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[music]

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Hello! My name is Dan,

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I’m an animator,[br]and this is New Frame Plus.

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Replicating the look of hand-drawn[br]anime in 3D is a daunting challenge.

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Even the anime industry frequently[br]struggles to produce CG results

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that don’t fall into some[br]weird, animation uncanny valley.

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It’s just SO EASY to get a result[br]that feels vaguely wrong-looking,

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and most of the CG anime success[br]stories seem to be the shows

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which are willing to embrace[br]their distinct 3D look.

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The same has largely been[br]true for anime video games.

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Many game developers[br]have taken a crack at

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this same 3D anime[br]challenge over the years,

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but nearly all of the successful[br]examples are the games

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which aim to heavily[br]EVOKE the anime style

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without actually trying to[br]fool anybody into thinking

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that they’re looking at[br]a series of drawings.

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But there is one game studio[br]out there who has been

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pushing this envelope[br]further than any other,

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and that studio is[br]Arc System Works.

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And, before I start talking about how they[br]achieved this, I do want to point out:

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much of what I’m about to say here[br]comes directly from a GDC talk

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given by technical animator[br]Junya C Motomura back in 2015.

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You can (and should) check[br]that talk out yourself later.

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I will link to it below.

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So Arc System[br]Works, as a company,

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has been kicking around in[br]some form since the late 80s.

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They’ve worked on[br]a lot of things,

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but the genre of game they are[br]most famous for is: 2D fighters.

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This studio is VERY VERY GOOD at making beautiful,

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high-energy,[br]competitive anime fighting games.

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And the anime fighter[br]that originally put

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them on the map back in[br]1998 was Guilty Gear.

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It was fast, it was[br]stylish, it was beautiful.

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Now fast forward to the 2010s.

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Guilty Gear hadn’t seen a[br]proper sequel since 2002

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and Arc System Works was[br]looking to bring their

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pillar franchise back[br]into the spotlight.

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But now that they had several other high[br]profile anime fighters on the market,

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like BlazBlue and[br]Persona 4 Arena,

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Guilty Gear’s stylistic niche[br]was feeling a little crowded.

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So, rather than trying to[br]compete with their own products,

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Arc System Works looked for a way to set[br]the next Guilty Gear apart from the pack.

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And the choice they[br]ultimately made

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was that the next Guilty Gear title would[br]abandon its traditional 2D sprite animation

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in favor of fully[br]3D character models.

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Now, why would they do[br]that, you might ask?

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These sprites are beautiful!

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Well, there are plenty of enticing[br]incentives to switching a fighter to 3D.

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On top of giving your[br]game a more modern look,

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with 3D animation you can more[br]easily support higher resolutions,

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you can make your animations smoother[br]without breaking the art budget,

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and you can actually move the camera[br]around the characters in dynamic ways

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when you want to,[br]which has all kinds of exciting potential.

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It is for these[br]reasons (and more)

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that many other fighting game franchises[br]have made that jump to 3D over the years,

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and to varying[br]degrees of success.

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But most of those franchises had taken that[br]leap with the understanding that doing so

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would necessitate at least some[br]degree of aesthetic change.

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Street Fighter, for example, went from[br]looking like this…

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...to looking like this.

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Marvel vs Capcom went[br]from this…

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...to this.

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And Mortal Kombat went from this…

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...to this…

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...and eventually to this.

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And each of these 3D overhauls[br]more or less captures

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the spirit of their[br]sprite-animated originals,

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but those development teams had[br]clearly embraced the fact that

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moving to 3D would inevitably[br]require some aesthetic changes.

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But Arc System Works went into the new[br]Guilty Gear with a different mentality.

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What if they DIDN’T accept[br]that aesthetic change?

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What if, instead, they set out to make[br]their leap to 3D as INVISIBLE as possible,

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while still reaping many of[br]the benefits 3D has to offer?

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And so, Arc System Works set out to tackle[br]the challenge of building a 2.5D fighter

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with 3D character models[br]while still retaining

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the look of the series’s[br]sprite-based origins.

