Game Anim: Video Game Animation Explained

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Author
Chapter 1 The Video Game Animator
	What It Means to Be a Video Game Animator
		Artistry and Creativity
		Technical Ability
		Teamwork
		Design Sense
		Accepting the Nature of the Medium
		Life Experience
	Different Areas of Game Animation
		Player Character Animation
		Facial Animation
		Cinematics and Cutscenes
		Technical Animation
		Nonplayer Characters
		Cameras
		Environmental and Prop Animation
	Required Software and Equipment
		Digital Content Creation (DCC) Software
		Game Engines
		Reference Camera
		Video Playback Software
		Notepad
Chapter 2 The Game Development Environment
	Finding the Right Fit
		Studio Culture
		Team Strengths
		Game Pillars
		Team Size
		Team Dynamics
	Game Animator Roles
		Gameplay Animator
		Cinematic Animator
		Lead Animator
		Animation Director
		Principal Animator
		Technical Animator
		Animation Technical Director
	Other Game Development Disciplines
		Programmers
		Artists
		Design
		Audio and Effects
		Quality Assurance
		Management
		Public Relations and Marketing
	A Video Game Project Overview
		Phase 1: Conception
		Phase 2: Pre-production
		Phase 3: Production
		Phase 4: Shipping
		Phase 5: Post-Release
Chapter 3 The 12 Animation Principles
	Principle 1: Squash and Stretch
	Principle 2: Staging
	Principle 3: Anticipation
	Principle 4: Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose
	Principle 5: Follow-Through and Overlapping Action
	Principle 6: Slow-In and Slow-Out
	Principle 7: Arcs
	Principle 8: Secondary Action
	Principle 9: Appeal
	Principle 10: Timing
	Principle 11: Exaggeration
	Principle 12: Solid Drawings
Chapter 4 The Five Fundamentals of Game Animation
	Feel
		Response
		Inertia and Momentum
		Visual Feedback
	Fluidity
		Blending and Transitions
		Seamless Cycles
		Settling
	Readability
		Posing for Game Cameras
		Silhouettes
		Collision and Center of Mass/Balance
	Context
		Distinction vs Homogeneity
		Repetition
		Onscreen Placement
	Elegance
		Simplicity of Design
		Bang for the Buck
		Sharing and Standardization
Chapter 5 What You Need to Know
	Basic Game Animation Concepts
		Common Types of Game Animation
			Cycles
			Linear Actions
			Transitions
		Skeletons, Rigs, and Exporting to Game
		How Spline Curves Work
		Collision Movement
		Forward vs Inverse Kinematics
	Intermediate Game Animation Concepts
		State Machines
		Parametric Blending
		Partial Animations
		Additive Layers
		Physics, Dynamics, and Ragdoll
	Advanced Game Animation Concepts
		Procedural Motion and Systems
		Full-Body IK
		Look-Ats
		Blend Shapes
		Muscle Simulation
		Animated Textures/Shaders
		Artificial Intelligence
			Decision-Making
			Pathfinding
Interview: Mark Grigsby
	Animation Director—Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Chapter 6 The Game Animation Workflow
	Reference Gathering
	Don’t Be Precious
	Animate Pose to Pose Over Straight Ahead
	Rough It In
	Get It In-Game!
	Iteration Is the Key to Quality
	Blocking From Inside to Out
	Pose-Sharing Libraries
	Keep Your Options Open
	Use Prefab Scenes
	Avoiding Data Loss
		Set Undo Queue to Max
		Configure Auto-Save
		Save Often
		Version Control
Interview: Adrián Miguel
	Animation Lead—GRIS
Chapter 7 Our Project: Pre Production
	Style References
	Defining a Style
		Comparisons
		Realism vs Stylized
		Who Is the Character?
	Previz
		Gameplay Mock-Ups
		Target Footage
	Prototyping
	Pitching the Game
Interview: Eric Chahi
	Creator—Another World
Chapter 8 Our Project: Technical Animation
	Character Setup
		Modeling Considerations
		Skinning
		Rigging
		Animation Sharing
	File Management
		File-Naming Conventions
		Folder Organization
		Referencing
	Exporting
		Export Data Format
		Engine Export Rules
		Animation Memory and Compression
		Animation Slicing
	In-Engine Work
		Event Tags
		Blend Timing
		Scripting
		Test Levels
		Asset Housekeeping
	Digital Content Creation Animation Tools
Interview: Masanobu Tanaka
	Animation Director—The Last Guardian
Chapter 9 Our Project: Gameplay Animation
	The Three Cs
	Gameplay Cameras
		Settings and Variables
		Camera-Shake
	Ground Movement
		The All-Important Idle Animation
		Seamlessly Looping Walk/Run Cycles
		Animating Forward vs In Place
		Inclines, Turning, and Exponential Growth
		Strafing
		Starts, Stops, and Other Transitions
		Ten Common Walk/Run Cycle Mistakes
	Jumping
		Arcs
		Take-Off
		Landing
	Climbing and Mantling
		Height Variations and Metrics
		Collision Considerations
		Cut Points and Key Poses
		Alignment
	Attack Animations
		Anticipation vs Response
		Visual Feedback
		Telegraphing
		Follow-Through and Overlapping Limbs
		Cutting Up Combos
		Readability of Swipes Over Stabs
	Damage Animations
		Directional and Body-Part Damage
		Contact Standardization
		Synced Damages
		Recovery Timing and Distances
		Impact Beyond Animation
Interview: Mariel Cartwright
	Animation Lead—Skullgirls
Chapter 10 Our Project: Cinematics and Facial
	Cinematic Cameras
		Field-of-View
		Depth-of-Field
		The Virtual Cameraman
		The Five Cs of Cinematography
	Cutscene Dos and Don’ts
		The 180 Rule
		Cut on an Action
		Straddle Cuts with Camera Motion
		Trigger Cutscenes on a Player Action
		Avoid Player in Opening Shot
		Use Cuts to Teleport
		End Cutscenes Facing the Next Goal
		Avoid Overlapping Game-Critical Information
		Acting vs Exposition
		Allow Interaction Whenever Possible
		Avoid Full-Shot Ease-Ins/Outs
		Track Subjects Naturally
		Consider Action Pacing
		Place Save Points After Cutscenes
	Planning Cutscenes
		Cutscene Storyboarding
		Cutscene Previsualization
		Cutscene Workload
		Scene Prioritization
		Cutscene Creation Stages
	The Eyes Have It
		Eyelines
		IK vs FK Eyes
		Saccades
		Eye Vergence
		Thought Directions
	Lip-Sync
		Phonemes
		Shape Transitions
		Facial Action Coding System
		Sharing Facial Animation
		Creating Quantities of Facial Animation
		Troubleshooting Lip-Sync
Interview: Marie Celaya
	Facial Animation Supervisor—Detroit: Become Human
Chapter 11 Our Project: Motion Capture
	Do You Even Need Mocap?
