I think Keanu Reeves is best in Cyberpunk and now Norman reeds' best work is in Death Stranding 2 but foes it count when it's artists tweeking the mo cap?

Or Andy Serkis, the definition of motion capture acting.

Yes.
The real distinction is that traditional acting has costume designers, the costume manufacturers, and makeup artists. Motion capture instead has CG artists, animators, and the tech engineers.

Definitely.

I didn't think of it this way, I guess they are prepped and directed and they'll be edited in post just like games. 

Absolutely.

Yes and a lot harder as well.

Mo-cap actors have to do their acting alone, imagining the environment they're in and who/what they are acting against. But you don't have to spend hours in dressing and make-up and waiting for everyone to get into place, so I guess it evens out :)

It's no different from voice actors! It's acting.


Are animators actors? I think so. 

I guess it also depends on the content. Are running animations considered acting?

For example the movements of Prince of Persia


Mo-cap equivalent of a cut-scene is definitely acting.

Yet who is the actor in the above? The animator drawing all the movements or the player choreographing the fight or both.

Does playing a game count as acting? ;)

The only argument I can see it not count as acting - is if the motion capture is just capturing basic motions - like someone who's walking. Something like that, I could see an argument that they're not acting.

Small alterations to a performance though - they're still acting. Even in film, plenty of actors get altered with CGI.

Extras / background actors are considered actors as well in movies. Just standing around or walking past a scene. It's still different from filming a reality show with people doing they're everyday stuff in the background.

But yeah, if mo-capping a horse to get those walking movements right, is the horse acting? (I guess not, although show horses can act, or is it the human training / controlling the horse lol)

Is the animator looking at a horse and coding the movements for RDR2 an actor? (like a puppeteer or stop motion artist)


Anyway mo-cap is just a different from of camera and post processing doesn't change the nature of what happens in front of the camera.

And isn't life acting anyway, as according to the phrase "people act differently in different situations" :)

Ah yeah, good point on the positioning of actors.
I watched a few documentations of James Cameron's filming process, and they're basically in a giant lab - sometimes filled with water tanks. There are a few actors and spots for interaction, but it is a very different process. Also, few studios are going to have the resources and experience of James Cameron's. Especially video game studios.