Jonathan Cooper
@jonathan.gameanim.com
5.6K followers 110 following 790 posts
Award-winning game developer. Animated Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, The Last of Us series and more. Wrote GAME ANIM: Video Game Animation Explained. Shipped Apple Vision Pro. gameanim.com
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
Major milestone this week with over 100,000 downloads of the AZRI Rig! Thanks so much to @wuffles.bsky.social for creating the rig and @mafubash.bsky.social for the amazing character work.

Download here for free: www.gameanim.com/product/azri...
Team Ninja's impressive (for the time) face-capture setup
Several Vicon cameras ring a seated actor for facial performance capture Director Hiroaki Matsui with the cinematic storyboards Another Irene Lew close-up showing joint placement Irene Lew close-up showing various facial animation channels
Love these low-poly cinematic meshes and environments
Low-poly proxy meshes allowed animators to work faster without frame-rates tanking with full cinematic-resolution characters Low-poly proxy meshes allowed animators to work faster without frame-rates tanking with full cinematic-resolution characters Environment meshes in Softimage Environment meshes in Softimage
Ninja Gaiden 2 (2008) face rigs in Softimage
Ryu Hyabusa face setup in Softimage's Face Robot Ryu Hyabusa face setup in Softimage's Face Robot Irene Lew face setup in Softimage's Face Robot Irene Lew face setup in Softimage's Face Robot
Reposted by Jonathan Cooper
I’ve been occasionally breaking down into a mess throughout the day, but I am finding solace in the 4+ hours of conversation I recorded with Itagaki-san last year for a book we were working on together. They were his development memoirs, and I will do everything in my power to bring this to life.
Love the colour - like the R-Type III Super Famicom box art.
Reposted by Jonathan Cooper
I’ve been working for 15 years as an animator and I can tell you without a doubt, the best fix I ever found for imposter syndrome is living a full life where your days and worth don’t hinge on whether or not you were a good animator today.
Reposted by Jonathan Cooper
We stand in solidarity with employees and ex-employees at Build a Rocket Boy as they file legal claims through our union and publish an open letter, condemning the way in which they’ve been mistreated and discarded by the studio’s millionaire executives.

www.gameworkers.co.uk/barb-open-le...
Open Letter to the Executive Leadership at Build A Rocket Boy
Congratulations. Can’t wait to play.
Tonight! I won't be there but just ask for the group - should be sat at the rear of the pub to the left.
Thursday October 9th is the 16th Edinburgh GameDev Drinkup - in the Hollyrood 9A from 6pm www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/game-dev-d...
Nooooooop now everyone will go there.
Is this 22.2 or 11.1 seconds in though?
Thursday October 9th is the 16th Edinburgh GameDev Drinkup - in the Hollyrood 9A from 6pm www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/game-dev-d...
Did you snag the segment of Robin Hood Gardens?
How Where Winds Meet’s Wuxia-inspired combat turns the umbrella into a weapon
blog.playstation.com/2025/09/25/h...
Reposted by Jonathan Cooper
The buyout and strip for parts happening to EA right now is how AAA dying looks / will look, BTW. A bunch of them are functionally lumbering corpses.

You can argue whether or not that's fair or if they are salvagable, but in our bullshit capitalism, that sorta doesn't matter, so they're toast.
Can't wait to see the quality of this: "Rogers claimed AI advancements allow for in-game animations that are "indistinguishable" from motion capture, which can see "a seven day mocap shoot cut in half". "
Embracer is leveraging AI "in ethical and sustainable ways", says new CEO, insisting "human authorship is final"
Embracer's new CEO Phil Rogers has discussed the company's use of AI in its latest Annual General Meeting.
www.eurogamer.net
First day of Unreal Fest Stockholm down. Lots of animation and rigging talks. Spent yesterday running around the city capturing the best buildings.
Teracom Tower Swedish Film Institute Norra Tornen (North Tower)
Kyoto Garden in Holland Park, London at the weekend.
A blue heron watches over a Japanese lantern Small waterfall leads to the pond The pond with stone bridge
Reposted by Jonathan Cooper
Porth Wen Brickworks - a very Ghibli-esque place. I know that Miyazaki visited Wales during pre-production for Laputa and I wonder if he visited (or at least saw pictures of it)?
Reposted by Jonathan Cooper
Goddamn, Metal Gear Solid 2 with texture filtering turned off is a hell of a vibe
A screenshot from Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance in 4k resolution with texturing turned off A screenshot from Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance in 4k resolution with texturing turned off A screenshot from Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance in 4k resolution with texturing turned off