Hasta La Motion!

It’s Christmas vibe all around! Post 15 December everyone up  is looking forward to Christmas and waiting to sleigh through the gates of New Year.  Naturally, everyone is hatching a variety of plans to celebrate the brand new year. And the gaming community is no exception.  As we are on the cusp of a change, the gaming studios have already begun rolling out the games for the year 2020.

Here are the few games  which we have listed to launch in 2020:

Ghost of Tsushima: Ghost of Tsushima is an action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.PlayStation 4. The game can be played from a third-person perspective, it features a large open world without any waypoints and can be explored without guidance

Featuring an open world for players to explore, the game revolves around the last samurai on Tsushima Island during the first Mongol invasion of Japan in the 1270s. The game is scheduled for release in Q2/Q3 2020.

 Platforms : PlayStation4

CyberPunk 2077: CyberPunk 2077 is an upcoming role-playing video game developed by CD Projekt Red, an internal studio of publisher CD Projekt, adapted from the Cyberpunk franchise, it takes place in dystopian Night City, an open world with six distinct regions.

The story  opens in the most dangerous megacity of the future, where a player become customisable mercenary V in a first-person perspective, with skills in hacking and machinery, an arsenal of ranged weapons, and options for melee combat who is also going after a one-of-a-kind of implant — the key to immortality. One can customize their cyberware and skillset, and can explore a vast city of the future obsessed with power, glamour and body modification. The choices one makes will determine the story and shape the world around tehm. The game will be  releasing on 16 April 2020.

 Platforms : Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One

Iron man VR: Tony Stark has retired from making weapons and instead creates technology used to battle evil as Iron Man. After several years as a world-famous Super Hero, Tony is attacked by the mysterious Ghost, a hacker and anti-corporate activist who repurposes old Stark Industries weapons. In her efforts to topple his empire, Ghost attacks Stark’s corporate locations around the world, leading to ever-escalating stakes and a final showdown. Iron man VR is a shooter video game developed by American studio Camouflaj and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Based on the Marvel Comics superhero Iron Man and will  launch on 28 March 2020.

Platforms: PlayStation VR

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot: Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is an open world action role-playing game developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Based on the Dragon Ball franchise and was officially announced at E3 2019. The game will be releasing on 17 January 2020.

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One

Marvel’s Avengers: Marvel’s Avengers is an action-adventure video game developed by Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montréal and published by Square Enix. Based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, it is inspired by the long-running comic book mythology and adaptations in other media, although it has no connection to the 2012 film of the same name.

The game can be played offline as a single-player experience or online with up to four people during certain aspects of the game. The game will feature many customization options including abilities and costumes, which can be upgraded using a skill tree. The game aims to release on 15 May 2020
 Platforms : Stadia, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One

Nioh 2: Nioh 2 is an action role-playing video game developed by Team Ninja published by Koei Tecmo.As a successor and a prequel to Nioh. In the game, players can create their own playable character, who was a yokai spirit. Players are equipped with a variety of weapons such as odachi and kusarigama, and earn new skills as they progress in the game. It will release on 13 March 2020.

Platforms: PlayStation4

Minecraft Dungeons:

Minecraft Dungeons is an upcoming action role-playing game developed by Mojang and published by Xbox Game Studios Unlike Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons has no crafting, building or the ability to destroy blocks. Instead it focuses on being a dungeon crawler game, where the player explores randomly-generated dungeons filled with randomly-generated monsters, and also deals with traps, puzzles, and finding treasure. The game aims to release by April 2020.

Platforms : PC, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox Game Pass

Final Fantasy VII remake: Final Fantasy VII is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix, derived from the original Final Fantasy VII, which released back in 1997. The Final Fantasy VII Remake is set to release on 3 March 2020 and fans have been clamouring for a remake of Final Fantasy game for years, and now the finish line is finally in sight – at least, so we thought before reading Kotaku’s hands-on impressions.

