Behind the Scenes: How We Made the McDonald's Samurai Isekai Animation
Every animation project starts with a blank canvas. But what happens between that first blank frame and the final render that millions of viewers see? The animation process at Genesis Motion Design is equal parts creative exploration, technical problem-solving, and disciplined execution. In this behind-the-scenes look, we pull back the curtain on one of our most ambitious projects: the McDonald’s Samurai Isekai campaign.
If you have ever wondered how a professional motion design workflow turns a client brief into a polished, broadcast-ready animation, this post walks you through every stage — from concept to delivery.
The Brief: What McDonald’s Asked For
McDonald’s came to us with a big idea: transport viewers into a parallel universe — an “isekai” world — where samurai warriors battle for the ultimate burger. The campaign needed to fuse Japanese anime aesthetics with the energy of modern motion design. It had to feel cinematic, visceral, and unmistakably McDonald’s.
The brief was clear on the creative ambition but left room for us to define the execution. That is where the real work began.
Step 1: Concept Development and Research
Before we open a single design file, we invest time in understanding the world we are building. For Samurai Isekai, that meant deep research into anime visual language, samurai film cinematography, and Japanese woodblock print colour palettes.
Our motion design workflow at this stage involves:
- Moodboard creation: Gathering visual references for character design, environment art, lighting, and colour grading.
- Competitive audit: Studying how other anime-inspired brand campaigns handled pacing, transitions, and visual effects.
- Technical scoping: Mapping out which elements would be 2D, which would be 3D, and how they would composite together.
This phase typically takes one to two weeks. It is not billable in the traditional sense — no frames are produced — but it is the most consequential phase of any animation process. A misstep here ripples through every subsequent stage.
Step 2: Storyboarding and Animatic
With the creative direction locked, our storyboard artist translated the script into a panel-by-panel visual sequence. Each frame of the storyboard corresponds to a key moment in the animation — a character pose, a camera move, a transition beat.
Once the storyboard was approved, we created an animatic: a timed video sequence of the storyboard panels set to a scratch audio track. The animatic is the first time the project feels like a real film. It reveals pacing issues, identifies shots that are too long or too short, and lets everyone align on timing before production begins.
At Genesis, the animatic is treated as a hard gate. We do not move into production until every stakeholder has signed off on the animatic. This discipline has saved us more revision cycles than we can count.
Step 3: Asset Production — 2D and 3D Working Together
Samurai Isekai required both 2D character animation and 3D environment work. The characters were drawn frame by frame in the classic anime style, while the environments — temple interiors, battle arenas, dynamic camera fly-throughs — were built in 3D.
Our 2D animation team worked in Toon Boom Harmony and Adobe Animate, producing character rigs that could deliver expressive performances without frame-by-frame redraws for every movement. The 3D team worked in Cinema 4D and Blender, building geometry that served the camera rather than the other way around.
The bridge between 2D and 3D was critical. We used a shared colour pipeline — a LUT (lookup table) applied across both departments — so that a character rendered in 2D and a temple wall rendered in 3D would feel like they belonged in the same world. Without this, even a technically perfect composite looks disjointed.
Step 4: The Animation Process — Bringing Characters to Life
This is the most labour-intensive phase of any animation process. For Samurai Isekai, the animation team worked through three passes:
Blocking pass: Rough key poses and timing. At this stage, characters look like untextured mannequins. The goal is to lock in the emotional beats: the hero’s determined stance, the villain’s menacing advance, the crowd’s reaction. Blocking is where the story becomes physical.
Refinement pass: Secondary motion, facial expressions, cloth simulation, and hair dynamics. This is the difference between a character who moves and a character who performs.
Polish pass: The final 10%. Easing curves are adjusted. Overlapping action is tuned. Every frame is scrutinised at full resolution. A single frame that feels off can break the illusion for the entire shot.
Our team spent approximately four weeks in the animation phase for this project. The most challenging sequence — a 12-second fight scene with three characters, particle effects, and a dynamic camera — required two weeks by itself.
Step 5: Compositing and Visual Effects
Compositing is where all the layers come together. 2D characters, 3D environments, matte paintings, particle effects, lens flares, and colour grading — every element lands in After Effects or Nuke for the final assembly.
For Samurai Isekai, the compositing team focused on three things:
- Depth and atmosphere: Adding volumetric fog, dust motes, and heat distortion to sell the scale of the world.
- Light integration: Matching the lighting direction and colour temperature across 2D and 3D layers so nothing felt “pasted on.”
