Cloth animation is tricky, and even in the world of high-end computer graphics, it s difficult to get right. Jeff Lander wanted to create realistic cloth in his environments and on his characters, so with his hardware accelerated graphics rasterization freeing enough processor power necessary to make it possible, he set set about creating a real-time cloth simulation. Increases in the performance of graphics accelerators free additional CPU cycles that can be used for real-time physical world modeling. Modifying the geometry of an object is more effective than mapping a new or animated texture, because correctly deformed objects will look right from any angle and in any lighting conditions. Max I. Fomitchev discusses the implementation of deformable surfaces for real-time 3D games that simulate realistic environments.
Motion capture is a great tool for creating animation for certain types of games.
Like any tool or piece of software, if you learn how to use it properly, it can make your life easier and produce great results, but if you try to wing it, chances are you'll end up wasting time and money and may come away with nothing useful. Melianthe Kines discusses motion capture in depth. Despite the rich colors, intricate textures, and dazzling effects in today's games, the human brain still notices that something is missing, and that something might just be shadows . Running with this idea, Jason Bestimt and Bryant Freitag discuss real-time dynamic shadowing using shadow volumes, presenting techniques and code listings for creating accurate shadows in 3D environments. Crowd scenes, schooling fish, and other forms of flocking behavior once required postprocessing techniques.