2025.03.04 - Pharao

Customer Success Story

Notes from Visual Effects studio Goodbye Kansas, based in Stockholm, Sweden and their use of Ragdoll in the production of the cinematic for Total War: Pharao.

Luke Smith - Animation Supervisor at Goodbye Kansas

For Pharaoh, I decided to work backwards, so I animated the dung ball first, then the scarab beetle.

In a rigging meeting, Ragdoll was suggested after describing what I wanted to do, and I loved the sound of it, so I tested basic and difficult motions of a simple ball, overcoming obstacle tests.

I was so impressed that I immediately committed to using Ragdoll. The hardest part was having foresight of what the beetle would be doing in the shot, especially when, for example, it stood on top of the ball.

However, Ragdoll enabled me to get every animation of the ball approved, and from there, it was super easy to add the beetle reacting. Because of Ragdoll, I had more time to focus on performances, other animation stages and the team.

It was a huge success for us.

Watch the full clip here.