Bringing Performances to Life: Behind Our Collaboration on Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
For approximately 15 months, the metricminds animation team had the privilege of collaborating with Asobo Studio on Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy . Working alongside their production and animation teams, our role focused on cinematic body animation polish, taking already strong motion capture performances and helping refine them into the final in-game performances players will experience.
More Than Motion Capture
One of the biggest misconceptions about modern game cinematics is that motion capture automatically produces a finished performance.
In reality, motion capture is the beginning of the journey.
Every scene still requires careful artistic attention. Small details such as body mechanics, timing, weight shifts, contacts, finger animation, and overall readability all contribute to making a character feel believable. Rather than replacing what actors performed on stage, our goal was to preserve their intent while refining each performance to meet the quality expected of a narrative-driven AAA game.
For Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, authenticity was always the priority. Whenever possible, we stayed faithful to the original performances captured on set, making only the adjustments necessary to strengthen clarity, physicality, and emotional impact.
Some of the most important work happened while studying the original reference footage frame by frame. We often zoomed in on the actors’ hands, carefully observing how fingers naturally relaxed, curled around props, or subtly anticipated an action. Those tiny details are rarely noticed in isolation, but together they make the difference between a character that feels animated and one that feels alive.
As animators, we don’t only animate what the camera sees; we animate what the audience feels. Even movements that are barely visible, or momentarily outside the frame, influence how natural a performance appears. Small inconsistencies in posture, weight, or timing can subtly break the illusion, even if players never consciously notice why.
“A great cinematic animator is part actor, part observer, and part musician. You need to understand performance, pay close attention to human behaviour, and develop a strong sense of rhythm and timing. The movement itself matters, but equally important is knowing when a movement begins, how long it lasts, and when it should come to rest. That’s often what separates believable animation from something that simply looks animated.” – Christophe Sayaveth – Animation Supervisor (metricminds)
A Collaboration Built on Craft
One of the aspects that made this collaboration particularly rewarding was the close relationship between both teams.
“Metricminds was a valuable partner before and throughout the production process. Reliable and proactive, their flexibility and ability to adapt quickly to our changing needs were key to maintaining the highest standards for Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy.” – Pascal Le Guinio – Lead Cinematic Animator (Asobo)
Throughout the production, regular review sessions with Asobo Studio’s Lead Cinematic Animator allowed us to discuss far more than whether a shot was “approved.” Conversations often focused on acting, body mechanics, silhouette readability, physical weight, and subtle animation details that helped elevate every cinematic.
Rather than working as a traditional outsourcing relationship, the collaboration felt like two teams working toward the same artistic goal.
“Working with Asobo’s Animation Leadership throughout the project was one of the highlights of the collaboration. Their reviews consistently reflected a deep understanding of animation, with feedback that was both highly technical and always focused on serving the performance. The quality bar was demanding, but every note had a clear purpose and helped elevate the work. What I appreciated most was the time they dedicated to reviews. Even with what I can only imagine was a very busy schedule, feedback sessions were never rushed.” – Christophe Sayaveth – Animation Supervisor (metricminds)
Learning Through High Standards
Every project presents its own challenges, and Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy certainly pushed our team to grow.
One of the biggest challenges came from faithfully translating the actors’ performances into the game while adapting them to the final assets. Small differences in prop sizes or environment assets often required careful adjustments to body mechanics, hand interactions, and timing. When reference footage could no longer answer those questions, we sometimes recorded ourselves to ensure every movement remained grounded and believable.
Working toward such a high quality bar required careful prioritization, efficient collaboration, and constant attention to detail. Over the course of the project, it was incredibly rewarding to watch the team continuously raise its own standards.
“The most rewarding moments weren’t necessarily the biggest action scenes. They were the moments when an animator perfectly captured a difficult interaction with a prop, preserving the subtlety of the actor’s original performance while making it work naturally inside the game. Watching the team reach that level of craftsmanship over the course of the project is something I’m particularly proud of.” – Christophe Sayaveth – Animation Supervisor (metricminds)
Looking Back
We are incredibly grateful to Asobo Studio and Focus Entertainment for the opportunity to contribute to Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy.
Projects like this remind us why we love creating animation: collaborating with passionate teams, learning from talented artists, and helping bring memorable performances to players around the world.
“Working with metricminds on our cinematics was smooth from day one. They adapted to our pipeline and to last-minute changes without ever letting the quality drop, and communication was always fast and clear. We’d work with them again without hesitation.” – Brice Davin – Executive Producer (Asobo)
