I was lucky enough to visit Sony Santa Monica for the announcement of God of War: Ascension and I remember talking to the folks behind the game’s animation. Many in the team claimed they were reluctant to use mocap in-game, mainly because they wanted to make Kratos’ movements seems more than human. More intense, more extreme. Makes a lot of sense.
But God of War: Ascension is a prequel, it focuses on the human side of Kratos, which means that a little more subtlety is required — particularly when it comes to cut-scenes. It’s for that reason, I assume, that the team decided to us ‘vo-mocap’ and capture the visual and audio performances simulataneously, just to capture the immediacy of an actor’s work more accurately.
The above video shows T.C Carson, the voice of Kratos, and Jennifer Hale, who’s voicing Lysandra, working through a scene together. It then follows the process through to the end and allows us to watch a little of the final product. It’s a very interesting video that goes in-depth into how these cut-scenes are brought to life. Good stuff.
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