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Creating an In-Game Character Cutscene Animation

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Creating an In-Game Character Cutscene Animation Nea Kontio Creating an in-game character cutscene animation Case study of the game Skábma – Snowfall Metropolia University of Applied Sciences Bachelor of Culture and Arts Media Bachelor’s Thesis June 2020 Abstract Nea Kontio Author(s) Creating an in-game character cutscene animation Title Case study of the game Skábma – Snowfall Number of Pages 43 pages + 1 appendix Date June 2020 Degree Bachelor of Culture and Arts Degree Programme Media Specialisation option 3D Animation and Visualization Instructor(s) Peke Huuhtanen, Senior Lecturer This thesis covers the different stages of creating in-game animations and studies which aspects build up a good and functional cutscene animation from a technical point of view. The thesis concentrates on character animations and briefly covers other supporting steps related to the cutscene creation process. The thesis is divided into two parts. The theoretical part presents the most common industry standard animation and cutscene creation pipeline. The case study section follows the pro- gress of one cutscene animation from the game Skábma – Snowfall by Red Stage Enter- tainment Oy. The section also offers different solutions and tactics on how cutscenes can be approached with limited resources and shows how they differ from the industry standard methods. This thesis is accompanied by several illustrative videos, in which the progress of the character animations can be seen and the first and second iteration of the full cutscene. The case study makes it possible to conclude that creating quality cutscenes is a long pro- cess that acquires multiple steps. It can, however, be streamlined using various tools, phys- ics simulations and ready-made assets. The key factors in making a good cutscene lie with quality animations and making the characters come to life with movements to their clothes and changes of expressions. Keywords animation, cutscene, game, in-game Abstract Tekijä(t) Nea Kontio Otsikko Pelinsisäisen hahmovälianimaation luonti Tapaustutkimuksena pelin Skábma – Snowfall välianimaatio Sivumäärä 43 sivua + 1 liite Aika Kesäkuu 2020 Tutkinto Viestintä Tutkinto-ohjelma Medianomi Suuntautumisvaihtoehto 3D-animaatio ja -visualisointi Ohjaaja(t) Peke Huuhtanen, Lehtori Tämä opinnäytetyö käsittelee pelien välianimaatioiden luomisen eri vaiheita ja tutkii sitä, mitkä kaikki asiat rakentavat hyvän ja toimivan välianimaation teknistä näkökulmaa painot- taen. Opinnäytetyö keskittyy eniten välianimaatioiden hahmojen animaatioihin, mutta sivuaa lyhyesti muitakin välianimaatioihin liittyviä työvaiheita. Opinnäytetyö jakautuu teoriaosuuteen ja tapaustutkimukseen. Teoriaosuudessa käsitellään yleisesti välianimaatioiden teon vaiheita. Tapaustutkimuksessa seurataan suomalaisen Red Stage Entertainment Oy:n peliprojektin Skábma – Snowfall yhden välianimaation edisty- mistä. Opinnäytetyö tutkii ja käy läpi erilaisia välianimaatioiden luomisen metodeita pyrkien laadukkaaseen jälkeen mahdollisimman tehokkaasti ja vähällä vaivalla. Opinnäytetyössä on liitteenä useita havainnollistavia videoita, joissa tutustutaan mm. hahmojen animaatioiden edistymiseen sekä myös koko välianimaation ensimmäiseen ja toiseen versioon. Tapaustutkimuksesta voidaan päätellä, että laadukkaan välianimaation luominen on pitkä prosessi, johon kuuluu monta vaihetta. Näitä vaiheita voidaan kuitenkin tehostaa ja nopeut- taa mm. erilaisin työkaluin, valmisanimaatioilla sekä fysiikkasimulaatioilla. Keskeisiä tekijöitä visuaalisesti kiinnostavan välianimaation luomisessa ovat laadukkaat hahmoanimaatiot hy- villä kasvoanimaatioilla sekä vaatteiden ja hiuksien elävöittäminen. Avainsanat animaatio, välianimaatio, hahmovälianimaatio, peli Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 3D software 2 2.1 Maya 2 2.2 Unity 2 3 In-game cutscenes 3 3.1 What are cutscenes? 3 3.2 Creating a cutscene 5 3.2.1 Pre-production 5 3.2.2 Production 7 3.2.3 Post-production 9 4 Project: Skábma – Snowfall cutscenes 10 4.1 Cutscene creation process 10 4.2 Animation 12 4.2.1 Animation process 12 4.2.2 Animation reuse: retargeting and editing 15 4.2.3 Exporting 22 4.3 Unity implementation 25 4.4 Unity timelines 28 4.4.1 Animation masks and target aim 31 4.4.2 Blend shape animation 36 4.5 Unity dynamic bone and cloth physics 37 5 Conclusion 38 References 41 Appendices Appendix 1. Links to the animations and Unity examples 1 1 Introduction Cutscenes are well-known and frequently used storytelling elements in digital games. They have been used all the way from the first arcade machine games to the current modern AAA titles. They are usually used to break the player’s active gameplay section to showcase important aspects of the game world as well as to create progress in the story. This thesis aims to cover the creation process of in-game character cutscene animations for the game engine Unity. The thesis will demonstrate the creation process through a case study of the game project Skábma – Snowfall. It mainly focuses on the production phase of the game, including the full animation process and Unity