One Piece | Case Study
CG
Set Extensions
Crowds
Environments
Water
The beloved manga 'One Piece' comes to Netflix in this live action series.
In a mythical world, Monkey D. Luffy and his crew set out on the high seas to hunt for the mysterious "one piece" treasure and become the King of the Pirates.
"One Piece" season 1 is available now on Netflix.
Scope
Ingenuity Studios delivered 313 shots across all 8 episodes for season one of this series.
The work ultimately included extensive full CG set builds which included the massive crowd scene in episode one, island builds, as well as environmental effects such as smoke, fire, and mist, ocean and water simulations, and more.
Technology used:
Nuke, Houdini, RenderMan, Substance Painter, Maya, VAST Storage
The Loguetown design drew inspiration from the manga as well as real world references from Florence, Italy for architectural details.
The plaza where the execution scene takes place was hand built by the modeling team, including the intricate geometric details such as the roof tiles, bricks, and paving stones. Due to the prominence and proximity in so many shots, the details on the cathedral were geometry based and heavily procedural to get the best possible clarity and precision.
Environment & Crowds
CG digidoubles were created for the crowd, using an in-house procedural body generation system and clothing library, referencing the color and dress of practical extras filmed on set.
The ambiance of the crowd had a collection of animations that allowed for quick details such as density, clothing, and general excitement/movement.
For later shots with more dynamic movement, an agent simulation created their actions and guided the crowd through the environment.
The Tower Build
The Marine Base tower featured in Shell's Town was another asset that relied heavily on procedural geometry details for higher fidelity. The basic forms and detail elements were modeled. Bricks, boards, and wood beams were then instanced across the entire model for a highly detailed result.
The flexibility of a procedural setup allowed adjustments to layout, size, and shape of the tower compound in parallel with the detailing work.
On-Set Supervision
We were on set in Cape Town, South Africa to collaborate with production, visual effects supervisors, and lighting teams during the shoot. Being present to advise blue screen set-ups and lighting for major sequences allowed us to maximize the use of visual effects in each scene.
"Our journey on ‘One Piece' embodies what I love about Ingenuity—crafting a broad range of work from full CG shots to subtle invisible fixes—both in quality and quantity. The powerful visuals and process of ‘One Piece’ set a reminder of how wonderful this industry is—impeccable expertise from pre-production, production, and to final stages with the exceptional leadership of industry best Victor Scalise and Scott Ramsey. Their enthusiasm for this series is contagious.
-Executive Producer, Hallana Paula Barbosa
Credits
Grant Miller, Executive VFX Supervisor
Hallana Paula Barbosa, VFX Executive Producer
Jack Wesson, VFX Supervisor
Tara Acquesta, Senior VFX Producer
Unggyu Choi, Comp Supervisor
Thierry Yves Leon Durieux, CG Lead
Carlos Sánchez, Comp Lead
Elizabeth Reyes, Comp Lead
Rebecca Kotzin, Majka Koszykowski, VFX Coordinators
Island & Water Simulations
The waves surrounding the island were fully simulated crashing against the rocks at the base of the rocks. Several shots featured shipwreck debris that were integrated with the main ocean setup, and unique water simulations were run for shots closer to the water's surface.
The waves in the background and midground had multiple levels of choppiness to account for different weather conditions during time skips. The combined ocean surface was separated into multiple patches and levels of detail.
Before
After
The island sequence where Sanji and Zeff were shipwrecked was a massive undertaking. The CG asset was designed to incorporate a practical set with a wide range of shot types and lighting conditions. Individual rocks were hand placed on a per shot basis for additional control. Consistent and believable details were essential to creating the final version of the shot.