‘Luis Nieto has directed PlayStation’s 30 second ad to promote its latest game ‘inFAMOUS.’ The concept created by David Zorn and JD Jurentkuff and produced by Angela Zappella, of Deutsch LA.   With Guillaume Raffi at Paranoid looking after production.

inFAMOUS’ highlights Cole's electrifying powers and his moral conundrum which is central to the game’s plot.  Luis, David & JD wanted to portray the story using cut scenes similar to that of a graphic novel, where we follow Cole through the burning and exploding comic book that shows the post-apocalyptic Empire City.  

The spot was created using two layers of 3d animation; the first for the detail inside the comic book panels, and a second layer for the pages themselves.  MPC used game assets from the developer Suckerpunch, these were rigged and used during a motion capture shoot.  We also added more detail to the models, applying textures, rebuilding city blocks, signs, totally rebuilt the train and truck, and other environmental details.

MPC animators in Santa Monica were then organised into two groups; one working on the panels and the other one making sure that everything worked well together on the pages, matching the timings established in the pre-vis.  Once the timings looked correct, each shot and the corresponding panel were rendered along with the comic book page.  

The panels were composited in Shake and then exported to an After Effects artist where the composited sequence was applied to the page using a UV mapping plug in. The 2D compositors tracked burning embers and flames onto the side of the 3D pages.  Added smoke, explosions, ink drops and other comic book textural details to bed in the 3D.

VFX Supervisor Nick Losq said; ‘I am lucky if I can work on one job like this a year.  Having a project that allows you to be creative across so many disciplines can be quite challenging, but also has the potential to foster the greatest reward.  With the combined effort of the Director Luis, the Creative’s David & JD at Deutsch LA and the VFX team at MPC, this project was successful in creating a fantastic spot that we’re all very proud of.’

Head of LA Production Andrew Bell said: ‘This is the first time MPC LA has taken on a project like this, to collect in game assets from a developer, adapt for TV, and create a 100% CGI world. Paranoid and Deutsch LA were the perfect partners and together I feel we have created something cinematic and because of the comic book imagery…highly original.’

Mark Gethin added the final grade.

The ad will be on cinemas and TV from 22nd May, 2009.