I had the opportunity to work on this Valorant short during my time at Brazen Animation. The client provided the character assets along with select environment assets, and we were tasked with creating a trailer that matched the established Valorant style. Achieving the game’s stylized, 2D-inspired look through lighting was a particular challenge, and it was interesting to see how different studios approach that aesthetic across the various Valorant trailers.

To maintain the 2D feel without flattening the lighting, we made heavy use of the albedo pass for fill, then selectively pushed key and kick lights where needed. We also relied extensively on a 2D rim-lighting tool I developed in Nuke, which helped achieve clean, crisp rim lights while preserving the graphic look of the assets. Overall, I’m proud of where the project landed.