Lateron Arms: Greez Dritus Edition

Lateron Arms: Greez Dritus edition

(thanks @cosmic-castor-canadensis for the idea!)

We're talking about arms today! More specifically, what do you do when you have a human actor (with two arms) playing a Star Wars alien with four arms?

The Cast And Characters Of Jedi: Fallen Order featurette shows Daniel Roebuck with two pads strapped to each side of his mocap suit. It's a simple, smart way to create space for Greez' secondary limbs, without compromising the actor's performance.

Cutscenes in the Jedi games are a mix of performance capture data (PCAP) and hand-key animation from the artists at Respawn. So Greez is created by two actors: Danny's on-set performance, and the additional performance from the animator. Greez' double set of arms is a perfect way to explore that teamwork.

Greez is an expressive guy, and his Lateron personality shows up in both his voice and his arms. It's not uncommon to see all four arms moving in unison - but there's usually a slight offset between the primary and secondary limbs. This keeps the smaller arms from looking like they're "on strings" and puppeteered by the arms above. Sometimes the gesture is the same, but the position of the hands or wrists differs slightly. It's possible the same PCAP data is applied to both arms, then re-timed or adjusted slightly.

Sometimes Greez' arms move with a left/right split, usually while piloting the Mantis as he keeps his left arms on the controls. Very occasionally he gestures with just one side of his arms, seen in the alt-angle cutscene here and at the start of the post.

More often, Greez gestures with a upper/lower split, creating two different poses with each set of arms. Why pick one expression when you can have two? It's possible the animator referenced an unused take of Daniel's performance for the secondary gesture, or it was created completely from scratch. The goal is to enhance Greez' character and not interfere/clip with his primary arms' movement in each scene.

There's some really thoughtful decision making that happens with Greez' extra limbs. I love how he clasps his hands both in front and behind his body here - and how his arms separately cycle through different gestures to show his increased frustration and concern.

When his primary arms are occupied (carrying a tray, grabbing a cup) Greez' secondary arms become more active (gesturing independently, adjusting his seat on the crate)

But the secondary arms are just as comfortable taking a break while the primary arms do the talking, which makes the animator's job a lot simpler too. Still, that slight adjustment in his second left arm keeps it feeling alive even when not actively "participating" in the conversation.

Greez has a lot to say and needs every available hand to say it, which is great synergy between his design and personality. It's a fun puzzle from a technical standpoint, and allows his character to have a unique silhouette compared to the human-shaped members of the Mantis Crew.

You made it to the end, so here's a four-armed hug <3