With the FBA taking a short break before the playoffs, Buck Hopper (Rabbit, G, STA) spent some time in 2K Fur's motion capture studio.

Furry game developer 2K Fur isn't far from Lapine State University. Some of their programmers even graduated from "Carrot U". So when B-Hop became a star athlete for the college, the developers were quick to ask for his help in developing their flagship sports title, the FBA 2K series.

For a videogame to seem real, motion capture is vital. The cameras both transmit and receive, firing off light and reading it back as it bounces off reflective markers attached to the subject's body. B-Hop certainly felt silly wearing the black "unitard" with shiny ping-pong balls velcroed to the "landmarks" on his body. But the computers could read the position of the markers at very high frame rates, creating files that could be translated into skeletal data for the animators. When FBA 2K5 was released, B-Hop couldn't believe how easy it was to spot his own dunks. Even his teammates noticed how accurately the game recreated the way he attacked the cup.

But that was a long time ago, after B-Hop graduated from Lapine State and before the 2004 FBA Draft. The developers knew it would be much harder to get B-Hop in the studio after he signed a contract, so they grabbed him in the last window they could. And it worked out. The game reviewed and sold well, and B-Hop felt pride at having helped make the game, even if he was just a name in the credits.

Years later, B-Hop returned to the 2K Fur Mocap studio. 2K Fur was a bigger company then and the studio had grown. The new cameras were smaller and more accurate, and this time the suit didn't need to be adjusted. It was custom made for him. And this time, Hopper wasn't just showing off playful college dunks. He was a veteran now, bigger, stronger, faster-- and throwing down massive rim-rattlers hard enough to get through the FBA's biggest defenders. For those 2K Fur developers who had worked on 2K5, it was amazing to see just how much more Lucky Number Seven could do. And they were thrilled to be capturing every detail of it.

They had to, since Buck Hopper was going to be on the cover of FBA 2K12.

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I had the idea for this piece rattling around for a while, but it took months for me to gather up the references and assets needed for it. When it came time to commission an artist, I thought of  blue-paper who had previously done this outstanding FBA piece: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4279804/

While the subject matter for this wasn't as dramatic, lighting was going to be really important. BP had nailed the lighting in his previous pic-- I knew he'd nail it for this one, too. Also I learned BP was a gamer, so I thought he'd enjoy the subject matter.

And he sure did. This piece rocks. I can't get over how much detail he poured into it, from the mocap suit, to the developers in the background, to the computers, the cables, the banners... everything in this just looks right. Seriously,  blue-paper really went all out on this one.

Thanks, BP.

ADDED: Oh! And total oversight on my part, but  jtigerclaw designed the logos on the banners! Thanks,  jtigerclaw!