Montreal's Damnfx Produces Halo 3 Cinematics

Just prior to the September 25th release date of Halo 3, Montreal-based visual effects and animation studio Damnfx has announced its involvement creating 20 minutes of in-game cinematic animation for the highly anticipated title. Damnfx says Bungie lead producer James McQuillan tapped their team for Halo 3's in-game cinematics, tasking them with character details and renderable Maya scenes. Prior to their work on Halo 3, Damnfx worked on two stereoscopic IMAX films; Damnfx executive producer Peter Skovsbo says it was "refreshing" to focus solely on animation while deferring to Bungie for lighting, rendering and compositioning the shots. Damnfx explains Bungie provided assets for each shot, including rigged and textured models, layouts and reviews throughout the process; the company says the cinematics project took 25 animators using Autodesk Maya six months to complete. “In addition to our other VFX work, damnfx is carving a niche in character- and creature-based animation, and Halo provided us with just the perfect opportunity to show off what we can do,” concluded damnfx creative director Mark Dubeau.