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Which meant: they were gonna have to[br]figure out how to make 3D anime look right.

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Fortunately, ArcSys had some big[br]advantages going into this project.

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First: they had a[br]LOT of 2D experience.

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Their teams had been producing[br]2D anime fighters for years.

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They were intimately familiar with the visual[br]style that they now needed to recreate.

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And second: their team had[br]actually been using 3D tools

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as part of their pixel animation[br]pipeline for a long time!

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Every pixel art character in[br]BlazBlue began life as a 3D model.

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In order to streamline their[br]pixel animation workflow,

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each character was sculpted and posed[br]in 3D first to lay a foundation,

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and then the pixel artists would[br]use that posed model as reference,

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which not only sped up the entire[br]animation process but also ensured

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more stylistic consistency across[br]all the artists on the project.

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So ArcSys had both the experience and[br]the tools they needed to make this work.

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All that remained was[br]figuring out the HOW.

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The first step was getting the fundamental[br]look of an anime character right,

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which they achieved through a[br]combination of character model design,

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some really clever texture[br]mapping techniques,

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and some impressive custom[br]cel shaders designed to

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replicate the look of traditional[br]anime character shading.

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Most importantly, the application of this[br]shading effect was highly customizable.

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The team’s character artists could[br]endlessly tweak and finesse how light

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and shadows fell across each[br]character’s unique features.

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What’s more, each character got their[br]own independent custom lighting.

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See, in most forms of 3D animation, you[br]often want to make it look like your

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light sources are affecting every character[br]or object in the environment similarly.

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It helps to sell the[br]fact that everything in

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the scene is inhabiting[br]that same 3D space.

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But in Guilty Gear Xrd, every character[br]has their own individual light sources

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which affect their body and[br]NOTHING else in the scene.

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Later versions of the game would add the[br]option for more dynamic scene-based lighting,

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but this original approach to[br]the problem was really clever,

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because it mimics the way those classic 2D[br]sprites would have originally been colored,

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with each character having their[br]own shading hand-drawn in and no

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ability to change that shading based[br]on the character’s environment.

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So now they had the[br]characters looking right,

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but there was still the remaining problem[br]of getting them to look right in motion.

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And that’s (arguably) an[br]even bigger challenge,

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because anime has a very[br]distinct animation style.

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See, anime’s unique look is a by-product[br]of its production limitations.

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Animating any television[br]series is a challenge,

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because you've got to produce[br]an entire season of TV on

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a FRACTION of the budget[br]that most animated films get.

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That is a daunting problem,[br]and the approach that TV animation studios

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around the world have developed to solve[br]that problem is: Limited Animation.

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Limited Animation is a technique (or[br]really, a huge collection of techniques)

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that TV animation studios[br]have been honing for decades.

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The goal of Limited Animation[br]is maximum efficiency;

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to find as many cost-saving and[br]corner-cutting measures as possible

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while sacrificing as little visual[br]fidelity as you realistically can,

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all in order to get the most[br]bang from your limited buck.

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This is why you so frequently[br]see anime characters

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hold on a single drawing[br]for as long as possible.

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It’s all about animating[br]performance and actions using

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as few drawings per second[br]as you possibly can,

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while still making sure[br]that you’re doing enough

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drawings to adequately[br]sell those actions.

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How few drawings can[br]you get away with?

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And if you HAVE to create additional[br]drawings to make something look right,

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can you get away with only re-drawing[br]specific parts of the character?

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Maybe just their mouth? Their eyes?[br]Their hair or clothing?

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Sure, you can make this action[br]look great with 10 drawings,

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but can you make it look[br]great using just 8 of them?

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How about 6?

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Awesome, we can only afford 3[br]so, good luck!

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You see Limited Animation all[br]over western TV as well,

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and it’s really fascinating seeing[br]how different sectors of this industry

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have found different approaches[br]and solutions to that same problem.

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But if you’re wanting to truly[br]imitate the look of anime specially,

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capturing the feel of this Limited[br]Animation style is the key.

