Let’s go
back to the year 2000.

Here are
some articles from The Croft Times on what Eidos and Core Design was presenting at E3!

The Croft
Times was the very first fan-made website that was established in 1997 and we
are happy to preserve and spread some of its invaluable materials.

Here are a
couple of snaps that are rather related to the currently trending topic of the
upcoming Tomb Raider film

Make sure
to download these in full resolution by right click=>save as

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LJMU’s World of Work Programme is a globally unique initiative which aims to make graduates most valued by employers. 

Click on the image to zoom

The post Tomb of Ash Featuring in Liverpool Screen School’s Career Planning Guide appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

2015 was a
very fruitful year for my website and this report will highlight the content
that I’ve produced and the changes that were made to the website as a whole.

Articles:

I’ve
published a number of investigative articles and reviews this year, including:

• Sit Back, Relax, and Enjoy Your Rise [Rise of the Tomb Raider Review]
• Core Design Team
• Exploring Aldwych –
  the Real Location from Tomb Raider III
• Split – A VERY Tomb
  Raider Place
• Tomb Raider IV –
  Core Design Team Information (1998-1999)
• Tomb Raider IV – the official press release (unpublished before)
• Tomb Raider IV – Q&A with the Team
• Tomb Raider IV – the official storyline
• Official Tomb Raider IV memo
• Kurtis Trent’s
  Biography
• My E3 Experience
• The Role of Tomb
  Raider in My Life
• Rise of the Tomb
  Raider Demo impressions.
• Lara Croft Relic
  Run Review
• Lara’s Musical
  Career
• History of Eidos

 A number of
interviews were conducted with people who were involved in the making of both the
classic and contemporary Tomb Raider games.

• Shelley Blond –
  behind the voice of Lara Croft
• An Exclusive
  Interview with Brandon Fernandez, Animation Director for the Rise of the
  Tomb Raider
• Interview with John Stafford, lead narrative designer
• Interview with Brian Horton, Game Director of the Rise of the Tomb Raider
• Interview with Noah Hughes, Creative Director of the Rise of the Tomb Raider
• Interview with Jill
  de Jong

We’ve finally got a dedicated
Facebook page so give it a like! The page is run by my friend Terenete 

 We’ve visited a
number of gaming expos and conventions in Europe and North America and produced
detailed recaps of each one of them: 

• E3, Los Angeles

• Reboot Infogamer, Zagreb

• Eurogamer Expo, Birmingham

A number of videos were
produced, including: 

E3 2015 Recap video
(featuring Shelley Blond):

A visit to Aldwych
Station (the real location from Tomb Raider 3):

A Let’s Play Video of
the Rise of the Tomb Raider:

We’ve started a
couple of creative projects that will still be ongoing in 2016

Lara’s JournalLED ArtTomb Raider 20th
Anniversary Project

We received many wonderful emails,
tweets and Facebook messages with your feedback for which we are very grateful!

 We hosted a couple of
competitions and gave away a number of items with a combined worth over £200 

What’s next? Well, in 2016 we
plan to finally start working on the 20th anniversary project (in
which YOU need to get involved ASAP). We’ve already received a couple of videos
for it including one with Jill de Jong, the official model for Tomb Raider: The
Angel of Darkness. 

We also will continue our mission to bring you more
interviews and media on classic Tomb Raider, and even though we do plan to have
a number of projects focused on the contemporary series there will be links
with the original series as usual. Also look out for more competitions and
give-aways at some point; make sure you follow our Facebook page and check our
website regularly.

As usual – we’d love to hear your
feedback, so don’t hesitate to send us your thoughts via email, Facebook,
Twitter or just send a message via Tumblr’s messaging.

Thank you for being with us this
year.

 We wish you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. 

 Ash and Terenete. 

The post Tomb of Ash – End of Year Report appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

And so my
duties as Tomb Raider Ambassador for E3 2015 came to an end. I spent 8 days in
Los-Angeles and managed to visit Crystal Dynamics’ studio in San Francisco.
This is a short recap-guide of my adventure with links to related posts, articles, photos and videos.

POSTS:

Lara Croft at the Getty Museum

A Lara a day keeps evil mummies away

The role of Tomb Raider in my life

ARTICLES:

Animation in Rise of the Tomb Raider

My E3 Experience

Rise of the Tomb Raider Demo Impressions

INTERVIEWS:

Brian Horton – game director (video interview)

John Stafford – lead narrative designer (video interview)

Brandon Fernandez – Animation Director

Noah Hughes – Creative Director

 VIDEOS:

See below a very detailed video recap. It features voice over by Shelley Blond (the original voice
of Lara in Tomb Raider 1996):

PHOTOS:

I have uploaded some on my website here and there are much more on my Facebook
page.

