The thoroughly exciting ‘Halo 5: Guardians’ Xbox game has a phenomenal opening sequence that was completed by Axis Animation using Blackmagic Design’s Fusion Studio.
The internationally renowned Axis Animation, which creates content in video games, film, television, commercials and online entertainment, used the Fusion Studio to complete compositing work on the opening cinematic for this Microsoft’s game in collaboration with 343 industries.
Fusion Studio has been an integral player in terms of VFX in order to produce a high end output that Halo 5 demands. Axis Animation along with Fusion Studio has worked on quality projects like League of Legends, Call of Duty, Alien Isolation and many such projects.
The latest action packed Halo 5: Guardians cinematic introduces the main characters delivering a mission briefing before launching viewers into a preview of the gameplay world. In the background of CG and virtual environment that is enhanced with VFX, the team jumps out of a Pelican dropship to join a massive battle, which features hundreds of characters, vehicles and ships on a snowy mountain landscape.
Axis Animation, CG supervisor, Sergio Caires said, “Throughout the entire project, Fusion Studio ensured that we were able to achieve the final picture to perfection. It did what Fusion always does for every project we’ve worked on with it over the past fifteen years, helping us pull together all of our passes and giving us a fast, interactive compositing environment regardless of what we ask of it.”
A team of between 15 and 20 artists from Axis Animation worked for six months on modeling, rigging, animating, lighting and rendering the final assets. After which, Fusion Studio was used for all of the compositing work, bringing together the hundreds of elements and render passes needed for the game cinematic to come to life.
“I think the biggest success is the visual impact of the opening cinematic. This is a perfect blend of the amazing choreography created by the team at 343 Industries, and the insane levels of detail, subtlety and action that our team added via the lighting and FX work,” concludes Sergio.
Well, as Halo is known for its extensive graphics and features, the first person shooter video game will now been seen with an entire revamp of the story line and background. The realistic look of the opening sequence feels more like watching a movie rather than introduction of a game!