Axis Studios recently crafted vampires, werewolves, and the gothic horror world of Innistrad for dual cinematic trailers that went viral, in preparation for the launch of Wizards of the Coasts’ new “Magic: The Gathering” card packs. Axis' Head of Marketing Adele Khawli and Head of Characters Amy Ash recently discussed how the project came together, as well as the team’s use of Autodesk tools throughout production.
Tell us about Axis Studios.
Adele Khawli [AK]: Axis is a UK-based animation and VFX company. We’ve been in business for more than two decades originally in the games space, but have diversified our portfolio in the last ten years, and we’ve branched out to produce more original entertainment across film, episodic, and our own IP development. We have three UK studios, including our main headquarters in Glasgow, our VFX house in Bristol, and a third facility that we’re currently relocating to in London.
How was Axis involved in the project for Wizards of the Coast?
Amy Ash [AA]: Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) was preparing to release two new “Magic: The Gathering” card sets, both based in Innistrad, a gothic horror world filled with werewolves and vampires. We were tasked with creating two cinematic trailers that were developed as companion pieces to introduce each of the packs. Our ethos behind the project was to create two short horror films to generate interest and sell new audiences on the macabre world. The first trailer we released was “Midnight Hunt,” the story of a young boy in an orphanage run by a nefarious headmaster and surrounded by vicious werewolves beyond the estate walls. “Crimson Vow,” which features an elegant royal wedding with a vampire twist, was the second trailer we delivered.
Still from "Crimson Vow"
Character concepts for "Crimson Vow", image courtesy of Axis Studios
Did WOTC share character assets to inform your character designs?
AK: WOTC developed incredible 2D card art and intricate worlds for the game, which our character team used for reference to guide the overall design. The collaborative relationship we have with WOTC was key to the project’s success. They trusted our character team to translate their 2D designs into authentic, fully realized 3D characters that remained faithful to the larger “Magic: The Gathering” world. The fanbase for the IP is so dedicated that we needed to stay true to the lore, while also creating cinematic stories that engaged new fans to draw them into the world of Innistrad.
What challenges did the project present?
AA: WOTC always brings us these amazing, detailed character designs, and we have to figure out how best to approach them. This was especially true for “Crimson Vow,” which required very intricate costumes and hairstyles, scaled by the sheer number of characters that we had to generate to fill the wedding hall. “Midnight Hunt” presented different challenges, like making an entire cast of werewolves blend in amongst human characters.
For both trailers, we started out with a narrative that offered a simple, yet creepy and effective storyline, which informed our overall character design. For creatives, it’s a nice challenge to take a character and bring a certain personality to it that’s reinforced by the story.
Can you discuss your process for developing the characters? How were you able to tackle some of the project challenges?
AA: The biggest challenge in character development is always faces, since they’re the main focal point for viewers. We put quite a bit of effort into developing the faces – especially in “Crimson Vow,” since many of the characters aren’t canon in the world and didn’t already include card designs; for example, the bride, groom, and butler. We went through the casting process of head scans to try and infuse more believability into the characters, then we sculpted over the scans to further refine them.
Next, for the characters' anatomy and clothing, our team began translating the art department's designs into 3D models. Typically, we start with blockouts in order to define the main proportions, then we move on to detailing to improve and create authenticity for the models. It’s always a balance between detailing the models and textures, and we’re fortunate that we have a really strong team in both of those disciplines. As we’re passing data through the character pipeline, we always try to ensure that each step is enhancing the asset, rather than fixing something from the previous step.
On this particular project, the added challenge of creating a high volume of characters required us to develop an entire kit of outfits and components that we could mix and match with background characters. The hero background characters were only modeled from the head and shoulders upward because it is all that is visible in the shot.
Once the modeling was complete and the surfacing was underway, we started grooming. Obviously, with these characters, it was an extremely complex process, as there are very elaborate hairstyles. This took a fair amount of time but added to the realism of the characters.
Image courtesy of Axis Studios
Still from "Midnight Hunt"
How are you using Autodesk tools in studio? Where do they fit in with your character pipeline?
AA: Maya is used in our pipeline for all animations. All of our character rigs are built entirely in Maya using a suite of custom tools, in addition to other animation tools. In the character department, we allow artists to use whichever tool they want for modeling, but Maya is the predominant choice for finalizing character models. The final FBX is created in Maya, then cached into Houdini, where we use Arnold for shading and rendering.
Can you provide more insight on your custom Maya-based tools?
AA: To provide you with an example, we’ve just finished creating a QC tool for checking in assets to ensure they don’t include any mistakes prior to export from Maya. These proprietary tools draw from the structure and features already in place with Maya – like the cleanup tool – and they bring them into a custom interface that’s streamlined for our team to run quick checks.
How long have you been using Arnold?
AA: We fully transitioned to Arnold about two years ago, and it’s really opened doors to the amount of people that we can work with and the level of support we have. The amount of online documentation, community, and users generating content from Arnold is strong, and we’ve found it to be a positive move. Arnold is also a very versatile render engine, as it allows us to create different types of effects, ranging from photoreal to more stylistic. For instance, last year we created a painterly effect for “Love, Death & Robots” that was designed to look like a moving painting. It’s been a real plus for us.
Still from "Midnight Hunt"
What are your favorite features of Arnold and Maya?
AA: For artists, one of the most important benefits is the stability of both tools.
Over the last number of years, advancements in Arnold – like faster layer shaders and improvements in subsurface scattering – have been beneficial new features. All of the incremental improvements introduced with each new update make life a bit easier for our team, which is a win.
When it comes to Maya, the tool offers ample flexibility and versatility so that artists and studios can customize it or use it any way they want to achieve incredible results. There’s a huge community of artists building plugins for it, and our team has also built custom tools to tailor Maya for our studio. As a modeler, you basically have the freedom to work with Maya any way that you want.
Are you also using ShotGrid?
AA: We use ShotGrid every day. It’s a central location where all of our work is collected for feedback. We just click a button, send a render, and the next day, everything is published on ShotGrid. The assets are tied to the artist and include comments, as well as any feedback collected during the review process. For artists, it doesn’t require a lot of interaction or legwork, which allows us to spend more time being creative. It’s important for us as a studio to have that level of visibility and clarity for the entire team.
AK: Now that everyone is working remotely across different time zones, that level of visibility keeps the team and production on track.
Still from "Midnight Hunt"
How has remote work impacted your team?
AA: We’ve been working remotely since March 2020, so we’ve really hit our stride. We’re now able to prioritize skill and ability over location, so, as Adele mentioned, we have a globally dispersed team. We look forward to returning to the studio, but it’s remarkable how everyone has risen to the challenge and pushed the quality of work while at home.
Would you like to add anything else?
AA: One of the coolest aspects about these trailers was that we were able to tell short stories that packed a punch. There was so much positive feedback in the YouTube comments, like, “I don’t know what game this is, but I want to play it.” The feedback was great for us to see because we knew it meant that the trailers were delivering our desired impact. We have a lot of people on the team who are fans and players of “Magic: The Gathering,” and they contributed their own knowledge of the world, as well as what they’d like to see. Having the opportunity to bring some very iconic characters to life was exciting and a lot of fun.
For more information, visit: https://axisstudiosgroup.com/
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