Image Metrics and Babel Media today announced that they are partnering to improve facial animation quality for video game localization. Babel will record the voice and facial movements of a localization actor, which Image Metrics will then feed into their software which can then be applied to the animation “rigs” on the character model's face.
"With localized versions driving an increasing amount of blockbuster game revenues, developers need a more efficient and more effective solution for localization of dialogue and animation in multilingual titles than the current practice of dubbing titles by manually syncing existing English facial movements to the localized audio track," said Brian Waddle, EVP of Sales and Marketing at Image Metrics. "Our solution eliminates poorly dubbed titles and instead affordably produces a more realistic, richer and more immersive localized version, which will significantly improve the player's experience. Babel Media has a rich heritage of translating and recording AAA titles and offers a truly global service with over 400 in-country translators and numerous local recording studios, making them the perfect partner for Image Metrics to improve the quality of localized games for our clients."
"Developing games which connect with local cultures and give the player a fully immersive experience are critical to success in the global video game markets," said Richard Leinfellner CEO Babel Media. "Image Metrics' facial animation adds impressive believability to games and greatly supplements our deep knowledge of localization, audio and pre/post production processes; no longer does it take valuable development team time to get great localized on-screen acting. Image Metrics' unique ability to produce realistic facial animation more quickly and cost-effectively than any other solution currently available on the market makes the company an ideal partner that will allow developers to localize titles more rapidly than ever before."