Final Fantasy VII Remake retells the story of the original game, which follows Cloud Strife, a former Shinra soldier who joins the AVALANCHE eco-terrorist group as a mercenary to fight against the Shinra corporation, who have been draining the planet’s life energy, only to become involved in something much bigger. The game will be releasing 3 March 2020.

Platforms: PlayStation 4

Tell Me Why: Tell Me Why is  an adventure game from Dontnod Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game is centered on twins Alyson and Tyler who travel to their childhood home in Alaska and must come to terms with events from their childhood, particularly for Tyler as he has transitioned to male since then. The story involves how their childhood situation influenced Tyler’s development and effects on their mother. Dontnod stated that Tyler is the first transgender playable character from any major studio, and they had worked with GLAAD to make him an “authentic representation of the trans experience”.The game is planned to be released in three episodes across mid-2020.

Platforms: Microsoft Windows and Xbox One.

Skull and Bones: is an action video game developed by Ubisoft Singapore and published by Ubisoft. The game revolves around piracy and naval warfare. It is a tactical action game set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective. Players take control of a customizable pirate captain and may choose to sail the Indian Ocean by themselves and set off on a single-player campaign, or gather up to five other players to ally or engage in combat with in Disputed Waters. The game aims to launch in March 2020.

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

The post Here are the much anticipated games for the year 2020 appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Microsoft sent out a message on the Xbox app stating that the price of Game Pass Ultimate will drop from Rs 999 plus tax to Rs 699 plus tax from 15 January. In addition to that all Microsoft exclusives will be available to Game Pass subscribers at launch. Earlier when Gears 5 launched, Game Pass subscribers got access to it on the launch date.

For those who are unaware, Game Pass Ultimate combines Game Pass for the Xbox along with Xbox Live Gold and also gives subscribers access to Game Pass on the PC. Existing subscribers got news of the drop in price via a message on the Xbox app.

With Xbox Game Pass, players get access to more than 100 games making the point of entry affordable for those looking to get into gaming without dropping a lot of money on games. Xbox Game Pass is known for adding new games to its subscription service every month. With exclusives like Halo: The Master Chief Collection and new titles like The Outer Worlds, Game Pass has over hundred console and PC games. Game Pass is also adding The Witcher 3 on 19 December, just before The Witcher premieres on Netflix.

Also Microsoft has said that they are planning to integrate Project xCloud with Xbox Game Pass in 2020 by adding more features to xCloud. This will give players access to their Game Pass library via the cloud streaming service.

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Cinema 4D parent company, Nemetschek Group, merges Maxon and post-production plugin developer Red Giant.

Hot on the trails of the acquisition of Redshift Rendering Technologies earlier this year, Nemetschek Group doubles down on their red offerings with a merger with Red Giant.

Red Giant, makers of Trapcode, Magic Bullet, Universe, and my personal favorite PluralEyes, had just released their own subscription all-you-can-eat offer with Red Giant Complete. After a successful launch, it looks like the company made enough noise for others to notice.

In the announcement, it was revealed the Maxon and Red Giant would from a new Media and Entertainment Division under Nemetschek. This will allow them to bring all their production and post-production tools together.

Maxon’s Cinema 4D, Redshift, and Red Giant are now all subscription services that are used by countless production facilities all around the world.

“This merger is a major milestone, not only for Maxon and Red Giant but also for the design industry as a whole,” said David McGavran, CEO of Maxon. “Our combined technology and know how have the potential to progressively reshape the content creation landscape for years to come.”

“The combination of our companies is an exceptional fit of people, culture and technology.” said Chad Bechert, CEO of Red Giant. “We look forward to working together under a shared vision of how to design powerful and approachable software to serve creative artists around the world.”

Greyscalegorilla founder Nick Campbell shared his excitement, “Huge news! I can personally say that I’ve never met two companies so full of talented, creative, and genuinely nice people. Can’t wait to see what they do together.”

The merger is still pending, and is expected to close in January 2020, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

We will be sure to keep you up to date with the latest.

*Update – A previous version of this story incorrectly reported this as an acquisition, but it is in fact a merger.

Looking for Cinema 4D or Red Giant Trapcode tutorials? Check out the free tutorials page. 