implementation as well as briefly covering what comes before and after the production phase. The thesis studies what makes a good cutscene through a technical lens, using the said project as an ex- ample. Red Stage Entertainment Oy is a Finnish video game developer focusing on storytelling and narrative. Skábma – Snowfall is their magic filled adventure game based on indige- nous Sámi stories and mythology. Skábma’s concept was piloted in 2018 in a half an hour long proof-of-concept game and further expanded in Skábma – Snowfall, making it the first entry in the series. The assets and animations from Snowfall are used as a case study in this thesis. Good cutscenes which create progress in the story are created using methods that make the process efficient and quick, still maintaining a quality that does not break the immer- sion. Due to this, the scope and the quality of the project is mostly limited by a set time frame but also by the amount of people working on the game. Skábma was worked on by around ten people of which two, myself included, were mainly in charge of the anima- tions. As cutscenes serve a huge role as a narrative device in a story driven game, Skábma – Snowfall had many of them. This thesis was written for people interested in working with game animations. It serves as a guide for both professionals and hobbyists, informing about the challenges and possibilities that come with cutscene animations. 2 2 3D software 2.1 Maya Autodesk Maya, also often referred to as Maya, is an industry leading 3D computer graphics software developed by Autodesk that enables professionals who work with an- imated film, television programs, visual effects, and video games to create highly profes- sional three-dimensional (3D) cinematic animations. (Edulearn 2016.) Creating these animations can include models, character rigs, animating the said rigs as well as dynamics, fluids and other simulated effects, all of which Maya is capable of producing. Regarding the Skábma project, Maya version 2019 was used as the main program for almost all 3D related assets and procedures. The high poly character and asset sculpts were retopologized, uv-mapped, rigged and animated in Maya, after which they were moved into the Unity game engine to create the final look for the game. The only parts of the 3D workflow that were not covered with Maya were the sculpting of the high poly characters and assets as well as the texturing of all models. Sculpting was done with the program Mudbox, which is also developed by Autodesk, better suited for 3D digital painting and sculpting. Substance Painter was used for the textures. 2.2 Unity Unity, or Unity 3D, is a cross-platform game engine popular with both small developer teams and AAA studios. It is developed by Unity Technologies and was first released in 2015. It gained popularity through the free version Unity Technologies offers which al- lows developers to create games as long as they do not exceed $100, 000 in profit with their Unity game. Due to its massive following of users, the software has an extensive library of resources and documentation as well as a huge assortment of videos and tu- torials online. (Petty b.) Unity comes with a wide variety of tools, including shaders, physics-based materials, post-processing and lighting, which enable game developers and designers to make both 3 2D and 3D games. Additionally it features tools for character animation and cinematic content, but Unity is great for animating almost anything else too. 3 In-game cutscenes 3.1 What are cutscenes? The best definition of a cutscene according to Hancock (2002), is “any non-interactive storytelling or scene-setting element of a game”. Many cutscenes tend to fall under the “any non-interactive storytelling element” aspect but there are examples of in-game cutscenes in which players have some control over their own actions whether it is in the form of choosing dialog options that change the outcome of the game, moving around the camera or even controlling the character itself. This is why the definition of a cutscene also covers “any scene setting element of a game”. Cutscenes are useful in many more ways than just for creating progressing in the story of the game. They often break the gameplay to, for example, show a conversation be- tween characters, set the mood of the situation or show the effects of a player’s actions. They can be the indicators of when a new game level starts or ends by setting the stage for the action that follows or signal to the player they have achieved the objectives of the particular level or section. The latter can be used in a way that allows players to take a break from the game's difficult tasks by acting as a reward. Cutscenes can also be used as a way to introduce necessary clues and gameplay elements which are needed to finish a gameplay level. Other uses of cutscenes include their usage in marketing to gain viewer excitement. (Schnitzer 2013.) Games throughout their existence have had many different types of cutscenes. In their earliest form since the mid-70s, they had nothing more than little pixelated characters moving across the screen with some text displaying the story.
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