Wukong Motion Capture Actor: Turning Martial Arts Actions into Art
2024-08-25
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Comparison of the actions of Wukong and Yin Kai in the game
Yin Kai at work
With the successful release of the domestic game "Black Myth: Wukong" a few days ago, many netizens were shocked by the wonderful fighting actions in the game. Beijing Youth Daily reporters learned that these cool presentations are inseparable from the silent efforts of motion capture actors. Recently, Yin Kai, a motion capture actor from Shanghai Yuchen Culture Company who participated in most of the action recordings in the game, accepted an exclusive interview with Beijing Youth Daily reporters.
Motion Capture
It took about 5 years
Motion capture is a common technology in today's game and film and television industries. By installing positioning equipment on real actors to record the character's motion data, and then importing these movements into the game characters, the characters in the game can move vividly and realistically. Yin Kai recalled that he joined the "Black Myth: Wukong" project a few years ago after being recommended by the company, and participated in motion capture shooting for about 5 years. He said that in the game, including the protagonist "Tianmingren", a considerable number of characters' movements were performed by himself. In addition, there are about 10 motion capture actors involved in the production process of "Black Myth: Wukong".
Rely on performance
Add personality to wolves, insects, tigers and leopards
Yin Kai introduced that before conducting such motion capture performances, the game director team will first set a tone for the role, allowing the actors to understand the character's personality and then integrate into the role. Since many characters in "Journey to the West" are gods, Buddhas or demons, this brought a lot of challenges to Yin Kai. For example, there is a character in the game called "Tiger Pioneer", who is the image of a tiger. In order to perform this role well, the team will first study the habits of cats, such as lying down to drink water and licking their paws. These details can be applied to motion capture to make the role of "Tiger Pioneer" more full.
Since there are many characters in the game and their personalities are complex, Yin Kai needs to pay attention to the characteristics of each character and communicate more with the game team members during the filming to achieve a satisfactory effect for everyone. He gave an example, saying that there are many wolf images in "Black Myth: Wukong", but one of the wolves has some Buddha nature in its personality, so its movements must be distinguished from those of other wolves during the performance.
Martial arts skills
Can control body details
Yin Kai said that he first participated in the motion capture industry when he was in college in 2015, thanks to the fact that he had been learning martial arts since he was 5 years old. "When I was a child, I was influenced by action movie stars such as Jet Li and liked martial arts very much. Later, I participated in competitions and won some places, which inspired me to keep going on the road of martial arts. The basic skills of martial arts have given me better body coordination and control, and I can control every detail of my body." Yin Kai said that in addition to him, there are other actors involved in the production who have a certain foundation in martial arts, and many motion capture actors are mainly engaged in the production of literary dramas.
The actors will incorporate traditional cultural elements such as Chinese martial arts and opera into the action design of Black Myth: Wukong. He further explained that when capturing motion, the actors and directors will constantly think about how to artistically process martial arts movements, making the movements more gorgeous and giving players a better experience based on the traditional martial arts attack and defense awareness. The actors will also learn the expressions of traditional Chinese opera and incorporate them into the actions according to the character settings.
When playing games
Know how many hits your opponent will make next
Yin Kai said that when he was playing the game, he could feel the actual effect of his performance after being integrated into the game. "When I play the game, I feel like I am playing myself. I can know the opponent's next move and know that after the opponent uses the knife, he still needs to cut twice. But my skills are average, and I will still be beaten to death by the opponent."
In the game, Yin Kai also pays attention to his own performance: "Sometimes I think a certain performance is very cool. As I improve, some of my movements still need to be improved." Recently, "Black Myth: Wukong" has become a hot topic among netizens. Yin Kai said that this game carries the dreams of all production departments, links, and practitioners. "For our staff behind the scenes, we have received some recognition, but we still want to keep a normal mind. Thanks to this game for letting everyone know about our group of motion capture actors."
Text/Reporter Qu Chang and Intern Ma Shaowei
Coordination/Photo provided by Sun Huili/Interviewee
market
Black Myth: Wukong sales exceed 10 million copies
Shenzhen Youke Interactive Technology Co., Ltd. announced that as of 21:00 on August 23, the sales of "Black Myth: Wukong" across all platforms have exceeded 10 million copies. "Black Myth: Wukong" is a Chinese "3A" game based on "Journey to the West", produced by Shenzhen Youke Interactive Technology Co., Ltd. "3A" games generally refer to high-cost, high-volume, high-quality stand-alone game works. Previously, this market was mainly occupied by game companies from Japan, the United States, France and other countries.
According to data released by Youke Interactive, the maximum number of concurrent online users of Black Myth: Wukong on all platforms reached 3 million. Both online and offline, Black Myth: Wukong and its peripherals have received widespread attention. For example, Black Myth: Wukong has driven the sales of related hardware equipment, and the search volume of related hardware equipment has increased significantly on e-commerce platforms. Black Myth: Wukong has selected multiple scenic spots across the country as the game background, and the search volume of many scenic spots on online travel platforms has continued to increase.
As players around the world immerse themselves in the fantastic world of Journey to the West created by Black Myth: Wukong, the various Chinese cultural elements in the game, such as mythological allusions, architecture, and music, also arouse their curiosity.
"Can anyone tell me what the 'crown' that causes pain to Wukong is?" Many overseas players posted questions online.
Some overseas players did their homework before playing the game. An Italian player with the online name Cin said, "Before playing the game, I searched for Journey to the West online and read it through translation software to understand the story. I was deeply impressed by the story of the Kingdom of Women in the book. If I hadn't been attracted by this game, I would have missed so many wonderful mythological stories!"
As global players actively explore the wider world behind this game, a new window to understand Chinese culture is also opened to them.
Some people want to learn more about Chinese folk music. An overseas netizen said on social media that a storytelling in northern Shaanxi in the game sounded "very interesting" and he wanted to hear more similar music. Many netizens offered suggestions, and someone left a message suggesting that the netizen listen to the northern Shaanxi folk song Xintianyou.
Some people are attracted by the beautiful scenery of China depicted in the game. Maria Azzolina, president of the Italian-Chinese Friendship Association, said that many Chinese tourist attractions have been "reproduced" in Black Myth: Wukong, which will attract more Western tourists.
Some people are fond of the Chinese mythology behind the game. Many Japanese players said that the descriptions of various strange creatures in the game are interesting little stories, and they couldn't help but copy them into their notes. One Japanese player said: "I am looking forward to collecting the background stories of all the creatures in the game. This will be an encyclopedia of Chinese gods and monsters, which is very worth reading."
"This game is rooted in the profound traditional Chinese culture. The immersive effect allows players to not only feel the adventure and excitement of the game, but also experience the charm of the Chinese mythology world and the appeal of oriental aesthetics." Choi Chang-won, director of the Institute of Chinese Culture and Art at Cheongwoon University in South Korea, believes that the secret of the success of Black Myth: Wukong lies in the organic integration of the profound Chinese culture and modern game technology. "By making good use of its rich cultural endowment, I believe that China can create more classic IPs that spread Chinese civilization and promote Chinese culture to the world better." According to Xinhua News Agency
(Source: Beijing Youth Daily)
