Star Wars 1313 Was Canceled, But It Helped Develop New Motion-Capture Technology
After Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2013, the Mouse House put all existing properties in development on temporary hiatus until they could figure out what to do with their new company.
Eventually, Disney shut down LucasArts, the video game division of Lucasfilm, and that also meant the death of Star Wars 1313, a promising project that would have cast players as bounty hunters exploring the seedy underbelly of organized crime on the planet-sprawling cityscape of Coruscant.
While the game itself might have been lost, a new concept video, seen below, reveals how its production helped develop cutting-edge real-time motion-capture technology that could eventually eliminate or lessen the need for a lengthy post-production process on effects-heavy films.
According to the Inquirer, Lucasfilm held a presentation for BAFTA in London, England, “where they proposed a new paradigm in which feature film production stops at production, with no need for editing or sound mixing or any other post processes.”
The video above shows off what LucasArts and Industrial Light & Magic were working on while developing Star Wars 1313. The process called “real-time motion capture” made it possible for video game engineers to render graphics on the spot, theoretically eliminating or at least shortening the post-production process. Lucasfilm’s Chief Technology Strategy Officer Kim Libreri explains:
“Everyone has seen what we can do in movies,” Libreri says of what modern video game technology could lead to. “…We think that computer graphics are going to be so realistic in real time computer graphics that, over the next decade, we’ll start to be able to take the post out of post-production; where you’ll leave a movie set and the shot is pretty much complete.”
The results from the Star Wars 1313 video are seamless and it looks like the concept video is ready for production and distribution. It’s stunning and looks realistic! Libreri continued:
If you combine video games with film-making techniques, you can start to have these real deep, multi-user experiences,” she added. “Being able to animate, edit and compose live is going to change the way we work and it’s really going to bring back the creative experience in digital effects.”
The technology involved with real-time motion capture was the beginning of Star Wars 1313. After designers and engineers at LucasArts made a short film with the technology as a proof-of-concept, they believed the video game engine was powerful enough to make a full video game.
While it was doubtful that the engine would be used during the production of Star Wars: Episode VII for director J.J. Abrams (filming at the time of the announcement), Libreri hoped to use this technology instead of post-production to make a full-length motion picture one day.
“I think that the current way that we make movies is very pipeline stage process, takes away a little bit of the organic nature of a movie set or real environment. I’m hoping real time graphics technology brings back the creative possibilities that we have in the real world,” Libreri said.
“Let’s not dismiss the artistry you put into a final shot, we do spend a lot of time steadily tweaking blooms and lens flares or the lighting in a shot, but we’ll be able to get a lot closer so that more run of the mill windows replacements will be created interactively on stage.”
While it was a bummer to never see Star Wars 1313, it not only paved the way in terms of technology, but the story at the core of the game was eventually used in The Mandalorian when that series hit Disney+.
