replays and creating mixes.

As for the dunk, it's something different for the contest. Getting the Team Flight Brothers in for that seems like a good move to me, given their athleticism and creativity. Kind of cool to see it being put together for the game, too.

My reaction is that I don't really care about this video because quite frankly I'm sick of all these claims they're making and I'm ready to play the actual game and see for myself. It's cool that they're showing stuff but this doesn't do anything for me anymore, most games seem good from pre-release trailers and hype.

4,000 new animations is a good thing in my book.

Is that more animations than they normally promise are new every year?

I would rather like the know the background of these animation developers to actually see how much they know about NBA basketball and why they have such garbage textures in this game.

What do the animation developers have to do with the texture artists?

I was ranting. Point I wanted to make is that the animation devs looked like noobs from the video. Which led back to the frustration of the 2k textures.

This is all just promotional shit talking. It all sounds nifty but i just wanna play the damn game already.

I think this Insight should of been centered around Online, but this one was interesting never the less.

I'm really glad they talked about the flat hands on the ball. If you noticed in 2k with the dribble moves and the passes, the fingers don't move and the wrists don't move much. They made up for it with exaggerated arm movements, but my guess was that they were saving the memory so they could have more animations because there are a lot of bones in the hand and finger joints.

They got that dunk from NBA Street Homecourt, i used to use it all the time.

Leftos wrote:
4,000 new animations is a good thing in my book.

Is that more animations than they normally promise are new every year?

Yea that number means very little anymore as every year it seems thousands are added.

I'm really glad they talked about the flat hands on the ball. If you noticed in 2k with the dribble moves and the passes, the fingers don't move and the wrists don't move much. They made up for it with exaggerated arm movements, but my guess was that they were saving the memory so they could have more animations because there are a lot of bones in the hand and finger joints.

Yea this is one thing I've definitely never noticed or had problems with. When player momentum, acceleration, cutting is so far from aesthetically realistic the last thing I'm gunna notice is the hands on the ball. That said I believe it was probably never done due to the fact that it was never a focus or priority. Memory constraints haven't changed so that wouldn't be the limiting factor. Personally while I welcome any improvement to the subtle actions or movements to a player, I'm really surprised they even bothered to put the time into fixing something as small as this. The attention to detail to things like this is great to see, and really can keep you immersed in the game.

Yes, 4,000 is the number they're saying every year. Yes, we expect 2K to do this work every year, so it's not that impressive. But, what they've done with that number is what matters to me, and I'm already seeing the new transition animations at work, which have contributed to the amazing animation fluidity I've been seeing in the Gamescom videos. Plus, I enjoy the little details like the hands holding the ball and the rim, or the wrinkle maps that will be used to offer better and more detailed facial expressions.

Not much else to be taken out of that animations video that we haven't already seen in the Gamescom gameplay videos or the first 2 dev videos about gameplay.

So yes, those 4,000 new animations are a good thing in my book, seeing as how they've used them, no matter the fact I'm expecting a number like that to be thrown in the dev diaries.