So, once again I was lucky(?) enough to secure a ticket to the next EA / BAFTA event, featuring a lecture on believable character motion from EA's Chief Visual Officer, Henry LaBounta (http://imdb.com/name/nm0479621/).

Firstly, they should always hold these sort of events at BAFTA Headquarters, since it's such a lovely building. So lovely, in fact, that upon arriving bang-on 6:30pm for doors open, I felt somewhat misplaced in my scruffy jeans / tee shirt combo and scruffier-still Converse sneakers. Imagine my relief when other game industry types started arriving, and looking equally unkempt. I was constantly waiting for them to ask for some identification, or ask me to leave. Needless to say, that moment never came (much to my relief).

Second of all, despite my trepidation, the event was actually very interesting, and Henry's talk on biomechanics and their effect on gameplay was truly insightful. Also, it gave me a rare chance to grab a butcher's hook (or look, to those that don't speak Cockney rhyming slang) at EA's prop tools for their mocap integration, was was very cool indeed. Despite EA's bad press and startling lack of imaginaiton when it comes to their own IP, their animation work recently is really top-notch.

Overall, a definite success. I decided against asking the almost-obligatory questions about the future of keyframed versus mocap, and instead settled for a nice glass of wine (white, chilled) and a chat with the other attendees who were a friendly bunch indeed. Apparently, the next planned event is sometime in May, so keep 'em peeled for a (slightly more detailed) report on the next one, if I'm 'lucky' enough to score a ticket.

Also, in other news, I've finally sucumbed to the evil that is World of Warcraft and registered and account. So far, I'm loving it. Except the forums - not fun. Anyways, if I ever resurface back in the real world long enough, see you in the forums,

Dan