Avid Technology > Case Studies > Avid Powers Star Citizen: Squadron 42's Galactic Editing

Avid Powers Star Citizen: Squadron 42's Galactic Editing

Technology Category

Sensors - Acoustic Sensors
Sensors - Camera / Video Systems

Applicable Industries

Equipment & Machinery
Oil & Gas

Applicable Functions

Procurement
Product Research & Development

Use Cases

Facial Recognition
Time Sensitive Networking

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
System Integration

About The Customer

The customer in this case is Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) and Foundry 42, creators of the Star Citizen video game series. The game is a massive multiplayer online title that encompasses first-person shooter, space trading and combat simulator elements. The latest development, Star Citizen: Squadron 42, is a single-player campaign that takes place within the Star Citizen universe. The game has gathered more than $100 million in crowd funding, allowing it to command top acting talent and the best technology for its development. The game is recognized by Guinness World Records as the top crowd funded game and project in the world.

The Challenge

The challenge was to cut, edit, assemble, control and access massive amounts of performance capture footage and dialogue for the latest iteration of the Star Citizen video game series. This massive multiplayer online title, which also aims to encompass first-person shooter, space trading and combat simulator elements, is a mammoth creative and production effort on a galactic scale. The game, recognized by Guinness World Records as the top crowd funded game, and incidentally the top crowd funded project, in the world, has gathered more than $100 million to allow it to command the best actors, and the best technology, to further the development of its sci-fi simulation. The latest development, Star Citizen: Squadron 42, is a single-player campaign that takes place within the Star Citizen universe. With ground-breaking cinematic techniques and best-in-the-industry game design, major stars such as Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson and Andy Serkis have provided performances and voices for CG characters in the mission driven game.

The Solution

The solution was to embrace Avid Everywhere by deploying the entertainment industry’s most powerful editing and storage solutions for professional video and audio production: Avid Media Composer, Pro Tools and Avid NEXIS storage. Key elements of the Avid Artist Suite, such as Avid Media Composer and Avid Pro Tools, combined with Avid Storage Suite components such as the powerful Avid NEXIS, have been deployed across a network which spans four production studios, in California, Texas, Germany and the UK. Together they bring the next iteration of Roberts’ first person universe to life. A fully equipped development team, based at the Foundry 42 studio in Manchester, is responsible for creating this new experience for the Star Citizen gamer, which has a production pipeline that shares much with a Hollywood movie. Top of the line editing of cinematic visuals, story elements and pro-level audio are enabled by a collaborative workflow that embraced Avid Everywhere and is powered by the Avid MediaCentral platform.

Operational Impact

The operational results of using Avid's solutions have been significant. The ability to cut, edit, assemble, control and access massive amounts of performance capture footage and dialogue has been made possible. The game's production pipeline shares much with a Hollywood movie, with top of the line editing of cinematic visuals, story elements and pro-level audio enabled by a collaborative workflow that embraced Avid Everywhere and is powered by the Avid MediaCentral platform. The use of Avid's solutions has also allowed for seamless collaboration between different studios located in California, Texas, Germany and the UK. The ability to share edits between the different studios has been made easy with Media Composer’s unique ability to share bins separately from the project file. The use of Avid's solutions has also allowed for efficient media management, with the ability to log each actor’s rushes into separate folders.

Quantitative Benefit

The game has gathered more than $100 million in crowd funding.
The game is recognized by Guinness World Records as the top crowd funded game and project in the world.
The game has a participation of 1 million-plus “citizens.”