Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes | eric-yijiao-zhang

new character release promotion (jabba the hut)

Game Title: Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
Skills: Art Direction, Motion Graphics design, Cinematic Capture, Compositing,VFX, Video Editing, SFX
Tools: Unity, Cinema 4D, Photoshop, After Effects

Role & Scope: Conceptualized and executed this project end-to-end as part of an initiative to elevate our marketing creative and test new visual directions within our brand guidelines.
Objective: Engage players by taking them on the Jabba unlock journey while clearly showcasing each required character prerequisite.
Art Direction: Crafted a high-energy aesthetic that balances the commanding, "bad guy" dark-side energy of Jabba the Hutt with an exciting, stylish tone tailored for high conversion.

COLOR PALETTE & RATIONALE

Brand Alignment: Rooted in official brand guidelines—Red anchors the Dark Side, Blue represents the Light Side (and neutral accents), while Black & White serve as universal neutral bases.
Visual Strategy: Leveraged vibrant Red key accents and high-contrast lighting overlays against deep dark backgrounds to evoke Jabba’s commanding Dark Side presence and "bad guy" energy.

TYPOGRAPHY & MOTION STRATEGY

01. HOOK DESIGN & ATTENTION CAPTURE

Visual Pacing: Utilized high-energy, fast-moving kinetic typography to immediately capture viewer attention within the first second.
CTA & Hook: Designed flashing, high-contrast text layouts to deliver a bold call-to-action statement right at the opening hook.

02. FOCAL TRANSITION & PACING

Centering Focus: Utilized dynamic typography movement to pull the viewer’s eye directly to the center of the frame.
Shot Transition: Leveraged kinetic text scaling to drive a seamless, high-energy transition into the subsequent sequence.

03. LIGHTING & SPATIAL COMPOSITING

Backlight Integration: Utilized animated background typography as a primary backlight source to unify all scene elements into a cohesive composition.
Atmospheric & Stylized Effects: Overlayed smoky electricity visual effects onto the kinetic text to energize the scene and create dynamic interaction between characters and typography.
Environment & Surface Reflections: Designed a high-contrast dark background paired with a subtle reflective floor pass to heighten visual depth and realism.
Pseudo-3D Environment: Layered multi-plane lighting passes and camera depth-of-field in After Effects to transform 2D assets into a dynamic 2.5D spatial environment.

04. DYNAMIC PREREQUISITE SHOWCASE

Background Interaction: Animated background typography to dynamically sync with character entries and exits, creating an energetic interaction as each prerequisite moves through the frame.
Depth & Pacing: Paired fast character wipe transitions with reactive text placement to maintain high momentum and heighten visual depth.

GAME CAPTURE & UNITY PIPELINE

Scene Setup & Texturing: Enhanced character textures to production-ready fidelity and configured animation rigs inside Unity. Aligned dynamic scene lighting to match After Effects backlight passes for seamless character-to-environment integration.
Alpha Pass Extraction: Captured each character sequence as isolated RGBA render passes with alpha transparency for high-precision compositing in After Effects.

VFX SIMULATION

Particle System: Designed the climax unlock effect using Red Giant Trapcode Form and Trapcode Particular in After Effects.
Volumetric Depth: Layered organic 3D particle fields and light-burst simulations to deliver a high-impact, rewarding finale for the character reveal.