We were very fortunate to receive an Epic MegaGrant which allowed us to make the proof of concept trailer. Epic Games have created an amazing community working with Unreal Engine. Since we made our trailer Unreal Engine has progressed dramatically, particularly in regards to creating Metahumans. We’re excited about being able to use the new versions when we make our film and game!! Many thanks to the great team at Epic. You’re awesome!

Here’s an inside look at the making of the trailer described by Mat Burri, Visual Effects Supervisor, Heretic Foundation.

‘The visuals in the trailer were brought to life using the newly released V5 of Unreal Engine (UE 5.0). The team worked with 4k EXRs in acesCG, ensuring a stunning output.

Unreal Engine played a vital role throughout the project, facilitating consistent camera work, file structure, and workflow from animatic blocking to final rendering.

One of the major challenges faced during this project was integrating realistic fur for the beasts. To achieve this, Maya Xgen was used to generate fur on the models, which was then imported into Unreal’s groom for rendering, look development, and secondary animation. The hero beast featured full physics, while background creatures had hair physics disabled to optimize performance.

The team took advantage of Lumen’s real-time Global Illumination (GI) throughout the project, eliminating the need for baked lighting. This revolutionary approach allowed for seamless lighting progression from previs to final rendering, offering a highly iterative and flexible way to work. It was a significant departure from the conventional offline renderers, revolutionizing the workflow.

Early on, the team experimented with the Path tracer for rendering, but limitations in shader support and slow rendering times made it less flexible for their needs.

As for animation, a blend of Mocap keyframe animation on modified Meta Human assets was employed. For body animation, performances were captured using Move.ai markerless motion capture, utilizing a 6-camera setup. The team further polished the body animation in Maya and exported it from Unreal via the 3rd-party Meta Body toolset. Some body animation was fine-tuned using Unreal’s Control Rig. For facial animation, a combination of keyframe animation and Live Link Facial capture via the iPhone app was utilized.’

The composer for the AGE OF BEASTS trailer is Jason Fernandez. With previous collaborations, including the hugely successful shark movie BAIT and a joint EP under the title of THE SLICE Jason’s immense talent shines throughout the project.

The spectacular soundtrack was completed at Spectrum Films, known for delivering the best audio production in Australia. The brilliant Catherine Armstrong managed the mini-production, whilst the exceptional sound designer Cate Cahill added her magic to the soundscape. The team, led by the “the boss” and great mate Josh Pomeranz, worked seamlessly to bring the audio elements together.

The voiceover was expertly brought to life by international film and television star, Robert Taylor. Best known for his portrayal of the title role of Walt Longmire in Netflix’s record-breaking drama series Longmire. 

MANAGER

None of this would have happened without the amazing managerial skills of Ayisha Taylor from Zero Gravity Management. Ayisha has represented some of Australia’s most renowned creatives and we are fortunate to be working together to develop AGE OF BEASTS into a film and a game!

Contact: ayisha@zerogravitymanagement.com