Nickelodeon is set to take attendees of SIGGRAPH 2025 behind-the-scenes at the making of their hit CG-animated series Max & the Midknights during a Production Sessions presentation!
SIGGRAPH 2025, the world's premier conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques, is once again spotlighting the future of visual storytelling through two of its most anticipated programs: the Computer Animation Festival and the Production Sessions. Taking place Sunday, 10 August through Thursday, 14 August 2025 at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC, this year's conference marks a historic milestone for the animation showcase, with all top festival honors awarded to student-created films.
The SIGGRAPH 2025 Production Sessions invite attendees behind the scenes of some of the world's most ambitious entertainment projects, offering a rare look at the artistry and innovation behind today's blockbuster films, immersive rides, and cutting-edge games.
In a session entitled "Exploring the Novel Real-Time Pipeline of Nickelodeon's 'Max & the Midknights'," Nickelodeon Animation's Max & the Midknights team will reveal how a custom Unreal pipeline and real-time workflow powered a cinematic CG series with a handcrafted, stop-motion look. The session will take place on Sunday, 10 August 2025 between 4:15pm - 5:15pm PDT in the West Building, Ballroom C.
Find out more about the presentation below!
Exploring the Novel Real-Time Pipeline of Nickelodeon’s Max & the Midknights
Description
Come hear about the creation of Nickelodeon’s hit new animated action/adventure series Max & the Midknights! The show’s Supervising Producer and CG Supervisor, along with production partner Xentrix’s Head of Pipeline and Creative Director, will share a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges they faced creating this ambitious cinematic CG show with its hand-made and stop-motion look and feel.
You will learn how Max’s design-forward pipeline, built upon a custom set of tools developed in Unreal, enabled a new agile story process that blends the best qualities of live-action and animated filmmaking. Unlike the “traditional” storyboard-based TV approach, Max’s visualization artists shoot on final models in 3D then deliver dailies to editors who leverage their live-action expertise to assemble a full episode for review. Once noted and updated, the visualization pass goes to the storyboard artists, who--thanks to the true 3D nature of the visualization work--can focus exclusively on character performance with the confidence that all of their compositions will be fully-reproducible in 3D. This hybridized process obviates the need for a downstream blocking/layout pass because the cameras and animations used to make the animatic are exported from Unreal and delivered along with the next-level animatic to Max’s Bangalore-based production partner Xentrix Studios.
In addition to Max’s unique story pipeline, you will also hear about the tools and techniques developed collaboratively between Nickelodeon and Xentrix to permit character animation in Maya with final rendering/delivery in Unreal, including a seamless alembic- and FBX-based animation transfer approach and automatic shot creation in Unreal from Maya data. The team will also highlight the creative power of real-time iteration for improving cameras, shading, and lighting later in the process than permitted in the typical pipeline, and how they were able to get broadcast-ready final pixels straight out of Unreal.
Presenters
Chris Perry, Supervising Director / Producer, Nickelodeon Animation
Sica Von Medicus, CG Supervisor, Nickelodeon Animation
Abhishek Kumar, Head of Pipeline, Xentrix Studios
Ushma Pandya, Creative Director, Xentrix Studios
Additionally, in a landmark joint session, DNEG and Wētā FX present "A Journey Through Dystopia: The Last of Us", a two-part breakdown of the visual effects that brought the second season of the incredible episodic series The Last of Us to life. From building a CG version of post-apocalyptic Seattle to designing a thousand-strong infected horde, the teams unveil the technical ingenuity required to elevate one of television's most visually compelling series.
Find more information about SIGGRAPH 2025, including registration options, at s2025.siggraph.org.
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field's challenges. SIGGRAPH is a special interest group within ACM that serves as an interdisciplinary community for members in research, technology, and applications in computer graphics and interactive techniques. The SIGGRAPH conference is the world's leading annual interdisciplinary educational experience showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH 2025, the 52nd annual conference hosted by ACM SIGGRAPH, will take place live 10–14 August at the Vancouver Convention Centre, along with a Virtual Access option.
About Max & the Midknights
Based on the best-selling children's books by acclaimed author and cartoonist Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate), the show follows Max, a determined 10-year-old girl with big dreams of becoming a knight, as she leads her friends on epic adventures filled with excitement, bravery, and lots of fun.
Max & the Midknights made its debut on Nickelodeon on October 10, 2024 following a sneak peek on YouTube in June, with the show's first 10-episode season airing weekly. Season one will be available to stream from Wednesday, July 16 on Paramount+.
Throughout the show's freshman series, Max leads the rest of the Midknights on challenging quests filled with all-new original songs. After King Gastley steals the throne and forces an unjust rule on the Kingdom of Byjovia, Max must come to the rescue to overthrow the power-hungry foe. With her friends and Uncle Budrick by her side, Max’s courageous spirit won’t back down no matter how difficult the quest gets.
The voice cast behind the Midknights, a group of misfits each with their own unique talent, include: Blu del Barrio (Star Trek: Discovery) as Max, a brave and determined girl ready to take on any challenge headed her way; Melissa Villaseñor (Saturday Night Live) as Millie, a wacky yet super positive girl who brings the power of magic to the Midknights; Zeno Robinson (Transformers: EarthSpark) as Simon, Millie’s street-savvy and sometimes sarcastic companion; and Caleb Yen (Beyblade X) as Kevyn, the bookish genius with a photographic memory. Together, the group accomplishes nearly everything that they set their mind to achieve.
Alongside the Midknights, Jeremy Rowley (iCarly) lends his voice as Uncle Budrick, Max’s lovably silly parental figure and professional troubadour, Gary Anthony Williams (Central Park) voices Mumblin, a famous retired magician who helps guide the Midknights on their quests, Brian Stepanek (The Loud House) voices King Gastley, the nefarious ruler of Byjovia, willing to do whatever it takes to maintain his throne, and India de Beaufort (It’s Pony) voices Fendra, a dark sorceress working for King Gastley.
Produced by Nickelodeon Animation in Burbank, Max & the Midknights is executive produced by Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate) and Jane Startz (Ella Enchanted). Sharon Flynn (All Hail King Julien) and David Skelly (Toy Story 2) serve as co-executive producers and showrunners. Development and production is overseen by Claudia Spinelli, Senior Vice President, TV Series Animation, Nickelodeon, Nathan Schram, Vice President, Development, Nickelodeon Animation, and Stephanie Alpert, Vice President, Production, Nickelodeon Animation. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
A second, 10-episode season of Max & the Midknights is reportedly in the pipeline.
Max & the Midknights (Music from the Series), an album featuring songs from Nickelodeon's original animated series is available to listen to today through Republic Records: Kids & Family.
Shop Nickelodeon at ParamountShop.com
Stream a Mountain of Entertainment, including your Nickelodeon favorites on Paramount+! Try it FREE at ParamountPlus.com!
Original source: PR Newswire.
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