8/05/13 - Minor physical reflection

Some of these have already been uploaded but I figure it might be nice to put up a post about each interaction, that way the posts aren't so long and cluttered.

MINOR PHYSICAL 

First up is the minor physical interaction. The intention for this interaction was to produce a range of responses to being brushed past. I chose to make this interaction using a scale of 7 rather than 5 because i felt there needed to be a middle ground between the most extreme reaction and the mildest reaction. For example its likely that many aggressive people would resort to yelling at someone without lashing out at them. Using a 5 point scale wouldn't account for this.

Before analysing individual clips success I'd like to point out issues that all of the clips have faced by using the Mixamo system. Mixamo allows little control when animating the hands which has limited the credibility the performance could achieve. For example the controls for the individual fingers are limited to curling as a whole whereas other rigs would provide controls to manipulate individual segments.Facial animation has had to be discarded due to time constraints and also the lack of controls provided by Mixamo. As much of the performance is focused on body language in this study this isn't so much of an issue. However, it does cause an uncanny affect as the blank face doesn't match the action.  While using Mixamo has drastically sped up the pipeline for creating the clips it has come at the cost of the quality of rig and subsequently the overall performance. This would be fixed easily by a custom script. 

Minor 1 

The main focus of this clip was to show extreme aggression. This could be suitable for an NPC who has already been wound up by something or someone. I've tried to include aspects of body language that show dominance such as towering over the player with arms wide apart to show they aren't afraid. The speed of the response is quick and instinctive with little anticipation.

Minor 1 
Note: This clip will be re rendered due to odd lighting.

Issues with this performance are mainly technical. Recording the player separately to the NPC has resulted in some timing issues but as this was a design for game it's highlighted a key problem with capturing specific actions involving the player. As such I've been able to include this in my findings section of the dissertation. 

Minor 2 
This clip is the middle road of aggression and aimed to show aggressive body language such as tensing of the muscles, clenched fists and making the NPC appear bigger and more intimidating.

Minor2

This clip has all the body language but it falls into the trap GTA NPCs fall into. It reacts in the wrong direction so it just looks like he's having a temper tantrum instead of directing the aggression at the player. This could possibly be solved with a system of making sure the NPC faces the player. It could possibly be achieved using blending techniques so that the bottom of the character moves to face the player while the hips and above play the performance.

Minor 3
This clip shows the mildest form of aggression. The NPC displays smaller movements such as the hand movement from minor 1 that implies they are not afraid of a fight. By reducing the size of the movements and keeping it closer to the NPCs side it indicates that the annoyance is more internal than directed at the player.

Minor 3

This clip is mainly successful in it's use of body language although the aggressive stance at the end could be clearer.

Minor 4
This clip is the default performance as it seemed to be the most obvious response to being brushed into. The body language was meant to indicate they were aware of the interaction and what it was cause by but then decide it wasn't a threat and return to normal fairly quickly.

Minor 4

I think this clip appears more aggressive than was intended and would work better as the mild fight clip. This is most likely due to bad direction when recording the clips. It was recorded in the first session and i think i felt a little cautious about directing as i didn't want to seem bossy, in the later sessions i feel i overcame my worries and remembered it was actually what i was there to do.



Minor 5
This clip shows mild flight. The body language is minimal but clearly submissive, after being bumped into the NPC checks the threat and then reacts by lowering the head and raising a palm to indicate respect. The NPC also hunches his shoulder making him appear smaller making it obvious he is no threat.

                                      

Minor 5

I think this clip is pretty successful, the timing works well and the movements are minimal and believable.

Minor 6
This is the mid flight response  not wanting to appear too extreme, this performance is primarily to show the NPCs unease. The NPC was meant to keep his eye on the player, checking that the threat hasn't increased any. He moves away to help distance himself from the threat where he relaxes a little.

                                       

Minor 6

I like the skip in the step at the beginning of the response as it adds an extra initial sense of unease. This points out a benefit to using motion capture. Without it, the skip would probably not be part of the performance as it was completely improvised by Adam on the day. Once seeing the skip it was obvious it was a nice touch and so was added in to all of the takes after.

Minor 7This is the most extreme flight response. This would be the response of a person with a very nervous disposition or who is possibly traumatised and on edge anyway. Body language was to be limited to pushing all energy to escaping the threat.

Minor 7

This clip shows the body language that was intended but in hindsight, i would probably make the character cower a little more while they escaped.