❄ God of War: Ragnarök

God of War: Ragnarök is a 3rd person “action-adventure” video game inspired by Norse mythology. It was developed by Santa Monica Studio and Sony Interactive Entertainment and is available on PC and PlayStation.

The objective of this project was to take over an official poster of the game (format: picture) and to render it “alive / dynamic”: animated by animations and visual effects (VFX) with a depth effect by 3D. The format thus turns into a video that can be “looped / continuous”.

In order to realize this project, I went through several well-defined stages.

Realization of the scenarios (3D, VFX, Animations, Editing) in order to clarify the direction of the project and to know all the elements to be produced.

 Cutout of all the elements of the poster through After Effects in order to constitute the plans of the 3D part. Deletion of elements, additional adjustments and retouching were necessary to perfect the plans, using Photoshop.

Creation and configuration of the composition within After Effects: dimensions of the production (1920x1080 px), choice of the number of frames per second (60 FPS), duration (30 sec.), addition of the plans previously cut and insertion in 3D space, and configuration of the camera.

Creation of the various animations.

Creation of the visual effects (VFX) using plugins.

Editing of the production: camera path, Intro & Outro.

Assembly of the production on Premiere Pro: Insertion of the composition, research, addition and editing of the soundtrack and sound effects (SFX).

Production export (H.264): 1 video file (.Mp4), 2 cover pictures (JPG & PNG).

Dimensions: 1920x1080 px.

Frames per second: 60 Fps.

Duration: 30 seconds.

Composition: 3D editing with a shot by 2-nodes camera.

Dimensions chosen from those of the poster. The number of FPS (high) determined here made it possible to obtain a fluid result. The higher this number is, the smoother the production seems to us. The duration of the composition as for it does not really matter since in principle, the video is looped / continuous. It is above all a question of being able to appreciate an introduction and few loops.Finally, the 3D part can only be observed if a 2-nodes camera is set up.

Deletion of the lightning

Deletion of the birds

Attenuation of the smoke given off by the fire located in the giant helm

Reconstruction of certain parts hidden by elements as part of the realization of the various plans for the completion of the 3D rendering

 

Before making the cutouts in order to obtain the different plans to create the 3D part of the production as well as allow the realization of visual effects, it was necessary to proceed to some retouching. The objective was both to be able to separate the plans by erasing elements belonging to other plans, and to erase some visual effects to recreate them in video. On the other hand, the deletion of elements requires faithfully recreating the details belonging to the back plane. Finally, it was essential to extend and reconstruct the contours of certain cut-out plans to avoid seeing “holes” when the camera moves.

1. Central ice floe (foreground), the characters and wolves

2. Right side ice floe (foreground)

3. The bird flying over near the Title

4. Part of the giant snake emerging from the ice floe (left side)

5. Small mountainous and devastated hillock (background of the ice floe on the right side)

6. Background of the central ice floe with the giant helm

7. Right building

8. The Title

9. Front facade of the left building

10. Mountainous arm behind the right building

11.1. Remote and roof parts on the left building

11.2. The birds coming from the right and left sides

12. The central mountain and the giant snake

13. The mountain chain in the background

14. The sky

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The 3D effect is obtained because there are planes cut out of a picture and judiciously placed along the Z axis. The more planes there are, the more this effect is reinforced. To determinate these planes, it suffices first to identify the foregrounds, the middle planes and the backgrounds. Then, the different elements present: buildings, characters, landscapes… Then to carry out a cutting order and finally proceed to the operation.

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All the elements and effects were made in After Effects by hand and using plugins like RedGiant.

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Camera

The arms of the characters holding their weapon

The characters clothes

The birds

Title appearance

Appearance of the characters and their reflection on the ice

 

All the animations were made by hand, some of which required additional cutouts in order to animate a very specific element without hindering other elements (eg Kratos arm and axe).

 

Whoosh

Wind blowing - from World of Warcraft, by Blizzard Entertainment

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A video can be interpreted differently if it contains sound effects or not. These effects allow to add depth and make a production more realistic. Here, the “woosh” effect during the passage of the title at the level of the introduction and the slight sound of the wind.

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"Ragnarök" from Bear McCreary | God of War Ragnarök (Original Soundtrack).

A part in this project was challenging to realize. It’s about the animation of the birds in the sky. Since I did not have access to 3D models, it was difficult for me to make their movement in flight "realistic" by relying on an "image - 2D" model.

On the other hand, this production allowed me to test my skills in edition of composition through the realization of a more elaborate introduction.Indeed, it has not been easy to create a personalized path in a 3D space for the camera, to adjust its speed movement while coordinating the appearance and the arrangement of the other elements (characters and title).

However, this style of introduction is much more aesthetic than a basic one. After perfecting it, I am in a position to be able to use it more on future productions.