Naughty Dog is widely known a pioneer of the ‘performance capture’ method of recording voice actors to bring life to their virtual videogame characters, while simultaneously recording the actors’ movements for use in the game during cinematic sequences.

The Uncharted series greatly benefited from this technique of capturing everything from powerful set-piece performances to tiny quips and gestures that all add immense weight to the characters that the actors portray, and 2013’s The Last of Us will also take advantage of this method. By the looks of it, to great effect.

VG247 recently published an exclusive interview with members of Naughty Dog about the process of capturing virtual magic, while speaking with the performance actors about their work following a new character reveal for The Last of Us – Tess, a black market dealer played by Annie Wersching (24).

In a new video, you can see how the actors’ performances are captured and layered into the game engine, before given a few passes and rendered in-game – take a look:

The Last of Us: motion capturing main character acting

Very affecting, you’ll agree!

Looking forward to The Last of Us? It was recently given a worldwide release date of May 7th, 2013, with a brand new story and gameplay trailer – watch that over here.

You can find out a lot more about the behind-the-scenes processes and development of The Last of Us with Lisa’s excellent two part feature:

• Gamescom 2012: A behind-the-scenes look at The Last of Us – Part One

• Gamescom 2012: A behind-the-scenes look at The Last of Us – Part Two

Is The Last of Us amongst your most anticipated games of 2013? What else is on that list?

Tags: naughtydog, sce, sony, thelastofus, trailer