William Mapother

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Mo Mo Mo-Cap

Posted on: October 26th, 2010 by wmapother 11 Comments

Just when you thought (and I prayed) that I couldn’t look any freakier or wear weirder outfits, here comes this:  motion capture, aka performance capture.

Cribbing from (and probably ruining) the Wikipedia entry, motion capture, aka mo-cap, means recording movement (eg, of humans) and using that information to animate characters in computer animation.

It’s the same process they used in this little movie you may have heard of, Avatar.  In fact, just for your viewing pleasure, you can see a short clip of the process and how it looked in the movie here.

So last week I did mo-cap for an upcoming videogame.  No, I can’t tell you which one.  Game companies get a little tweaked out when actors announce early, so I’m going to shock everyone and keep my mouth shut for a change.  Zipped lip.  But I will say that it’s part of a franchise.  That’s quite popular.  Which is — okay, really, that’s enough.

It was a blast.  Basically, you wear a suit covered with 55 or so reflective dots, and while you act out a scene in a big open room, 70-80 cameras are reading your movements via the dots.  Then the data from the cameras all gets combined to create your movements in a 3D digital world.

Monitors were set up on the edge of the room showing our characters (okay, fine, our avatars), so as we moved, our avatars moved (though their faces stayed the same).  Our mo-cap is animated, whereas Avatar was more lifelike, so we looked nothing like our avatars on the monitors.  It was a bit weird at first, and then it became nothing but fantastic.  Especially, I think, to the actresses, almost all of whose avatars were, in the time-honored tradition of videogames, really hot.

The director, producers, and crew were terrific, as were all the other actors.  Everything was fantastic.  Except for the skin-tight black suits.  That I could have done without.  I’m not sure how exactly, given that they’re a necessary part of the process, but if I were King of Mo-Cap-ville, the first Royal Order would be to improve the suits.  Somehow.  I don’t know how.  I’m the King.  Just make it happen.

Posted in Acting Projects, Photos of Wm, Videogame

If This Is Tuesday, It Must Be Post-Apocalyptic Vegas

Posted on: October 19th, 2010 by wmapother 7 Comments

Fallout: New Vegas, the newest incarnation of the hit videogame series Fallout, hits stores tomorrow.  I voice one of the characters, as I mentioned in a previous post.  It’s set in the year 2281 in post-apocalyptic Las Vegas.  Need I say more?

USA Today has a preview on five things you didn’t know about the game and mentions me here.  The official site is here, the Wikipedia overview is here, and the fantastic trailer is here.
Also, this week I’m shooting motion capture for another videogame I can’t mention.  In the next couple days I’ll post a report..
Posted in Press, Videogame

Me and my Halo

Posted on: September 14th, 2010 by wmapother 8 Comments
The big news today: the long-awaited arrival of Bungie’s Halo: Reach, the newest incarnation of the stupendously popular videogame for the Xbox 360.  The reviews have been tremendous, and the sales will likely be great enough to start a new mid-sized European nation.  
So I’m happy to report that, thanks to the awesome folks at games-casting superhouse Blindlight Media, somewhere amidst the explosions, crashing, yelling and general mayhem, the unmistakable squawk of yours truly can be heard as the voice of Air Control/Dispatch.  If you need my character, he’s out on a coffee break.

 

I’ve worked on videogames before (see my posts on Fallout: New Vegas and Secret World), but this is the first one to be released (games generally have very long gestations).  I was able to give Halo: Reach a test run a few months ago at a sort of coming-out party, and I’m happy to report that it’s an absolute blast:  stunning graphics, super-smooth maneuverability, engaging story and characters, and of course, lots of blowing s__t up.  


If avoiding the maniacs on your city’s freeways has become routine and boring, this game is for you.  And if it’s not, at least now you can answer the question, It’s three in the morning, do you know where the man in your life is?
Posted in Videogame

Fallout: New Vegas

Posted on: July 15th, 2010 by wmapother 3 Comments

Well, I’m here to report that I’ve seen the future of the past and I’m overjoyed to announce that I’m a part of it (so all of you can rest your pretty little heads at night).

What the hell is Mapother going on about now?  I recently completed some voice work for the much-anticipated (Oct. 19) videogame “Fallout: New Vegas.”  The game is set in a post-apocalyptic 1950’s Las Vegas, with all the wonders and wonderfulness that conjures for you.  The troupes and tribes are all they’re cracked up to be, and the script and team were a blast to work with.  It was the first vidgame v.o. I’d done since working on “The Secret World,” and I’d forgotten how much I’d missed it.

Even if videogames aren’t your thing, how can you not like a dang videogame trailer (here) whose soundtrack is Kay Kyser’s “(I Got Spurs That) Jingle, Jangle, Jingle”?

Posted in Videogame

There’s a New Villain in Town!

Posted on: July 7th, 2010 by wmapother 5 Comments

WordGirl, the animated show which teaches kids vocabulary words, is re-airing my episode (see post here) as part of “weeklong programming event”:  ‘There’s a New Villain in Town.’  There’s an article on the weeklong shows here.

The episodes run July 19-23 on PBS and feature several fan favorites, which apparently (aww, shucks)  include mine.  Another ep includes the voice of Ed Asner (‘Up!’).

Over there to the right is my beloved villain, Guy Rich.  WordGirl a terrific show, even for those over four years old, intellectually or emotionally.  Check your local listings, please.

Posted in Press, TV, Voice