Are CG cutscenes a thing of the past?

[dereksworl]

Originally Posted by MiguelitoDaMexiRican

What's a good example/comparison of cg and real time?

Real-time would be like the cutscene movies in MGS4. and CG would be like Final Fantasy cutscenes movies or like the ending movies of Tekken.

[aygie]

Cut scenes are great if done right. A good example is (like many have said) the Final Fantasy series. Crises Cores cut scenes are phenomenal for a hand held device.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5zOz...related&fmt=18

Remember this is a PSP

[Pelican170]

Can i ask a really dumb question? What exactly is a CG cutscene? I understand what a cutscene is, but whats the CG, Computer Graphic?? and if thats what it is, dont alot of games still use these today?

[WickyWoo]

It's when there's a pre-rendered movie clip

CG cutscenes are very popular in Japan, and in many cases are used to hide a disc load. Western designers have moved almost exclusively to real-time

[Shockerz]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

Can i ask a really dumb question? What exactly is a CG cutscene? I understand what a cutscene is, but whats the CG, Computer Graphic?? and if thats what it is, dont alot of games still use these today?

CGI = Computer Generated Images..

CG = Computer Generated [I'm pretty sure]

Basically...You're playing a game..and you defeat a boss in a level..or something..So, then there's this cutscene which is completely CGI and it looks amazing.

If you've ever played Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy, it's basically the scene where there's no gameplay and there's subtitles at the bottom and the graphics look a lot better than gameplay itself.

[Pelican170]

Originally Posted by Shockerz

CGI = Computer Generated Images..

CG = Computer Generated [I'm pretty sure]

Basically...You're playing a game..and you defeat a boss in a level..or something..So, then there's this cutscene which is completely CGI and it looks amazing.

If you've ever played Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy, it's basically the scene where there's no gameplay and there's subtitles at the bottom and the graphics look a lot better than gameplay itself.

OK thats what i thought, but i feel like i see this in almost all action/rpg type games. Off the top of my head from what ive played, DMC has a bunch, Ninja Gaiden, MGS4... Correct me if im wrong people. I would think the reason maybe we dont see them quite as much is because right now, at least for the ps3, there arent too many of these types of games it seems...

Ok, another question, sorry just curious. What exactly is a Real-Time Cutscene?

[wem003]

Maybe a real time cut scene is the like the garbage in GTA4. The character modeling and graphics is terrible in those. So my guess is they use the game engine to produce it, rather than render a little movie with Maya or 3D Studio Max and include it.

[Pelican170]

Originally Posted by wem003

Maybe a real time cut scene is the like the garbage in GTA4. The character modeling and graphics is terrible in those. So my guess is they use the game engine to produce it, rather than render a little movie with Maya or 3D Studio Max and include it.

Yea, you may be right. I guess that makes sense. But yes, i love the CG Cutscenes then, hahahaha.

[CptGreedle]

In handhelds, CG cut scene should still have a strong presence. You can't really make the quality on a PSP or DS in game play graphics that you can on a PS3. The cut scenes in FFVII:CC are amazing! The game really needs them, and it looks great!
But for consoles like the PS3 or 360, graphics are getting to a point where you don't need them anymore and still have great graphics throughout!

[Pelican170]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

In handhelds, CG cut scene should still have a strong presence. You can't really make the quality on a PSP or DS in game play graphics that you can on a PS3. The cut scenes in FFVII:CC are amazing! The game really needs them, and it looks great!
But for consoles like the PS3 or 360, graphics are getting to a point where you don't need them anymore and still have great graphics throughout!

I dont know. I mean, yes totally graphics are great these days, but i would still think that cutscenes look better than actual in game graphics. would you guys disagree?

[dereksworl]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

I dont know. I mean, yes totally graphics are great these days, but i would still think that cutscenes look better than actual in game graphics. would you guys disagree?

I agree. If FF13 uses them, we'll see the real power of PS3 CG visuals

[Pelican170]

Originally Posted by dereksworl

I agree. If FF13 uses them, we'll see the real power of PS3 CG visuals

yea thats how i feel also.