- Motion blur and camera shake: Subtle effects that make action sequences feel visceral without being disorienting.
The compositing phase took two weeks and involved daily review sessions where the team would screen shots at full resolution on a calibrated monitor.
Step 6: Sound Design and Final Delivery
Sound is half the experience. A great animation with weak sound feels hollow. A decent animation with great sound can feel cinematic.
Our sound design partner created a custom audio landscape for Samurai Isekai: sword clashes with metallic resonance, whoosh sounds that tracked the motion of characters, ambient temple winds, and a driving orchestral score that built tension through the fight sequence.
Sound design ran in parallel with the final animation polish. The audio mix was locked one week before delivery, giving the compositing team time to make micro-adjustments to sync action with sound.
The final deliverable package included:
- Master ProRes 4K file for broadcast
- H.264 compressed version for social media
- 9:16 vertical cut for TikTok and Instagram Reels
- 16:9 horizontal cut for YouTube and website embedding
- Loopable GIF versions for digital display ads
What We Learned: Lessons from Samurai Isekai
Every project teaches you something. Here is what Samurai Isekai reinforced for our team:
- The animatic is non-negotiable. Time spent in the animatic phase is never wasted. It prevents expensive rework later. If a shot does not work at the animatic stage, it will not work in the final render.
- 2D/3D integration needs a shared colour pipeline. Without a consistent LUT across departments, the composite will always look wrong. Invest in colour management early.
- Sound design should start early. Waiting until the animation is “done” to think about sound leads to rushed, generic audio. The best projects have sound concepts drafted alongside the storyboard.
- Client trust enables creative risk. McDonald’s gave us the creative latitude to push the anime aesthetic further than we initially pitched. That trust came from a transparent process — they saw the animatic, the blocking pass, the refinement, and knew at every stage that we were delivering what we promised.
Why the Animation Process Matters
If you are a brand considering an animation project, understanding the motion design workflow helps you set realistic expectations. A 30-second animated spot is not 30 seconds of work. It is weeks — sometimes months — of research, storyboarding, asset creation, animation, compositing, and sound design.
When you choose a studio, you are not just buying a deliverable. You are buying a process. The best studios have a process that is transparent, collaborative, and predictable. You should know what you will see at each milestone and when you will see it.
At Genesis Motion Design, every project follows a structured motion design workflow that combines creative exploration with production discipline. Our goal is to make the invisible work visible — so clients understand not just what they are getting, but how it gets made.
See the full Samurai Isekai project and explore more of our work on the portfolio page.
Frequently Asked Questions
The professional animation process typically follows six stages: concept development and research, storyboarding and animatic creation, asset production (2D and/or 3D), keyframe animation and refinement, compositing and visual effects, and sound design with final delivery. Each stage builds on the previous one, and skipping or rushing any phase usually leads to rework and increased costs.
A 30-second commercial animation typically takes 6 to 12 weeks from brief to final delivery. The timeline depends on the complexity of the animation style (2D vs 3D), the number of characters and environments, the level of visual effects, and the revision process. Simple 2D explainer animations can be completed in 3 to 4 weeks, while cinematic 3D productions with multiple characters may require 10 to 16 weeks.
Professional animation studios use a range of specialised software depending on the project requirements. For 2D animation, common tools include Toon Boom Harmony, Adobe Animate, and After Effects. For 3D animation, Cinema 4D, Blender, Maya, and Houdini are industry standards. Compositing is typically done in After Effects or Nuke. The choice of software depends on the specific demands of the project and the team’s expertise.
An animatic is a timed video sequence of storyboard panels set to a scratch audio track. It is created before full production begins and serves as a blueprint for the final animation. The animatic reveals pacing issues, identifies shots that need adjustment, and ensures all stakeholders are aligned on timing and sequence before expensive production work starts. Treating the animatic as a hard approval gate prevents costly revisions later in the animation process.
Professional animation costs vary based on style, duration, and complexity. In Singapore, a 30-second 2D explainer animation typically ranges from SGD 8,000 to SGD 20,000. A 30-second cinematic 3D animation with character work, environments, and visual effects can range from SGD 25,000 to SGD 80,000 or more. The best way to get an accurate quote is to discuss your specific brief with an animation studio.
Related reading:
What Is Motion Design? The Complete Guide for Brands | Motion Design Trends 2026: What Is Shaping the Industry | Motion Graphics vs Animation: What Is the Difference?
Related services: 2D Animation | 3D Animation | Animation Services
Author: Benjamin Ang, Creative Director & Founder, Genesis Motion Design
