This is “Rebirth,” a Gamecube tech demo by the digital animation studio Mix Core that was shown at the 2000 Space World trade show in Japan. It’s mostly pre-rendered video, but according to the artists, the section from 3:22 to 4:07 is rendered in real time. The whole thing would have been done in real time if they had had enough time to do so.
This was only ever intended to be a tech demo, and no game ever came of it. So just take it for what it is: a beautiful piece of art.
Brian Stelter of The Nintendo Project interviewed Mix Core’s Syunichi Shirai, if you’d like to read a little more about Mix Core and the demo. And here are the credits for “Rebirth,” taken from the video and Mix Core’s old website:
- Syunichi Shirai: Edit&Composite / Lighting / Modeling / Animation / Effects
- Yutaka Nishikawa: Conte / Character Design / Modeling / Texture / Animation
- Makoto Nishibori: Modeling / Animation / Effects / SE
- Takahiro Onishi: Animation
- Hiroyuki Kusukawa: Texture
- Masaya Tsunemoto: Composer
- Yoko Yoshida: Violinist
- Special Thanks: Studio S.D
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)