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And Guilty Gear’s animators achieved that[br]by throwing out standard 3D technique

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and approaching their animation pretty[br]much exactly the way 2D animators do.

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Rather than crafting[br]a series of key poses

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for the computer to smoothly[br]interpolate between,

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the animators treated each[br]pose as a still drawing,

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a series of[br]hand-crafted 2D images.

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See, one of the inherent[br]benefits to computer animation

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is the way the computer can fill[br]in the gaps between your key poses.

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Like, if I put this ball on screen and I say[br]"I want keyframes here here here and here",

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the computer can be like “Oh[br]here, lemme help you out”

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and make the ball smoothly[br]travel from keyframe to keyframe,

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which can be really[br]really helpful!

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But what ArcSys’s team basically[br]did was say:

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“NO. Stop it."

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"Just have the ball be here...[br]then here... and then here... then here."

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And we have animator-y[br]terms for this, like

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“Stepped keys” and “held keys” and[br]whatnot, but the point is

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by not allowing the computer to smoothly[br]interpolate between their keyframes

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Arc System Works’s animators made[br]it so that each pose they made

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behaved just like[br]a 2D drawing would,

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and they could then choose exactly[br]how long they wanted each “drawing”

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to linger on screen before[br]the next one popped in.

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Again, exactly the same as a traditional[br]hand-drawn animation workflow!

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And basically the same as their[br]old sprite animation workflow too,

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if you think about it.

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You can even see examples of them[br]holding parts of the body still,

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just like a 2D animator[br]would when they didn’t want

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to have to redraw the whole[br]thing for the next frame,

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while still animating secondary parts[br]of the character like hair or clothing.

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It is completely unlike how we would[br]animate something in 3D normally,

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but it absolutely evokes the look[br]of anime’s Limited Animation.

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But that, my friends,[br]is just the tip of the iceberg.

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Because,[br]to complete the look of 2D anime,

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the animators also had to add a[br]generous helping of imperfection.

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See, perfection is something[br]that computers are GREAT at.

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A computer can make every[br]movement perfectly smooth,

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every body proportion[br]perfectly consistent,

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every light source and[br]shadow perfectly correct.

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But hand drawn animation - by its[br]very nature - contains imperfections;

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subtle variations in[br]expression and slight changes

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in body proportions from[br]one frame to the next.

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So, to maintain the illusion[br]of something hand-drawn,

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the animators had to force 2D’s imperfection[br]BACK into the computer’s perfect system,

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tweaking each key frame ever so[br]slightly to implement those flaws

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that make traditional[br]animation look hand-made.

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They also had to stylize[br]and exaggerate their animations

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the same[br]way 2D animators would,

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warping character proportions and[br]exaggerating perspective intentionally

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for emphasis or dynamic appeal.

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This was made possible by the fact that each[br]of these character’s animation skeletons

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contains far more animatable joints[br]than your average 3D game character,

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sometimes over 500 of them.

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And that's something you[br]can do when you've only got

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to render two characters[br]on screen at once!

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This not only allowed the[br]animators to deform and shape these

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character models to implement that[br]imperfection I mentioned before,

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but also gave them freedom to[br]warp the character proportions

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in some extreme and bizarre[br]ways when necessary.

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And if all those joints weren’t enough[br]to do what the animators needed -

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like if the character needed to morph[br]into some entirely different form -

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well, then they could just swap in[br]another character model on the fly.

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Then there’s the[br]effects animation.

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Not only did they accentuate[br]all of these character animations

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with some gorgeous hit[br]effects and speed lines

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(all of which are[br]animated 2D textures),

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but - when necessary for certain effects like[br]the clouds of dust at a character’s feet -

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they modeled those clouds[br]in 3D frame by frame.

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And that is bonkers.

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Basically, in all things,[br]the Arc System Works team had one edict:

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“Kill Every Thing 3D”.

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If something felt 3D,[br]you found a way to fix it.

