Animator on GTAV Breaks Down His Shots On The Game

[@DaneSauceCity]

Pretty crazy that all of your animations are actually animations that stood out to me back in the day. You’re one of the pieces to the puzzle that sets rockstar apart, congrats man!

[@Ralfidogg]

Come home from work, prepare some dinner, 20 minutes till a Mike York production premieres. Perfect timing, thank you sir.

[@Babujoe-lpoder]

Stop looking at this idiot he's just surfing on the vage following his dismissal of R

[@Justinhomii]

we're down bad

[@naoboyz8259]

Humble, talented animator, worked at Rockstar for a good amount of time, now blowing up on KZbin Mike is truely living the dream of millions Love your work Mike and

[@GamingGrenade1]

I hope the people that complain about how long GTA VI is taking will watch this and understand how much work and time goes into even the smallest details

[@DinaricUbermensch]

no one plays games for details bro

[@googleboy7530]

@@DinaricUbermenschshut up

[@curiousmind_]

​@@DinaricUbermensch I do

[@trilloclock3449]

billions of people will disagree with u. i care about the smallest details and appreciate it more than the whole game@@DinaricUbermensch

[@andreas5831]

@@DinaricUbermensch I do

[@SQOUREE]

I can't wait for you to break down the animations in RDR2, my favorite game

[@YorkReacts]

I can’t wait to replay it soon. Hah I got a new monitor and set up and I’ve only played it one time all the way through.

[@TrumanCrumpx]

As a junior animator, its so cool to see you breakdown your amazing work on one of my favorite games. I hope to make some cool animations for a big game soon!

[@YorkReacts]

Ayyeee right on! Another animator in the house hah thanks for watching the video. Take your time you will make some awesome stuff for a big game sooner then you think. If I can help in any way let me know 🤭

[@jadeskarlet]

​@@YorkReacts you are so kind

[@art-poll]

​@@YorkReacts Hi Mike, I am also learning modelling and other 3D stuff to break into this industry so, I need some help regarding that so how can I contact you?😅

[@TheDreamingInsomniacs]

Literally had no idea that you made all of my favorite animations from this game. Thank you 🙌🏻

[@YorkReacts]

Haha awesome! I had this same feeling when Carlos Baena showed me his shots on the incredible movie. I was like wait what!!!!! These are some of my favorite scenes in the movie and I had always wondered who animated them

[@TheDreamingInsomniacs]

@@YorkReactsfacts bro! 👏🏻 that’s awesome by the way, it’s amazing when able to interact with the folk who made something that you absolutely love. You responding did that for me & even made the 10 years worth of seeing amazing animations and not even knowing it was you all the more worthwhile! I’d love to pick your brain sometime on our podcast! We’ve had Alex Hernandez from Mafia 3 on and to learn about the making of games from the perspective of the main actor was really cool. I find the making of video games even more interesting than books and film, so what you do is something I respect massively. I will support your channel forever sir 🫡

[@YorkReacts]

@@TheDreamingInsomniacs that’s awesome heck yeah anytime bro let me know when a good time for you is for the podcast let’s try and make something work

[@TheDreamingInsomniacs]

@@YorkReactsSounds like a plan! Just messaged ya on Insta 🤘🏻😎

[@justrobin98]

W​@@YorkReacts

[@gregc.9313]

I’m one of those gamers that really appreciates the little things done by folks like yourself. It’s the little things that all add up to make something big and awesome.

[@shackdaddy9397]

Mike York - You are a God. You are the Goat. Thank you so much for this channel. I cannot stress how much I admire your passion and articulate way of explaining things. I am beyond happy an Ex Rockstar Employee is finally telling the entitled customers/gamers that game dev is hard AF and that we need to pay our respects and be patient for the devs. God bless you Mike York.

[@DarkSpaceStudios]

My god, you made the animation I get every single time I open the game.

[@widrolo]

Im a solo dev, and for me, animations are the most humbling part of game dev, especially since i dont own any motion capture suits. Since i started working on animations, i also started appreciating every animation that i see in any game that i play.