The post E3 2015 Recap Guide appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

The post E3 2015 photos appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

Hello. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Brandon Fernandez:  Hi, I’m Brandon Fernandez, Animator Director on Rise of the Tomb Raider.  I’ve worked at Crystal for 15 years, with my first project being Soul Reaver 2.  13 of those years I’ve spent focusing on player animation and control.  Working with our talented player group on bringing our characters to life not only in cinematics, but during every moment of gameplay as well.   I’m excited to hear fan’s reactions and thoughts on Lara’s growth in her latest journey.
What would you say is involved in your average day working on the new Rise of the Tomb Raider?
Brandon Fernandez:  While not animating myself, much of my time is spent continually playing the game, ensuring Lara’s animations and controls are in sync and intuitive.  While we are always pushing for high fidelity motion, we also strive for a character that feels responsive and easy to control.  In addition to this, I also work with our excellent animation team reviewing work and providing feedback.

As a professional animator, how has the process of character animation changed through the years?

Brandon Fernandez:  15+ years ago there was less specialization in games, so an animator might model, rig, animate, create character vfx and even do a bit of design tuning.  With the ever increasing fidelity new hardware allows, along with a maturing game’s industry filled with professional artists in all areas, animators are now able to focus more on animation as an art.

How has this technology opened up new animation options?  Has it saved time in production or has it brought up new complications?
Brandon Fernandez: It has definitely increased our ability to achieve more nuanced performances with our characters.  It brings with it new challenges to be sure, but much like motion capture for body motion, it allows us to get the subtle, minute detail of human movement quickly.  Then it is up to one of our skilled animators to massage that into the characters you see come to life.

In the past, video game character animation would have been a more solitary occupation; working from pre-existing reference materials.  With the increasing use of motion capture technology in modern games, the artist needs to interact with the motion actors.  How has this affected your workflow?  

Brandon Fernandez: While motion capture is a great tool to help us create our characters, the majority of an animator’s time is still spent crafting that performance with the team here at Crystal or in our sister studio in Montreal.   Motion capture allows us to get to a common ground faster, so we can focus more on the subtly of the acting and emotion.
As an artist, do you guide the motion actors’ performance?
Brandon Fernandez: We have many talented people at Crystal who are in sync with our characters motivations, so the direction is shared.  Whether it is Noah, Tore, Brian or myself, there is always someone with a strong understanding of our characters driving the performances.
What is the most enjoyable part of your job?

Brandon Fernandez: The challenge and beauty of animating for games is creating a character who can both be separate of the player with her own personality, while also at the base level be driven by the player.  Ensuring the player and Lara are in sync throughout the game is a great challenge, and when done right is incredibly rewarding.

The post An Exclusive Interview with Brandon Fernandez, Animation Director for the Rise of the Tomb Raider appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

In June, Microsoft and Crystal Dynamics sponsored my trip to the USA to attend their presentation of the Rise of the Tomb Raider at E3 2015 in Los Angeles. I had an opportunity to meet some of my online friends for the first time and catch up with some of the people behind the new Tomb Raider at both E3 and Crystal Dynamics’ studio in San Francisco. You can find out more details about my adventures, read and watch exclusive interviews and see photos here

Excuse my accent  

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The post [Interview] Brian Horton – Game Director for The Rise of The Tomb Raider appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

tombraider:

[E3 Ambassador Blog] Animation in Rise of the Tomb Raider

Author: Ash – Tomb of Ash – UK/Russia

The video game industry is constantly evolving. Gone are the days when 2D Pacman was labelled as a game with state-of-the-art graphics. Rise of the Tomb Raider, just like every other major release this year, features stunning graphics and animation; it utilizes all the advances of MOVA motion capture technology to impart the minutiae of an actor’s performance onto the model. 

Brandon Fernandez (Animation Director) has worked at Crystal Dynamics for 15 years and. When he started “…there was less specialization in games, so an animator might model, rig, animate, create character VFX and even do a bit of design tuning.” Technology has moved on and professional animators are now able to solely focus on animation. But how important is realism for a Tomb Raider fan? A lot of us still play the classic Tomb Raider and Lara does not even move her mouth in those. I was sent to E3 by Microsoft and Crystal Dynamics to investigate this matter and report back.

Keep reading

Here’s my article on the animation in the Rise of the Tomb Raider!

The post appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

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