Blade & Soul 2 Game Cinematic

Set in Blade & Soul 2, NCSoft’s fantasy martial-arts MMORPG, this game cinematic brings together CG character animation, environments, effects simulation and compositing. The frame shown is a close, hard-lit look at a scarred fighter in worn leather armor drawing a blade that glows from within, specks drifting through the dark air behind him. Terminal FX’s cinematic visual effects and 3D animation are part of our game cinematics portfolio.

A game cinematic has to respect the art direction of the game while outclassing it frame for frame. Characters must stay recognizable — proportions, costume, weapon silhouettes — yet carry facial performance and fight choreography at feature quality, which puts the weight on rigging, animation and the cloth, hair and fur simulations that follow the motion. Combat brings its own effects load: sparks, breath, dust kicked up on impact, and magical energy that has to look authored rather than accidental. CG environments and matte painting extend a world the audience already knows, and compositing binds character, effect and background into a single lit space. Cinematic work of this kind is part of what Terminal FX does for games.