	How Mocap Works
		Different Mocap Methods
			Optical Marker-Based
			Accelerometer Suits
			Depth Cameras
			Performance Capture
		The Typical Mocap Pipeline
		Mocap Retargeting
	Mocap Shoot Planning
		Shot List
		Ordering/Grouping Your Shots
		Rehearsals
		Mocap Previz
	Working with Actors
		Casting
		Directing Actors
	Props and Sets
		Prop Recording
		Set Building
		Virtual Cameras
	Getting the Best Take
	Working With Mocap
		Retiming
		Pose Exaggeration
		Offset Poses
		Hiding Offset Pose Deltas
		Blending and Cycling
	Motion Matching
		Planning A Motion-Matching Mocap Shoot
		The Motion-Matching Shot List
			Naming Convention
			Core Idles and Movement
			Directional Starts and Stops
			Pivot Turns
			Strafe Direction Changes
			Strafe Diamonds and Squares
			Strafe Starts and Stops
			Turn on the Spot
			Repositions
			Turning Circles
			Snaking
			Wild Takes
Interview: Bruno Velazquez
	Animation Director—God of War
Chapter 12 Our Project: Animation Team Management
	Scheduling
		Front-Loading
		Prioritizing Quality
		De-Risking
		Predicting Cuts and Changes
		Adaptive Schedules
		Conflicts and Dependencies
		Milestones
	Teamwork
		Collaboration
		Leadership
		Mentorship
		Hiring
		The Animation Critique
		Outsourcing
Interview: Yoshitaka Shimizu
	NPC Animation Lead—Metal Gear Solid Series
Chapter 13 Our Project: Polish and Debug
	Closing Stages of a Project
		Alpha
		Beta
		Release Candidates and Gold Master
	Animation Polish Hints and Tips
		Foot-sliding
		Popping
		Contact Points
		Momentum Inconsistency
		Interpenetration
		Targeted Polishing
		Memory Management and Compression
	Debugging Best Practices
		Test/Modify Elements One by One
		Version Control Comments
		Avoid Incrementally Fine-Tuning
		Troubleshooting
Interview: Alex Drouin
	Animation Director—Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Chapter 14 2D and Pixel Art Animation
	A Brief History of 2D Game Animation
	Why Choose 2D Over 3D?
		Pros
		Cons
	Different 2D Production Approaches
		Pixel Art Animation
		Traditional Drawings
		Rotoscoping
		Modular Animation/Motion Tweening
	Understanding Historical Limitations
		Screen Resolution
		Character/Tile Size
		Palettes
		Sprite Sheets
	Retro Case Study: Shovel Knight
	2D Game Animation DCCs and Engines
		Editor Screen Layout
		Required 2D Software
			Pixel Art Animation: Aseprite
			2D Art All-Rounder: Photoshop
			Modular Animation: Spine
			Sprite Sheet Editor: Texture Packer
			Game Engine: Game Maker Studio
	General 2D Workflow Tips
	2D and Pixel Art Game Animation Concepts
		Outline Clean-up
		Coloring
		Sub-Pixel Animation
		Character Design Considerations
		Framerate
		Frame Count
	Modular Animation Hybrid Workflow
		Onion-Skinning
		Isometric Sprites
		Hitbox vs Hurtbox
		Background Animation
		Parallax Scrolling
		2D Visual Effects Animation
	Modern Case Study: Streets of Rage 4
Interview: Ben Fiquet
	Art Director & Animation: Streets of Rage 4
Chapter 15 The Future
	Getting a Job
		The Game Animation Demo Reel
			What to Include
			Editing Your Reel
			The Reel Breakdown
		Your Résumé
		Your Web Presence
		The Animation Test
	Incoming Technologies
		Virtual and Augmented Reality
		Affordable Motion Capture
		Runtime Rigs
		In-Game Workflow
		Procedural Movement
		Machine Learned Motion
		Remote Working
Index