When you play video games or watch epic fantasy movies, your focus is most likely trained on the amazing visuals, especially on the detailed rendering of the CGI characters. You aren’t probably thinking of how they’re made; you’re too busy losing yourself into the fantasy.

But if you work in the gaming or film industry, you’d have an idea of how CGI characters are made, even if you’re not the one who brought them to life. You’ve seen them in their “skeletal” form and behind the green screen, which ruins the fantasy a bit but doesn’t make it any less mesmerizing.

Surprisingly, creating CGI characters isn’t actually rocket science, at least for those in the animation field. So if you plan to launch a startup that develops high-quality mobile games, one of the first things you need to do is get familiar with the technology behind video games and fantasy movies. Why? Because when your business grows, you have to upgrade to sophisticated graphics to reach the level of your competitors.

That said, here’s the fascinating technology behind video games and fantasy movies:

How the Characters are Made

3D characters from games and movies came to life thanks to a technology called 3D modeling. It’s the use of software to create a virtual three-dimensional model of a physical object.

Industries that outsource innovative 3D modeling aren’t actually limited to just entertainment. The architectural industry uses the technology as well to develop 3D models of their designs. Brands have embraced it as well, especially when the pandemic hit. Instead of requiring their customers to physically check out or try on the items, they provided 3D models online to depict how a product would look in real life. This technology is called Augmented Reality (AR).

The versatility of 3D modeling is what made it essential in many industries. But of course, it’s most crucial in the entertainment industry. Without it, iconic fantasy characters such asGollum, Dobby, and the dragons of Game of Thrones wouldn’t look as real.

But some CGI characters also had real-life models. For example,Buckbeak, the magnificenthippogriff in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, had each of its feathers’ filaments, and the barbs of each filament, physically created. So if you book a tour to the Warner Brothers Studios: The Making of Harry Potter in London, you’ll see a physical model of Buckbeak, who would bow down to you if you bowed down to it politely.

Buckbeak’s animators decided to compromise on nothing to make the hippogriff look as real as possible. Hence, they created both a physical and CGI model for it. After the completion of the physical model, they wrote a computer program to make the feathers move exactly like the real thing.

Dobby underwent the same process. But what’s funnier and more interesting is the story behind the floating candles in the Great Hall. Originally, those candles were real, hung from the ceiling by a wire and lit by flames. But the flames burned through the wires, and the wax melted and dripped on the long tables. So they were removed and digitally recreated.

Considering that the Harry Potter films were produced decades ago, the CGI technology back then had already been impressive. Now, fantasy characters look even more real. In the new Netflix show Shadow and Bone, some amazing CGI was also at play.

One of the most important characters in the show wasMorozova’s Stag, and it was no ordinary stag. On the contrary, it was around thrice the size of a normal one, with gigantic antlers. In the show, Alina, the main character, approached the stag and stroked its snout. But in real life, she was in front of a green screen, and the stag had been nothing but a skeletal-looking object with a few wires attached to it.

The development of 3D game and movie characters may be far from glamorous and magical, but if you were the one who birthed those characters, their rendering would be like magic. So keep being creative and imaginative. One day, your original characters can also come to life and be known by many gamers and fantasy movie fans.

Getting Started in the Mobile Game Industry

Google has simplified the process of getting started in the mobile game industry. For Android games, they provided resources that will set up your game in the Google Play Console. So consider this as your starting point to put your mobile game out there.

In the beginning, your mobile game will not be at the same level as Game of Thrones or Harry Potter. But don’t fret. Investing in the right technology in the future will take your game to the top, and your characters will soon have their own solid fanbase.