Join CDs William Campbell, Will Johnson and the Gentleman Scholar crew for an insightful peek into the creation of their first VR experience, a charming and atmospheric blend of 2D character animation and CG landscapes called “Truffle Pig.”

Gentleman Scholar: “The entire project started from one beautiful landscape painting created by our talented design team, and ultimately evolved into an all-encompassing dive into the magical world of VR.

“Creating a world that is immersive and engaging is not a foreign concept to us. However, creating a world that is immersive, engaging and looks perfect from every single angle, all the while making sure that people enjoy themselves along the way, was a bit more difficult.

“We created two versions of the “game” each with a different approach. The first is a simple viewing experience that leads the player along a clearly defined path, allowing them to fully absorb the magical world around them. The other is an engaging free-play version, which lets the viewer really take control and explore each level.

“The world of VR is still very much a work in progress. At the moment it is an added dimension, an extra layer of immersion that requires the viewers to become familiar with the usability of the devices before the storytellers can then push the limits of reality.

“We can carry our design-driven mentality into the world and art direct a beautiful environment, but we want to create something more. We want an emotional connection, a story. Our hope for the next steps of VR is to begin to see another level of interactivity aside from simply sight and sound.”

Download Truffle Pig here.

Watch the Truffle Pig trailer:

Production Company: Gentleman Scholar
Creative Directors: William Campbell & Will Johnson
Executive Producer: Jo Arghiris
Head of Production: Rachel Kaminek
Associate Creative Director: John-Patrick Rooney
CG Lead/Unreal Developer: Tim Hayward
Art Director: Trevor Conrad
Producer: Sabrina Futrell Designers: Sarah Beth Hulver, Macauley Johnson, Jordan Lyle, Michael Tavarez, David Park, Lauren Tom
Lighting/Look Development: Ovi Bogdan
Cel Animator: Harry Teitelman
3D Generalist: Ben Grangereau
3D Modeling & Texturing: Tiffany Chou, Caleb Ollivant, Xiaoya Zhao
2D Animators: Sarah Beth Hulver, Macauley Johnson, Shawn Lee
2D Compositor: Justin Mays Music – Intro Video: The Purge – David Wingo & Explosions in the Sky
Music – VR: The Light – The Album Leaf