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Boutique CGI/VFX Studio Max Ink Café Creates Game Cinematics For
Playstation2 Game Console
28 March 2002, Posted: 2308hrs GMT
Westside effects studio
Max Ink Cafe
recently completed the game cinematics for Dragon Rage, the newly
released PlayStation2 game console for km . MIC created seven movies totaling
10 minutes of animation. The company integrated live action digital video
footage of ocean, sunset and fire (more on this below) with pure CG environments
and matte paintings that appear in the cinematics.
The company modeled, textured, and animated the characters
and the environments employing a mix of key frame animation and motion capture.
The company completed the mo-cap sequences at the industries leading motion
capture facility House of Moves
.
The company used a variety of tools, including, Discreet's
3ds max and Character Studio, Right Hemisphere's Deep Paint, and three Digimation
plugins: Shag Hair, Stitch, and Bones Pro 2.
Production on the Dragon Rage cinematics was 12 weeks long
and involved a team of approximately 35 artists. Todd Sheridan Perry was the
Animation Director, while Duane Stinnett, who is a former art director at
Irvine, California game developing company Blizzard Entertainment, handled
the CG Supervisor duties.
Max Ink Café estimates that 40 percent of its work is
done for the game development industry. They work within both the film and
gaming communities.
"In games, you have complete control over all the elements
and you aren't necessarily aiming for photo reality. There is a lot of creative
latitude when creating the fully CG world," says Jennifer A. Champagne, CG
producer at Max Ink Cafe. "In movies, you are trying to create the illusion
of reality, so there is a lot more attention to detail. Also, you are dependent
on the design and quality of the live action footage that you are trying to
match."
In addition to the animation and video sequences, Max Ink Cafe
also created dragon fire with a mix of analog effects -- via hair spray lit
on fire as well as a sequence of the ocean waves swelling below a sunset,
all shot with a Canon XL1 DV camera. The elements were then melded the final
scenes with the CG Elements.
Previous game work includes Warriors of Might & Magic (June
2000), WDL Thunder Tanks (August 2000), and WDL War Jets (September 2000),
all for the 3DO company.
To view more images and movies of Dragon Rage log onto the
Projects Section
of the studios website www.MaxInkCafe.com
or for higher resolution reprintable images go to
www.MaxInkCafe.com/Line
source: www.insidecg.com
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