Outsourcing Animation Services for Games

Game outsourcing is the new norm in the game development industry. Even huge studios like EA, Epic Games, FoxNext, Ubisoft, and many others outsource 3D animation. It helps to boost the company’s capacities and reduce development costs while creating quality products. A company may hire a team to do any amount of work for a project: from individual tasks like character illustrations, 3D art and animation, UX/UI, etc. to full-cycle game development.

When it comes to cooperation between two and more companies in the highly-competitive industry, professionalism in game art is but a baseline. Skillful communication and top-notch project management become paramount. RetroStyle Games is an animation outsourcing company where we make it our priority that the outsourcing process is convenient and reliable for our clients. By having a well-organized workflow in place, we ensure that we deliver the best game animation services that meet the clients’ requirements within the agreed time frame and budget.

3D animation is arguably the most time-consuming part of game development. To outsource game animation is to save time and financial resources while increasing the studio’s production rate: the number of products produced in a unit of time.

RetroStyle Games specializes in 3D animation for games of any genre. A team of expert animation artists develops characters, environments, and prompts of any style and complexity. We create game assets that fit seamlessly into the existing game world or develop an entire look of the game from scratch. Outsourcing animation helps to save vital resources for your company all while getting top-quality products.

The game environment is a computer-controlled digital setting that serves as a backdrop against which the plot and all the action in the game unfold. It plays a major role in creating the atmosphere of the game and determines how immersive it is for the player. We model realistic and dynamic backgrounds for both outdoor and indoor locations that tell a story just as much as other game elements do.

Props are what make a 3D world detailed and realistic. They are something a character may or may not interact with but they always add life and a sense of completeness to the setting. We design 3D objects that fit the style of the given environment and animate them in case the character has some business with them.

Characters are one of the main points of attraction for players. Our game animation studio develops 3D characters in various styles: from photo-realistic video game heroes to cartoonish-style creatures. We provide a range of animation studio services, sometimes animating the assets that our client already has and sometimes developing a character from scratch. Creating a 3D character is quite complex and involves building virtual bones, skins, and textures, but it enables a smooth animation after. Regardless of whether it is full-cycle character development or just the animation part, we present our clients who wish to outsource animation services with fully rigged, skinned, and animated characters ready to be utilized in the game.

Computer-generated graphics allow us to compile a series of images into a seamless animated movement by interpolating keyframes to an arbitrary framerate using specialized software. Our CG experts employ their artistic and technical skills to enliven characters in 3D spaces and create excellent advertising materials, such as game trailers. Promo videos and reels help the potential users get the feel of the game and make a decision on whether to play it. High-level modeling and animation are what distinguish good game products and are something our CG specialists can help you with if you wish to outsource animation services.

Despite the drop in popularity since the 1990s, 2D animation is actually very much up and coming in the mobile game industry. The 2D game industry has a huge audience and consistently generates beloved and acknowledged hits. Therefore, 2d animation outsourcing is very commonplace. In RetroStyle Games, we are fully immersed in the 2D game dev scene and invite our clients to outsource game animation services from professionals.

The 2D environment is flat, made of sprites, and the character movement in this two-dimensional space is linear. Although 2D artists often create a false depth and make the image seem similar to 3D, the look is still simpler—although not necessarily less stylish—than in 3D games. In such a scenario, the quality and originality of the game art come to the forefront. Our 2D animation specialists are passionate artists who animate characters, environments, and props, making sure the game feels unique and entertaining for the player. The clients who outsource 2D animation from our studio can be confident that they will get animation solutions of the highest level within agreed time frames.

2D Characters can be just as evocative and fun as their three-dimensional siblings. Great knowledge of the dynamic of movement, usage of bold face expressions, and the focus on the bigger picture, allows our 2D animation artists to create visually-appealing animated characters that move precisely and realistically..

Spine is a 2D skeletal animation software for games favored by our 2D animation artists. Instead of animating frame-by-frame, it allows you to attach images to bones and then animate the bones. Like in 3D animation, Spine uses interpolation which leads to great smoothness and allows to create more complex 2D animations. It allows us to get from raw source material to a fully walking and acting character with vivid secondary motion effects.

Spine is a 2D skeletal animation software for games favored by our 2D animation artists. Instead of animating frame-by-frame, it allows you to attach images to bones and then animate the bones. Like in 3D animation, Spine uses interpolation which leads to great smoothness and allows to create of more complex 2D animations. It allows us to get from raw source material to a fully walking and acting character with vivid secondary motion effects.

The choice between 2D and 3D animation should be informed by personal preferences, the specifics of the game, and the audience the company wants to focus on. Generally speaking, 3D animation has the potential to be more complex and outstanding, while the edge of 2D animation is artistry and a unique concept. 2D animation is also generally considered to be more affordable than 3D since it is less time-consuming and does not require resource-heavy software and hardware which is preferable for some companies interested in animation projects outsourcing. We have a large team that consists of both 2D and 3D animation professionals and a large portfolio of work in both techniques. Our extensive background in providing game animation services allows us to offer the 2D and 3D animation services the quality of which we are confident.

We use three 3ds Max, Maya, Blender for 3D modeling, animation, visual effects, and rendering. All of this animation software has all the tools for our artists to create and render 3D animations from start to finish.

The cost varies greatly depending on whether it is 2D or 3D animation,—the former is generally cheaper— the complexity,—the more detailed a character or an environment is, the more resources it takes to animate them—the style and duration of the animation. The number of specialists involved in the project, their skills and experience, as well as the name of the studio influence the price (and quality) too. Please contact us and we will gladly advise you on the cost of the game animation service you need.

The three biggest categories in 2D animation are traditional hand-drawn animation, digital, and stop-motion. Needless to say, digital or computer animation is the type of 2D animation used in games.
In computer animation, special software is used to draw, color, and sequence individual drawings digitally. It can be drawn on a tablet, or it can be sprite art that is in turn made from pixels or 3D models. 2D animation allows a mixture of techniques to be used in one project.

2D animation is widely used in modern mobile games. The development process is generally shorter and significantly less expensive than that of 3D animation. 2D animation is usually simpler and does not require resource-heavy software and hardware. It is also more easily controllable, so you get highly-predictable results fast.

Being immersed in the game world is the main sensation the players seek in gaming, and animation is one of the main aspects that determine if immersion is successful. Animation is also the most technical aspect of a game, and it is through the quality of animation the users judge the quality of the game. Unique art, exciting characters, addictive gameplay, and quality animation are what determine the game’s likability and popularity, and are all vitally important for indie game developers who cannot rely on huge marketing budgets.

RetroStyle Games is a game animation company where we provide animation outsourcing services to the global gaming industry, working on projects of any complexity and for a wide range of game genres.