NBA 2K12 Developer Insight #3 - Art Direction

Feature Article

Submitted on: 08/30/2011 by Steve Noah

Lynell Jinks here, Art Director for NBA 2K12. Today I am going to be talking about both new improvements that you can look forward to in 2K12.

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The artists here have taken a lot of time to make our game feel even more life-like than ever before. We took a lot of time to research and find references for all of the greatest players in every era, along with the old school feel that each of their eras is known for. We really worked hard to recreate more than a 150 new retired players with their accessories, hair, uniforms, court floors, etc. because, as Erick said in the NBA Greatest Insight, we are often going at least ten players deep on the 34 new legendary teams.

This year, the broadcast of each game is so life-like that you will have a hard time believing you’re not watching old clips from back in the day. The amount of detail we put into making these games fit into their respective era’s is crazy, from the old school baskets, press tables, overlays, camera angles, etc. We also did a lot of work on post process filters; adding sepia and grayscale to display older games, the way they were broadcasted in their day. As you can see in the below screenshot, a game from the 60s or 70s will have that “grainy” look and feel. The combination of camera work and color adds to the authenticity of each broadcast and is specific to each era, venue, etc.

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One of the most noticeable updates, we made this year, is capturing the likenesses for a lot of the key players. We updated close to 400 player heads that I felt weren’t up to par or needed a new, fresher look. I honestly think this is one of the biggest places you’ll see a difference up close.

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Every year we get a ton of feedback about tattoos or should I say lack of, so to help solve this problem we worked with NBA to provide us with hi-res shots of any player who has tattoos from every possible angle. And while I can’t get into too much detail in an effort to not spoil future Insights, we have made advancements that should make the most hardcore fans on the 2K Insider blog, those breaking down the slightest intricacies in shoes, tattoos, or hair, quite happy.

Click here for high resolution image

Another cool aspect, unique to this year’s game, is crowd and collision animation. Mascots have been given more props such as a t-shirt gun they shoot into the crowd with fans actually fighting to get one. Watch closely, you may even see a Mascot race out on skates.

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The first row animation of the crowd has been spiced up as well. There is more contact and more interaction. Watch out if a ball, or worse a player, comes hurdling in your direction. I don’t want to go to deep as our Presentation folks have an Insight in the coming weeks, in which they will focus on all these subjects along with pre-game, post-game, atmosphere etc.

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Thanks for reading. We’re feeling very proud of the steps that we’ve taken in Art and hope that you appreciate them. In the next couple days, we will be revealing a trailer from the one and only Momentus that bring a lot of what I discussed to life. It will blow your mind.

** TRAILER COMING SOON**
- Lynell Jinks
Art Director

NBA 2K12 Videos

Member Comments

# 81 Cripterion @ 08/30/11 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by qpc123


	He won't be Metta World Peace, until Sept. 16th at the earliest because Ron Artest still has outstanding traffic warrants.

Wonder if they already included new commentary for that dumb name change lol

# 82 breakitdown @ 08/30/11 08:09 PM

insight good, pics good, thanks 2K.

rose is lookin good

# 83 MarvellousOne @ 08/30/11 08:28 PM

The pictures look good, d.rose looks more like him this year than years prior...as far as the insight itself anyone of us OS members or anybody that has followed 2k12 this year could have wrote that insight off what we have seen already. It is what it is but I expected them to elaborate more on what they did opposed to a quick summary of what they did, oh well life goes on.

# 84 scottyp180 @ 08/30/11 08:28 PM

I was curious to see what surprises this insight would have considering we already heard about the era specific presentations, tattoos, crowd interactions, and mascot routines. Come to find out the biggest surprise was that there was nothing new in this insight besides the screenshots. Why delay and release an insight with information that has already been stated in numerous previews? Not to mention I could have guess last year that some of these changes would be made (player faces and more attention to detail are yearly updates). They could have at least gone into more detail or given more screenshots of some of the faces and tattoos the worked on. I could have written this insight last week if I wanted to.

If the trailer ends up not being released today then that's kind of a slap in the face of 2k fans by Ron (or whoever decides to release the insights).

# 85 qpc123 @ 08/30/11 08:41 PM

Here we go again, from Ronnie's twitter: "Been informed that the trailer will be released tomorrow afternoon by IGN. Should make for one great end of the week before long weekend."

