Pendulum is a San Diego based 3D animation studio specializing in leading-edge character animation and digital FX for TV, film and games. Studio Owners/Creative Directors, Rob Taylor and Mike McCormick, wanted to build an environment where compelling storytelling and character-driven 3D animation could thrive, where creativity and innovation would be fostered, and where the artistic enthusiasm of its artists would fuel amazing visuals. A major goal was to give those artists the opportunity to explore their talents and imaginations while working on some of the industry’s most exciting CG projects.
A few thrilling years and many exciting projects later, Pendulum has become, as Rob and Mike describe it, a shared passion for the fusion of art, cinema and technology. They consider all of the team-members to be creators and view them not only as parts of a production pipeline, but as critical facets of the entire creative and technical process.
The studio is currently in pre-production for their next high profile project, an action packed fully-3D cinematic game trailer for Paraworld, a 3D real-time strategy (RTS) game by German game developers, Sunflowers/SEK. Over the next three months, the CGSociety will present a first-person perspective of Pendulum’s production process through a series of articles, pictures and videos.
Readers have the opportunity to meet the Pendulum team as they personally guide us through the pipeline and give us a peek into their world. The directors, Rob and Mike, will begin by detailing the pre-production process and discussing the critical blending of talents and the complex balance of resources necessary for a 3D studio to develop such a project.
We began the project where all game cinematic projects begin - with story. Sunflowers/SEK sat down with us in Berlin to discuss the creative and marketing objectives of the project, and to give us additional background information on the company and game. Paraworld takes place in a pre-historic parallel-world; an Earth where humans and dinosaurs fight side-by-side against other tribes and factions. Sunflowers/SEK was keen to show off the complex characters, incredible dinosaurs, intriguing story-arc, rich environments, and of course, the heated action of the battles themselves. We were excited by the genre and jumped at the offer to direct and execute the project.
The original concept was to create a three minute trailer that integrated all these elements but focused on introducing the main characters and the game’s background story. Unfortunately, budgetary restrictions limited these goals, nearly bringing production to a halt.
We regrouped and presented the client with a new idea that retained elements of the original concept, but with a more manageable budget. Instead of a three minute short-film, we proposed a one-minute trailer that highlighted one of Sunflowers/SEK’s main objectives and selling points - the idea of real-time battle - emphasizing the game’s distinctive dinosaurs and chaotic battlefields.
Once the client agreed to the new concept, we determined that the cinematic would be done as one long single-camera sequence instead of a multi-shot piece. Besides offering a cost-effective approach to production, it also mirrored the nonstop style of the Real Time Strategy (RTS) genre, and better illustrated the flow and intensity of the game. Unlike the original concept, where the viewer was introduced to Paraworld and its characters, this approach brought the viewer right into the game - dropping them straight into battle, like the action found in the game itself.
