Monster Hunter World motion capture looks ridiculous

Monster Hunter World continues to produce the best motion capture footage of any game.

Part of the reason why Monster Hunter World's monsters convincingly behave like wild animals about to ruin your day is that Capcom uses motion capture actors to form the basis of some the game's spectacular animations.

We first had a look at this technique around the release of the original game, and Capcom has since continued relying on motion capture to bring the monsters in Iceborne to life.

Rajang, one of the recent additions to the game, is perhaps more suited to being captured by a human actor than any of the other monsters. Rajang is a big ape, of course, so capturing its moves is an easy problem to solve.

But what may not be so easy is how Rajang interacts with other monsters. In his introduction cutscene, Rajang establishes dominance over an Elder Dragon: Kirin. As imposing as this cutscene is, it's only when you see how it was made that you begin to appreciate it more.

Monster Hunter's Japanese Twitter account shared a rare behind-the-scenes look at how the cutscene was created. The developers built a prop to represent Kirin in the scene so the actor playing Rajang can tussle with it. It looks a bit ridiculous, but you can't argue with the end result.

【映像】モンハンフェスタ大阪会場で公開された映像「ザ・メイキング オブ ラージャン カットシーン」をTwitterで公開！#MHWアイスボーン #モンハンフェスタ pic.twitter.com/SyZetHEZby

— モンスターハンターワールド：アイスボーン公式 (@MH_official_JP) January 20, 2020

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Motion capture is a crucial, yet often mysterious part of video game development. In recognition of the craft, we interviewed motion capture actors and performers to better understand what differentiates it from typical voice acting, and why we need to separate the two.

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