Star Wars: Rogue One and Hollywood’s trip through the uncanny valley

Re:Star Wars: Rogue One and Hollywood’s trip through the unc... by grzm on Wednesday December 21, 2016 @01:50AM (#13227292)

I think there are two things at play here. You point out the effectiveness of the CGI for the transitions in T2. I think you're right in that the transitions where quick and that we know he's a shape-shifter.

The other is that Tarkin interacts substantially with the other characters, and close up. There are a lot of additional opportunities for us to see behavior that doesn't look quite right, especially facial expressions during conversation.

When thinking about this, I compare the differences between how I reacted to K-2SO and Tarkin. I never thought once about the K-2SO effects until after the show: he blended right in. Perhaps it was just that I knew Peter Cushing was dead, I know I was always aware that something was just a bit off. I also thought that there was a little too much detail in Tarkin's face, but I think that be me focussing on it too much.

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Re:Star Wars: Rogue One and Hollywood’s trip through the unc... by kristianp on Wednesday December 21, 2016 @02:12AM (#13227366)

I think it's because in Terminator 2, the human face is not CGI, it's just Patrick's face filmed. (or when it is, it's not skin-toned, it's silver or checker-boarded). The Tarkin CGI is much more ambitious, because it simulates facial movements and expressions (and lighting).

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Re:Star Wars: Rogue One and Hollywood’s trip through the unc... by grzm on Wednesday December 21, 2016 @02:18AM (#13227391)

Good point. Transforming or manipulating a filmed image is a different process from creating one from whole cloth.

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Re:Star Wars: Rogue One and Hollywood’s trip through the unc... by daxelrod on Wednesday December 21, 2016 @02:18AM (#13227389)

I didn't actually realize Peter Cushing was dead until after I saw the film.

For me, it was the movement that felt unnatural. I think I would have been covinced by any single frame, they did a superb job on the modeling, texturing, and lighting. But the way his jaw and lips moved when he talked felt like a video game, not a person.

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Re:Star Wars: Rogue One and Hollywood’s trip through the unc... by FroshKiller on Wednesday December 21, 2016 @06:29AM (#13228336)

I've pointed out that same detail to people. Real people's faces move in anticipation of the sounds they're about to make, not perfectly in step with the sound. Some sentences were animated better than others, though, and it was very good overall in my opinion.

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