[@YorkReacts]

Yeah quickly you realize how important it is to have good animations. It’s hard to make a game look smooth and not gittery

[@gijswaggeveld1103]

You really did a bunch of major well-known stuf! Very cool

[@donu9297]

You worked on some of the coolest and most iconic animations in the game. Most of them even made it in trailers.

[@darealdarknathan]

All these animations are the memorable ones n not just some obscure ones. Been playin the game since 2014 on my ps3 and then moved to pc. Many memories made all possible to the effort you and the others at rockstar put in to this timless classic.

[@SweetBabylnc]

This guy York is the freakin man …..we need to subscribe ppl he deserves it!!!!!!!!!!!

[@lowsodiumgamer6805]

I’m not gonna lie a lot of your work and specific little animations I distinctly remember from playing the game you’re awesome!

[@cjj2624]

Definitely going to embrace gta 6 a lot more after seeing your videos, the work that goes into these games is incredible

[@EidRos]

Y never played Gta v yet, but when y do y will truly remeber your animations ❤ good Job Mike 🎉🎉 From Algeria 🇩🇿

[@vincentbonnaure9724]

Hello Mike, thank you from the bottom of my heart all the way from France. On behalf of all of us who played R* games such as GTA V and RDR 2, thank you. Thank you! It's awesome to put a face on someone being a part of making us dreaming, exploring, enjoying every single second we played. Sorry if my English is terrible. I want to thank you, and your partners in Rockstar for the work you've made and still doing

[@OgGeo]

the first animation , franklin coming out of the dispensary, is legit one of the best feeling, and smoothest animations in the game. it’s one of those where you don’t immediately take off running. you just walk along the beach and continue the smooth feeling. genuinely one of the best switches

[@OgGeo]

another thing i’ll say is just in general you are one of the most important parts of what made gta v feel so unique. the switches were one of the coolest things. to just hop in and have the unique animation was so cool. felt like they were really alive. i remember being 13 and just watching switch compilations to see crazy stuff. big thanks from a big gta fan for ur work fr

[@silencedspec1711]

Still remenber when I was in high school, I was shocked when seeing the first clip of this video in gameplay trailer. Not only how good and natural it looks, also shows that the game has achieve perfect seamless transform between gameplay and cutscene which i think was rare in ps3/360 generation. So happy to know that you're a part of these masterpiece!

[@popemon3290]

Wow one of my first thoughts back in the day first playing that Franklin dispensary scene was how seamless the transition was from animation to gameplay walking. Amazing work!

[@AdiusOmega]

I think these sorts of videos are invaluable to people who want to learn about different facets of game design but also to just educate people on the lengths that go into making a video game. People are so quick to judge games nowadays and it's getting to the point where games are becoming incredibly difficult to make. If people can take a step back and get an idea of just how incredibly involved and difficult it is I think it would help. There's really a lot that goes into every single aspect. For me? Personally I think animation is one of the most important factors to selling the illusion and I respect the work you do! Really insightful stuff.

[@Jens5345345]

On the first Franklin scene in 'Smoke on the Water,' I really thought that was motion capture. Damn, you did a fantastic job there.

[@gigarott]

I'll never forget that Jimmy mission the first time i played. That was one of the moments that blew me away cause it wasn't a cut scene. Amazing work man love seeing this stuff!

[@bushgreen260]

*Do you know the Vice President of Animation at Rockstar Games Jim jagger.* *- Did you work with him?* *- Is he the best animator at rockstar games?* *- How good is he at animating?*

[@nivm101]

From what i know in Rockstar its possible that multiple people work on the same animation, is it like that with every AAA company? What makes rockstar be so ahead of its time.

[@watema3381]

The community you're making here is awesome!

[@coopstain1728]

MAN THIS CHANNEL KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER! Kudos brother! You are killing it!

