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When the Magic Media team isn’t working on cutting-edge real-time VFX for games or providing dozens of other services to our valued clients, we’re working hard to hone our skills to keep them sharp and stay ahead of the technological and artistic curve. This is where projects like the Medieval Flair real-time VFX project come into play.
Medieval Flair was designed and created by the Magic Media team as an internal project, the objective of which was to create high-quality real-time VFX that’s suitable for a fantasy game setting and used as a magical spell.
In this clip, we see a winged angel character producing this magical effect, also known as Holiness Revival. The real-time VFX we see produces golden colors and has a wide area of effect, and the functional idea of it is that it grants defensive bonuses to allies and revives the fallen on the battlefield.
The real-time VFX produces a golden color to give the impression of a divine effect occurring, in this case, the resurrection of previously downed allied characters. Its wide area of effect ensures that the effect if used tactically can revive a large number of allies every time it’s used. Though it might be difficult to see, this real-time VFX piece contains 20% white coloring to add to its heavenly aura and 10% green and blue coloring to make it seem more magical.
Magic Media offers clients the highest quality Real-Time VFX which will help their game reach its full potential. As a leading Real-Time VFX service provider, we at Magic Media want to push the limits of what is possible creatively and technically while maintaining competitive costs.
Our team adhered to a detailed workflow to complete this real-time VFX video. After gathering some initial references to help us understand better what we were aiming for, we settled on the Holiness Revival concept and proceeded to work on the storyboard. The storyboarding process can be a tricky balance between keeping your expectations realistic and ensuring it’s an interesting visual effect for viewers, and this was no different. We had to define every camera angle, character movement, animation, and the real-time VFX that follows it.
Every frame of the real-time VFX piece needed to have meaning and communicate what follows. This character begins by raising her hand and charging power, allowing the viewer to anticipate the action that comes after. The camera closes in on her eyes to display glowing, godly power before the revival effect bursts out from her using the power she previously charged. Every movement helps anticipate what happens next, helping the viewer to intrinsically understand the real-time VFX on display.
A challenge of bringing this real-time VFX piece to life was deciding on what shaders to use. Shaders are programs that operate on a machine’s GPU to enhance visual quality, and there are many shader options available for VFX purposes such as this. After much testing, we managed to find one generic shader that could accomplish everything we needed. The original angel character seen in the video clip didn’t have wings, so one final challenge was to create thematically fitting wings and then shoot the final sequence, complete with the VFX, in Unreal Engine 5’s Sequencer feature.
At Magic Media we are veterans of the gaming, tech and entertainment industries, offering comprehensive services including game development, VFX, animation and full art services! Our main goal is to provide a one-stop solution for any project. If you’d like to utilize our expertize and experience in creating, game art and more, drop us a line and let’s create magic!
