How We Focused on Efficiency
Space Office is a small team that works quickly and finds clever ways to save time, money, and resources. Once Flashbulb approved our story for the trailer, we worked with them to recycle as many in-game assets as possible, cutting down several days of production time that would be needed to model assets from scratch.
Props and vehicles from the game all received an overhaul on modeling and shaders. To do this, our hard-surface asset modeller would load each asset into Maya and add edge loops and subdivisions, plus extra details and gadgets where needed. PBR materials were then created from existing textures when available to give the whole thing a cinematic aesthetic.
Finally, background assets were touched up with procedural edge, curvature, and grunge maps to keep texture painting to a minimum, while hero textures got a more thorough reworking. We would then dial in the amount of grunge, detail, and realism with Flashbulb’s art director to make sure the look remained on-brand for the game.
How We Built the Space Station Model
The space station couldn’t be upgraded from an in-game model, as it only existed as a concept drawing and part of a 3D model from an older game. Instead, we thought about one of our favorite examples of blockbuster movie magic, and kitbashed the environment.
When making miniatures for the original Star Wars, the modellers would combine parts of different model kits to create something that looked galactic and wholly original. They called these random pieces ‘greebles.’ Inspired by this approach, we built the highly-detailed space station model out of our own 3D greebles.
Planet Landscapes
Planet landscapes were generated using tyFlow, a versatile simulation plugin for 3ds Max. We generated high-res landscapes in minutes and ran them in real-time within the viewport. This meant we got detailed feedback from Flashbulb before we’d even left previz.
Lighting and Rendering
When it came to lighting and rendering, we made the process more efficient by rendering in a single beauty pass, with light sources split up for compositing. We tweaked each light source using Nuke, working with the ACES colorspace – a color management system that standardizes color space between different input sources – to give the trailer a filmic look.
The Result – Trailmakers 2.0 Trailer
Our Trailmakers 2.0 trailer is more than an advertisement for the game, it’s a short film and a prologue to the experience that players will have in the game. A piece of storytelling in its own right. In just 60 seconds, the audience gets a taste of the gameplay mechanics, the visual style, and the overall feel of the game.
We want existing Trailmakers fans to be excited by the trailer and new gamers to be enticed to try it out, but they’re not the only reasons to craft a proper game trailer. In the past, trailers we’ve created for Flashbulb have helped them to secure publishing deals long before they had a playable demo of their game. In an age where players stream games on services like PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass, a jaw-dropping trailer can even see your game added to their catalogues.
Conclusion
We’re incredibly proud of our work on Trailmakers 2.0 and the project represents a solution for any game developer that doesn’t have the time or budget to commission a VFX studio to create their trailer. Clients can come to us with nothing but an out-of-this-world idea and we can channel our 20 years of production experience into shaping a story and creating a blockbuster trailer.
FAQs
Q: What was the most challenging part of creating the Trailmakers 2.0 trailer?
A: The most challenging part was working with a small team and limited budget to create a high-quality trailer that would do justice to the game.
Q: How did you approach the lighting and rendering process?
A: We used a combination of Nuke and ACES colorspace to create a filmic look and rendered in a single beauty pass with light sources split up for compositing.
Q: What was the goal of the trailer?
A: The goal was to create a piece of storytelling that would showcase the game’s mechanics, visual style, and overall feel, and entice both existing and new players to try it out.
Q: What did you learn from this project?
A: We learned the importance of being resourceful and creative when working with limited resources, and the value of collaboration between the team and the client to achieve a common goal.