# 86 kingg d @ 08/30/11 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by qpc123


	Here we go again, from Ronnie's twitter: "Been informed that the trailer will be released tomorrow afternoon by IGN. Should make for one great end of the week before long weekend."

facepalm...

# 87 shonuff2k @ 08/30/11 08:54 PM

i don't know what to say about that derrick rose picture lol

# 88 Mike Smoove @ 08/30/11 08:57 PM

what about having tight and baggy jerseys ? what about options for short shorts in create a player ?

# 89 Starwipe @ 08/30/11 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by qpc123


	In the first pic, is that an armband on Bosh's elbow or it just look that way? If it's on the elbow, isn't that a new addition?

No, it's a sleeve as can be seen in another screenshot. Apparently it's too hard for them to put the armband over the elbow, yet it's no problem with a sleeve

# 90 holymoly @ 08/30/11 09:13 PM

Really hope they fixed DeMar DeRozan's player model. He's waaaaay to black in the game.

# 91 domidomdomz @ 08/30/11 09:16 PM

This insight got me excited for the next Insight, "Playcalling System"!

# 92 scottyp180 @ 08/30/11 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by qpc123


	Here we go again, from Ronnie's twitter: "Been informed that the trailer will be released tomorrow afternoon by IGN. Should make for one great end of the week before long weekend."

haha wow. I know it's really not a big deal but you would think the 2k would be a little more organized and on top of their job. How do you delay an insight in order to release a video with it only to put out the insight (that was not insightful) without the promised video. 2k should stop telling us when they are going to release info and just surprise us when it comes out. As a fan it would be more rewarding to receive information when I'm not expecting it rather than being told new information is going to be released only to hear I need to wait longer. Hopefully the video comes out by tomorrow and future insights are insightful and released on schedule.

# 93 XenoZograscope @ 08/30/11 10:08 PM

Eh nothing really new...im not surprised at all, on to the trailer we go.

# 94 Eman5805 @ 08/30/11 10:09 PM

So bizarre that a AAA sports title has such odd marketing. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the caps, but the last thing an insight needs to say is "We have this really cool thing, but we don't wanna tell you. Wait a few weeks. |ulz"

No matter. My brains better get blown out the back of my...

Whoa. I'm gettin' deja vu...

# 95 shonuff2k @ 08/30/11 10:11 PM

so the trailer comes out tomorrow?

# 96 Jakeness23 @ 08/30/11 10:15 PM

judging by the screen, D Rose doesn't have his adidas leg sleeves that go from slightlt above the knee down to near the bottom of his calf. then there should be a little bit of skin showing, then his socks a little, then his ankle braces.

# 97 SwagDoc101 @ 08/30/11 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cripterion

Being a 2K PC player, I can't say I'm impressed watching these screenshots. To be honest, they look worse than last year's (I know, it's taken from consoles without mods) but where are the facial expressions?

And I too gotta say this insight is pretty weak. Show us comparisons from last year instead of releasing a bunch of random screens with half the players looking stoned or like zombies.

On the positive side, looks like they finally got Bynum face right.

EDIT :

Also from this quote, it sounds like they put back the cheerleaders under the basket yet every screenshot released doesn't feature them. Screenshots from an old build? Maybe that's why the players look so lifeless.

great job 2k. im not complaining but are we going to see ingame facial expressions on these new models...D. rose looked great but his face didnt tell the storey that he was attempting a ferocious banger

# 98 Goffs @ 08/30/11 10:19 PM

hmm just noticed that there's no clipping...

# 99 BigDaneAyMane @ 08/30/11 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jakeness23


	judging by the screen, D Rose doesn't have his adidas leg sleeves that go from slightlt above the knee down to near the bottom of his calf. then there should be a little bit of skin showing, then his socks a little, then his ankle braces.

Give us his address and social security number too please. Sounds like you want to wear his skin...

# 100 SwagDoc101 @ 08/30/11 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jakeness23


	judging by the screen, D Rose doesn't have his adidas leg sleeves that go from slightlt above the knee down to near the bottom of his calf. then there should be a little bit of skin showing, then his socks a little, then his ankle braces.

wow i was thinking the same thing...not complaining but 2k has to correct thatasap...drose is the reigning mvp. 2k owes it to him to be spot on...they have to fix it bc it gives him that distinctive signature look

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