The shift:
Fable's talented artists have always produced compelling CG characters for film, TV, and advertisement. However, to get their trademark great results, their workflow often required intensive manual labour and artistic intervention. According to Thakker, the alternative options for character rigging were failing to produce the realism and speed the studio strived for and this motivated the team to find better, faster options, like Ziva VFX.
Fable's previous methods included a common combination of pose shot deformations, shot sculpting, and other standard muscle solutions.
"We've tried other muscle simulation solutions in the past, but they were never satisfactory. They required a lot of manual labour and it often felt like a trade-off between benefits – you could achieve good results or fast timelines, but not both. We were so happy when we finally discovered Ziva."
– Janak Thakker, FABLEfx
Co-Founder & Sr. Animation Supervisor