Animating Life — From Pen to Pixel

Like so much of Planet Atmos, the animation introducing the first chapter of Exordium Chapter 01 has a deeper story. This minute-long animation brought together numerous departments, countless creative minds, and immeasurable passion. In fact, this work continues on — as there will be a total of nine animations to accompany the nine chapters of Atmos: Exordium.

In this post, we explore the process of bringing this kind of animation to life, and provide a few sneak peeks into how we’re building this part of Planet Atmos’ storytelling.

The Start

It started with a shot list. Atmos Labs’ Creative Director Tommy Lee Edwards worked closely with his art team and the narrative team to map out the full nine episode series. The entirety of the series has to be considered and scoped out for continuity.

A guiding principle across these episodes is asking the question: “What story are we trying to tell?”. Every aspect of the shot list must align with the principles of the story we’re telling, otherwise it isn’t helpful to our world-building.

Next comes the first sketches of the shots described.

This is one of the first sketches that Tommy penned, originally something that may have made it onto the NFT NYC Billboards — but using it as part of a series for the comic was more compelling and, as noted above, aligned perfectly with the story we were telling.

So much of the work going into image exploration and development starts on paper for Atmos, something increasingly unique in today’s digital world. Tommy draws the shots and storyboards to confirm the scenes from the shot list work.

“Stylistically, these animated shorts should be a combination of the 3D photorealistic work we’re doing on the game development side, and the more stylized 2D approach on the comic side. My goal throughout Atmos is to find ways to add cohesion to our entire universe, even when we’re telling the stories in different mediums. Color design, composition, VFX, lighting, and more can act as universally shared techniques among the Atmos artists as we work on paper, paint, Photoshop, Maya, or Unreal 5.” — Tommy Lee Edwards

Storyboards

Next, Tommy delivers layered illustrations that hint ways those various storytelling tools can be used in the creation of the animation.

In the final shot, Addy looks directly into the eclipsed star. In fact, this is the first time we see her face in the animation — obscured by the Exo’s visor, Emergent logo, and Planet Atmos logo.

Jumping off the Page

So what needs to happen next to go from sketches, shot lists, and storyboards to an animated video? That’s when Tommy, Danny Oakley, and Ethan Stickley start converting these sketches and boards into a moving animatic.

Utilizing models built by Planet Atmos’ VFX department, the animators needed to take Addy from 2D to 3D. What would her Exo and Endo look like? What could her face look like in the Helm? What colors should she be wearing? All of these questions need to be answered, and every choice needs to be intentional — furthering the story at even the most basic levels.

Starfield backgrounds are painted, fog is animated, nebulas are created, and unique lens effects are built from scratch as a way to deliver a unique blend of original stylistic techniques.

Immersion

While this animation remains a bit abstract as the story it tells, it complements the comic and world wonderfully. However, visuals alone would not work for this medium — it needed a score. Conveniently, the Atmos Labs team has no shortage of musicians in our ranks.

Thanks to the efforts of our VP of Product, Todd Moffet, and his team including Joe Cammorata and Harley Harris, we have an entirely original score to guide the viewer through the experience.

When a Plan Comes Together

Many readers have already seen the animation, and some of you may have not. But with this peek behind the scenes, we hope you can appreciate the animation even more.