CGWorld Vol. 296 Interview with Creatures

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Interviews

Side Games • GAME FREAK Games • Animation • Manga • Other

'March 2023   •   '

Original Interview    •   Translation— Earthoul   •  Proofreading— Lewtwo

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Yuki Yoneya

Shun Onodera

Suguru Fukaya

This is an interview in the "Animation Workflow for Games" series on CGWorld — interviewed by Ryo Wakasugi (chief editor, CG animator at Sony Pictures Imageworks); text by Miyuki Ogata from CG World; transcribed by Yoichiro Oue. The magazine later posted the article online in three parts.

Yuki Yoneya, Pokémon Character Motion Lead;
Shun Onodera, Pokémon Character Modelling Lead;
Suguru Fukaya, Pokémon Character Motion

Motion Consideration, Based on the Ecology and Temperament of Each Pokémon

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Bottom Middle: Hair • Gel • The gel is bouncy • The same color as the body, but it has eyeballs (only on textures)
Bottom Right: Non-gel form
Top Right: It folds its wings (arms) only when swimming

From left to right: Idle; Half-closed; Closed; Angry; Sad; Joyful; Damaged; Surprised

Example videos:

• Quaxly idling
• Quaxly emoting
• Quaxly attacking

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Collecting Reference Material, Not Only for Living Things But Also for Inanimate Objects

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Example video: Fidough sleeping

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Example Video: Sandy Shocks walking

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Template:Translators Note TODO: Add the single image of the eye textures; the old image URL is broken,

From left to right: Open; Half-closed; Closed; Joyful; Angry; Damaged

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Rebuilding Texture-based Facial Expressions with Joints

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Goomy's Facial Joints

Example video: Goomy's Expressions Template:InterviewImageTop

Goomy's & Jigglypuff's Facial Expressions, when taking damage.

1. The motion team tells the modelling team what motion the Pokémon should have. Their ideas [must be] shared in detail: ex. whether [the motion] involves whole or partial body scaling; and whether [the Pokémon] also flails when opening the mouth wide.
2. The modelling team sets up the joints and the [rigging] weight, using this shared information. The team sets the Root Joints that allow the entire eyes to move as the parent nodes, and configures [each child node] for the intended facial expressions and shape, depending on each Pokémon.
3. As for older Pokémon, the motion team tries using the existing facial asset data, checks for errors or clipping glitches, and debugs them.
4. The final assets for the facial expressions will be formed into a preset and registered to the in-house tool.

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Example videos:

• Passimian idling, SV: Passimian holds the berry in one hand in its idling motion
• Passimian walking, pre-SV: The previous titles didn't require a transition between idling and running, so the berry was held in its tail in its running motion
• Passimian Running, SV: Scarlet & Violet has added transitions between idling and running in the open world, which has changed the motion so that it now runs with the berry kept held in its hand

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Meticulously Developed Post-attack Animations, Including Weight Transfer

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Example video: Floragato attacking, then idling

Screenshot of a dedicated tool for the workflow of animation-state transition adjustments

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File:Opponent's Quaxwell

A player and opponent's Quaxwell in their idle animations during battle

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A player and opponent's Quaquaval in their idle animations during battle

File:Quaquaval view 3, 4

Quaquaval's idle animation in four views: its silhouette has been carefully arranged to keep it looking really cool from all angles

Some Animators Challenge Themselves in a Type of Animation They Consider to Be Their Weak Points

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Portraying Life-likeness, in Spite of Various Limitations

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Example videos:

• Chi-Yu attacking: Chi-Yu's attacking animation, where both its eyes and magatamas glow at the same time
• Chi-Yu joyful animation: Chi-Yu's joyful animation, where its eyes are wide open and only its magatamas shine

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Template:InterviewLede Example video: Spidops walking

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Example video: Iron Thorns attacking

Iron Bundle doesn't have knee joints either; additionally, it has shorter back legs than Iron Thorns'.

Varoom is based on a single-cylinder engine, which caused difficulties when discussing how it should be interpreted in motion.

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Roaring Moon has long front legs and claws, and short back legs, which makes it prone to clipping during development of its walking motion, and the like.

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Chien-Pao has very long swords in its mouth.

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Developing Motion, Not Only on Land but Also in Air and Water

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• Motion of Glaceon and Bombirdier:

Example videos:

• Glaceon walking
• Glaceon swimming
• Bombirdier walking
• Bombirdier flying

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Creatures, Inc.'s Role: Expanding How Pokémon are Expressed

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