[@Rari98]

i love all of this, i dont remember if rockstar was quiet like this as a kid but i feel like they are so secretive now days and we all just wanna hear how stuff is made / insights, literally the willy wonkas chocolate factory for games

[@Kal-solo]

Heck ya man i wished this back like 10 years ago and now im glad i found your videos on KZbin telling us all this cool stuff and stories

[@Minishot_Lore]

I think a lot of people just gloss over or not really think about all the work that goes into these games. It's a beautiful representation of how technology has come and how if people put their minds and hearts into something they can do it. It's a beautiful time to be alive even though there are downfalls and such, but it's an amazing time to be alive. Thank you for all your work. Thank you and all those who work in these type of projects. Amazing. God bless and merry Christmas. Super glad to have found your channel.

[@InsaneManiiac]

“This videos going to be pretty long” …… was preparing for a 45 min York video (which I would watch)

[@nathanmitchell7961]

Im just such a big fan of mocap, i know i should learn normal animation first but just makes me want to jump head first into the mocap side of things. Big fan of Rockstars use of mocap ever since GTA3 animation and cinematic passion is my shit.

[@gtaatmiami]

So cool dude. Thanks for sharing

[@uMqX]

i was waiting for this video thank you so much i loved it ❤

[@mauricio15497]

This is the reason i have so much passion for animated movies. Its so much work for like 2 or 3 frames of the movie, but make all the difference. The same to well crafted games!

[@tredatruth9965]

I Thank you for your Perspective I been playing GTA V for years and seeing all of these animations and the nuances that were put in the game Truly a Game changer.

[@kaelmn]

Mike, you’ve honestly piqued my curiosity. Never did I consider learning more about animation till I came across your channel. Great work as always 🔥 Looking forward to hearing you drop some more knowledge in your next upload 😀

[@YorkReacts]

Right on! We will make an animator out of you yet haha 😂

[@kaelmn]

@@YorkReacts Hahaha heck yea, just give me a few years and I’ll catch up to you 😂😅

[@MysticalReaper]

Thank you so much York! I absolutely love when Devs talk about what they have worked on. I absolutely LOVE seeing the behind the scenes and breakdowns of games. All the hard work and talent that goes into it. Love it and appreciate it!

[@YorkReacts]

That’s awesome that is what I want this channel to be all about. As a kid I always enjoyed the dvd extras and director commentary. I found it so fascinating hearing the creators stories about the process of each shot and scene

[@troy7520]

Would absolutely love to see you do a GTA V playthrough in the coming months or year. Would be so cool to see you play through the game and maybe get reminded of stuff as you play! Would also give you tons of content to work with as we wait for that fateful day in 2025!

[@ZeboUnBoxing]

Interesting to me that you got to do multiple varying parts of animation in the game

[@hfxcinematic]

Really fascinating!!!. Thanks for sharing these behind the scenes details with us!! 🙏🏼

[@Mr.dnicholson]

Love this video. Need to see more of this. You should do one of you playing the game , or show us your favourite missions. Keep the content up.

[@YorkReacts]

Yeah I’d love to do a play though maybe live on stream 1 hour per night ect until the new game comes out

[@Mr.dnicholson]

@YorkReacts definitely do that. Even though I loved gta 5, I can't help but say gta 4 was my favourite as this was one of the first GTA's I actually understood and completed. Would love for you to talk about that game

[@willy8499]

Some of the most iconic animations were created by you 🔥

[@OfficialRuskyTursky]

geez wow this is interesting bro this must have been hard to do. now I think people have more respect for animators after what you show in your videos that it's not easy to animate....it's very difficult to do that. thanks for bringing awareness York ❤️❤️❤️been binge watching your videos wow

[@brandonlee7382]

So cool thank you for your work! I play games and it's cool finding out what animations you did. Finished Spiderman 2 recently and I've seen you animations without realising. Actually insane to think about how the people who make these games also play games and I've probably played with them without realising which is just dope. So cool

[@YorkReacts]

Thanks man yeha I was only on Spider-Man for a few weeks so I only did like 5 shots I think haha but I’m playing it right now with my son. It’s a hard game actually. Also having trouble following the story maybe it’s just me lol Anyways appreciate you stopping by! Thanks for watching

[@jellystarme]

I think an interesting topic to cover here is how much freedom you were given in your work. Were the guidelines flexible or not? GTA animations have always been exceptional and unique. GTA 5 is no exception here too. I'm trying to understand whether this is i result of strict guidelines set by Rockstar or the result of a full scale creativity which was allowed during the game creation process.

