Timmys

I've been (or as my Canadian friends say, "bean") to Canada three times in the past month and the first thing I look for when I get off the plane is a Tim Hortons. It isn't hard to find, they're like Starbucks up north and there are usually a couple in the airport. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I'm addicted to their coffee and Timbits, the bite-sized doughnut holes that come in a Happy Meal-like box. It's odd since I'm not a big coffee and doughnut fan, but as soon as I cross the border I turn into a Chief Wiggum from The Simpsons.

Anyway, my most recent trip to Canada was for a motion capture session for EA's NBA LIVE 09. If you’ve never seen or heard of a motion-capture session it’s basically where athletes get stuffed into skin-tight black body suits with dozens of small reflective balls or "markers" attached to them and asked to play basketball in a warehouse-sized studio equipped with more than 40 cameras situated around the court to capture their every move to make the game seem as realistic as possible.

Here are some pictures and videos from EA’s “Summer Camp 2008.”


Rudy Gay and Andre Iguodala engaged in a heated game of NBA Live 09. Rudy picked the Miami Heat, while Andre picked the Oklahoma City "no-names." Why Oklahoma City? "I don't know," said Andre. "I thought I'd do something different."



Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay, Andre Iguodala, Tony Parker and Andrea Bargnani walk off the court after their motion-capture session.


The players practicing their dance moves after watching a computerized version of themslves on the big screen next to the court moving as they move.


Rudy and Andre going at it in their body suits. Believe me, playing the game is more fun than watching them play it.