When do the expansions come out again? (Sorry if this has been asked)

[Kaiser]

I dont even think it needs a beta as Sc2 did. I mean, its mostly a singleplayer campaign with maybe 1 or 2 new units for each race.

Brood War needed a beta and so did Frozen Throne, why wouldn't we get a beta?

[Hav0x]

This seems to suggest a minimum 2 year production time if we're to have AT LEAST 2 pre-rendered cinematics (since they said each takes about 1 year).

Each one from concept to completion takes about a year to make. It doesn't mean they can't be working on more than one at the same time.

[Jabber Wookie]

Not sure how long it will be, but I've already made plans to buy Legacy of the Void for my grandkids when it comes out. Wait, I'm gettin a little ahead of myself, I need to have kids first for that to work.

[pure.Wasted]

Each one from concept to completion takes about a year to make. It doesn't mean they can't be working on more than one at the same time.

That's a bit misleading then, wouldn't you say? It's not like the work is done at its quickest POSSIBLE rate. All they have to do is switch 2 guys from one cinematic to another and suddenly it takes 7 months, not 12? If it's so variable, I'm not sure why they would make a definitive claim to how long cinematics take to begin with.

But, again, I'd like to emphasize that the models for (at least) Kerrigan, Zeratul, Raynor, Mengsk, as well as a number of units, are already completed. That's going to drastically cut down on the time it takes to push these out.

[Maul]

They've already started work on the first expansion and unlike with BW, the SC2 data editor is very powerful as we all know, so instead of having to hard-code new abilities into the game like the medics heal or lurkers spine attack, they can set up virtually any ability they want in literally less than an hour.

[Hav0x]

That's a bit misleading then, wouldn't you say? It's not like the work is done at its quickest POSSIBLE rate. All they have to do is switch 2 guys from one cinematic to another and suddenly it takes 7 months, not 12? If it's so variable, I'm not sure why they would make a definitive claim to how long cinematics take to begin with.

It's not the actual modeling and whatnot that takes so long, though that does require some time. Rendering each frame is what takes so long. I'm not sure what it's like for Blizzard but Pixar has said that it takes about 6 hours to render 1 frame of animation. Now, of course they are rendering many many frames at the same time, otherwise it would be near impossible to pump out a movie each year like Pixar.

[Crazy_Jonny]

I expect for these expansion to take a little longer than previous ones because of how different they want to make the single player experiences and the amount of cinematic work is required. Blizzard hasn't set a timeline yet, but I bet you each game will take more than a year.

I see it going:
- HotS October 2011
- LotV December 2012 (and then the world will end, at the hands of the Xelnaga of course)

[Maul]

Studios like Pixar have massive clusters of computers dedicated to rendering scenes, and while Blizzard probably has an impressive setup themselves, the scale of such that Pixar would have would dwarf Blizzards setup.

[Legion]

HotS - Aprill 2011
LotV - January 2012

[Hunter]

Well, they've gotta announce something at blizzcon this year... probably won't be heart of the swarm. I say 1.5 year minimum. Which do you think we'll get first, Diablo III or HoS?