[@YorkReacts]

Most of the time at most big studios they already know what shots are gonna be animated and what motions to choose from the motion capture days ect the smaller the company and team the more creative freedom you have. On GTAV for example I didn’t have much say in what the character did or said ect or how they acted. It was already planned and done and I was to animate what they needed

[@freddyward7455]

​@@YorkReacts I can imagine that it can be very frustrating for a creative person if you're not allowed to express yourself, right?

[@YorkReacts]

@@freddyward7455 yes VERY that’s why I’m at a smaller studio now and smaller team. Lots of creative freedom and I love it

[@silvas2308]

@@YorkReactsWhat about camera movement - did you animate it as well or it was made afterwards by other people? Or maybe it was captured in studio before you even started your part?

[@El_El_Guapo]

Very very cool. Thanks for sharing!

[@artichoke862]

Hey man, these are awesome breakdowns! Thank you giving a look into your work, help to give a perspective the work animators put in. Props.

[@steadycuzzin5813]

That's really cool, man. I just wanna say thanks for making the realism in the world of GTA 5. I really enjoyed my time over the years with this game. Sorry for this long book. But back in 2012, I was a Herione addict. I lost my sister to cancer in 2012, and I went downhill. On June 3rd, 2013, she would've turned 21 years old and never got to enter the world as an adult. But on her birthday I decided to get clean. I'm coming up on 11 years clean. But to make a long story short. I never played video games growing up, and I was 28 yrs old in 2013, and I did 3 years in an intensive outpatient program. One thing I learned to keep yourself clean was to have a hobby. So I got myself back to holding a job, and I needed something to keep me off the streets. So I went out and bought my very first game console, and it was a PS4. My very first game was Grand Theft Auto 5, and let me tell you, Mike, that game kept me clean all these years. I allowed me to escape reality no matter how bad days got for me. I could keep writing all the good things to say about my sobriety, but I'm gonna cut it right here and just say to you. Thank you 💯 for being part of Rockstar and bringing something truly wonderful in my life. I'm alive today because of that game and because of you bro. Might sound silly to those who don't understand. But it was the best hobby in my situation at the time. Now I'm on my 2 feet with my own place and driving a 2022 Dodge Challenger 392 R/T Scat Pack fully loaded, and my 17 year old daughter is back in my life. I have come a long way. So thank you, Mike!

[@danielosetromera2090]

Wonderful story. Videogames are pure magic.

[@steadycuzzin5813]

@danielosetromera2090 That truly are.

[@angryducklinginstitution76]

Happy Holidays, York! It's always great to see someone having fun at their job and working on projects and assignments they truly enjoy and are sincerely passionate about! Thanks for sharing your sense of creativity with us all.

[@JAYFULFILMZ]

This is so cool bro. As a new subscriber, can you maybe break it down a lot deeper with examples etc ? I always wondered how GTA was made! 💯💪🏾

[@cosetm7496]

Subscribed, very insightful stuff and a genuinely top bloke 👍 this channel is going to go far

[@qadirahamad6801]

I just wanted to say one more time, I'm really happy I found your channel 😊

[@YorkReacts]

Shoot I’m happy you found it as well hah stay a while I’m just getting started hah

[@JaydenSchmidt]

These videos are awesome because you get to see a unique aspect of game development that other people don’t show you, thanks!

[@frestige_]

That's sooo interesting, thank you so much for your insights!

[@kwarnag781]

This is actually mind blowing to me. When I first saw the gameplay trailer back when, I wasn’t actually sure what to think. I was probably overwhelmed or something. Then I saw that exact animation of Franklin walking from the shop and I immediately became obsessed. That was the moment I fell in love with the game, kinda. So with the knowledge that you were the one who created that… idk man, it blows me away! The smoothness. I had never, ever seen that kind of detail being put in a game before. Thank you! Really. That moment made me fall in love with the kind of work you guys did on the game.

