FOUNDER CREDIT / MOTION CAPTURE & ANIMATION

Bringing the World of Arrakis to Life.

01/ Project overview

Bringing the World of Arrakis to Life.

Dune: Awakening is a large-scale, open-world multiplayer survival game developed by Funcom, set in the iconic universe of Dune.

Samuel Lawrence played a key role in the project's motion capture and cinematic animation production, contributing from the initial performance capture sessions with actors through to the final stages of animation polish.

Beyond the capture stage, Samuel oversaw the facial tracking pipeline, coordinating multiple teams across different parts of the world to ensure captured performances could be translated into expressive, production-ready character animation.

Leading a team of 27 artists, including 22 motion editors and 5 animators, Samuel managed the post-production workflow, from motion data processing and refinement through to the final polishing of cinematic performances.

The cinematic sequences were developed through a collaborative international production effort, with Samuel and his team contributing to the animation work across the game's cinematics.

The project brought together performance capture, facial animation, technical workflows and large-scale team coordination, demonstrating Samuel's ability to lead complex animation productions from captured performance to final delivery.

02/ Project Details

PROJECT

Dune: Awakening

PRODUCTION TEAM

27 Artists

RESPONSIBILITIES

Mocap / Facial Tracking / Animation / Team Leadership

DEVELOPER

Funcom

TEAM STRUCTURE

22 Motion Editors + 5 Animators

PROJECT TYPE

Founder Credit / AAA Games

5

27

22

Artists Led

Motion Editors

Animators

From capturing actors on stage to leading a 27-person international animation team, my involvement in Dune: Awakening spanned the cinematic performance pipeline from capture through final polish.

03/ Founder's voice

"Working on Dune: Awakening was about much more than capturing performances. I was involved from the motion capture stage, working with actors, through to managing the facial tracking pipeline and leading a team of 27 artists across different parts of the world.

We used iPhone-based facial capture, Facegood and Maya to bring those performances through the animation pipeline, with 22 motion editors and 5 animators working towards the final cinematic polish.

One of the most rewarding parts was seeing everything come together. Every cinematic we worked on involved countless hours of collaboration, technical problem-solving and attention to detail.

For me, this project was as much about the people behind the performances as the technology used to bring them to life."

Samuel Lawrence
Founder, Samuel Lawrence Studio

04 / The Process

Our workflow combined motion capture, facial performance tracking and traditional animation techniques to translate real actor performances into believable digital characters.

01. Motion Capture Production

The process began on the motion capture stage, working directly with actors to record the physical performances required for the game's cinematic sequences.

Being involved at the capture stage provided a clear understanding of the original performances and the creative intentions behind them, which helped inform the subsequent animation work.

02. Facial Performance Tracking

For facial animation, we used a pipeline built around iPhone-based facial capture and Facegood technology.

Captured facial performances were processed through the Facegood workflow, providing the foundation for character facial animation.

I managed this pipeline and coordinated the teams involved in processing and preparing the facial performances for further refinement.

03. Motion Editing and Animation

With a team of 20 motion editors, the captured performances moved through the motion editing process, where the animation data was prepared and refined for production.

This stage involved coordinating workloads, reviewing progress and ensuring that animation deliverables remained consistent across the project.

04. Final Animation Polish

Our five animators worked on the final stages of animation refinement using Autodesk Maya.

This stage focused on improving the quality of the performances and applying the final artistic adjustments required for cinematic presentation.

05. Team Coordination

Alongside the technical pipeline, a significant part of my role involved managing communication and production across teams located in different parts of the world.

Coordinating 27artists required a structured approach to task allocation, feedback, quality reviews and delivery.

The objective was to maintain a consistent animation standard while keeping the production moving efficiently across multiple teams.

04 / Tools & Technology

Facegood

Facial performance tracking and processing pipeline.

iPhone

Facial performance capture.

05/ Challenges & Solutions

One of the biggest challenges in a production of this scale was coordinating different stages of the animation pipeline while working with multiple teams internationally.

Motion capture, facial tracking, motion editing and final animation polish each required different technical skills and production processes. Bringing these stages together demanded consistent communication, clearly defined responsibilities and an understanding of how decisions made at one stage could affect the next.

My role was to oversee these interconnected workflows, coordinate the artists involved and help maintain continuity between technical processing and creative animation.

The challenge was not simply to process captured performances, but to manage the production pipeline and the people behind it while maintaining the quality required for a major AAA game.

06/ The Outcome

The result was a substantial collaborative contribution to the cinematic animation production of Dune: Awakening.

From working with actors during motion capture sessions to overseeing facial tracking and managing a 27-person animation team, my involvement covered the journey from recorded performance through to final cinematic refinement.

The project represents an important part of my professional experience, combining hands-on motion capture knowledge, facial animation technology, production management and international team leadership.

It also reflects the approach I bring to Samuel Lawrence Studio today: understanding the entire performance capture pipeline, bringing the right people together and taking responsibility for the work beyond the initial capture session.

07/ The Gallery

06/ Professional Credit & Attribution

Founder's Professional Credit

Samuel Lawrence contributed to Dune: Awakening during his previous professional role at Target3D, before establishing Samuel Lawrence Studio.

This case study documents his individual technical, creative and production leadership contributions. It does not represent a project commissioned to or delivered by Samuel Lawrence Studio.

Dune: Awakening and its associated intellectual property belong to their respective rights holders.

Captured Performance Is Just the Beginning.

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