The World of Shōgun
Roles: Creative Director / Designer / Animator
Some are born under the banner of greatness, others must claim it.
World of Shōgun is a six-minute fully animated piece of short form content produced by FX, in close collaboration with our teams at Method Studios. Created principally in Unreal Engine (UE), the film immerses audiences in the enthralling world of FX’s landmark limited series, providing them with a historical overview of Feudal Japan and a deeper understanding of the power struggles that springboard the series’ events.
Directed By: Steve Viola
Visual Effects & Animation: Method Studios
EVP, Global Managing Director: Jesse Kurnit
VFX Executive Producers: Adrienne Mitchell, Karina Partington
Senior Design Producer: Claire Dorwart
Senior VFX Production Coordinator: Juliann Barbella
Global Executive Creative Director: Jon Noorlander
Executive Creative Director: Johnny Likens
Creative Director: Wesley Ebelhar
Lead Art Director: Seiji Anderson
Design & Animation: David Weinstock, Ihsu Yoon, Michael DeCaprio
Senior FX Supervisor: Tomas Slancik
FX Technical Director: David Derwin
Associate VFX Supervisor: Alex Cheparev
CG Supervisor: Christina Faraj
Lighting Supervisor: Claire Chang
Senior Lighter: Irene Kim
Character Modeler: Tan Bi, Mason Trager
Senior Groom Artist: Jordan Soler
Senior Rigger: Rick Fronek
CG Generalist: Mark Yagos
Realtime Technical Director: Warren Wang
Realtime Producer: Fan Yu
Senior Unreal Generalist: Eugene Flormata
Technical Animator: David Jiang
Unreal Rigger: Justin Barcellos
Lead Animator: Greg Bekken
Art Director: Mateus Kurzhals
Technical Art Supervisor: Tanner McQueen
CG Supervisor: Michael Ferraro
Unreal Generalist: Adam Butler
Concept Design: Felix Soletic, Ivan Girard
Visual Effects & Animation: FX
the Process
Working on World of Shōgun allowed us to push the boundaries of both technology and creativity. The entire piece was built in Unreal Engine, which allowed us to craft highly detailed environments, dynamically light the scenes, and animate the cameras in real-time. Unreal's power gave us the flexibility to iterate quickly, enabling the team to see the world evolve in an interactive way as we fine-tuned every detail.
By leveraging Unreal Engine’s MetaHumans, we were able to build highly detailed, lifelike characters, ensuring that every nuance of their appearance was true to the show. These digital doubles were crucial for achieving realistic facial animations and making the characters feel alive.
For the more complex simulations, we turned to Houdini. The software was integral to bringing the world to life, especially when it came to simulating clothing and armor, and adding environmental elements like rain, flowing water, and even fire. These elements enhanced the overall atmosphere and added a layer of depth to the environments and characters.
This combination of Unreal Engine and Houdini gave us the perfect toolkit to create a world that felt alive and richly detailed, resulting in a truly cinematic experience that captured the essence of Shōgun.
