realtime:uk

Evolution Studios

This is replaced by the Flash content. Place your alternate content here and users without the Flash plugin or with Javascript turned off will see this. Content here allows you to leave out noscript tags. Include a link to bypass the detection if you wish.

When CG animation studio RealtimeUK were asked to create an intro movie with the ‘wow factor’ for Evolution Studios PlayStation3 game MotorStorm, they certainly delivered.

Following the awesome success of the concept movie that we created for MotorStorm, leading video game publisher, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and award winning developer, Evolution Studios, turned to us again to create the HD intro movie for the game. However, the purpose of the intro movie was very different from that of the concept movie; it was designed to tell the story of the journey to the festival and to provide the back story for MotorStorm.

The key to this movie was the seamless integration of CG elements with breath-taking HD live footage.
Evolution Studios provided us with all of the HD footage which was shot by them and featured the awe-inspiring Monument Valley in Arizona, USA.

Set to a dramatic soundtrack this movie entices the viewer with a sequence of carefully selected spectacular shots which show vehicles travelling towards the action and climaxes in a huge festival reveal scene.

“One of the most challenging aspects of the project was populating the final festival shot” says Project Manager Jon Clayton “This is a vast shot with hundreds of different assets to incorporate, including tents, fairground rides, smaller race tracks and thousands of people, all of which were supplied to us by Evolution Studios. “

“By breaking the shot down into 4 or 5 sections we managed to overcome this colossal scene.” says Clayton “Each member of the team took responsibility for one section to ensure the assets were seamlessly composited into the scene. Once each section had been rendered out we put all the scenes together in After Effects. “

In Post-Production we perfected the smoke that comes from the cars and video reference helped us ensure we achieved a realistic look. In addition to these smoke effects, After Effects was used to add grading, dust, twinkles of light and camera flashes, which were then composited on after rendering.

Motion tracking software tools were used to match a CG camera to the live footage plate. From this data a pointcloud and camera was imported in 3D Studio MAX, where the ground geometry was created using custom scripts and the point cloud as a guide.

Once this was completed objects were inserted into the scene, along with lights that matched the orientation of their real world counterparts. With the ground plain now invisible to the camera but still catching shadows, a series of CG frames were rendered. This was then composited onto HD backplate and run through to check for slipping.
Both Evolution Studios and SCEE were extremely impressed with the final results, which successfully achieved the sensational introduction to the game that they desired.

The seamless integration of the breath-taking HD footage of Monument Valley, the voice over and our spectacular CG animation and visual effects ensured that a dramatic and gripping atmosphere was achieved.

Realtime - Realising Reality

Evolution Studios