All of these skills are compatible with gameplay code. Characters can achieve high-level objectives using learned skills, like “get from point A to point B”, “never collide with another character”, and other types of motion planning; or, individual skills can also be triggered by command like “run”, “vault”, or “backflip”. Our AI-driven Motion Intelligence product, DeepMotion Neuron, is the next gen of Avatar and will be released this summer. You can sign up for updates on the Neuron release here.

We believe physics-based procedural character animation, i.e., Motion Intelligence is the future of rapid prototyping, cost-effective high-fidelity character animation, in addition to opening the door for interactive content and more open-ended forms of narrative. Our tools are being used by game industry veterans, those in visual effects industries, roboticists, AR/VR developers, and industrial education. These tools will also democratize AAA game design for small studios and indie developers who could never afford, say, a crowd simulation team, or $10,000+ dollars a day at the mocap studio; there’s a lot of speculation about who wins and who loses as labor is automated by intelligent systems. We see our form of automation as an enabler for more efficient creative design for all developers.

Physics-based skeletal animation and AI-driven walk cycles are also transformative for 2D character animation. Our 2D software, Creature, provides user-friendly physics and force motors to automate complex secondary motion, like hair or cloth movement.

We also use AI to auto-rig characters and create walk-cycle templates. Creature was developed by our Technical Director, Jiayi Chong, after nearly a decade at Pixar, to simplify 2D animation while also elevating quality.