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And, as I have hopefully[br]made clear at this point,

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the solution was -[br]more often than not -

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quality tools and an extraordinary[br]amount of brute force.

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To sculpt the character model[br]and the shading and the posing

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and the effects and even[br]the LIGHTING if necessary

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- FRAME BY FRAME - until the entire game[br]looked like a series of hand drawn images.

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Just like with[br]traditional animation,

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everything onscreen had to be[br]an intentional and artistic choice,

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not a computer’s[br]automated solution.

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And the results?

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Well, a lot of folks (myself included)[br]didn’t even immediately recognize

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that this was a 3D game[br]when we first saw it.

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Usually, it wasn’t until[br]we saw the camera move

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for the first time that[br]we stopped and said:

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“Wait a minute….

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...no way.[br]Has this been 3D the ENTIRE TIME?!”

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Guilty Gear Xrd may not always[br]succeed in fooling your brain

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into thinking it’s looking at a 2D fighter,[br]but STILL, this is an amazing achievement.

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And that was just[br]their FIRST try!

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For their next attempt, Arc System Works[br]would face an even greater challenge.

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Because creating a convincing[br]faux 2D anime aesthetic

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for your own original[br]property is one thing,

0:13:32.370,0:13:36.407
but emulating the look of an[br]established and beloved anime series?

0:13:36.432,0:13:38.868
That adds a new[br]layer of challenge.

0:13:38.893,0:13:43.259
This time, Arc System Works couldn’t[br]just recreate AN anime look,

0:13:43.284,0:13:46.963
they had to successfully nail[br]Dragon Ball’s unique aesthetic,

0:13:46.988,0:13:49.603
AND stay true to the[br]animation of characters that

0:13:49.628,0:13:52.244
their target audience[br]had likely grown up with,

0:13:52.269,0:13:53.942
AND - on top of all that -

0:13:53.967,0:13:57.804
they actually needed to make it look[br]BETTER than those old anime series.

0:13:57.829,0:14:02.330
They had to replicate what a[br]nostalgic DBZ fan sees in their head

0:14:02.355,0:14:05.474
when they think back on their[br]favorite moments from the show.

0:14:05.517,0:14:07.982
And as one who did not[br]grow up with Dragon Ball,

0:14:08.007,0:14:10.776
I confess that I cannot speak[br]authoritatively on this one,

0:14:10.801,0:14:13.395
but - if the level of delight[br]I’ve been hearing from

0:14:13.420,0:14:16.464
Dragon Ball fans over the[br]last year is any indication

0:14:16.489,0:14:19.770
- I’m gonna go ahead and guess[br]that they did pretty good.

0:14:19.795,0:14:24.810
And I really love seeing the subtle differences in[br]approach and style between these two games.

0:14:24.835,0:14:28.606
Like for example, Dragon Ball FighterZ[br]has a different approach to smears,

0:14:28.631,0:14:31.940
relying more on those classic[br]old school speed lines

0:14:31.965,0:14:35.878
instead of Guilty Gear’s smooth,[br]stretched-out solid shapes.

0:14:35.903,0:14:39.397
I love all of the Dragon Ball-influenced[br]posing on these characters

0:14:39.422,0:14:42.704
and most of all,[br]I love that the animation in this game

0:14:42.729,0:14:45.719
has slightly lower fidelity[br]than the previous game

0:14:45.744,0:14:48.709
in order to feel more true[br]to the source material.

0:14:48.734,0:14:51.363
It's in the way that the[br]Dragon Ball fighters hold their

0:14:51.388,0:14:54.659
poses for seconds at a time[br]with only their mouths moving.

0:14:54.684,0:14:59.032
The way they’ll hold on a single frame[br]longer than the Guilty Gear Xrd fighters will.

0:14:59.057,0:15:02.392
Or… ok, look at Sol[br]Badguy’s idle animation.

0:15:02.417,0:15:05.249
His name is Sol Badguy, by the way.[br]Guilty Gear is bonkers.

0:15:05.274,0:15:07.206
But yeah, look at his breathing.