[@gameplayripper]

Thank you for sharing with us your amazing work ❤ One other thing that makes me realize is that you guys were working using windows 7 back in the days lol. When I stop to think about those things, it makes me feel really nostalgic... Xbox 360, Windows XP, Windows 7, Orkut etc 😂

[@RelentlessTrollCream]

Wow some of these scenes are so iconic! That’s so cool man, you must be proud to have worked on one of the biggest games of all time!

[@RatAPewie]

I didn’t know about the rag until you mentioned it, very conveniently I’ve been playing the story again (since 6 trailer came out) and after I heard you mention it, I got on (it played Franklin’s dispo. scene) I switched to Trevor & he was right outside pretty much walking right up to it lol Thank you for your hard work & explanations of your works, love these videos!

[@YorkReacts]

Awesome hahah glad you took the trip LOL 😂

[@senorlipsy765]

Morning time over in Down Under, get my coffee, breakfast and some York Reacts, gotta love it.

[@mayasteiner937]

This is so cool seeing your animations that you did in GTA 5 and Online thanks for sharing i love the work you did in the game

[@OspreyEye]

these behind the scenes of game development style videos are awesome. so cool to hear from a legit game developer how all our favorite games are built. Keep up these kinda videos man. Totally love it 🎉

[@thefestivalboy]

Dude I love your incredible insights! I’m about to finish my first game development class this week. I’ve been in school for 3d animation since 2020. There’s not many channels like yours. You mentioned boring animations that you left out but you should totally make a video in the future called “the boring animations I made” because there’s still work that goes behind that. Can’t wait for more!

[@JAYFULFILMZ]

I always wondered how a game so big can be kept under wraps so secretly! Can you make a video on What’s Rockstars protocols for keeping its games hidden until release. That’s always been interesting to me, with thousands of devs working on such a big game & what do they do to devs that they suspect of leaking info etc ?

[@Sirrazorbladez]

I loved gta v story and i absolutely loved the rdr2 thank you sir

[@markkadams44]

Like most people I just discovered your videos recently. Something funny is I’ve been playing GTA V story again recently and something that caught my eye was Trevor trying to flush the foot down the toilet, I took a minute and kinda laughed at that little detail, then I find out you were the one who animated it!😂

[@jashanhayer1046]

It gives me such a good vibe watching your videos :) keep up the great work

[@I_am_not_a_time_traveling_fed]

I love watching these, I been recently modding RDR2 and i have been messing around with the animations combining them and also attaching objects and PTFX to them. So hearing stories of people that actually made them is inspiring!

[@igromad]

awesome, feels like you're talking directly to me. keep it up!

[@Indigostarseed.]

Thank you for going into detail. Believe it or not but i actually thought the character done the action with motion capture lol. Wow you're talented and obviously have a lot of patience.

[@weses2]

Millions of people around the world have seen your work 1000's of times. Everyone who worked on the game is a legend

[@JakeeReacher]

Your content never disappoints. Love it

[@martynharcombe7920]

Love these videos. Keep making these really enjoyable seeing the work that goes into these games

[@danielosetromera2090]

So generous and humble. You are a good animator, but I´m sure you are an even better person. Thank you.

[@LHCalistenia]

I hope you can get 200k subscribers until the GTA VI comes out, bro :D you deserve it!!

[@YorkReacts]

I hope so as well haha that would be insane! Share my videos bro help me get there hahaha 😝

[@Snipuh]

Really amazing work. That mini game one with the drill, I remember doing it and feelin like I'm actually doing it. Felt so real, even the mistakes and success of it was on me.. it was done so well and it was a learning curve to figure out as it would be in real life so I appreciated that part and was impressed. Thank you for the work on that. All your work on it and everyone in Rockstar. Its a privilege & pleasure to play it to this day

[@YorkReacts]

Thank you so much that’s awesome love to hear comments like this. It means the animation goes in noticed and works well ect. Also cool to hear there was a learning curve hah props to the designers on that one

[@solidbhatt]

all your animation especially the first one is my fav in the whole game

[@notllamaplant]

50k by the end of the year?! Let's go!

