Case Studies

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  • Animating the Frontier: Realism and rigging in 1923 with WeFX

    On Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel series, 1923, the Dutton family and other protagonists are under constant pressure from the encroachments of the modern world. One mistake, and they could end up shot, drowned, frozen to death, or mercifully, arrested. It’s fitting then that when WeFX had to complete 20 VFX shots in about three months…


  • Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Marza Animation Planet wields Flow Production Tracking and Arnold

    New technological challenges are always required at production sites for blockbuster movies released from major film studios. The production of “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” (hereafter “Sonic 3”) was a series of those very challenges for MARZA ANIMATION PLANET INC. (hereafter “MARZA”). When asked about the various makeovers in the pipeline achieved through the project, MARZA…


  • Heroes, Crowds, and Heart: Building Character in The Electric State

    Immerse yourself in Digital Domain’s epic 3D creations, discovering how they craft character design and performance to convey emotion and personality. The 2025 Netflix film The Electric State exudes epic vibes from the scope of its story, the expanse of its landscapes, the skill of its performances, and perhaps most notably, the creative vision of…


  • A Sparrow’s Song Soars: How Collaboration Won Gold at the Student Academy Awards

    In life, and in art, encouraging those around you goes a long way. In the 2025 Student Academy Award-winning animated short film, A Sparrow’s Song, an injured sparrow singing along to a grieving widow’s piano playing in a World War II bomb shelter gives hope to everyone who hears it. On the 50-student team who…


  • Gattai Robots + Winnie the Pooh: How Lemon Sky Gets It Done with Autodesk’s M&E Collection

    In this chat with Lemon Sky Studios, the team walks you through how they tackled the creative workflows behind their in-house Metal Genesis game and the Playdate with Winnie the Pooh animated series. They talk about the tools they rely on, why open standards matter to them, and what they think really makes a studio…


  • Fadhlan Irsyad’s HOME — A Sci-Fi Short Film Made with Flow Studio

    A student film that dares to dream big  For Indonesian filmmaker and animator Fadhlan Irsyad, storytelling is like solving a puzzle—one that starts with a single image and grows through curiosity, emotion, and creativity. His short film HOME, made as his final school project, dives deep into themes like life, identity… and death—all wrapped up in stunning visuals.  The story?…


  • SEGA’s Sonic X Shadow Generations: Mesmerizing Character Movement and Event Staging with Maya

    “Sonic X Shadow Generations” is the latest title (released October 2024) in SEGA’s signature “Sonic the Hedgehog” character franchise. It is a video game in which “Sonic Generations” (released in 2011) is remastered in high definition for current platforms, and the new “Shadow Generations” chronicle, featuring the popular Shadow the Hedgehog (“Shadow”) character, is included…


  • An Adidas shoe render, Patrick Vogel, and a skyscraper

    German Studio ALT/SHIFT and the Art of Making Cool Look Easy with 3ds Max

    ALT/SHIFT studio founder, Patrick Vogel, discusses why he fell for Autodesk 3ds Max, 50 years of Adidas, using AI as a tool and not a trick, and more. When Patrick Vogel founded ALT/SHIFT nearly ten years ago, the goal was simple: make things look cool. Today, the Hamburg-based boutique studio is doing just that, creating stunning, realistic…


  • Severance: How ILM & Mango FX Created Emmy-Winning VFX for Season 2

    Fresh off winning eight Emmys at the 77th Emmy Awards, “Severance” is celebrated for its story about the separation of work and life. But behind the scenes, its making was all about integration and collaboration. To pull this off, Sean Findley (Founder, Mango FX) and Stephen Siemens (VFX Supervisor) joined forces with Eric Leven (VFX…


  • On Land and at Sea, Chromatica VFX Brings Battle Scenes to Life

    The talented team at Chromatica VFX used the Golaem plug-in for Maya to populate complex battle scenes with dynamic digital characters for L’Abbaglio, a 2025 film set during Giuseppe Garibaldi’s 1860 campaign that reunified Italy. Please introduce yourself and the studio. My name is Mattia Donelli, and I am a crowd technical director at Chromatica,…