Review Fix chats with Marla Rausch, CEO of Animation Vertigo- the woman leading the charge, who spent countless hours with her workforce of more than 50 Filipino artists located in Manila. Together, they created the cutting-edge technology that makes the game so unique, providing the running, jumping, crouching, crawling and more in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
Review Fix: How did you get involved with the Call of Duty franchise?
Marla Rausch: It came about quite out of the blue. I had been working with Sony Computer Entertainment and House of Moves and word got around that a team was getting a lot of motion capture work done quickly and in high quality. During E3 I believe, I got to meet a producer from Activision. He said he had heard a lot about us, we did a test for them, and we’ve had a great relationship with their team since then. I am grateful for the opportunity and the continued great relationship we have with them so many years later.
Review Fix: What was your team responsible for in the game?
Rausch: We make sure that the action shot on their motion capture stages – the in-game action, cinematic motions, and stunt shots – are tracked properly and we keep the fidelity of the motions the director wants into the 3d animations.
Review Fix: What did it feel like to see all your hard work in action?
Rausch: There is a lot of sense of pride and ownership in the outcome of the game, it makes me happy to see when the game is well received. I know that my team gets super excited especially when they see motion they had worked on, with all the effects and textures that make the game great. It’s a great feeling to know that we were a part of that.
Review Fix: What do you think makes your team special?
Rausch: I think more than the fact that our team works 24/6, three shifts a day, meaning we continue to work when our clients go home, until they come back in the next day, it is the fact that we really truly care about our clients – we want to make sure they are successful and that they meet their goals. We understand that if they’re successful, we are successful as well.
Review Fix: What’s next for you?
Rausch: With the boom of VR/AR, we have been working on a few VR projects and anticipate that we would be doing more. At some point, I like to think that we’d have a chance to do something on our own.
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