[@johnrtrfc25]

Love this, it is like a behind the scenes look at how its done, keep up the quality Vids!

[@disskuss4268]

Thank you this is super interesting! But what I don't understand is you talk alot about animating but what parts are mocap and what is completely animated by hand? Is the mocap recording easelly usable or has it to be cleaned up and stitched together? Can animators quickly moceap themselves to get a performance they need? Your a joy to listen to, keep it up please!

[@YorkReacts]

Yeah I want to make some more videos explains this process more. Keep you posted

[@mazda9624]

I would have thought that you were going to show a bunch of obscure animations that I never caught before, but *no!* You actually made some of the most iconic animations in the entire game. The amount of times I’ve seen those Franklin character switches was insane! Trevor stomping the foot into the toilet has always stood out to me since the very first time it was shown in a trailer. Excellent work and thank you so much for sharing!!

[@MurphyTheOldMan]

Here's a request, please make a video on what makes Rockstar games unique in game industry. Give us your insight. Respect+

[@Nikolajnen]

Love your work! Well done mate

[@morganmarston]

Legendary work Mike! GTA V is a masterpiece.

[@BabeRudd]

WOW, those animations are the best of gta v, like the most bizarre from Trevor, and the most cool of franklin, cheers from Argentina man, i really love your work

[@fredtaylor9792]

This was really cool. You must be proud to be a part of such a great product! 👍 I'll be subscribing.

[@FastwayIndustries]

This channel is so cool dude, id love to see a tutorial on how i could start learning this stuff, always been a fan of animation, just never really understood how i start

[@YorkReacts]

Planning on making courses maybe 🤔 would you be interested in that ?

[@FastwayIndustries]

@@YorkReacts that would be hella cool dude💪

[@DevonChampion]

What other stories do you have working at Rockstar, what were some of the most memorable moments?

[@YorkReacts]

Haha I have tons! Most memorable hmmmm don’t think I can’t say that on the internet lol 😂 what happens at rockstar stays at rockstar with that one lol

[@YorkReacts]

If you can save that question for the QnA coming soon. I’d love to give a good answer to that and be able to share a story that won’t get me cancelled haha 😂

[@DevonChampion]

@@YorkReacts awesome man thank you so much. I’m really curious to hear more about your experiences and maybe some fun exciting moments that happened.

[@juanche978]

@@YorkReacts You could say them privately tho hahaha

[@Dizzan1313]

Dude been loving this channel! Keep up the great work!

[@Roaden]

you said you worked on rdr2 too maybe not as much as gta v but a video of your rdr2 stuff would be even more amazing

[@Iisakki3000]

Good graphics are nothing without good animations and these awesomely done animations are a big reason why gta 5 still looks and feels good 10 years later! People like to talk about graphics but I think what's going to set gta 6 apart, is going to be the even more amazing animations (together with more npc's).

[@drbadkin7658]

Want to say Thankyou for all your hard work!

[@ItsHQ]

I DEMAND PART 2 NOW!!! THIS IS SO GOOD

[@YorkReacts]

Haha so demanding geeesh hahaha 😝 love it. Part 2 with RDR2 ?

[@ItsHQ]

@@YorkReacts Yeeeeees!!!

[@Novanimator]

​@@YorkReactsYes please I really enjoy your videos lifts my mood hahaha😅

[@LEMOnBRaINn]

I never thought about different animators for the body movement and then other animators for the face all these animations are great btw my favourite is when Trevor wakes up on the beach

[@doncheto9016]

love the long detailed vids ! , cool idea would be to run us through the program/s you use more more in depth look

[@Whopcap]

I. FRIGGIN'. LOVE. THIS!!!

[@81Soundz]

As a fan of grand Theft auto and rockstar games in general, I'm loving this.

[@bulletboy88]

I'm so curious about this kind of stuff. I live videogames and the technology behind the scenes. I'm curious how was it animated, through coding, or something else? Like the scene with Jimmy and the car, I've noticed in my playthroughs of that mission that the car and Jimmy kind of "sync up" to one another. The switch where Trevor wakes up and precarious situations and throws his beer has always been my favorite by the way.