Hello friends, even though i posted already our little Wcs intro 2014 production breakdown on our website, I though I post it also on TL since this is were my esport/starcraft experience started several years ago.
I remember as it was yesterday - me harassing Hotbid for a chance to help out visually on TL. After getting rejected a few times, eventually I got my chance and since then our cooperation and (cyber)friendship is still strong and vital.
Working for the professional gaming industry is something i find both challenging and exciting, we at SalonAlpin are looking forward to our upcoming projects. That I ve gotten to this point is to a substantial part thanks to the trust Nazgul, IntotheWow and disciple did put in me.
thx Lip Comarella
PS: victor if you end up not inviting me at your wedding i will quit TL that same day. ^^
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When ESL asked us to produce an intro trailer for WCS 2014, I was elated. Immediately after that, I realized that we would have to deal with the fact that the previous year’s intro had been a cutscene from the magnificent Heart of the Swarm cinematics. How could our visual style fit in this context without making us and ESL look silly in comparison to the magnitude of what had gone before?
We resolved to avoid emulating the Starcraft 2 design. Instead, we tried to create a more abstract and sketchy gaming environment, one that focuses less on the fictional context of Blizzard’s game, and more on an intense gaming experience, one in which the player is depicted directing the battle.
Once idea and treatment could be successfully pitched to ESL we went into concept art and visual development to set up an overall design direction. Through intensive testing we looked for approaches to convert concept art into detailed images and assets suitable for animation
For the live action shots, we opted for a C300 camera. It’s an ideal choice for working with very high ISO rates and offers very little compression on its video output. This gave us freedom and flexability, both of which are crucial when shooting time is limited and there’s no option to redo the whole shoot.
After an intensive one-day live action shoot, we combined those 3 hours of footage with the pre-produced 3D-Animatic clips and the sound-score.
From that point usually we work like sculptors. We improve timing, camera, light, rendering, postproduction, special effects on a constant flow to improve the storytelling and the intended impact.
As a small production team based in Vienna and Lisbon, it was a great chance to push ourselves to the absolute limit, finding creative solutions within timeframe and budget. As a longtime fan of both Blizzard and Starcraft, I was thrilled to work on this. Like the progamers competing in WCS, we tried our hardest to step up our game.
We are indebted to Jacob from Studio Prozak’s whose commitment to finding the right sound for the intro helped shape the project.
How did you go around making the abstract look of the 3d models? Is this something you can do with any 3ds max / maya filters or did you did you create the abstracted look manually?
On February 25 2014 23:04 EonuS wrote: I was amazed the first time I saw it
How did you go around making the abstract look of the 3d models? Is this something you can do with any 3ds max / maya filters or did you did you create the abstracted look manually?
those are basically handmade drawings/paintings projected onto a 3d geometry. it was mostly a timesaver but limits your possibilites for the character animation
I'm reading this, and I'm like "oh", this sounds neat, a person making a trailer, and then I see all the pictures of models for all the stuff, and I was just thinking wtf, why is this person doing so much work just to make a trailer...
Then I watched it. Super amazing, great job! Hope you're very proud of your work, one of the best esport event trailers I've ever seen!
No wonder the intro was so good! You guys do such amazing work I'm normally not impressed by most intros tournaments use, but I really like the way all the units in this one came in, very unique.
I fell in love with this the first time i saw it. I've always wondered if Blizzard or any company serious about their game being marketed well (even Dota/Valve) they would help provide the community with more art assets such as intros, custom 3D models (even just basic ones for outsourcers to work on).
I was quite bored/annoyed to see the HotS cinematic being used for every single thing. In Dota's case the community has only the launch trailer to work on which came out so many years ago. So I'm really glad ESL decided to up their game visually and sourced for this to be done.
Husky was praising ESL the other day as the best e-sports broadcasting company so far and I totally agree! Hope to see more in the future!
Thanks for the diary! I was BLOWN AWAY by this video, such slick production and a great abstraction of Starcraft gaming, I liked the switch from story tie ins to what is actually on display: an intense match between two players.
EPT
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