Rising Sun Pictures applied its character animation artistry and infectious sense of humour to Knuckles, the new six-episode live action/CG miniseries, which made its record-breaking debut on Paramount+. The studio helped bring the show’s title character hilariously to life as he embarks on a journey of self-discovery while teaching his hapless middle aged protégé, Wade Whipple, the ways of an echidna warrior.
Inspired by the Sonic the Hedgehog game and movie series, Knuckles was created by John Whittington and Toby Ascher. It stars Idris Elba as Knuckles and Adam Pally as Wade. Directors include Jeff Fowler, Ged Wright, Brandon Trost, Jorma Taccone and Carol Banker. Production VFX Supervisors are Ged Wright and Martino Madeddu; Production VFX Producer is Katy Mummery.
RSP was tasked with animating Knuckles across all six episodes. The work included translating existing 2D character artwork of Knuckles into 3D – while adding detail to bring him up to 4K – and integrating him into a range of live action and CG backgrounds. The work was challenging on many levels as artists had to ensure that Knuckles remained consistent, in look and behavior, with his previous incarnations while caught up in a rollicking new adventure full of outlandish situations and over-the-top action.
“Our biggest challenge with Knuckles, was getting the look of the character right and making sure it could be rendered in 4K,” says RSP VFX Supervisor Christoph Zollinger. “Once we nailed that, the animation went smoothly. We delivered more than 280 shots of various types including pure animation, full CG and green screen composites.”
To prepare for the project, RSP upgraded its pipeline to support the 3D asset file format, OpenUSD. “We optimised our pipeline for this type of animation,” Zollinger explains. “USD will help us on future projects by facilitating collaboration and the sharing of assets with other vendors regardless of format or software.”
The Knuckles production team supplied RSP with storyboards, background plates, previs animation and camera data for each Knuckles scene. Artists then went through the complex process of animating the character and integrating him into individual shots. “The first few episodes were mostly dialogue between Knuckles and Wade where our focus was on facial details, expressions and lip sync,” recalls Zollinger. “Then, we got into crazy action—fights, energy effects, motorbike chases and things of that nature – that required great technical skill and creativity. How does Knuckles fight? Does he punch? Kick? Does he do back flips?”
The animation team worked closely with the show runners, directors and VFX supervisors in refining timing, performance and storytelling. “We got daily briefings and feedback from production. They were a joy to work with,” recalls CG Supervisor Erik Charlebois. “They provided excellent character bibles covering an extensive range of motion tests and poses. That informed the animation team and allowed us to concentrate on character, performance and emotion – that’s where animators love to live.”
Although Knuckles is very familiar to Sonic the Hedgehog’s legion of fans, the new series delves deeper into his personality. “In the Sonic movies, Knuckles was an evil character. He was always angry,” recalls Animation Supervisor Wayne Howe. “Here we see a different side of the character. He emotes more. He relates to Wade. He’s still into fighting. He’s still tough. But he can also be gentle. It was fun experimenting with that.”
The opening shot of episode five has the show’s heroes arriving in Reno on Knuckles’ iconic low rider motorcycle. RSP compositors had the challenge of placing Wade on the back of the motorcycle behind Knuckles and integrating the two of them into a live background of The Row, Reno’s main thoroughfare with its glitzy casinos and signature “Reno, The Biggest Little City in the World” arch.
“There were lots of lights, billboards, traffic signs and casino facades,” says Comp Supervisor Liu Chorna. “Because Knuckles and Wade are traveling down the street, the light around them is constantly changing. We wanted to show light reflecting in their eyes so that they really feel like they are a part of the environment. Lighting and comp worked in tandem to get the best result. It was a step-by-step process to get every ray of light angled exactly how we wanted.”
Howe says that his favorite scenes involve Knuckles and Wade interacting on a personal level, as buddies. “There’s a scene in a bowling alley where they really connect,” he says, “and another nice moment when they stop at a roadside restaurant. They eat burgers together and talk about not having a home, not belonging. They share their insecurities and form a bond. We communicate what’s going on internally with Knuckles through eye movement and subtle facial expressions, much like a human character. Moments like that help the audience identify with the characters and believe in the story.”
In the series’ climactic episode, Knuckles is confronted by a pair of agents in a swanky penthouse hotel room. After exchanging blasts of energy, a spinning vortex forms out of two gold rings and the agents are sucked in—along with much of the contents of the room. “Everything starts moving…lamps, picture frames, bowling balls,” explains Charlebois. “For us, it involved a complex build to replace the practical set. We added dust, debris and props…as well as the two actors, while choreographing the action. The rings of the vortex cast light in all directions. When the fight ends, we cut seamlessly to the practical set, so it all had to match perfectly. The team did a fantastic job.”
Despite a tight schedule, the team strove to deliver hyper-real animation that would stand up to 4K. “Viewers expect streaming shows to look as good as movies,” Zollinger says. “The final episodes especially pushed us to step up. Sonic fans are discriminating. They know Knuckles and would spot it immediately if something didn’t fit the character or look great.”
VFX Producer Brent St Mary says the opportunity to animate the show’s title character inspired the team to give its best effort. “We love working on projects with a strong performance component,” he insists. “It takes a special skill set to embody the life of a character, especially one as established as Knuckles. Our artists put a lot of time, effort and creativity into the animation to bring it up to the level of the outstanding performances of the voice talent and the onscreen actors.”
Watch the full VFX breakdown by RSP below: