IM blog

Computerandvideogames.com just ran a review of GTA IV. In it, the reviewer writes.."Character animation has been noticeably touched up. Facial expressions on GTA's cast are particularly pleasing on the eye, helping to convey the game's trademark humour on characters' faces." To read the piece in its entirety, visit: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=180050

Image Metrics recently ran a survey to both the games and film markets. We're happy to announce that the following survey respondents have been randomly chosen to win iPod nanos:
-David Robinson
-Gabriel Soto Campa
-Irina Polishchuk
-Ryan Kuehn
-Phill Le Count
-Ray McIntyre
-Kyle Gaulin

Please join us in congratulating these lucky winners, and thank you all again for taking our survey.

GameSpot recently interviewed Rockstar North's animator Mondo Ghulam about how the characters in GTAIV have been brought to life. Here is what Mondo had to say about Image Metrics' facial animation..."Image Metrics handles all of the facial animation. Characters created here by Mike Kane and his team were rigged for animation by Image Metrics. Early on in cutscene production we took the plunge and went for full blend shape and bone animation for faces. It was a tough piece of tech to realize and took the combined efforts of people here at Rockstar North, Rockstar San Diego, and Image Metrics.

CG Society writes in their latest exploration of Image Metrics: "Image Metrics has bridged the Uncanny Valley, developing a superior facial capture and animation system that creates facial animation with far greater accuracy, as much as seven times faster than keyframing, and they only need video files and a facial rig and 3D model to get started."

To check out the entire article, visit:
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=4480

Available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on April 29, 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV) by Rockstar Games introduces main character Niko Bellic, who has just arrived in Liberty City from Eastern Europe. Notorious for creating some of the most cutting-edge gameplay today, Rockstar Games turned to Image Metrics to take facial animation to the next level in the eleventh installment of their blockbuster gaming franchise.

IGN recently interviewed VP of Creative, Dan Houser, and Rockstar North Art Director Aaron Garbut to get an in-depth look at the creative process behind GTA IV.

Check out the latest GTA IV trailer with our facial animation. Click on the headline to view the video in standard or HD format.

Manhunt 2, one of the Rockstar titles that Image Metrics worked on, will finally be sold in the UK. A ban, which was set by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), has now been lifted and an edited version of the game will be released with an 18 certificate.

Check out the whole story here:

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/13450/14474/Manhunt-2-given...

Want to know what it's like to work for Image Metrics? Check out G4TV's interview with Image Metrics' very own producer, David Barton.

http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/videos/20771/Will_Work_For_Games_Facial_Animat...

NBC's Tech Now recently reviewed Image Metrics and how their markerless facial animation is changing the face of games and films.

To view the clip, right click on the link and save it to your computer:
http://image-metrics.com/videos/kd-2.wmv