Facial animations?

[A.E.Wood 0]

Hello everyone,

 First off, I'd like to say that I am a huge fan of Arma, and I'm whole-heartedly waiting for the release of Arma II.  Keep up the great work BIS!

 My question, however, is about the "Dynamic Conversation System".  I was wondering if this will include an animation system in which you can create your own dialog, or even if there is a way to import facial animations from an animation software pack (i.e. Maya, XSI, 3D Studio Max).  I think that the Arma brand has such a great capability for machinima as is, but this would allow the director to create a much deeper plot than they would be able to without facial expressions.

Once again, keep up the great work!

Best Regards,

A.E.Wood

[I_Am_F3arl355 0]

that would be a cool addition

[Balschoiw 0]

Hi !

Using mimic is already possible with OFP and Arma. There is a setmimic command in the editor that allows you to use several facial expressions. There´s also a wavtolip tool that allows you to record own voice-samples and the tool will translate it into lip-movements for characters. We don´t know yet how the voicethingie is handled with Arma2 but I guess they´ll keep it somewhere close to the former approaches.

[sparks50 0]

Voicechat on multiplayer games also makes lip-movements.

[Michael_Wittman 0]

Well IMHO this would be extraordinary limited due to the lowpoly nature of the models.

[A.E.Wood 0]

Yes, I saw that, but how well does that work?  If I remember correctly, it wasn't that great of a lip-sync  

[sparks50 0]

Yes its a bit like moving a fish jaw and pretend like its talking. Not exactly Oscar material.

[Alex72 1]

I remember the first time i saw it in ArmA. Me and my mate was very impressed tbh. I remember he said "YO" and it looked like the mouth said exactlly that. I almost fell outta my chair laughing because it was so cool.

It's not perfect, but hey, what other FPS does that with VOIP?

Alex

[A.E.Wood 0]

72 @ Mar. 19 2009,14:57)]It's not perfect, but hey, what other FPS does that with VOIP?

Not a lot. And I'll admit it's very impressive when you're just hustling along in the game. However, when you're going for a close shot and have no facial movement besides the mouth, it looks a bit funny, haha.

[Steakslim 1]

72 @ Mar. 19 2009,18:57)]I remember the first time i saw it in ArmA. Me and my mate was very impressed tbh. I remember he said "YO" and it looked like the mouth said exactlly that. I almost fell outta my chair laughing because it was so cool.

It's not perfect, but hey, what other FPS does that with VOIP?

Alex

old Counter Strike did that, at least as early as v1.5

[Michael_Wittman 0]

Definetly more polygons are needed to create a facial

[A.E.Wood 0]

Definetly more polygons are needed to create a facial

So is the Arma 2 model the same as the Arma model?

[Alex72 1]

Doesnt ArmA2 have more polys? Maybe the face isnt too good to do this as it needs the polys for making the model in general better. The more polys the more performance needed. Have to get a balance for playability.

Alex

[Lou Montana 101]

Heheheee, eyes are moving, so it's adding a LOT to immersion !

Just look at Andrei "Akula" Lokatev when he's talking to you... and his friends, listening to him !

<span style='font-size:7.75pt;line-height:100%'>(Think about your mates too, crying for help, watching you in the eyes...)</span>

BIS RULEZ for this one. Eyes are just small but true detail, a game can be awful but having (realistically) moving eyes is immersion-maker. So just think of it in "wonderfully-wonderful" Arma 2 atmosphere...

[Raphier 0]

72 @ Mar. 19 2009,18:57)]I remember the first time i saw it in ArmA. Me and my mate was very impressed tbh. I remember he said "YO" and it looked like the mouth said exactlly that. I almost fell outta my chair laughing because it was so cool.

It's not perfect, but hey, what other FPS does that with VOIP?

Alex

old Counter Strike did that, at least as early as v1.5

well it was extremly simple, no different from Arma 1

[SaBrE_UK 0]

See the following video. Looks pretty good in my opinion.

[Placebo 29]

Let's stick to the topic in hand please, not about how immature we are to think that racial hatred is amusing.

[rejenorst 18]

What happened to facial anims in Arma2? I've been searching around like crazy cause the setmimic command no longer works. It worked in Arma1.

Is there actually a way to change expressions of npc's ingame? I've pmed Maruk about it as I can't find anything anywhere on it. I have posted in the editing forums several times. No body knows. Pm me if you have the answer or post.