0:15:07.231,0:15:09.217
You see that expansion[br]in the chest?

0:15:09.242,0:15:12.101
The way it stretches out that[br]buckle strap on his clothes?

0:15:12.126,0:15:15.277
That is a level of subtle[br]motion fidelity that you are

0:15:15.302,0:15:18.308
not going to see very often[br]in a show like Dragon Ball,

0:15:18.333,0:15:20.787
and you won’t see it in[br]Dragon Ball FighterZ either,

0:15:20.812,0:15:23.035
because it just[br]wouldn’t look right.

0:15:23.060,0:15:27.243
And the really exciting thing is that[br]this whole approach Arc System Works has

0:15:27.268,0:15:30.654
developed is still relatively[br]new and unexplored.

0:15:30.679,0:15:34.358
I mean, they’ve only really[br]done this trick twice so far.

0:15:34.383,0:15:36.924
But their third[br]attempt is on the way.

0:15:36.974,0:15:40.071
The upcoming GranBlue[br]Fantasy Versus looks to bring

0:15:40.096,0:15:43.192
yet another subtle variation[br]on the anime aesthetic.

0:15:43.244,0:15:45.775
And Arc System Works is[br]also the publisher for that

0:15:45.800,0:15:48.159
new Kill la Kill fighting[br]game that just dropped.

0:15:48.184,0:15:52.709
Granted, actual development duties for that[br]one seem to have been handled by A+ Games,

0:15:52.734,0:15:56.572
the same folks who made that (also very[br]nice looking) Little Witch Academia game,

0:15:56.597,0:15:59.376
but I can’t imagine there[br]wasn’t at least SOME

0:15:59.401,0:16:02.696
knowledge-sharing happening[br]between these two studios.

0:16:02.721,0:16:05.672
If there’s one thing that the[br]production of these games shows

0:16:05.697,0:16:08.185
(and it’s something that[br]Motomura has said himself),

0:16:08.210,0:16:11.942
it’s that achieving this look[br]wasn’t about developing some new,

0:16:11.967,0:16:14.058
never-before-seen technology.

0:16:14.083,0:16:17.268
It was simply a matter of[br]applying the same tech we use

0:16:17.293,0:16:20.281
for everything else toward[br]a different visual target,

0:16:20.306,0:16:22.962
and being willing to bend[br]our production approach

0:16:22.987,0:16:25.704
as necessary to achieve[br]our aesthetic goals.

0:16:25.729,0:16:29.611
I cannot wait to see what Arc System[br]Works has in store for us next,

0:16:29.636,0:16:33.341
and I really hope to see more studios take a[br]crack at this sort of thing in the future.

0:16:33.366,0:16:36.350
Again, definitely check out[br]Junya C Motomura’s talk if you’re

0:16:36.375,0:16:39.093
interested in learning more[br]about how they achieved this.

0:16:39.118,0:16:41.542
He gets into more of the[br]technical details like

0:16:41.567,0:16:44.347
the nitty-gritty of their[br]cel shading and texture work.

0:16:44.372,0:16:46.913
It’s all just so[br]very darned cool.

0:16:46.938,0:16:49.586
Also, a big thanks to[br]Geoff Thew of Mother’s Basement

0:16:49.611,0:16:51.569
for double-checking[br]my script on this one.

0:16:51.594,0:16:54.518
If you’re curious to learn more[br]about the history of anime games,

0:16:54.543,0:16:57.464
he actually made a video[br]cataloging that very thing.

0:16:57.489,0:16:58.889
I will link to it below.

0:16:58.914,0:17:00.253
I hope you've enjoyed this!

0:17:00.278,0:17:04.116
Be sure to subscribe and bell-ring and all[br]that other stuff if you haven’t already,

0:17:04.141,0:17:08.031
and consider supporting the show[br]like all of these absolute champions.

0:17:08.056,0:17:11.735
Thank you for watching and I’ll see[br]you next time for more New Frame Plus.

0:17:11.760,0:17:20.201
[music]