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Stunning secret realms, three-dimensional characters, and delicate plots... On August 20, China's first "3A" game "Black Myth: Wukong" was officially launched, and became popular on the Internet with its realistic graphics and gorgeous action performance. The actions of the protagonist "Tianmingren" and more than half of the characters in the game were completed by a young man from Zibo, who is the motion capture actor Yin Kai.

As a native of Zhoucun, what is the story behind his relationship with Black Myth: Wukong? How did he get into the industry, and how did he perfectly complete the many character actions of a popular game? On August 23, the reporter contacted Yin Kai.

Talking about growth: Learning martial arts at the age of five, good at monkey stick

"It's true that I'm very busy. The game became popular all of a sudden and attracted a lot of attention. I'm very happy too." When the reporter contacted Yin Kai on the morning of the 23rd, he was very busy on the other end of the phone.

Black Myth: Wukong has become a hit, and Yin Kai, who completed the actions of the protagonist "Tian Ming Ren" and about 60% of the characters in the game, has once again attracted everyone's attention. Although he is only 28 years old this year, Yin Kai is already a senior motion capture actor with 9 years of experience in the industry.

Many people may not understand how real actors can perform for virtual characters in games. It turns out that in the field of film production and game development, there are many action effects that are difficult to achieve with normal modeling technology. The specific actions of these virtual characters are performed by motion capture actors.

During the filming process, Yin Kai needs to wear a tight suit, with sensors attached to key parts of his body, and perform various actions in a specific space. The sensors will capture the slightest position changes to generate natural expressions and movements. These captured data will be re-created and optimized by animators and post-production in the subsequent stages, and finally form the character movements on the screen.

It is not easy to be a good motion capture actor. It requires high performance and imitation skills, and even more so "real kung fu". How did Yin Kai get into the industry?

"I started practicing martial arts when I was 5 years old, and won awards in city-level competitions when I was 9. I am good at monkey sticks and other things." Yin Kai recalled that when he was 5 years old, he was very active and loved watching action movies. His family sent him to Zibo Shaolin Yiwu Training School to learn martial arts. At first, he just wanted to "give it a try", but he liked it more and more. "In addition, the coach has been encouraging me and guiding me carefully, which made me embark on the path of learning martial arts." Yin Kai said.

Although practicing martial arts is hard, with his passion, training has gradually become a pleasure for Yin Kai. In 2013, Yin Kai was admitted to the martial arts performance major of Shanghai University of Sport. In 2015, when he was still in his second year of university, he started to get involved in the motion capture industry because of his solid professional foundation and became a motion capture actor.

Zhang Xiaojing, the principal of Zibo Shaolin Martial Arts Training School, is Yin Kai's "master". In her opinion, this child who has studied in the school for more than ten years is not only smart and studious, but also has a talent for performance. "Yin Kai has been learning martial arts with us from kindergarten to high school graduation. This child has good athletic talent since childhood, is hardworking and motivated, and is especially good at flips and jumps." On the afternoon of August 23, she recalled to reporters every bit of Yin Kai's training since childhood. "The child has achieved such outstanding professional results, and our martial arts school coaches are sincerely happy for him!"

Talking about filming: Carefully crafting the "Monkey King Dream"

After entering the industry, Yin Kai began to participate in the production of various domestic games, and completed his works well time and time again, which was recognized and paid attention to by the industry. In 2019, he received an invitation to cooperate with "Black Myth: Wukong". Through communication, he was excited about this high-investment and high-standard game.

"I am a game enthusiast myself, and I previously learned to use the monkey stick. 'Wukong's' weapon is also a stick, which makes me very excited." Although he knew that the production cycle would be very long, Yin Kai accepted the invitation immediately and devoted himself to the filming and production.

