The secrets under the skin of the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer

Goodbye Kansas's Cyberpunk 2077 teaser features cities, cyborgs — and Keanu Reeves. Go behind the scenes and learn how to create great skin with V-Ray for Maya.

Thanks to a spectacular E3 trailer, the hype for Cyberpunk 2077 is at fever pitch — and V-Ray for Maya played a big part in bringing the sci-fi RPG’s metropolis to life. That, and the presence of a certain actor named Keanu Reeves, whose roles in The Matrix and Johnny Mnemonic have made him synonymous with the high-tech fantasy of the cyberpunk genre.

To create this awe-inspiring teaser, Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red turned to Goodbye Kansas Studios, the versatile Swedish VFX house which has recently contributed seamless effects to Jack Ryan, The Walking Dead and Zombieland 2: Double Tap. We catch up with Director Fredrik Lofberg, VFX Supervisor Henrik Eklundh and Producer Rebeca Cervantes to go behind the scenes of the trailer that has taken hype to another level, and to find out how they make use of V-Ray for Maya.

What was your brief for the trailer?

GBK: By nature, Goodbye Kansas is a studio that has a boutique feeling. We pride ourselves in being creative partners to our clients, and for CD Projekt Red, this was no exception. So began our collaboration on what became the biggest cinematic trailer to come out of E3 2019. 

When we started working on this project, CD Projekt Red sent us an early draft of the script that had the overall story they wanted to tell: a heist gone wrong. From there, we developed it together, bouncing ideas back and forth. CD Projekt Red knew the details of the game and narrative that we didn't, but we contributed to the story of the cinematic.

We began by figuring out the beats, started working on storyboards, fleshed out the camera language and storytelling we wanted in terms of direction, emotions, etc. We talked with CD Projekt Red constantly to find nuances that matched the world of Cyberpunk 2077. Throughout the process, we had great collaboration between our studios. Every single person working on the trailer wanted the same outcome: for it to become something spectacular.

Which assets did you get from CD Projekt Red to help you create the trailer?

GBK: We got the basis for most assets and then we worked in collaboration with CD Projekt Red in making sure they fit the trailer and had the necessary fidelity. Both the locations and characters are based on the game.


How much creative freedom did CD Projekt Red give you?

GBK: We are a very collaborative studio, so we always felt we could present our ideas to CD Projekt Red. They trusted us in making this cinematic and listened to our suggestions and thoughts. The game is an open-world RPG with a multitude of outcomes and story branches depending on your choices and, in this trailer, we show one possible result of that scenario. It could play out completely differently if V made other choices during the heist.


How did you find the actors for the mocap sessions?

GBK: We cast talent from the UK. Our goal was to find actors that could portray the characters, so we talked to agencies in London. Swedish specialists, with whom we have worked for many years, formed the stunt team. We also worked tightly with CD Projekt Red's stunt coordination team. 

Could you talk us through your pipeline and where V-Ray fits into it?

GBK: We use V-Ray to render our final imagery. For this trailer, we used V-Ray for Maya, but we have also used V-Ray for Houdini on some occasions.


Which V-Ray features are important to you?

GBK: Skin shading, hair shading and the speed and reliability of V-Ray are crucial for us. We made the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer in 4K, so render times needed to be as well-managed as possible.


How did V-Ray lights and materials help you achieve that grungy, high-tech look?

GBK: V-Ray ensured we could use all the detail maps, materials and hair that was created by our amazing lookdev team — without breaking render times. 

What do you like about using AlSurface shader with V-Ray?

GBK: AlSurface gives realistic results even in its basic form. From that, you can only improve until you are happy with the results. 

Could you talk us through the steps for creating realistic skin?

GBK: It's all about the quality of the input and how it's handled in light and comp. If your lighting isn't right, it will still look wrong or unrealistic regardless of your efforts in creating the asset.

We have learned from previous occasions how we need to merge the lookdev phase with the lighting phase. To do that, we have lots of different lighting scenarios and even project-specific lighting scenarios when we are creating assets.


What's the most important thing to remember when rendering skin?

GBK: Specular is vital when handling skin. The surface detail needs to have enough fidelity to break up the specular pleasingly and realistically. We often need to tweak the speculars or surfaces based on the shot, so we usually have switches to help out lighters if the character is close or far away. Still, focal length and resolution also comes into play when handling specular and reflective details.