New firm Metapixel aims to raise the bar for full-body scanning

A new company has formed in the UK that intends to significantly improve the quality of virtual actors.

Brighton-based Metapixel has developed what it claims to be one of the most advanced full-body scanning rigs in the world, designed to create lifelike replications of people in video games.

The rig features 105 Nikon D810 36-megapixel cameras with the capacity for 15-shot sequential shooting. Metapixel has also developed its own proprietary capture software.

The Metapixel rig is even portable, enabling devs to scan large objects such as cars on location, and its scalability means it can capture anything from small crowds to larger items at 20m polygons. Alternatively, it can be used to focus on detail, rendering up to 120 million polygons.

The firm’s pipeline is fully compatible with Unity and Unreal Engine, and is particularly keen to see how developers can use its tech with virtual reality.

"Our aim is to turn Metapixel studio into the Warner Bros of the virtual reality age,” said co-founder David Herman. “To create a space where games developers come together to create the defining content of virtual reality.”

The company is currently working in partnership with Centroid, the motion capture firm that has contributed to blockbusters such as Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and the new episodic Hitman, to add more performance capture services to its offering.