MPC’s New York and LA studios, with support from MPC artists around the world, recently teamed up with Modus Operandi on a pair of adrenaline-pumping spots for EA SPORTS. The fully CG pieces were used to promote the company’s four sports franchises for industry heavyweights at the 2013 E3 conference in Los Angeles.

IGNITE fuses highlights from EA SPORTS’ Madden NFL, NBA, FIFA 14 and EA SPORTS UFC games into one motivational cinematic presentation of the titles’ new game-play features, from increased artificial intelligence to cloth simulation to better-integrated motion capture. The mammoth job featured 32 shots, three fully CG environments, nearly 50 hero characters and stadium crowds. The spot required a carefully choreographed, comprehensive pipeline that worked closely and efficiently with Modus Operandi and EA’s diverse branches. MPC LA orchestrated a workflow that ran from asset organization and pre-visualization to final cut, developing a universal rig, model and shading tagging system that complemented their existing pipeline and shot-management tool.

“EA SPORTS wanted IGNITE to inspire its fans and showcase the future of EA SPORTS gaming,” states MPC LA VFX Supervisor Ross Denner. “This was a huge job of the same size and scope as a short film, and it required real insights and close creative collaboration from MPC NY. We strove to be a technical and creative partner that would give Modus Operandi the freedom and support they needed to achieve the cinematic effect of the project.”

MPC NY focused its efforts on Feel the Fight, a spot dedicated to EA SPORTS’ new UFC game in a high intensity sequence in which the action seems to come straight at the player.