NARAKA II
Tecnical Information
In this project, my role encompassed the creation of various elements, including background design, vfx, lighting, model development, shading, and the creation of toon shading techniques.
Software utilized for this project included Cinema 4D, Houdini, After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
Description
The film centers on fan favorite heroine, Viper Ning, as she faces off against the demonic Mother of Kunlun, in an enormous and cavernous temple. Ning seems destined for defeat before lifelong rival blade master, Justina Gu, emerges to fight by her side, the ensuing battle intercut with flashbacks to the protagonist's complex past.
STYLEFRAMES
PROCESS
Credits
Client: 24 Entertainment, Netease
Production Co.: Final Frontier & Final Frontier Entertainment
Executive Production: Claus Cibils, Chris Colman, Fernanda Soma, Gus Karam, Julieta Zajaczkowski, Juan Manuel Freire
Production: Sofia Arissian, Mechi Serrano, Jenny Song, Miranda Tsetskhladze, Yeeman Lin, Florencia Di Tomaso
Animation Studio: Le Cube
Director: Ralph Karam
Line Producers:
Animation Director: Federico Radero
Art Director: Ralph Karam
Assistant Director: Agostina Carrera
Ilustrators: Franco Vecchi, Juan Barabani, Lucas Andreu, Gianluca Patti
2D Animation: Appétit, Cintia Czeszczewik, Emanuel Zampalo
Tie Down: Appétit
Clean Up supervisor: Laura Desmery
Clean Up: Juli Soloaga, Juan Pablo Barbieri, Micaela Carrizo, Virginia Fillol, Juli Culaciati, Octavio Cid, Javier Saavedra, Augusto Cortegoso, Sofia Ruocco, Sofia Diaz, Sofia Fernandez, Anibal Dasso, Mariangel Idiarte, Sofia Sosa, Facundo Montero
Textures: Margherita Premuroso, Guadalupe Vyleta, Virginia Fillol, Juli Soloaga, Sofia Fernandez
3D Modeling: Juan Miyagi, Lui Nogueira, Fer Lamattina
3D Lighting & Shading : Lui Nogueira, Ago Carrera
3D Animation: Fer Lamattina
Compositing: Adrian Mirandeborde
THE FOG
The Fog
Aside from the background art direction challenge, at some point in the project our director said that he would like to add more depth to the environment, he would like to feel more suspense in some shots, so he proposed to add fog at some parts of the palace. So as our beloved Paul Steves says, "It's Houdini time!".
In order to create a good fog in such a short time, as we were rushing with the delivery, we avoided volume simulations. As a solution I came with this volume vop techinque, using animated noises to create a fake dense fog moved by some kind of air currents.
The Challenge
This film employs a diverse array of techniques, all in pursuit of capturing the essence of traditional animation. Drawing inspiration from the styles seen in Ghibli productions and the Avatar series, LeCube infuses their distinct flair with dynamic and seamless transitions.
Given this artistic vision, our primary 3D software, Cinema 4D, posed the challenge of implementing toon shading techniques in alignment with the aforementioned styles. For that, we've developed a technique using the Cinema 4D standard render plus painted textures aiming to get nice interactions with the lightning and the textures to get the brush stroke effect.