[Ferris]

Originally Posted by dereksworl

I agree. If FF13 uses them, we'll see the real power of PS3 CG visuals

I couldn't have said that better myself.

[CptGreedle]

Here is the error of your reasoning. In a CG cut scene, the PS3 does no processing. A PS2 could play the same file. It is something that has been pre-rendered. Therefore it does not showcase any of the actual power of the PS3. The game-play cut scenes are the amazing ones not because of the awesome graphics, but because it is all live-rendered. That allows for seamless transitions and faster load times, as well as consistent graphics.

CG cut scenes DO look better than game-play cut scenes... no doubt about that... but sometimes that is not always better for the game. There are usually smoother transitions and instant game play when it is live-rendered. I agree CG is better visually, but look at the CG scenes from FFXII, now look at the game play of the best PS3 game cut scenes (like MGS4 or Uncharted)... the difference is not as great as it could be (in that they are closer than you'd think). There are only 2 things that these games still suffer from, some more than others.... Anti-aliasing (they can afford to smooth out those edges a little more in some games, like Folklore) and Blocking shadows (Heavenly Sword has this bad, where all the shadows look like soft 8 bit graphics). Once these are solved, I suspect even more games would use game play cut scenes.

I guess what I'm saying is that yes CG is still more visually impressive than game play cut scenes, but that game play cut scenes have come SO FAR, that games like MGS4 and Uncharted do not suffer in the slightest by not having CG scenes, and this trend is bound to grow.

[Zipzap713]

I prefer the ingame cutscenes to CG cutscenes. For example, in Uncharted you choose a different costume, but then a cutscene pops up and he looks like the original Drake instead of the costume. The CG is nice (better lighting) but its not needed since graphically they look the same. Now MGS4s ingame cutscenes are great since he keeps whatever costume he has on at the time.

[dereksworl]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

Here is the error of your reasoning. In a CG cut scene, the PS3 does no processing. A PS2 could play the same file. It is something that has been pre-rendered. Therefore it does not showcase any of the actual power of the PS3.

Ok? well if thats the case, why do PS2 CGs look better than PS1 CG's? Why dont they all look the same?

[Maaz]

well i dont think i want them anymore, i mean we needed them before because the gameplay graphics werent anywhere near CG and now they are real close. I enjoyed them in the past, i loved GOW cutscenes, i bought 1 and 2 so i can keep watching them over again.

[Simplayer]

Originally Posted by dereksworl

Ok? well if thats the case, why do PS2 CGs look better than PS1 CG's? Why dont they all look the same?

More storage space for better video quality? Better codecs to compress the video file? Better computers used to make the pre-rendered stuff?

[dereksworl]

Originally Posted by Maaz

well i dont think i want them anymore, i mean we needed them before because the gameplay graphics werent anywhere near CG and now they are real close. I enjoyed them in the past, i loved GOW cutscenes, i bought 1 and 2 so i can keep watching them over again.

Ah, yes. I almost forgot GOW had CG's. wonder if GOW3 will have them

[Blu-Generation]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

Off the top of my head from what ive played, DMC has a bunch, Ninja Gaiden, MGS4... Correct me if im wrong people.

DMC, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, MGS4 all uses real-time/in-game cutscenes.

I think most people are putting a wrong lable on this.

A CG sequence for a game is call FMV (Full motion video). I wouldn't call it cutscene.

Here's an example.

Cutscene - This is the opening from FFX. A sequence using real-time/in-game graphics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UYOaeObcM8

FMV - This is another opening to FFX. This time it's a sequence using full CGI render.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GjvRAJaEc0

See the difference between cutscene and FMV? One is real-time, one isn't.

And to answer to the topic question, NO I wouldn't call CG/FMV a thing of the past. Cause FF13, Versus13 and White Knight Chronicle still uses them. FMV exist in almost every RPGs since the PS1 days. It's like a tradition.