The shouts from two men clashing swords rang through the motion-capture studio at Pearl Abyss' Gwacheon headquarters, Home One. Each time actors in black full-body suits swung their swords and moved, the Crimson Desert game characters on the studio monitors mirrored the exact same actions.
More than 120 ultra-high-performance motion-capture cameras with 16-megapixel resolution installed in the studio film everything from joint movements to subtle finger motions and eye lines, then link that data in real time to Pearl Abyss' proprietary game engine. A Pearl Abyss official said, "Because the actions of the actors being filmed are immediately reflected in the game characters on screen, developers and actors can check the results on site and make real-time adjustments to raise the completeness of the action."
On the 24th, a month before the official launch of the major new title Crimson Desert, Pearl Abyss opened its development site to the press. Crimson Desert is a project Pearl Abyss has spent seven years developing and is considered one of the most anticipated global game releases of the first half of this year. It is the only large-scale domestic title developed using Pearl Abyss' proprietary game engine, the BlackSpace Engine.
That day, Pearl Abyss introduced core Crimson Desert development facilities including the motion-capture studio, audio room, and 3D scan studio. The motion-capture studio is designed to maximize the realism and vitality of in-game combat scenes, with a total of more than 270 cameras installed across Home One and a separate art center in Anyang. The studio within Home One is an open space of about 180 pyeong, and the company said it was designed with a high ceiling so it can film without constraints, from real horse movements and wire action to large-scale group battle scenes.
The 3D scan studio is a space that converts real people and objects into 3D data. More than 180 high-performance DSLR cameras arranged in a cylindrical layout capture people, armor, weapons, and other items to be used in the game from multiple angles, quickly turning them into data and reproducing them in the game in lifelike form. It is equipped for "facial scans" that capture expressions such as minute lip tremors and muscle movements around the eyes, as well as a tent-table camera booth that converts props such as rocks and branches that make up the in-game world into 3D data.
A company official said, "The scan studio is a key process that elevates the game's graphic quality to the level of live-action film," adding, "We turned into data even the textures of fabrics that are hard to express by hand, expression lines on faces, and minute scratches on equipment."
In the audio room, staff create sounds such as background music, effects, and voice-over recordings that heighten immersion. Pearl Abyss introduced Foley techniques used in commercial film production into the audio room. In the dedicated Foley studio, various materials such as sand, gravel, stone, and metal are used to reproduce sounds that appear in the game. Representative examples include the protagonist's footsteps and the clanging of armor.
Music director Ryu Huiman said, "We worked to realize the action the game requires through sound," and added, "We focused on creating impact that lives between the rough, rugged feel of retro game sounds and refined, realistic sounds."
Crimson Desert is an open-world action-adventure game set on the vast continent of Pywel. It is scheduled for worldwide release on PC and console platforms on Mar. 20.