Creating havoc for fun. RealtimeUK brings out the cinematic big guns for gaming in destruction and aviation.
CGSociety :: Production Focus RealtimeUK, 15 January 2009
The team at RealtimeUK were delighted when approached by game designer THQ to produce a concept movie for the Stormbirds game.
Concept "Our reference for cinematics tends to be game design documents, pre-viz & some game assets depending on how far along development is," explains RealtimeUK producer Steve Kerswell. On this occasion the client had an impressive body of concept art, that was pretty inspiring and outlined ideas for missions and plane designs. It was RealTimeUK's job to digest all this information and create a cinematic version of the game with the emphasis being on cool camera work, exciting animation and awesome FX."
"With this piece we wanted to create a movie experience for the viewer, putting them behind the gearstick of a super-sonic combat machine while also allowing them to view the destruction they had just created," Kerswell says. "When you are playing a game you often see things from one view, the drivers’ seat, but we needed to engage the viewer in as much of the action as possible."
RealTimeUKs' research started with a trip to a local aviation museum to view existing jet models for inspiration. They then moved on to creating mood boards, mainly highlighting the type of detailing associated with real aircrafts which, even though our jets were based a little in the future, would make for a more believable viewer experience.
They then had to develop some initial speed paintings for atmosphere and styling so the crew could present and discuss it all with the client. Once the overall look and the 3D animatic were signed-off they picked key frames from each scenario to concept further for their modelling team to follow. "With time being tight," Kerswell points out, "we tried to answer as many questions as we could in the 2D stage, leaving as little ambiguity as possible."
