How was Tekken 3 cinematic intro created (software used, process, effect ...etc)?

Question

Apologies if this is a very specific and out of the blue type of question. Tekken 3 was one of the best games that left a lasting impression on me, growing up, especially the cinematic intro. For me it's still one of the best and coolest game cinematic intros ever, even compared to this era (giving it's been over 20 years now since the game's release). Even though I'm a software developer, I've always been intrigued by how such amazing cinematics intros are created. I've researched on Google everywhere, but unfortunately couldn't find a source that discloses such information. I know it's been over 20 years since and the game is quite old, but I still find it strange that there's no discussion anywhere online on how its amazing cinematic intro was created (what software(s) was used, how the cinematic effect was created ...etc). The best resource info I could find, simply talks about the game characters, moves ..etc. Nothing about the opening cinematic intro. Just for those who need a reference as to what I'm talking about, here's the video from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsvtUxEFQaU. I'm aware it's a very complicated process that requires a highly experienced team to work on it, but I simply want to know what software and what kind of processes/effects were used (even guesses from experienced animators/developers would suffice) and as much information about the process as possible, would be really appreciated. There are numerous tutorials online about how to make computer animations on 3D std max, Maya, Unity and Unreal, but they all look like children Disney animations or animation from the actual game graphic itself, not the cinematic effect rendering you experience from Tekken 3 intro. If you watch its intro you will know what I mean. I would really appreciate any help and would be very intrigued to learn the process if somebody could provide me with a direction and some information on the software and processes used, just from a very high level view. Thank you so much in advance for the help. You will literally be answering one of my main life's mysteries :)

Answer 1

but they all look like children Disney animations or animation from the actual game graphic itself

I'm sorry, but did we watch the same video? It's entertaining for sure but visually nothing impressive.

This doesn't look like an in-game cinematic so it's probably using a 3d animation package like 3DsMax/Maya/Softimage/etc.. These packages are also used for feature films so I'm not sure where you're getting at that it all looks like children Disney animations. They can also be used for live action for photo realistic renders. Though these days 3DsMax is mostly used for games, Maya is what's mainly being used for films as it's what the studios are using (for the most part, there's exceptions). These packages also include solutions for particle effects, and cloth simulations. Right now Houdini is king for these 2 though.

Of course what matters most is the skills from the team to make the most out of the software.

The process generally goes like this:

1. Create a script to define the story
2. Create concept art for characters and locations
3. Create assets (3d models/textures/shaders)
4. Rig the assets so they can deform
5. Animate the assets into shots (modeling/rigging/anim can work in parallel)
6. Do character effects on your finished shots (cloth, hair, rigid dynamics. This depends on your budget and is optional)
7. If you're using any other software for lighting/effects, you probably need to export your scene to cache data (alembic is a popular format)
8. Render everything out
9. Use a compositing software to add all different elements together and make final tweaks to the shot (optional)

I'm still missing a few stuff, especially for bigger productions, but that's the general idea.