Goodbye Kansas © CD Projekt Red

The secrets under the skin of the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer

Goodbye Kansas's Cyberpunk 2077 teaser features cities, cyborgs — and Keanu Reeves. Go behind the scenes and learn how to create great skin with V-Ray for Maya.

Thanks to a spectacular E3 trailer, the hype for Cyberpunk 2077 is at fever pitch — and V-Ray for Maya played a big part in bringing the sci-fi RPG’s metropolis to life. That, and the presence of a certain actor named Keanu Reeves, whose roles in The Matrix and Johnny Mnemonic have made him synonymous with the high-tech fantasy of the cyberpunk genre.

To create this awe-inspiring teaser, Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red turned to Goodbye Kansas Studios, the versatile Swedish VFX house which has recently contributed seamless effects to Jack Ryan, The Walking Dead and Zombieland 2: Double Tap. We catch up with Director Fredrik Lofberg, VFX Supervisor Henrik Eklundh and Producer Rebeca Cervantes to go behind the scenes of the trailer that has taken hype to another level, and to find out how they make use of V-Ray for Maya.

How does Goodbye Kansas tackle such a wide array of projects with equal aplomb?

Goodbye Kansas: We make sure that we always evolve our pipeline to cater to every project that comes in, and we also have roadmaps to make sure we are where we need to be in terms of tech to pull upcoming ones. For cinematics, characters are a big focus point to make sure they perform the way both we and the clients want them to.

Goodbye Kansas © CD Projekt Red

Keanu Reeves via V-Ray for Maya

What was your brief for the trailer?

GBK: By nature, Goodbye Kansas is a studio that has a boutique feeling. We pride ourselves in being creative partners to our clients, and for CD Projekt Red, this was no exception. So began our collaboration on what became the biggest cinematic trailer to come out of E3 2019. 

When we started working on this project, CD Projekt Red sent us an early draft of the script that had the overall story they wanted to tell: a heist gone wrong. From there, we developed it together, bouncing ideas back and forth. CD Projekt Red knew the details of the game and narrative that we didn't, but we contributed to the story of the cinematic.

We began by figuring out the beats, started working on storyboards, fleshed out the camera language and storytelling we wanted in terms of direction, emotions, etc. We talked with CD Projekt Red constantly to find nuances that matched the world of Cyberpunk 2077. Throughout the process, we had great collaboration between our studios. Every single person working on the trailer wanted the same outcome: for it to become something spectacular.

Goodbye Kansas © CD Projekt Red

V displaying his mantis blades fighting Solo

Which assets did you get from CD Projekt Red to help you create the trailer?

GBK: We got the basis for most assets and then we worked in collaboration with CD Projekt Red in making sure they fit the trailer and had the necessary fidelity. Both the locations and characters are based on the game.


How much creative freedom did CD Projekt Red give you?

GBK: We are a very collaborative studio, so we always felt we could present our ideas to CD Projekt Red. They trusted us in making this cinematic and listened to our suggestions and thoughts. The game is an open-world RPG with a multitude of outcomes and story branches depending on your choices and, in this trailer, we show one possible result of that scenario. It could play out completely differently if V made other choices during the heist.


How did you find the actors for the mocap sessions?

GBK: We cast talent from the UK. Our goal was to find actors that could portray the characters, so we talked to agencies in London. Swedish specialists, with whom we have worked for many years, formed the stunt team. We also worked tightly with CD Projekt Red's stunt coordination team. 

Goodbye Kansas © CD Projekt Red

Goodbye Kansas © CD Projekt Red

Mocap sessions for the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer

Skin shading, hair shading and the speed and reliability of V-Ray are crucial for us. We made the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer in 4K, so render times needed to be as well-managed as possible.

Fredrik Lofberg, Henrik Eklundh and Rebeca Cervantes, Goodbye Kansas

Could you talk us through your pipeline and where V-Ray fits into it?

GBK: We use V-Ray to render our final imagery. For this trailer, we used V-Ray for Maya, but we have also used V-Ray for Houdini on some occasions.


Which V-Ray features are important to you?

GBK: Skin shading, hair shading and the speed and reliability of V-Ray are crucial for us. We made the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer in 4K, so render times needed to be as well-managed as possible.