GDC: Bungie in â??Hollywood-gradeâ?? face caption deal

Image Metric’s highly-regarded facial animation tech has been licensed by famed indie studio Bungie.

"Image Metrics has used Faceware for years to create believable facial animation at all levels of quality,” said Image Metrics CEO Michael Starkenburg.

“The technology has been proven repeatedly, whether on AAA game titles, Oscar-winning films, and Grammy-winning music videos," he added.

Faceware is said will provide developers with enhanced creative and more agility in the production process. Image Metrics say the software package can be integrated into any pipeline and game engine.

Bungie creative director Marcus Lehto said the facial animation tech allowed the studio to raise standards.

“Creating realistic facial animation is a critical component to bringing believable, character-driven performances to life for our next studio project," he said.

“Faceware lets us raise our extremely high quality bar and maintain the ultra fast turnaround times and animator efficiency we need without impacting our existing pipeline. No other tool gives us this level of flexibility and control."

Image Metrics and Bungie are out in force at GDC this week.