The filming and production process of "Black Myth: Wukong" lasted for four or five years, which consumed a lot of hard work and effort of the team. Although he had a solid professional foundation, facing the production requirements of high quality, high volume and high cost, Yin Kai did not dare to slack off at all. He devoted himself to this creation - there would be 1 to 2 shootings per month, and each shooting cycle could be as short as one day or as long as three or two days. When the shooting task was the heaviest, his working hours even exceeded 16 hours.

Actors need inspiration, but more importantly, they need personal speculation and understanding. Whenever he has free time, Yin Kai "transforms" into Wukong, repeatedly pondering the best way to present the role, from a big action to a small micro-expression, just to fulfill the "Monkey King dream" in every boy's mind.

As a household name, Wukong has different understandings for different people. Yin Kai has put a lot of thought into how to portray the protagonist "Tianmingren" in the game. First of all, as a well-made game, the protagonist "Tianmingren" is different from Wukong in the drama interpretation. "Wukong is a very individual character, but I did not frame a specific personality and mode in the specific interpretation process, and tried to give players the personal experience of controlling the character of 'Tianmingren'." In addition, the protagonist itself must maintain beauty and artistry. In order to make the fighting scenes both intense and beautiful, Yin Kai incorporated many elements of traditional culture into the character creation, such as martial arts, opera, etc., aiming to show the "monkey nature" of the character in a three-dimensional way. "At this time, the basic skills I learned were effective. How to use the monkey stick beautifully and make the character show tension and beauty, all of which supported me in the interpretation and creation of the character."

In addition to the protagonist "Tianmingren", the motion capture of about 60% of the characters in "Black Myth: Wukong" was also completed by Yin Kai. In this process, Yin Kai and the team constantly collided with new ideas, and the director also gave the team more room for imagination. Yin Kai gave an example: when doing the motion capture of reptile monsters, everyone carried out full simulation and discussion, and even performed on all fours on the ground, with the aim of restoring the prototype form of each animal to the greatest extent. "For example, the skill movements of the protagonist 'Tianmingren' include some stick techniques and spells, which were originally designed by us, animators, producers, etc. I think that multi-dimensional care and creation are also important aspects that are recognized by everyone." Yin Kai said that "Black Myth: Wukong" incorporates many elements of traditional Chinese culture. It is not only a cultural output, but also a cultural confidence.

Talking about hometown: Pay attention to the big IP in hometown

Currently, motion capture technology is widely used in animation, video games, virtual reality and other fields. With the popularity of Black Myth: Wukong, the motion capture industry and practitioners behind the work have also received widespread attention.

Although it is a niche industry, as the industry pursues cinematic narratives and strictly controls finished products, the motion capture industry has put forward higher requirements on the acting skills and quality of actors. How does Yin Kai view the future development of the industry and the quality requirements of practitioners?

In addition to good communication between actors and animators, he believes that a good motion capture actor must have a strong sense of belief in non-property performance and have strong practical ability and innovation awareness. "Motion capture actors need to be more dynamic in their performance to better present their works, which places higher demands on their quality. In addition to actor quality, they also need a lot of physical fitness, body and expression training, and physical training accumulation. These are not something that can be quickly acquired through short-term training, and they all require actors to practice and hone their skills continuously."

On this topic, Yin Kai mentioned "accumulation and sedimentation" several times. He is very grateful for his growing up experience in his hometown of Zibo. "Our great Zibo has too many rich historical resources, such as Zhoucun Street near my home, Pu Songling and Jiang Taigong. These cultural deposits have given me inspiration for my performance as an actor."

Yin Kai said that as an actor, he would pay more attention to the big IPs in his hometown. "Every year I go home to visit my parents, and I always pay attention to the hot spots in my hometown."

"Black Myth: Wukong" became popular, and so did Yin Kai. Now, Yin Kai has established his own motion capture company, and he can be seen in games such as "Genshin Impact" and "Peace Elite". Seeing that his performance is loved by everyone, he feels that everything is worth it. "I love this industry, and I hope that our domestic games will get better and better, and I also hope that I can create more characters that everyone likes."

Liu Wensi, reporter of Zibo Media Center of Dazhong Daily