One thing can be said about Blizzard, they have ALWAYS released S-tier cinematics dating all the way back to the early 90s. This is probably the best cinematic, visually, I've ever seen. Also, Chris Mezten confirmed that no mocap was used to make this cinematic, which is all the more impressive!
That’s impressive, I think this is the first cinematic that crosses the uncanny valley for me. This animation was so realistic I thought it had to be mocap
@@AVikingNerdright?! The performance from Anduin was absolutely perfect. The facial expressions were masterfully done. The thing that I found incredibly impressive is when Thrall teleports in and it's focusing on Anduin's right eye. Watch the muscles around his eye and how they move when he blinks. Insane how that was done by hand.
This cinematic was actually hand animated for a change, they didn't do any mocap and just had a couple act out the scene for reference. It's even more impressive they were able to translate it so well by hand.
@@TheBlaert A lot of what she did, she CHOSE to do once she was free of Arthas, she didn't give Anduin a choice, just like Arthas didn't give her one...in her beginning. It F'ed her up so she in turn F'ed up Anduin. Two wrongs don't make a right.
@@stephaniec3759 Exactly 2 wrongs don't make a right. But the woman had her literal soul ripped out and enslaved. Of course she was going to go after humans at some point
@@stephaniec3759 yep that was horrendous. She also killed my favourite character of all time. Varok Saurfang. I'm just saying her back story is one of the worst .
Hi! First time viewer here! Liked your reaction, but i do want to point out that World of Warcraft cinematics do NOT use motion capture, not even for faces/eyes. It is 100% animated, which makes it even more impressive! Heard you mention mo-cap so wanted to bring it up :)
I was just about to comment this myself! The fact that this had no mo-cap is astonishing. Doing this level of work with mo-cap is ALREADY an achievement (see BG3 and its CGI with the mo-cap system), but to have this level of realism without triggering the uncanny valley feeling, while also not using mo-cap as a base....as always, Blizzard's art and graphics teams are legends in their own right.
I really love the fact that characters in most fantasy universes just don't have casual clothes, they may be in times of peace in the msot secure olace, but they will stay in the bulkiest armor they found on the wardrobe
Anduin also does the same pose that Arthas does in the WOTLK cinematic, ''I watched with pride as you grew into a weapon, of righteousness'', when pointing his sword at Thrall.
If you've missed any of the cinematics that go with this story, here's the list. World of Warcraft has done a great job of going back into these and pulling out the story for the new The World Within cinematic. There are 12 of these, I’m giving the title, the name of the channel that has it, and the length of each. Where needed, I also give a quick name to the characters involved. These are not totally in order, there is a change in the in-game order for the Battle for Azeroth cinematics because Old Soldier actually comes before the announcement cinematic in chronology. World of Warcraft Legion Cinematic Trailer-World of Warcraft 4:05 (photo of Anduin as a child in the compass of his father. The big gray worgen is the King of Gilneas, Genn Greymane) Death of Varian Wrynn: World of Warcraft Legion-Tom’s Hardware 4:07 (the man at the end is Genn) Patch 7.2 In-Game Cinematic: A Found Memento: Raising a King-World of Warcraft 2:51 (Anduin is seeing the memories of his father’s death) Sargeras Impales Azeroth Sword Cinematic/Illidan’s Sacrifice-Athelarius 3:35 (how the sword happened-the Titans deal with Sargeras) Cinematic: Old Soldier-World of Warcraft 6:21 (set-up for the war and Anduin’s friendship with Varok Sarfang, the troll is Zekhan) World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Cinematic Trailer 4:39 (Sylvanas, Genn, Anduin using his priest powers) Cinematic: “Lost Honor” World of Warcraft 3:18 (Anduin, Genn, and Sarfang) Cinematic: “Reckoning” (spoiler) World of Warcraft 4:12 (Sarfang and Thrall. Thrall is a shaman and the retired Warchief of the Horde) Anduin Finale Cinematic/Shadowlands Patch 9.2 Eternity’s End-LeystTV 3:52 (the end of the raid where Anduin finally breaks the Jailer’s hold on him) Sylvanas Windrunner & Anduin Epilogue Cutscene World of Warcraft Patch 9.25 LeystTV 2:45 (Anduin has to go find himself) Which is then connected to this one, the War Within Announce Cinematic that you commented on. Each of these has elements that are echoed in the War Within. It covers 2016 to 2023. Hope this helps.
Funny thing you mentioned Mo-Cap. They didnt use Mo-Cap for this particular cinematic. They've used for the others. This was just acted out, and then used for reference for the animators.
I am really interested in seeing what they will do with Anduin. After the events of Shadowlands, I could see it, if they made him to a warrior, like his father was. He said it in the video, he has no light. And since I would consider it wise not to trust “the light”, being a warrior-kind class would fit Anduin's character.
People laughed at me back in the 90s when I stated this would be the future of cinema, especially when AI design capabilities get more advanced. You will be able to make your own movie by telling a story and getting an AI to recreate your thoughts on screen, sounds scary to many and I understand why. On the other hand, assuming we survive ourselves that will be the future.
@@DeanBarryStuff It´s not in our future Dean, but it´s in the future, and yes, the capabilities are thus far quite limited but they are already growing fast.
@@DeanBarryStuff It should. A large reason why the majority of films and tv shows suck these days is because of the barrier to entry for those who would make competing products. If anyone - regardless of skill - can transform an idea into a compelling piece of art in a short period of time with minimal effort and little to no capital the number of high quality works of fiction (or otherwise) will increase exponentially. Aside from unlocking the creativity of billions of people, the cultural impact will be unparalleled. Imagine being able to consume brand new masterpieces every day. Imagine seeing the ideal version of your favorite series with all of its plot holes fixed and its story beats further perfected and refined. This is what will be possible once AI reaches maturity.
But it’s superficial. Seeing a “masterpiece” everyday takes away the magic. Nothing is perfect. And it shouldn’t be. I’ll take imperfection over artificiality every time.
