At a time when evil surrounds us in all forms, Zee TV launched a trilogy series last year that would focus on the annihilation of evils by tracing its roots back to ancient mythology. Thus began the Maharakshak series with Maharakshak Aryan – which recently gave way to the second story in Maharakshak Devi.
The 26 episode series was launched last week at 7:00 pm on weekends. While the channel upped the ante with Aryan, it will try to take it a notch higher with the VFX in Devi being provided by Vertex Volt. Speaking to AnimationXpress.com, Vertex Volt founder and VFX supervisor Hardik Gajjar says that nearly 250-300 shots per episode have needed VFX addition to them.
Despite being a contemporary take on evil, a lot of set extension has been added. This apart, scenes such as a 3D flower floating in the violent river, creation of a cliff’s edge by replacing chroma shots and matte painting used to create the night city look have required Vertex Volt’s expertise. “Such shots are otherwise not very easy to shoot live whether the show is contemporary or mythological. The concept of the series demands a good amount of VFX per episode. There are many shots that are completely CG whereas many shots require blending CG elements with live action shots,” says Hardik.
A total of 33 artists are involved in delivering the VFX shots with a lot of CGI. For Devi, 2D animation, 3D modeling and animation, matte paintings, set extensions, rotoscopy and compositing have been executed by the studio; this apart, there is a CG tiger present as well which is the vehicle of Devi.
“It took our artists almost 40 days to create the tiger’s 3D model with high detailing of texture and fur. We created the CG tiger which can be animated and composed according to the live shoot of the leading character of the show. And in order to animate the tiger, the team took proper references to make its style of walking and facial expressions as realistic as possible,” explains Hardik. So far, three episodes of VFX have been delivered from their end.
While the pressure of delivery isn’t as heavy as it would be for a daily show, it still isn’t a cakewalk. “There is a constant clock that is ticking for us when it comes to delivery as from our many years of experience in this industry, quality output with little time in hand is nothing new. We have adapted to this workflow and plan the shots accordingly so that we can give our best output within the given timeframe. The channel too has confidence in us, so that is the reason we are doing this second series for them after Aryan,” highlights Hardik.
Vertex Volt was also involved in the VFX of Aryan and so naturally the channel went ahead with their work for the second story as well. “For us doing VFX is always a challenge as well as an opportunity as we always are in a constant effort to raise the bar for ourselves and also for the viewers,” he maintains. The bridge scene in the first episode was particularly challenging, recalls Hardik.
While VFX work began on 20 February, the show is slated to be on air for about 14 weeks.
