Video Game Engines Will Be Used in Films

According to Kim Libreri, the Chief Technology Strategy Officer at Lucasfilms, computer graphics will begin to evolve in a way where video game assets can be inserted in real-time. The benefit to this will be to lessen the trouble of post-production that filmmakers face. 

Lucasfilm and their effects company Industrial Light and Magic already put this into practice in their abandoned video game 1313, which was a Star Wars game. 1313’s concept proves how real-time capture can work. 

Below is a video of the Star Wars 1313 concept.

Many video games already use this real-time motion capture, but Libreri explains that this will help cut back on production time for films as well as help create great digital effects.

“Being able to animate, edit, and compose live is going to change the way we work and it’s really going to bring back the creative experience in digital effects.”

Within the next decade, Liberi says that we will begin to see more and more video game graphics making their way into film production. 

Upcoming Star Wars Film

Kathleen Kennedy, a producer of the new Star Wars film coming out in 2015, said that the new film will not be relying on the computer-generated graphics as much as the prequels relied on. Kennedy, who worked on E.T., Back to the Future, Sixth Sense and Jurassic Park, to name a few, says she wants to have a balance between using real locations with some CG effects. 

“It’s using model makers; it’s using real droids; it’s taking advantage of artwork that you actually can touch and feel. And we want to do that in combination with CG effects. We figure that’s what will make it real…”

Kennedy is making sure she doesn’t over use the technology, since she feels that too many films are overly reliant on them. She explains that Jurassic Park is a great example of the perfect blend of CG and practical effects. 

How do you feel about CG effects in films and/or the idea of lessening post-production time? What do you think about the Star Wars 1313 Concept video? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.