In a nondescript building near Balboa Park in San Diego, California, a mid-sized company is taking on the big boys. From the looks of it, they’re about to deliver the knockout punch. Pendulum is a company that you’ve probably never heard about. They’ve been around for 5 years in their current form, but the founding members, Robert and Mike, have been working together since their younger years and through their time at Georgia Tech. On February 13, 2008, I had a chance to meet the Pendulum crew and see what they’re all about.
The reason you’ve probably never heard of Pendulum is that they aren’t your typical gaming company. In fact, they aren’t really a gaming company at all. Their site says that they’re a company “focused on compelling storytelling through innovation in animation.” But what does that mean really? It means, among other things, that they develop the software that makes animations more realistic and more life-like. A more life-like animation allows a story to be told much more dynamically.
But let’s take a step back. Pendulum is the culmination of many years of Mike and Robert working together to innovate in the CGI world. When we met they described themselves as engineers and artists. Yeah, like oil and water mix, right? Engineers aren’t artistic! Engineers are detailed oriented number guys who prefer the stark lines of their renderings over naturally free flowing landscapes or vistas. Yet somehow Robert and Mike have been able to pull it off. They are both trained engineers and skilled artists. They direct, produce and create their artistic visions. They also enhance the works of others.
Pendulum grew out of two prior companies operated by Mike and Robert and represents their evolving ideal of what they want to do with their lives. While they’ve worked on short animated films, commercials and other projects, we’re a gaming site so I’m going to focus on what they are doing that affects gaming. What they are doing transcends entertainment boundaries, but when you boil it down and talk about something we all here are interested in hearing about, it applies to gaming.
Those of you who saw the trailer for Frontlines: Fuel of War saw some of Pendulum’s work. They created the trailer. They have the unique ability to work within an in-game engine to create trailers, teasers and mini-stories desired by any game company or their press agents. But that is only one of the hats they wear. They also motion capture, field casting calls for actors, create commercials, create short stories and do just about everything someone who wants CGI could ask for. All of that cool stuff aside, Pendulum has something far more impressive up their sleeve.
At the Game Developers Conference beginning this week, Pendulum will make an announcement that will blow the socks off of the gaming entertainment world. Pendulum will announce Alter Ego.
What is Alter Ego, you might ask? Well since I’m not quite as smart as these engineer/artists, I’ll explain it in lay terms that we can all understand. Alter Ego is software that focuses on making digital or CGI facial expressions more real. It can take any captured data and create a digital face that is uncannily similar to the original. Even more impressive, Alter Ego can take that same motion capture and create a different face that is equally detailed. As an example, they could take the same laughing, crying or frowning capture of a male actor and turn it into a female actor. The expressions could then be tweaked to make them a bit more feminine or to otherwise add quirks or unique features.
You might be asking yourself: why is this impressive, don’t companies do this already? Sure, but not as well. Alter Ego is impressive for a boat load of reasons. The software applies the effects in real time. There is no further rendering or post-production work that needs to be done. Once the capture runs through the software, it is done. If it looks good from a directorial focus, the job is done. Remember the game release delays we’ve all experienced? Well if the game is being run through Alter Ego, it won’t be because of the detail it is adding!
Better yet, let’s assume that the actor didn’t quite “nail it” while giving his performance. Alter Ego allows for minor adjustments to make the expressions perfect and create the ultimate vision of the director.
Facial expressions are all about subtleties. While the human brain recognizes and understands facial expressions subconsciously, we don’t often think about why certain expressions evoke certain emotions. They simply do. CGI entertainment has often lacked in the facial expression department. One of the main focuses of Mass Effect was in its facial expressions. Care was taken to give expression in the eyes, cheeks, mouth, etc. to convey more than the dialogue alone could convey. Did it work? Sure it did. The story in Mass Effect was awesome and the facial features went a long way towards that result.
Now let’s assume that the facial features of the CGI actors in a game were so realistic it was almost as if you were seeing the person in real life? Would it further the story? Damn straight it would. Millions of dollars each month are spent in Hollywood on actors who are able to convey emotions through their facial features (unless you’re “V” and can only convey emotion through dialogue). Budgets of games are growing into the multiple millions, so shouldn’t the facial expressions go a long way towards ensuring that the story is told in the manner intended?
Alter Ego allows captured video to be processed and dumped right back into the game engine for real time rendering while playing. Every bit of gameplay would look even better than any pre-rendered cutscene. I could talk about this for paragraphs, but pictures and video are worth far more in this regard.
Here’s a still from the first iteration of the Alter Ego software:
That’s pretty cool, right? Consider that every motion of the actor was captured at the same time as the voice and it was then processed with the first edition of Alter Ego. This was the test Pendulum performed to see if it was something that they could do, wanted to do and whether it could realistically be done. As a first test run it is pretty awesome. I thought so when I first saw it. Well it’s nothing compared with what their most recent version of Alter Ego can do.
Here’s an SD embedded version of what will be shown at GDC this week:
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The SD version is cool and all, but the real beauty of the demo can be seen in this HD CLIP. (right click and save as - 242 Quicktime .mov file)
The amount of detail created with the Alter Ego software in the facial expressions of the old man is incredible. The fact that the actor wasn’t an old man but the rendering was spot on as an old man was incredible. I could gush about it for a few more paragraphs, but the video speaks for itself. I said “wow” 5 times when I saw it (yes, they counted).
Just as I’ve done here, the crew at Pendulum showed me the Mark Antony clip before the Old Man clip. I was impressed by the Antony clip, but blown away by the Old Man clip. It was simply incredible.
Pendulum has a unique business culture. They work hard, but have fun while doing it. They have traded their traditional conference room for a gaming room. Their workstations are filled with figurines from movies, games and other entertainment. They work hard and play hard. Without the relief that a quick game of Wii Tennis or Guitar Hero II provides, their creativity and ability to stay focused on work would likely suffer. Robert and Mike recognize this fact and have allowed this culture to evolve in Pendulum.
Here's a spec sheet on Alter Ego - the software that will hopefully make the games we play in the future that much more realistic:
As a formal company Pendulum has been around for about 5 years. With the incredible work they’re doing I’m sure they’ll be around for many years to come.
Pendulum had a great showing at GDC and is rolling in full force with Alter Ego. Their Alter Ego Site is constantly updated with new information about Alter Ego. Stop by and watch as Alter Ego climbs it's way to the top of facial animation!
Pendulum Announces Alter Ego
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