Soul Calibur Cinema Project - Setsuka Cinematic Camera Test

Soul Calibur Cinema Project - Setsuka Cinematic Camera Test

I created this small presentation featuring Setsuka executing a few simple moves to demonstrate as proof of concept some VFX implementation I've been experimenting with to give the game a more "cinematic" or "film-like" movie look. In order to accomplish this, several steps were required to be added to the workflow in post editing effects. It was necessary to achieve something essential in all camera techniques you see in everyday films - camera focus - and the separation of subjects along the path of focal interest as they blur away in spatial distance. This subtle yet sublime effect brings out the beauty in all things photographic or cinematic.

Unfortunately, this isn't readily available or easily achievable in most games let alone trying to make this happen with some captured footage from a 6 year old console game from 2008. I had to create and utilize some modification to the game in order to separate the foreground element against a background plate thus enabling another oft-used technique in film making - color keying ("green screen") along with some fine tuning by rotoscoping. Several shots then were required of the same scene (subject foreground/ no subject in background) keeping in mind camera movement to be synced for later compositing. All of these elements of camera focus, blur, depth of field, and perhaps some volumetric lighting and lens flares were added to the post editing workflow. Finally the footage was color corrected, noise added for film grain and the final composite color graded with some adjustment to saturation (for restoration) to simulate film stock. The rest is all the usual stuff - key framing and editing all the sequences together for the final master.

Also here is a direct download to a higher quality H264 version of this video:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/shz9tfv3so8ipdz/SCProject_SetsukaCinematicTest.rar