The convergence of game and film CG
Simon Fenton explains how the merging of tools in games and film is raising the bar for CG
As the video games and VFX industries advance, there are new technologies that point towards convergence of the two; VR perhaps being the most recent and exciting. Convergence has been a buzz word for many years. Indeed many of the same tools, such as Maya or Zbrush, are used in both fields, but it wasn’t that long ago that a single plant in the film Avatar had more polygons than an entire game environment.
Now, in many instances, the production methods used in the creation of digital art for film and games are very similar. Motion capture, for example, has always been used in both industries but now just look at the work of Imaginarium on Squadron 42. I still get excited teaching PBR texturing to my students knowing Game developer DICE proved just how high the standard of video graphics has become with their recreation of the Star Wars universe for Battlefront I am using implementations of the Disney GGX shader in the realtime engines.
Another area where there is a real convergence and crossover of talent is in the use of photogrammetry, which involves taking photographic data of an object from many angles and converting it into stunningly realistic, fully-textured digital models.
Creating game assets from photographs isn’t a new phenomenon but in the past couple of years the process has now reached the kind of levels we’re used to seeing in film production. From the incredibly realistic recreation of the Star Wars universe by DICE in Battlefront to Crytek’s Ryse: Son of Rome, the bar of video game graphics is just getting higher and higher.
It might be hyperbolic to suggest the visuals of Ryse are in parallel with the classic film Gladiator, but it is never the less a stunning realisation of ancient Rome. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter has made fantastic use of photogrammetry, which is detailed by artist Andrzej Poznanski in The Astronauts’ blog, as well as, of course, Epic Games’ Paragon which makes use of photoshoots to capture HDR lighting on hair and skin (read more on this on page 36).
In the past couple of years the process has now reached the kind of levels we’re used to seeing in film production