Learn how Digital Domain helped breathe life into the post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us with the help of V-Ray for Maya—and how they did it in a matter of weeks.
Summary:
- Digital Domain, with over 30 years of experience in the VFX industry, is celebrated for crafting photoreal landscapes for high-profile projects.
- When approached by the team behind HBO's The Last of Us, Digital Domain had six weeks to create the detailed environments needed for the show.
- The team relied on their trusted render solution, V-Ray for Maya, to maximize the efficiency of their creative workflow and ensure they delivered high-quality results under tight deadlines.
- Thanks to V-Ray’s capabilities, Digital Domain completed the scenes on time, including a stunning flyover of a bridge that set the tone for the series so effectively it was featured in the trailer.
Nominated for 24 Emmys and taking home eight, including Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie, The Last of Us has certainly made an impressive entrance to the television landscape with its inaugural season.
The post-apocalyptic drama series is based on the renowned video game franchise and features a star-studded cast, including Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. With millions of fans around the world, there was no small amount of pressure to bring the quiet decay of the world to life. This focus on curating a believable and livable environment is what ultimately led VFX supervisors Alex Wang and Sean Nowlan to reach out to Mitchell Drain and the team at visual effects company, Digital Domain.
Drain has over 30 years of experience in the VFX industry and specializes in real-world visual effects. Digital Domain is known in the industry for creating breathtaking environments, with a specialism in generating photoreal landscapes that the audience can believe are real. When they were approached to begin work on the show, the team was briefed with just six weeks to create the necessary shots.
Leveraging V-Ray for photorealistic results
One of the key elements that allowed the Digital Domain artists to progress with the project so efficiently was their in-depth knowledge of V-Ray, the photo-realistic ray-traced rendering software created by Chaos. V-Ray has been Digital Domain's go-to render solution for almost all of their recent creative projects. Its versatility and ability to deliver stunning photorealist results made it an obvious choice for the project. V-Ray’s integration into Digital Domain's pipeline ensured not only speed and efficiency but also unparalleled visual quality.
“Ultimately, it just gets us to the finish line so quickly, compared to a lot of the other standards. You get 80 percent straight out of the box, and then you refine it a little bit from there,” says Bob White, head of CG at Digital Domain. “It’s often the case with a lot of other renders—you have to work your way up to get to that 80 percent, which is far more time-consuming when you’re against a deadline.”
With Maya as their primary modeling and texturing tool and Houdini on hand for visual effects, the synergy between software components laid the groundwork for the project’s success.
Central to the creative vision of the project was the concept of beauty amidst decay, something that is a thematic cornerstone of the world of The Last of Us, both in the TV series and the video game. The team meticulously crafted environments that portrayed nature’s relentless overtaking of man-made structures. Drain explains, “This was supposed to have almost a kind of beauty to it, and to convey that nature is taking over man. One of the main things that we got was this idea that it’s supposed to be beautiful in its own way. There’s decay, but in that decay, they wanted beauty.”
Balancing creativity and tight deadlines
While the creative vision of the show took inspiration from its video game counterpart, there was no shortage of reference material for the potential look of the series. The team was aware that there were elements that would have to be reshaped for TV to help maintain the believability of the story and the audience’s immersion in the world. “A lot of the artists were very familiar with the game and wanted to do right by it,” says Drain. “But the truth is, this is different in that this is a gritty, dramatic photoreal portrait or interpretation, if you will, of what the game brings.”
Krista McLean, environments department supervisor at Digital Domain, adds, “I think something interesting about it is that to a certain extent, you are almost dialing back. The goal is to take something that you know is really immersive, in a game world, and bring that into something that presents that kind of realism that you need for episodic television.”
One thing that the team had to get right when honoring the source material was the portrayal of the Cordyceps fungus. This iconic element of the franchise was created through collaboration with fellow vendors to ensure flawless continuity between every iteration of the fungus across the series.
Innovating under pressure
While the show's creative vision guided the team's path, challenges emerged that required innovative solutions. The tight schedule posed organizational hurdles, necessitating a balance between creativity and efficiency. “In this particular case, the volume wasn’t particularly high, but the expectations of the shots were high,” says Drain. “So it really came down to how can we make this look like a show we spent six months on when we really only have six weeks?”
These challenges forced the team to get creative when generating their workflow for the project, leading to the decision to combine traditional 2D compositing techniques with more advanced rendering methods to enhance the digital landscape. These are learnings that Drain is keen to bring into future projects. “The process allowed us to be nimble enough to change for director and supervisor notes. It was beautiful and it worked really well and I’m promising myself to remember that for future projects that may be just as complicated.”
A flyover to remember: the bridge sequence
Among The Last of Us’ many triumphs, certain shots stand out as a testament to Digital Domain’s artistry and technical prowess. The breathtaking flyover of the bridge, symbolizing the transition from urban decay to the untamed wilderness, quickly became a standout shot of the series. It is also featured in the series’ main trailer, giving fans a first look at the world of the show. “What I like about that shot is it’s just so sweeping, and I think it covers everything that we were being asked to do in one shot,” says Drain. This convergence of disciplines helped to bring the shot to life for the audience.
Through commitment to excellence and innovation, Digital Domain was able to breathe life into the world of The Last of Us TV series, helping to captivate audiences worldwide. Filming is now underway on season two.
