Assassin’s Creed 2 collaboration for Image Metrics and Ubisoft

For the release of Assassin’s Creed 2, Ubisoft have made use of the talents of the team at Image Metrics, who are the leading provider of facial animation technology and services for the entertainment industry. Used to add a great sense of realism to many of the characters facial animations during the cut scenes that you will see in the recently released title, there is some really astounding work here – not surprising that the company has also been responsible for stunning work on titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV, Unreal Tournament 3, Gears of War 2, and Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising.

It’s surprising then that their work on Assassin’s Creed 2 marks their first partnership with Ubisoft. Brian Waddle, Executive Vice President of Image Metrics explains “One of the most anticipated games of the year, Assassin’s Creed is renowned for its stunning art design and rich graphics. Image Metrics is honoured to have used our facial animation technology to help Ubisoft enhance the sequel even further through compelling cinematics that feature emotionally engaging characters.”

Whilst Ubisoft aim to allow Ezio to wear a hood so that he may hide his identity and remain undetected, they were also keen to develop believable facial animation for key supporting characters in the game and it was Image Metrics that they turned to for this. Using performance capture and character rigs provided by Ubisoft Montreal, Image Metrics optimized the rigs and used character specific reference data to deliver 28 minutes of facial animation for 23 different characters in the game. The animation was completed within about eight weeks thanks to Image Metrics’ proprietary facial animation and rigging technology.

“With their track record, solid technology and very good service, Image Metrics quickly became our first choice for a facial animation partner for Assassin’s Creed II,” said Jean-Francois Boivin, Production Manager for Missions and Cinematics. “Timing was also crucial to the project. We had to deliver over two hours of cinematics, including 30 minutes of facial close-ups, within tight deadlines. Image Metrics was able to produce the quality and quantity of facial animation Assassin’s Creed II demanded in the short timeframe we had for the project.”