Riot Has Finally Exceeded Overwatch in Animation

sarii fox·9/10/2018, 8:21:38 PM·7 votes·3,711 views

...in my opinion, at least! Don't get me wrong, I love overwatch shorts and think they are phenomenal, but they lack one little detail that has always bugged me. Facial expressions. Ever noticed that overwatch's characters aren't very expressive? Sure they have expressions but I have always felt like they were a bit...lacking.

Now THIS! Riot! WOW!! I have replayed this video at least 10 times now and it never gets old! The expressions are priceless and communicate SO MUCH to the mood, story, and personality of these characters. The dynamic poses, detail in rendering, camera angles, colors, everything just adds up so sweetly to create the ultimate hype experience and I am so excited because it is SO SUCCESSFUL!!!

I am floored. Amazing job Riot!! I seriously can't wait for this event!

8 Comments

BLIGHTBRINGER9/10/2018, 8:27:31 PM4 votes

I love how they even given Jinx the not full Green Screen Transparent effect and you can see the green bits around her. Talk about realism.

Quiet Dude9/10/2018, 8:24:18 PM2 votes

Im skeptical until they meet or exceed the detail and physics that went into Widow/Tracer’s butt.

(..I..)

Kahl Drogo989/10/2018, 8:30:53 PM1 votes

as much as id like to agree with you, until Riot makes a short that makes me cry as much as I did for a big German man in armor, I'm still for the Overwatch stuff. except Shooting Star. that one was meh at best

mrmeddyman9/10/2018, 8:48:18 PM1 votes

Is this even in house? Riot has contracted outside studios for CG work before.

Jeddy0179/10/2018, 9:18:10 PM1 votes

Hmmmmm, I can't really agree because I don't think that is a fair comparison.

The tone of the Odyssey trailer is wild, over-the-top, fun, wacky & for lack of a better word, cartoony. The directors & animators are allowed to go a bit crazy with the expressions because it fits the tone of the trailer. Plus they have Jinx as the most prominent face of the trailer. The most crazy, wild & expressive character in the game. Subtly & Jinx should never go together.

But compared to this trailer, all of the Overwatch cinematics have a much different tone. They're a bit more serious & emotional. The goal is to make you feel for the characters featured. Yeah, they have moments of fun & humor, but that's just it. They're moments, not the defining tone of the cinematic. So the directors & animators naturally went a bit more realistic & subtly with the expression to fit the tone. Plus there's also the fact that most of the OW characters who got a cinematic aren't half as expressive as Jinx. Because that's not their character. Wait for the day Junkrat gets a full fledged cinematic.

I think the facial expressions are fine for what they're trying to accomplish.

FurriesAreHot9/11/2018, 1:10:21 PM1 votes

I never found Overwatch’s animation anything ground breaking, personally. I do really like Rainbow Six Siege’s animations though.