20 years ago, DIGIC Pictures was founded. The name behind the trailers and cinematics of many successful video game franchises perhaps wasn’t known to many people, but they’ve spent the past years carefully maneuvering themselves among the biggest players of the industry. By 2020 DIGIC developed itself to have three more branches besides Pictures. DIGIC Studios uses the latest technological solutions, real-time engines for high quality 3D animation, VR and AR content, Productions is responsible for content development across several feature film projects and high-quality animated TV series and Services provides the raw materials for digital filmmaking, such as performance capture and 3D photo scans. In 2023, Services is one of those players, providing Motion Capture and Photoscan technology, supported by high-quality expertise for partners all around the world.
Although the company has been providing motion capture services for massive projects since 2009 and photoscan options for a decade now, it was in 2017 when these departments were united under the name of DIGIC Services. In the past few years, they took part in the creation of many video games, short films, and even large scale Hollywood productions filmed in Hungary such as “Halo”, “Moon Knight”, “Dune” and “Terminator: Dark Fate”.
Netflix’s anthology series “Love, Death & Robots” wasn’t just one of the streaming giant’s most successful series, but also a project where DIGIC could really shine. The last episode of the 1st season, titled “The Secret War” became an audience favorite, not to mention that it was among the most visually stunning, exceptionally detailed animation projects on the series, earning various awards for the studio. Staying true to their origins, DIGIC keeps working on major video game titles, such as the Assassin’s Creed franchise, multiple Call of Duty entries, and a 6 months project Final Fantasy during which they recorded all in-game cinematics – roughly about 6 hours – at DIGIC’s HQ in Budapest.
DIGIC Services’ MoCap and Photoscan capabilities are always being put to test – in the past few years, they have worked on Terminator Dark Fate, the Halo series, Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” and countless other series, movies and video games. Equipped with a VICON mocap system, and a production-ready photoscan facility, they are ready to take on a wide variety of smaller and bigger scale projects.
But what makes DIGIC so exceptional, that companies like Ubisoft, Activision and Blur keep coming back to Central Europe for their biggest projects? According to György Tóth, Managing Director of DIGIC Services, it all comes down to the values, quality and expertise, that the company has represented in the past 20 years:
“Obviously, there are bigger Motion Capture studios in the US and the UK, but with this technology, with our size and these cameras, we can truly exploit all this potential. Our portfolio shows that we can compete with major studios.”, said György Tóth to Budapest Reporter in an interview.
“We always put a lot of work into the project before the actual work starts. We use this preparation period to fully understand what our clients need, we run tests, and when the actual shooting starts, there are no more questions about what the client will see in the final product. We can solely focus on the work, making sure that everyone’s giving all they’ve got.”, he added.
Based on their experiences in the industry, DIGIC Services works with a pool of talented stunt performers, unless certain partners wish to employ specific actors in their project. Aside from stuntmen and actors, DIGIC has the capability to record motion capture materials with various animals – horses, dogs, cats – which is not only a rare possibility in the industry, but also a professionally challenging task for the company.
Due to the company’s increasing popularity, their available motion capture and photoscan systems are often needed on film and series shootings abroad, which of course means tons of logistics tasks for the Services team. Naturally, DIGIC considers precision and organized workflow really important, knowing well that every minute counts on these projects.
“Besides gaining access to the latest tech and our top-class artistic services, we think it is necessary that our partners know that their project is always in safe hands, in every possible aspect.”, highlighted György.
In the past 5 years, DIGIC Services spent a lot of time to further improve their provided services, including their available technology, while also moving to bigger, better equipped facilities. The integration of a 4D photoscan system is currently in the works, among further technical developments included in their 3-year-plan, such as the possibility of their own motion capture stage.
