The butt-kicking warrior students from Beacon Academy are back! RWBY season 2 is just around the corner (online premiere 24th July). Just yesterday the trailer for the 3D, beat ‘em up and RPG inspired anime premiered at Rooster Teeth’s very own convention (RTX). Obviously, as posted above, the trailer is now available online. The second seasons boasts better visuals – gone are the black silhouettes that constituted character extras. This in itself will please many, but visuals have been improved in many other areas including shadows and greater utilisation of Poser’s physics engine for hair and cloth (perhaps other stuff too – not sure).
RWBY Production Diaries – Interesting Tidbits
During development a number of “Production Diaries” were filmed and offer some interesting insights into how the anime is put together. Areas covered (albeit far too briefly) include: modelling, uv mapping, texturing, motion capture and animation, voice acting and sound effects. Though us 3D nerds would have sunk our teeth into deeper production diaries, there were some areas clarified from earlier technical discussion that took place at the previous RTX and elsewhere online.
I found the section on animation particularly interesting. It has been known that the RWBY team use a mix of motion capture and keyframing, but it was never clear how much of either was used. As it turns out much of the fight sequences are animated with traditional methods. Motion capture, on the other hand, seems to be heavily used for scenes that are heavy on character interaction, where emotion and subtle nuances are more important. Given Monty Oum’s previous projects this approach is not so surprising. This guy has built a cult following with his rapid paced hand-animated fight scenes.
RWBY: Inspiring and Guilty Pleasure
The work Rooster Teeth do with Poser on RWBY and Red Vs Blue continues to be inspirational, and I have to admit I have become a little intrigued with the plot. What are The White Fan up to, and is going to what about them? Any bets the young women with their male sidekicks (makes for an interesting change of pace, doesn’t it?) won’t be pushed to the fore of the coming conflict? No, I thought not. Of course a bunch of children with insane weaponry and magic will once again save the world. And why not? Adults are far too busy playing Politics and Tycoons™ to get involved with such noble endeavours.
Catch up
If you haven’t yet seen RWBY season 1 you can catch up at Rooster Teeth’s website and on their YouTube channel. You can also pick up RWBY season 1 on DVD/Blue-ray at Amazon.
