Animating complex character interactions is hard.
In Shadow of War there are a lot of takedowns and finishers that required characters to be in sync while delivering satisfying motion.
Here is the pipeline that Monolith uses to create them:
This is my synthesis of publicly available GDC Vault talks on Shadow of War’s animation pipeline, not original reporting.
First let’s compare raw mocap data with the final animation.
You can notice first the timing pass, to make the animation flow better. At the same time the sword stays in place which sells the impact better.
Let’s look at how all of this is accomplished:
One surprising fact is the mocap actors themselves.
Contrary to what one would think, the animators themselves are the actors. Who would know more about how to do your shots than the people who are going to work with that data?
Another surprising fact is that there are no Maya or other 3D software package sources.
The data is always kept in-engine.
This allows for some interesting things.
1. Animators are always up to date with the changes.
2. If a combat designer does a timing pass → they already have that change.
3. Someone trims the animations → Also up to date
All departments have instant access to the animations all the time.
The workflow is optimized for motion capture and the focus is:
• Speed
• Control
• Direct Interactions
To achieve this they allow animators to use any tool they need.
However, as a byproduct, this means that you have to be okay baking your keys.
This is a workflow similar to the one used at Bungie for Destiny.
Often cited as a “destructive” workflow, but effective when used well.
What allows this to work well is the use of little tools that help animators such as:
• Animated Center of Mass
• Mirror Animation
• Flatten Fingers to Surface
• IK from Knees
• Cross-fade animations
and more…
Having good tools helps animators a ton.
With all this the workflow would become:
1. Perform motion capture
2. Line up actors in Maya
3. Adjust timing to give rhythm
4. Add animation layers to improve posing and contact points
5. Start using IK rig and the tools to improve the animation
6. Finalize the animation
Recap. Two things make this pipeline work. The animators are the mocap actors, so the people who know the shots best are the ones performing them. And the data never leaves the engine, so a timing pass or a trim shows up for everyone at once. The tradeoff is a destructive workflow, you bake your keys, and it holds together because of the small tools (mirror animation, IK from knees, flatten fingers to surface) that take the pain out of it.
What this doesn’t cover. This is the animation side. It doesn’t get into how the takedowns get triggered and kept in sync at runtime, the gameplay code that lines two characters up mid-combat, which is its own problem. That’s a separate post.
