Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Animation Tech Explained, Will Be Different From The Last Of Us

Naughty Dog have shared some technical tidbits on how they are doing the animations for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End as well as making a clarification to fans comparing it to The Last Of Us.

First off, they are using FACS for the facial animation. The Facial Action Coding System is a way to classify different facial movements by studying the nuances in facial expression. FACS was originally used to identify emotions in real people, and in this regard, has been useful to both psychologists and animators.

Naughty Dog utilizes an automated system for Uncharted, that takes facial motion capture from actors, interprets them using FACS, and then reinterprets that for animation. Naughty Dog used this tech in the last Uncharted game, but they are updating their system to compensate for FACS’ limitations, such as extra shapes.

No less than the game’s lead animator, Jonathan Cooper, has clarified that the game will feature 800 facial poses, and not 800 animations. Again, these poses are based on FACS, and because of that it will be highly accurate to the faces we see in real life. As has been demonstrated in animated movies as well as games, FACS is useful in replicating easily recognizable emotions.

Lastly, Uncharted designer Bryan Singh drew a line in the sand, making it clear that they will make sure Uncharted 4 will be different fromThe Last Of Us.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will be released on PlayStation 4 in 2015.