Secret Level
THE UNSUNG HEROES OF DEVELOPMENT
PHIL STILGOE and JOE ELLS of Centroid UK on the art of motion capture
Centroid is a giant of the motion capture world, having worked on multiple blockbuster movies, streaming shows and globally successful games. Despite being CEO, Phil Stilgoe’s route into that world wasn’t quite what you might expect; once upon a time, he was working as a chef on cruise liners.
“I was interested in photography,” explains Stilgoe, “so I understood cameras. We started as a family business many years ago, and it was just a bit of a passion project to begin with. And we went from strength to strength”. Joe Ells meanwhile, the company’s post production manager, started in the game industry, working on Guitar Hero – which was making use of Centroid’s services at the time.
When it comes to games, the fundamental requirements for a motion capture job can vary from project to project. “Some games will require full performance capture,” says Stilgoe, “and we’re recording the audio, the body movements, everything. Then some games we’ll have the audio tracks pre-recorded, and the actors perform to them.”
As budgets and development times have increased for games over the years, so has the willingness to embrace motion capture, and to ensure that properly skilled people are involved. “They’re not afraid to bring in those highly skilled people from different walks of life to fill in the gaps that used to exist,” says Ells. “Now everyone’s been brought up to the same level.” Sometimes, experienced people from the movie industry will even be brought in to help. Movie actors are more likely to be willing to engage in mocap than in previous years. Stilgoe credits Andy Serkis with validating this work as an option.
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
The mocap industry itself, and the methods and equipment used, have also evolved over the years. The professional bodysuits simply didn’t exist in the early days; performers would have markers attached to the body with spirit gum. They experimented with tape and elastic bands; at one point, Stilgoe’s gran helped by stitching velcro onto catsuits. Eventually, however, 3x3 Designs started to provide velcro bodysuits that could have markers quickly and easily applied. “It was like a renaissance in front of the camera for us,” says Stilgoe.
Performance capture isn’t just body movement – sometimes it involves detailed facial movement capture, too. This involves the actor having to perform with aboom directly in front of them, and a camera with a light; in addition to a battery pack strapped to their body. “Most actors take to that after a while,” says Stilgoe, “it just might be a little bit more restrictive than they�
