# Game studio Embark says its animators no longer draw animation curves for creature movement but train machine-learning agents, letting a small team make much more content

Page: https://flyvolo.ai/en/changes/ev-20210226-animator-14
Date: 2021-02-26 · Stage: Deployment
Can this record move a task judgement? yes
Occupation: https://flyvolo.ai/en/careers/animator

## Scope

Sweden. The studio's own engineering post says that, while still crucial to the team, its animators' role is no longer to draw animation curves, create state transitions or blend clips but to train agents, directing the feeling and intent of movement like a choreographer; that the workflow lets a comparatively small team create much more content without an army of animators scripting every movement; and that animators want fine-grained control, so machine learning will at best give strong recommendations. One game studio, for creature and robot locomotion; it says nothing about character acting, film or television, or employment numbers.

## Source

- Embark Studios (Tom Solberg, machine learning team) — 'Transforming animation with machine learning', Embark Studios publication on Medium (Feb 26, 2021) — https://medium.com/embarkstudios/transforming-animation-with-machine-learning-27ac694590c (primary source)

## What this means

In one studio, hand-keyed locomotion has given way to trained agents, and animators direct rather than draw.

## What it does not show yet

One game studio and locomotion only; character performance and film work are untouched.

## How to verify it yourself

Open Embark Studios' post 'Transforming animation with machine learning' and find "no longer to draw animation curves".


More: https://flyvolo.ai/llms.txt