Back in April, Maxon aquired Redshift. Stay tuned for an upcoming podcast with the latest on the Red Giant merger.

The post Maxon and Red Giant Merge in New Media and Entertainment Division appeared first on Greyscalegorilla.

Esports organisation InGame Entertainment in collaboration with Sri Lanka Esports Association to roll out the InGame Esports South Asia Cup 2020 for CS:GO in partnership with the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka.

Esports organisation InGame Entertainment will be venturing into the South Asian Esports scene with the first ever INGAME Esports South Asia Cup. The tournament is a 6-nation CS:GO in partnership with National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan among its participants with a prize-pool of $10,000.

The qualifiers for the event is set to kick-off from 2nd January and last till 9th January while the grand finals will be taking place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 24 to 26 January 2020.

The registration process is live for the event, and the matches will be played exclusively on the FACEIT client for the tournament. The only restriction for the registering teams is fact that a minimum of three players from the team must belong to the same South Asian country the team hopes to represent.

The post InGame Entertainment in collaboration with Sri Lanka Esports Association launches InGame Esports South Asia Cup 2020 for ‘CS:GO’ appeared first on AnimationXpress.

If there’s one technology that mystifies yet baffles filmmakers in the country, it has to be MoCap. While movies have made extensive use of other VFX streaks to enhance their visuals, MoCap is still a sleeping giant that might prove to be disruptive in the years ahead.

Although motion capture has been scantily used in Indian cinema, we are beginning to hear the ripples it seems to be creating in the advertising industry. Recently Centroid Director Parth Shah spoke to AnimationXpress over a cuppa about the scope of motion-capture technology.

Parth Shah

Tell us about your recent project.

One of the recent commercials we got opportunity was Aditya Birla Group’s Birla White Putty. VFX was led by Famous Studios and we were responsible for doing Motion Capture on-set. It was something different and I think first of its kind in India where Motion Capture was performed on set along with master takes and other live characters, sets, crew, etc.

From many years in UK, Centroid has been providing 0n-set motion capture (For movies like 300:Rise of Empire, Mary Poppins Return, etc.). But for the first time, we provided our services for Indian TVC onset. We were responsible for capturing a talented actor dance and perform for Polar Bear character. Famous Studios’s animation division (FHOA – Famous house of Animation) were responsible for amazing VFX, led by Mr. Kavyesh Shetty and Mr. Jayant Hadke.

How many days did the process take?

Production took a day, as the MoCap shoot was happening simultaneously along with the live-shoot.
Post production of MoCap took half-a-day. This includes tracking, cleanup and retargeting MoCap data on IK (Inverse Kinematics) Character.

Where was it shot?

It was shot at Goregoan Film City.

How did motion capture technology help the visuals?

We used Motion capture to capture an amazing actor and at the same time, we also had real-time previs which helped the choreographer, VFX Supervisor and director achieve realistic animation.

If you had to name any recent landmark mo-cap projects that you found impressive, which one would it be and why?

If this is the project done by other Studios, then I would name two, one is Gemini Man and the other is  Irishman for their advancements in facial animation.

Tell us about the MoCap pipeline at Centroid?

Centroid provides extensive services for in-studio and on-set motion capture shoots utilising optical and inertial motion capture. We have a production stage in UK and Mumbai where our UK stage is said to be the largest motion capture volume in Europe. We also have a medium-size cleanup and tracking team in Centroid Serbia. After the MoCap production is done, clients are provided with Centroid’s proprietary software for data selection called Trimmer.

Then the ‘selects’ are cleaned up and tracked by Centroid Serbia team who pass the data over to UK for the retargeting stage. Since all studios are so well-connected, we are able to produce large amounts of MoCap data in a short space of time.

MoCap technology is going from strength to strength, catalysing and easing the filmmaking process. Its interesting to note that advertising firms and VFX facilities are steadily realising the importance of motion-capture. We will post more about Famous studios advert as we discover more. Stay tuned!

The post Centroid India Director talks about mo-cap in advertising appeared first on AnimationXpress.