Steve Bender Animation Q&Q in 4min 05sec

On April 28, 2023, there was a Star Citizen live stream featuring animation director Steve Bender. The job of the animation director is to focus on motion capture and how animations are tied together for both Squadron and PU. They discussed player animations, such as firing weapons, running, vaulting, falling, and eating. They also talked about how they animate facial expressions and how bad animations can kill a game.

They discussed bugs that can occur with animations and PC players that do not path properly, as well as the importance of adding more sign language emotes and tandem emotes. They mentioned tandem dancing and tandem hugging, and then took a break where they spoke about sandwiches for ten minutes.

Overall, the stream provided insight into the animation process for Star Citizen and how they are working to redefine the standard. The animation director, Steve Bender, has a background in graphic design and training in animation, and has recently moved to Manchester full-time.