Rooster Teeth announced that its most successful and longest-running series, Red vs. Blue will release today with Family Shatters.
The bonus spin-off content pack 10 fast and fun short episodes lasting about three-five minutes each and have been called by Rooster Teeth as a part of a silly experiment and side project, and in no way meant to replace or displace season 19.
The shorts are a product of a creative endeavour by a small, experimental team who sought to try something extraordinary. They were made in Unreal Engine using a combination of different techniques such as gameplay capture aka machinima, blending pre-made animation assets, occasional facial motion capture utilizing Live Link and hand-keying control rigs right in the engine.
The team exclusively gave AnimationXpress access to the episodes made in Unreal Engine. The shots demonstrate the limitless possibilities that Unreal Engine can allow the artists to explore while deploying precise geometrical shapes and lighting. The backgrounds look realistic and colours are vibrant. The 3D nature of the imagery makes it even more visually-alluring. The look or the visual language of the shots is ‘Machinima 2.0″. Machinima, originally machinema is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. The episodes offer a window into what future of content can look like with the use of advanced animation software like Unreal Engine 4.
Family Shatters will premiere today for Rooster Teeth FIRST Members, and October 21 on Rooster Teeth and YouTube. The first episode has been titled “Shatter Squad Needs a Pet.” Rooster Teeth stated that they are still hard at work on producing season 19 of the series.