Forza Motorsport 6: Apex

Our in-game cinematic for Forza Motorsport 6

The brief for these 12 cinematic sequences for Forza Motorsport 6: Apex was challenging to say the least…

Each one needed to utilise ‘Forza-style’ cameras to achieve consistency with the video game itself, yet be totally different to the next and nothing like what the franchise had done before.

Thankfully, our creative team love a challenge and worked closely with both Microsoft Studios and Axis Animation to fulfil the brief in just 12 weeks.

Inspiration can come from anywhere

Under the watchful eye of Jumbla Creative Director Callan Woolcock, a team of six animators worked on two original cinematics each. This creative diversity brought several unique concepts to the table, many of which featured on the final piece.

“To be honest, we were so surprised at the extent to which the client embraced some of our less-than-conventional ideas,” said Cal.

“It was a privilege for all of us to actively seek our own individual stamps in interpreting this brief, knowing it would end up forming such a critical aspect of a popular video game.”

Inspiration for the 12 high-adrenaline cinematics came from a number of sources, such as 1960s Americana, comic books, and ten-pin bowling.

“Everyone has unique ideas and interprets things differently,” said Cal. “Sometimes you can get pigeonholed into one specific look and feel, but this way we were able to really break away from that and do a lot of very different-looking things.”

Learning and employing new techniques

The bulk of the work was completed in After Effects, using a mix of 2D and 3D animation. Files of the cars were provided as 3D Max files, which we retextured to our desired styles before remodelling with the Element 3D plug-in.

“There’s always a lot of things you learn on these type of collaborative After Effects-based projects, whether that be new processes, techniques or something else entirely,” said Cal.

The project also taught the team how to rig cars, which has been applied to future projects including Forza NASCAR and Valley of the Kith.

“There’s a few little things that you need to do in order to get the cars animating correctly, and when we worked that out, we made sure the whole team was on the same page,” said Cal.