3D Launch Trailer

Gunsen - The battle for Toshi Ranbo

Role: 3D Animator, 2D Compositing, Localizations

Tools Used: Cinema4D, Redshift, After Effects, Illustrator, Photoshop

One of my favorite agency partners, Epic Made, reached out to ask: “Do you know anyone with 3D skills?”

At the time, I had dabbled in 3D. I had experience and curiosity, but I was also self aware of my limitations.

Instead of overselling myself, I was honest. I was confident I could figure it out.
I was also aware enough to know this project would stretch me and make me a better artist.

And instead of trusting me with one 3D project, Epic Made handed me three as their dive into the 3D Board Game industry. That elevated the stakes because this wasn’t about making a single good looking ad. It was showing that Epic Made belongs in the 3D Board Game territory, and it was my job to help them look as good as they are.

And so we started Gunsen, The Battle for Toshi Ranbo.

At the same time, the constraints were real:

Fixed budget
Horizontal and vertical formats
Six languages
Tight timeline

Instead of chasing more scope, we built smarter inside the sandbox.

Minimal voiceover.
Minimal heavy text.
Visual storytelling that worked in any language.

Simple.
Clear.
Scalable.

The Project

The client provided a Photoshop storyboard as a starting point.

We could have executed it 1:1.

But they didn’t want “accurate.”

They wanted cinematic.

So we elevated it.

Meeples and standees overlooking the city they were about to conquer.
Smoke drifting through the valley.
Birds cutting across the sunrise.
Slow, intentional camera movement.

Not just gameplay, but showing the world our story takes place in.

Building It Right

The game wasn’t released yet.

All I had was the final print-ready PDF of the box. To overcome the lack of having the actual game in front of me, I used the print files to understand the scale of the pieces.

I brought the box print file into Illustrator, measured every panel in millimeters, and rebuilt it 1:1 digitally inside of Cinema 4D. I then UV Mapped the arworked exactly, so that the print file perfectly wrapped around the box. No stretching, no guessing. Precision even in a digital world.

This became a saving grace because halfway through production, the title changed. What could’ve been a rebuild from scratch
became a 15-minute material swap.

That same setup also made localization painless.

Spanish.
French.
German.
Italian.
Polish.
English.

Twelve total deliverables from one modular 3D pipeline.

Big Decisions

Once the 3D assets were built, I had a choice. I could stay in Cinema 4D and render with Redshift, which moves slower but is more cinematic…

Or pivot to Unreal Engine for faster render speeds, but with a more “video game” feel.

Speed vs aesthetic.

With the storyboards locked down, and the tone we were chasing, I chose cinematic, which meant longer render times.

So I solved for it. I upgraded my machine and installed a second GPU. Structured overnight renders all the keep the approvals moving.

No missed timelines.
No panicked revisions.

If we were going to do this, we were going to do it right.

Epic Made took a chance on me, and the last thing I wanted to do was to make them nervous, because my job isn’t just to animate, it’s to reduce risk.

What This Project Proves

I don’t oversell.

I don’t inflate scope.

I don’t panic when things change.

I build systems that protect timelines, budgets, and reputations.

Mid-project name change?
Handled.

Multi-language exports?
Handled.

Vertical and horizontal versions?
Handled.

Render bottleneck?
Solved.

And I do it without ego.

Because long-term partnerships aren’t built by squeezing projects.

They’re built by making the people who hired you look smart.It was building flexibility into the pipeline.

The Result

A cinematic launch trailer delivered in:

16:9
9:16
Six languages
Twelve total exports

All from one scalable 3D system.

More importantly?

Epic Made trusted me with more 3D work after this.

That’s the real metric.

Personal Growth

This was the project where I stopped saying:

“I dabble in 3D.”

And started building like someone who belongs there.

Not because I faked confidence.

Because I earned it.

By being honest.
By investing in the work.
By building it right.

Why Work With Me

If you’re exploring 3D for the first time…
If you need something cinematic but scalable…
If you want someone who elevates ideas without inflating scope…
If you care about looking good in front of your client…

I’m Drysen.

I make complicated messages simple and sexy.

And I build systems that make ambitious ideas feel easy..

Contact.