2XKO - Ekko Frame Perfect
I had the pleasure of working on Ekko's Frame Perfect Skin for 2XKO as an Art Outsourcing III – 3D Character Artist.
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This was one of the first skins I had the opportunity to work on when I joined the 2XKO team, and it was a great introduction to the character skin production pipeline. Unlike my usual outsourcing responsibilities, my role on this skin was focused entirely on hands-on 3D character art and bringing the skin through its final stages of production.
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I was responsible for taking the existing 3D final model through 3D polish, creating and finalizing the chromas, and establishing the final in-game look. This included refining the character's textures, materials, and overall presentation to ensure the skin maintained the established 2XKO visual style.
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One of the unique challenges was working with the animated Frame Perfect materials, particularly fine-tuning the timing, movement, and behavior of the animated halftone effects. Getting these effects to feel right while complementing the character's design required plenty of experimentation and iteration.
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I'm especially proud of how this skin turned out. There was a lot to learn about the pipeline, and I'm incredibly grateful to the Character Team for their guidance, patience, and support throughout the process. A big thank you to Iris Yurtsev for walking me through the Frame Perfect material tunning. It was a rewarding experience to take this skin through the finishing stages and see everything come together in-game.
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My Contributions
• 3D character polish. Material, textures and final model adjustments
• 3D chroma creation and finalization
• Final texture and material tuning
• Animated Frame Perfect material adjustments
• Animated halftone effect tuning and refinement
• In-game visual checks and final look development
• Champion skin final polish
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Credits
3D Blockout Model: Jiale Li
3D Final Model: Yuyang Qin
3D Polish Model: Emmanuel Marenco
3D Chromas: Emmanuel Marenco
3D Base Champ: Zac Berry
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Creative Director: Mike Henry
Art Directors: Arron Simpson, Katon Callaway, Hai Pham
Art Outsourcing Manager: David Viola, Rafael De Leon
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Skin Concept: Qiu Fang, Annie Huang
Tech Art – Rigging & Shaders: Alyssa Diaz, Mason Smigel, Waleed Boghosian, Sarah Anderson, Jaegon Allison
VFX: Brandon Zhao, Jonny Cadman
Outsourcing Partner: Winking
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It takes an army to bring these skins to life, so if I've missed anyone in the credits, please let me know!
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A huge shoutout to the entire Character Team and everyone involved for being such an awesome group of people to work with. Working on a fighting game has been a lifelong dream of mine, and I'm incredibly grateful to have been part of 2XKO.
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There's so much love, creativity, and hard work that goes into every skin, and at the end of the day, we do it for the fans!
