We’re producing an epic 3D sequence called Mkali's Mission using each of the tools in the Media & Entertainment Collection – Maya, 3ds Max, Arnold, Bifrost for Maya, and Mudbox – as well as ShotGrid for production tracking and reviews.
Mkali's Mission follows a fearless warrior Mkali and her sidekick Suluwo on a quest to destroy the headquarters of The Loyalist Brigade - an evil government imparting distress and horror across the nation. Read more about the story in our recent
Production Manager
Crystal Lake, USA
Ken wears a lot of hats in this production - from finances to making sure everything is running on schedule. With the help of ShotGrid, Ken monitors and gives feedback on artists’ work to make sure production is running smoothly and on time.
Eastbourne, UK
This is where our story begins to take shape.
Cal had the vital task of visually defining the look and feel of our story from the composition of key shots to our heroine’s clothing. Once finalized, the art will be used as a reference guide for modelers, riggers, animators, and FX artists.
Read this blog post for more details.
Vancouver, CA
Photoshop
Building on the concept art, Hanping was responsible for creating the overall mood and emotion through color. Once Hanping sets the mood, our lighting and rendering artists can use the color key as a guide for their work.
With concept art and color key in hand, our modelers can now embark on the creation of our 3D models.
Hiiumaa, Estonia
Andres worked in 3ds Max to create the snow-covered scene and the Loyalist Brigade bunker.
Happisburgh, UK
What’s a champion without her steed? Adrian worked on modeling Mkali’s ultra-sleek (and fast!) snowmobile.
Los Angeles, USA
Steve worked on our heroine’s weapons, including her mighty crossbow.
Melbourne, AU
Beauty is in the details. Jacques worked on modeling and texturing our champion, Mkali and her props.
São Paulo, Brazil
Creating realistic hair is artistically and technically one of the biggest challenges in CG. Vini works his magic on Mkali’s haircut with the help of Maya and X-Gen tools.
Toronto, Canada
Alexandra uses her superpowers to get our heroine looking as true-to-life as possible, refining Mkali’s face based on a 3D scan imported into Maya.
Toronto, Canada
Now that our 3D models have taken shape, Charles can give our models their skeleton, or a network of movements, that imitate their real-life counterparts. From these rigs, our animators can breathe life into the models.
Charles Wardlaw adjusting the weight of the influencers that will help control the rig in Maya.
With the rigs in place, our animators can now give our characters and props movement and put our story into action.
Montreal, Canada
Benoit is working on the animation blocking - establishing key timing and placements of our characters and props before we animate the 3D models.
California, US
Melanie springs our hero into action with the help of Maya’s animation tools.
Kotka, Finland
Konstantinos brings our beloved side-kick, Suluwo, to life by creating the blocking animation and polishing the animation with subtle details.
This is where the magic happens. Our FX team is hard at work creating snowy witchcraft and explosions.
Montreal, Canada
If you want to make an explosion look good, Eloi’s your guy. Eloi is the mastermind behind the destruction of the bunker.
St. Ives, England
Creating explosions and avalanches are no easy feat. Luckily, we have skilled FX artist Phil Radford on board, carefully orchestrating the destruction.
This is where our 3D elements all come together.
Our compositor will take all the 3D elements and combine them to create one beautiful, cohesive masterpiece.
Come back soon for updates or follow our progress on
The final phase.
Lighting and rendering is where all the team’s hard work comes into fruition.
Come back soon for updates or follow our progress on the