GLITCH Productions uses a combination of industry-standard software, primarily Autodesk Maya for 3D animation and rigging, and Unreal Engine for rendering and real-time lighting. This hybrid pipeline allows them to leverage the robust animation tools of Maya while taking advantage of Unreal Engine's efficiency and visual capabilities. The entire production process is structured into specialized departments, similar to a traditional animation studio.
The software pipeline in detail
Autodesk Maya for animation and rigging
As the industry standard for 3D content creation, Autodesk Maya serves as the primary tool for the most hands-on aspects of the animation process. The animators at GLITCH use it to create and pose the character models.
Detailed rigging for expressive characters:
- Pomni: The team uses a joint-based rig for Pomni, allowing her to be easily imported into Unreal Engine. Her distinctive, exaggerated mouth movements are created by skinning corrective joints, which helps maintain the face's volume even during extreme expressions.
- Jax: For Jax's more complex, rubber-hose-style face, the team uses a more intricate system. It involves native deformers like lattices and blend shapes on a proxy version of the character to ensure smooth performance during the animation process.
- Facial expressions: Custom animation curves are used in Maya to drive material values on the characters. This allows animators to time elements like pupil texture changes directly in the animation phase, with the changes automatically reflected in Unreal.
Cheating in 3D animation: To achieve a dynamic, cartoony feel, the team employs techniques that mimic hand-drawn animation.
- Forced perspective: Animators manipulate character scale and perspective to create dynamic, squash-and-stretch effects.
- "Stealing" assets: For special effects, animators sometimes "steal" parts from other character rigs. For example, animator Kevin Temmer took Pomni's rigged expression lines and repurposed them as eyelashes for Caine in one shot.
- Smear frames: By stretching and scaling parts of characters, the team creates smear frames for fast movement, similar to what is used in 2D animation.
Unreal Engine for real-time rendering
After the animation is completed in Maya, the data is sent to Unreal Engine (UE5) for rendering. This is a crucial part of the process that allows the team to achieve their distinct visual style while maintaining an efficient workflow.
Advantages of Unreal Engine:
- Real-time feedback: One of the most significant benefits is the ability to see the animation with final lighting almost instantly. Unlike traditional rendering, which can take hours, Unreal provides a near-real-time preview. This allows animators to quickly spot issues and make adjustments back in Maya.
- Efficient pipeline: The animators themselves are responsible for exporting their work to Unreal, which gives them more control over the final look of their shots.
- Advanced lighting: The Lumen renderer in Unreal Engine is known for its fast, high-quality lighting, which helps the team combine photorealistic lighting techniques with the show's stylized, "90s CGI" look.
- Pupil decals: Instead of relying on texture warping, the team uses Unreal's Decal system to project pupil textures onto the eyeballs. This ensures the pupils always look correct regardless of the eyeball's deformation.
The retro visual style and production workflow
Capturing the "90s CGI" aesthetic
The visual style of The Amazing Digital Circus is heavily inspired by the primitive, uncanny aesthetics of early 3D computer graphics.
Key style elements:
- Nostalgic rendering: The style leans into the nostalgic look of early 3D, embracing the weird shapes and low-polygon feel of the era, but with a modern, rose-tinted polish.
- Juxtaposition: This retro style is deliberately juxtaposed against the show's darker, more psychological themes to create a unique and unsettling tone.
- Intentional imperfections: While the visuals are refined, they maintain an intentional "digital" quality that fits the story's virtual reality setting.
A seamless production pipeline
The overall animation process is broken down into multiple departments, each handling a different aspect of the production.
Key production stages:
- Storyboarding and layout: The episode begins with storyboards that define the key moments and camera angles.
- 3D modeling: Character and environment models are created.
- Rigging: The models are rigged with digital skeletons to allow for animation.
- Animation: The rigged models are animated using Maya, with animators exporting their work to Unreal.
- Lighting and compositing: Unreal Engine handles the real-time lighting and rendering.
- Effects: Special effects are added.
- Post-production: The final footage is edited and sound is added.