The dance recording scenery of "Umapyoi Densetsu" is fully released! A production example of a motion capture studio that supports Cygames titles

[Special project]

Cygames Tech Conference being held from November 13th to 14th, 2021. In our magazine, we regularly send out reports, but in this article, we will be discussing other sessions related to motion capture studios, such as "Realistic Movements for Characters! ~Introduction to Motion Capture Studio System, Game & Live Streaming Production Examples~". will be reported.

As is well known, motion capture is a digital technology that has become familiar. As of 2021, if you do not consider accuracy and level, you can do it at home with just one web camera. In the case of games, it is introduced for the purpose of making the movement of the character more persuasive or improving work efficiency, and is often recorded in a dedicated studio. Many readers may have seen the appearance of people wearing actor suits in game-related introduction videos.

Cygames established the Tokyo studio in 2018, and the lecture began with an explanation of the background. Mr. Takuya Morimoto of the 3DCG artist team motion capture studio of the designer department will be on stage.

　The Tokyo studio was opened in 2018 with a total of about 20,000 takes by 2021. Until then, they had been using an outside studio, but the problems of travel time, transportation costs, and booking gradually increased. A studio was established. They also plan to open an Osaka studio in 2021, which is expected to be one of the largest studios in the world.

　The advantages of having a studio within the company include reduction of travel time, ease of adjusting the recording schedule, reference of project data, ease of data transfer, and construction of a unique system.

This session is the contents of the Tokyo studio. It seems that there are plans to announce something about the Osaka studio in the future.The studio has 10 video output ports around the recording area, which reduces the restrictions on the recording layout and allows for efficient recording. Number of recordings per year. The decrease in 2020 was due to the suspension of recording until the completion of measures against the new coronavirus infection

Efforts to reduce various loads

　The work of the motion capture studio includes recording preparation and recording, There is editing and there are three teams: the studio team, the actor team, and the project team. The studio team is literally in charge of all the work in the studio. Also, the actor team consists of actors and acting assistants. The project team consists only of directors.

Based on these, three unique initiatives were introduced: the introduction of a "remote control", a "remote direction", and a "progress information sharing tool".

　The remote control makes it possible to start/stop recording, replay, and select whether the take is OK or NG with a single click. Before the introduction of the remote control, there was a lot of verbal communication during recording, and human errors such as mishearing or mispronouncing the take name were prone to occur, but after the introduction of the remote control, those errors have decreased. In addition, by digitizing the recording list, the recording manager was able to concentrate on checking the recorded data, and there was also an example where the time could be used to prevent other problems.

Oral communication path before remote control introduction Communication path after remote control and digitized list

　Next is remote direction. This was started with a request from Osaka Cygames. Until then, it was necessary to travel from Osaka Cygames to Tokyo Cygames for recording, and the time burden during direction was heavy.

Therefore, we built a web conference environment using three PCs. In the recording studio, prepare a PC that is in charge of the actor's video and studio audio, a PC that is in charge of the real-time preview screen, and add a remote director's PC to hold a web conference. In addition to the ease of construction, considering the scale of the Osaka studio, which claims to be one of the largest in the world, it seems that they are considering renting out to domestic and overseas game studios.

Finally, a progress information sharing tool. It was introduced as an independently developed tool by Cygames due to the limitations of Excel management. The tool allows for editorial decisions, response priorities, feedback, delivery checks, direct access to data, and more.

Advantages include ease of task management, reduction of confirmation costs due to elimination of reporting, and direct access to data. Since all the necessary information is shared and visualized, it can be used even when working from home. One of the objectives of introducing remote control, remote direction, and progress information sharing tools is to reduce the load.

Progress information sharing tool

Project case with lots of props and props

In the project case, "Uma Musume Pretty Derby" was the main introduction. For recording, when I need a tool, I first look for a substitute, and if not, I buy it. In the example recorded for Training Power Lv4, a tool that looked like a punching bag was prepared. It uses a wooden bench processed with a cutting machine.

The props created during Training Power Lv4 recording were saved, and the existence of the "arsenal" was revealed. Each has a marker that is easy to see.

In the example of Training Wisdom Lv3, a mesh desk was used, and in the live broadcast of "Zombieland Saga Revenge" "Yugiri in Snack Chinatsu", Chinatsu actually reproduced the snack. At this time, too, consideration was given to making the markers easy to see. In addition, if the marker is hidden somehow, an additional marker is given to the actor.

The state of training wisdom Lv3 and the layout of the live broadcast "Yugiri in Snack Chinatsu" and measures to take dumplings in real time were also released. There is no explanation of specific technology. How are you doing... a case of training power Lv5. The roof tiles are styrofoam, and the actors split the cuts into them in a cool way. It is said that the cuts are designed to make it easier for the actors to get on board

There is also an example of "Paka Tube!" "Paka Tube!" is a recording style that captures everything that can be moved, and in addition to the movement of the body and hands, the movement of facial expressions including eye gaze is also recorded.

　In addition, it was introduced that the recording was done while watching a preview in a state close to the completed form in conjunction with the game data. In addition, I think that all the readers are guessing from the chronological order, but "Paka Tube!" Started in March 2018. There is a possibility that "Paka Tube!" was a test environment that also served as a promotional program, and I felt that the gold ship was the foundation for the character motions that have appeared in recent Cygames titles.

Since eye movement is also recorded, the script is positioned at the actor's eye level

Full view of the Umapyoi Densetsu recording

One of the highlights of "Uma Musume Pretty Derby" Winning Live. This was also recorded at the Tokyo studio. In this session, the recording of everyone's favorite "Umapyoi Densetsu" was released in full.

The total number of takes is 20, including separate recordings. The scene of running on the stairs and stage at the beginning, and the back dancers will be recorded separately. In addition to reproducing the stairs at the beginning by combining props, there are many highlights such as the fact that the movements of the five actors can be recorded at the same time, and the guide tape that is set according to the dimensions of the stage. It seems that it will be available for viewing in the archive at a later date, but I hurriedly hit the screenshot button. Bakushin!

　The effort to reduce the load on motion capture-related work, which has a large number of checks, was simple but effective. The reduction in not only transportation costs but also daily confirmation costs is impressive. There is also a background that allows you to prepare your own development tools, but I felt that it was easy to understand as a DX example.

　Motion capture also appeared in other sessions. The movements of the characters that I always see go through the flow I introduced in this article. I want you to reconfirm the spirit that resides in the details.