Ninja Theory opens new division dedicated to real-time cinematography tech

DmC: Devil May Cry and Hellblade developer Ninja Theory has announced a spin-off arm focused on real-time cinematography technology and services.

Senua Studio shares its name with the protagonist of the dev’s upcoming psychological action title and will work to further evolve the real-time character rendering tech used in the game.

A major part of this will consist of providing performance capture systems and software that allow actors’ movements to be translated almost instantaneously into fully rendered in-game or animated movie scenes, meaning they can also react to audiences on stage or other live events.

The tech includes support for facial performances and VFX, with Ninja Theory adding that its assets are optimised for use in interactive virtual reality experiences.

Senua Studio plans to offer the platform to fellow devs and media firms as an all-encompassing pipeline, including the creation of characters and ‘virtual sets’.

“We have demonstrated working solutions today, and want to push forward the future of real-time entertainment, be it live performances of digital characters for stage or broadcast, shooting fully-rendered CG scenes in real-time for pre-vis, or interacting with believable characters in VR,” said co-founder Tameem Antoniades.

The studio showed off some of the tech at this year’s Siggraph. Take a look at the presentation below: