TF2 Sniper and Sandvich - Valve

Today I've got some more video game animations for you. Why so heavy on the video game stuff lately? I dunno. Let's call it a theme month or something.

The guys over at Valve have released a few more videos to promote their game Team Fortress 2. For those of you that have been following my Twitter, you know that lately I've been on a bit of a podcast kick, and one of the podcasts I listen to is the ReAnimators. These are a group of video game animators that talk about various aspects of their industry. One interesting point they brought up was that in a field where photorealism is so strived for and desired, something stylized like Team Fortress 2 really stands out.

And I couldn't agree more. These promotional animations are the icing on that cake. For me, something unique and well designed like the Team Fortress 2 crew are so much more appealing to me than a Marcus Fenix or Master Chief (although I do like Master Chief's design in general). Just like movie animation, it seems like the more you try to make things look super realistic (Beowulf) the further you get from something appealing that I'm actually going to enjoy (Ratatouille).

Anyway enough chat from me. Here's the first video introducing "The Sniper."

That character has been around from the beginning, but the next "character" is something new that was only recently introduced to the game. There really isn't a lot of actual animation in this one, as in character movement, but the animation that is used is perfect for what needs to be accomplished.

Haven't had enough videos? Wander of to Immediate Regret and vote for who you think has the best picks in our "Best Will Ferrell Character" Draft. If I lose I have to go see Disaster Movie, which I believe is still rocking a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. So go vote! (Preferably for me, but you should really watch the videos and decide for yourself).

Warhammer Online Cinematic - Blur Studio

Remember that short I shared a while back called "A Gentleman's Duel"? Well if not, go watch it because it's good stuff. That was a short by Blur Studio, which I found out recently also was the force behind that Marvel short I showed a few months back.

Well turns out that Blur Studio does a lot of game cinematics as well. Their most recently released one is for the upcoming World of Warcraft challenger, Warhammer Online. Yes, I know Blizzard stole all their ideas from Warhammer, so don't bother getting into that. This blog isn't for that.

What this blog is for (these days anyway) is showing some awesome animations, so moving right along, this is Blur Studio's Warhammer Online cinematic.