About the Project
This project was created as a 10-second cinematic TV spot featuring the Halo Scorpion, a canon armored vehicle within the Halo universe reinterpreted through Megabloks / Mattel's physical toy design language. The sequence follows the same structured approach as the Pegasus spot, beginning with official Halo branding and transitioning into a stylized block-based representation of the Scorpion in its constructed toy form.
The Scorpion is one of the most iconic vehicles in the Halo universe, and in this interpretation it is translated into its Megabloks physical toy counterpart. The goal was to preserve the scale, weight, and mechanical presence of the original design while expressing it through a modular, block-built aesthetic consistent with the product line.
The transition into the blockified sequence is structured around construction logic, where the vehicle feels assembled and physically composed rather than simply animated, reinforcing its identity as a built object rather than a continuous digital model.
My role covered the full CG production pipeline using existing industrial design assets provided by Mattel as the base for production. The animation, rigging setup, material development, lighting, texturing, and rendering were handled in Maya with Arnold, with a strong focus on maintaining mechanical realism within a stylized block-based surface language.
A key technical challenge in this piece was the Scorpion's dual track system, which is not a traditional continuous tank tread setup. Instead, it relies on segmented support points and wheel-driven contact geometry, which had to be carefully rigged to interact convincingly with uneven, block-based terrain. This introduced additional complexity in maintaining ground contact, weight distribution, and motion continuity across discontinuous contact surfaces, making the rigging and animation process significantly more intricate than a standard tank system.
The final composition was assembled in After Effects, where rendered passes were integrated, graded, and refined to match the visual transition between Halo universe presentation and the toy-based reconstruction style.
What defines this piece is the intersection between mechanical scale and modular construction logic, where the Scorpion feels both like a grounded war machine and a physically assembled object built piece by piece within the Megabloks system.
The voice-over and audio direction were provided by Megabloks / Mattel as part of the licensed campaign pipeline.
Disclaimer: This project was produced as part of a licensed commercial campaign involving Mattel (Mega Bloks) Halo products. The Scorpion is a Halo IP vehicle reinterpreted as a physical toy by Mattel designers. All original Halo IP, branding, and audio assets remain property of their respective rights holders. This breakdown reflects my personal contribution including animation, rigging, shading, lighting, rendering, and compositing executed on the final TV spot.