The Vault — Mobo Boehme

Previz

As with any project, it starts with a Previz. Even if I didn't want to spend much time on the details, I wanted to be very accurate with the proportions of the Level (as it was massive) in order to properly plan the camera movements, treating the whole scene as a real set. I spent just a bit of time on the layout in Unreal Engine directly because of that....

As with any project, it starts with a Previz. Even if I didn't want to spend much time on the details, I wanted to be very accurate with the proportions of the Level (as it was massive) in order to properly plan the camera movements, treating the whole scene as a real set. I spent just a bit of time on the layout in Unreal Engine directly because of that.

Asaf, The Messenger

The hero wasn't created before
this project. It was supposed to
be some generic character —which
I loved, I really like no-ones
that become protagonists— rather
than one of the hero cards
created for the TCG game.
While writing the script, he eventually became part of
something bigger. Together
with Oscar Mar (Art Director)
and Greg Lastra (Writer), we
decided that he would be the
messenger who would need to go
and deliver the code to protect
The Vault...

The hero wasn't created before
this project. It was supposed to
be some generic character —which
I loved, I really like no-ones
that become protagonists— rather
than one of the hero cards
created for the TCG game.
While writing the script, he

eventually became part of
something bigger. Together
with Oscar Mar (Art Director)
and Greg Lastra (Writer), we
decided that he would be the
messenger who would need to go
and deliver the code to protect
The Vault

Environment

We all know that we have a lot of room in a set to place things depending on each shot (particularly in CGI), but I really thought that for this particular project, having everything accurately placed from the layout stage — it felt almost like treating it as a real film set — would help me with the raccord and storytelling, and would also save me production time in the long run. I set up the block-in in Blender, but quickly moved to Unreal Engine 5, using a mix of custom assets that we made at Parallel with Quixel Megascans....

We all know that we have a lot of room in a set to place things depending on each shot (particularly in CGI), but I really thought that for this particular project, having everything accurately placed from the layout stage — it felt

almost like treating it as a real film set — would help me with the raccord and storytelling, and would also save me production time in the long run.

I set up the block-in in Blender, but quickly moved to Unreal Engine 5, using a mix of custom assets that we made at Parallel with Quixel Megascans.

Props & Assets

For all the custom environment props and assets, I used Blender and textured in Substance 3D Painter. They needed to reflect the brutalist aesthetic from the Earthen faction. I wanted to design them as a politics-oriented type of place, as they were located in a very emblematic place for the citizens....

For all the custom environment props and assets, I used Blender and textured in Substance 3D Painter. They needed to reflect the brutalist aesthetic from the Earthen faction. I wanted to design them as a politics-oriented type of place, as they were located in a very emblematic place for the citizens.

Animation

I made a mix of animations for this project.
I used several libraries, Rokoko, manual
keyframe, Cascadeur, mocap clean-up... There
was not any established workflow, as it was
very shot-dependant.

Lead Animator Craig Johnston really helped me
to polish the animations to feel more natural
and believable....

I made a mix of animations for this project.
I used several libraries, Rokoko, manual
keyframe, Cascadeur, mocap clean-up... There
was not any established workflow, as it was
very shot-dependant.

Lead Animator Craig Johnston really helped me
to polish the animations to feel more natural
and believable.

FX

Probably one of the most
unnoticeable features of the
project was the procedural
bullets and the little
simulations of the character
(the cloth and the prop hanging
from the hips), but I think they
were actually key features that would break the whole illusion
if they weren't there.

Art directing the hero bullet
shot was a must for the
composition, timing, raccord,
and accuracy....

Probably one of the most
unnoticeable features of the
project was the procedural
bullets and the little
simulations of the character
(the cloth and the prop hanging
from the hips), but I think they
were actually key features that

would break the whole illusion
if they weren't there.

Art directing the hero bullet
shot was a must for the
composition, timing, raccord,
and accuracy.

Color Script & Grading

Color Script and grading was, as
always, beautifully done by Art
Director Oscar Mar. The meaning
behind it —apart from increasing
the cinematic feeling— was
something the viewers would only
know if they knew about the
lore, but it added a lot of subtleties that, in my opinion,
are perceived.

Each faction had a color script
designed in the game, and in
this case, three of them were
present. He balanced everything really well: the greens (for the
protagonist), the cyan/blues
(for the enemies), and the
chaotic yellows and reds (for
the ruthless)....

Color Script and grading was, as
always, beautifully done by Art
Director Oscar Mar. The meaning
behind it —apart from increasing
the cinematic feeling— was
something the viewers would only
know if they knew about the
lore, but it added a lot of

subtleties that, in my opinion,
are perceived.

Each faction had a color script
designed in the game, and in
this case, three of them were
present. He balanced everything

really well: the greens (for the
protagonist), the cyan/blues
(for the enemies), and the
chaotic yellows and reds (for
the ruthless).