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SAN RAFAEL - Polygon Entertainment (www.polygonentertainment.com) created a :60 high definition promo designed to build excitement for the 2010 release of the next
Halo videogame. Bungie's
Halo: Reach will be released by Microsoft in the Fall of next year and represents the sixth and final game in the Halo series. The entirely-CG trailer premiered at E3 in June and challenged Polygon with creating a CG model of the planet Reach, which is to be destroyed in the game.
Bungie provided the studio with the concept and animatics. Polygon then tapped its proprietary particle simulation software to carry out the client's desired effect, creating an outer-space view of the Earth-like world that appears to be under attack. Explosions and fire begin breaking out on the planet's different continents, signaling an unforeseen attack.
According to Polygon EP/producer David Dranitzke, the studio had assets of the planet - a massive matte painting - and spaceships from the game, but recreated them in order to achieve the high resolution desired for the trailer, which was projected at Microsoft's E3 event. The studio used Autodesk Maya for modeling, as well as The Foundry's Nuke for compositing and 3D.
Dranitzke says the studio went from boards to final delivery in just five weeks. The trailer was not created for broadcast purposes, so the final edit length wasn't predetermined. Dranitzke says the client wanted it to "look like a movie," so the team was able to show plenty of detail through the use of slow camera moves. This included craters in the ocean depths and shorelines that reflected both shallow and deep waters.
The studio also provided Bungie with Web versions for showing on the Internet.