# Drinks with Jack - Chuck Ernst EP1

**Source:** Stern Pinball  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2022-01-28  
**Duration:** 6m 56s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WbzmBXy2vc

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## Analysis

Chuck Ernst, CGI Art Director at Stern Pinball, discusses his background transitioning from Mortal Kombat video game development to leading Stern's animation and visual effects team. He details the technical complexity behind games like Deadpool (featuring real fighting engine mechanics), Godzilla (with custom 3D modeling of monsters and physics simulations), and TMNT, emphasizing how licensing constraints drive creative innovation and how his small team constantly learns new skill sets to solve production challenges.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Deadpool's fighting sequences use a real fighting engine where shots control joystick movements—not canned animations — _Chuck Ernst directly explains Deadpool's technical implementation: 'Deadpool is actually a real fighting engine, and the shots actually control the joystick movements of the game.'_
- [HIGH] Godzilla license was initially told to be impossible to acquire — _Chuck Ernst states: 'Basically, everybody told me it was an impossible license again. And Jody pulled it off.'_
- [HIGH] Stern's animation team custom-modeled all monsters for Godzilla, including buildings and bridges collapsing with physics simulations — _Chuck Ernst explains: 'We modeled all the monsters' and 'We actually animated buildings collapsing and bridges collapsing and physics simulations.'_
- [HIGH] Deadpool's pixel art style was chosen due to licensing restrictions to avoid stepping on other license categories — _Chuck Ernst: 'In the case of Deadpool, we were kind of limited by the license. We had to create something that didn't step on the license's toes in other categories.'_
- [HIGH] Stern's animation team used motion capture technology with facial tracking dots and bicycle helmets to create lip-synced character animations for Godzilla — _Interviewer describes: 'they've got a like a bicycle helmet with a camera and they have some tracking software—like tracking dots all over their faces. And then next, you know, they've got the characters all lip-syncing too.'_

### Notable Quotes

> "You get to make toys, you get to make graphics, you get to have an art piece. It's basically furniture that's interactive furniture."
> — **Chuck Ernst**, ~3:30
> _Captures Ernst's philosophy on pinball as a unique medium combining multiple artistic disciplines_

> "Deadpool is actually a real fighting engine, and the shots actually control the joystick movements of the game. So when you're watching it, that's not canned. You're actually fighting the other guy."
> — **Chuck Ernst**, ~5:50
> _Reveals hidden technical complexity in Deadpool's gameplay-animation integration that players may not consciously notice_

> "In the case of Deadpool, we were kind of limited by the license. We had to create something that didn't step on the license's toes in other categories."
> — **Chuck Ernst**, ~6:30
> _Demonstrates how licensing constraints drive creative problem-solving and artistic choices_

> "The whole team had to like learn how to do pixel art. But now they have a skill set they'll never use again."
> — **Chuck Ernst**, ~7:00
> _Illustrates the ephemeral nature of specialized skills developed for specific game projects_

> "Everybody told me it was an impossible license again. And Jody pulled it off."
> — **Chuck Ernst**, ~9:15
> _Acknowledges licensing difficulty and credits Jody with securing the Godzilla IP_

> "When Jody said we got the license, everybody lost their minds calling dibs on their favorite monster."
> — **Chuck Ernst**, ~10:00
> _Shows team enthusiasm and personal investment in IP selection_

> "The licenser was just like, 'Where did you get the footage?' You can't tell that that's not original footage."
> — **Chuck Ernst**, ~11:20
> _Validates quality of custom 3D animation work—licensing holder couldn't distinguish from original material_

> "There's nothing in my opinion, there's nothing quite like pinball."
> — **Chuck Ernst**, ~4:30
> _Personal endorsement of pinball as unique creative medium_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Chuck Ernst | person | CGI Art Director at Stern Pinball; leads animation and visual effects team; background in Mortal Kombat video game development; oversees all moving/animated content on pinball games |
| Stern Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer employing Chuck Ernst; producer of Deadpool, Godzilla, TMNT, and other games with advanced visual/animation packages |
| George Gomez | person | Stern Pinball figure who recruited Chuck Ernst to develop content for pinball screens; referenced as decision-maker at Stern |
| Deadpool | game | Stern Pinball game featuring real fighting engine mechanics integrated with shot sequences; used pixel art style due to licensing constraints |
| Godzilla | game | Stern Pinball game featuring custom 3D-modeled monsters, physics simulations (collapsing buildings/bridges), motion-captured character animations, and lip-syncing |
| Mortal Kombat | game | Video game series where Chuck Ernst worked before joining Stern; influenced his pixel art and 2D animation approach |
| TMNT | game | Stern Pinball game (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles); mentioned as project where animation team created animations |
| Keith Elwin | person | Stern Pinball designer; works with animation team on callout implementation; requested 'zillion' callouts for Godzilla |
| Jody | person | Stern team member credited with securing the Godzilla license, described as achieving an 'impossible' licensing goal |
| Denny | person | Stern animation team member; specialist in animating Mothra character for Godzilla game |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Visual effects and animation technical implementation on pinball machines, Licensing constraints driving creative design decisions, Chuck Ernst's career transition from video games to pinball, Game-specific animation innovations (Deadpool fighting engine, Godzilla monster modeling)
- **Secondary:** Team dynamics and skill-building in small creative teams, Motion capture and facial animation technology in pinball production, Importance of IP selection and licensing in pinball development

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Chuck Ernst is enthusiastic about pinball as a creative medium and genuinely passionate about the games and his team's accomplishments. Interview tone is upbeat and celebratory of technical achievements. No criticism of Stern, products, or industry dynamics.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Stern's animation team demonstrates deep personal investment in IP selection—team members call dibs on favorite monsters and express genuine enthusiasm for themed work (confidence: medium) — Ernst: 'When Jody said we got the license, everybody lost their minds calling dibs on their favorite monster. Like, I'm the one that's going to animate that.'
- **[design_philosophy]** Licensing constraints actively drive creative problem-solving and artistic direction—Deadpool's pixel art style chosen specifically because license restrictions prevented using traditional fighting game aesthetics (confidence: high) — Chuck Ernst: 'In the case of Deadpool, we were kind of limited by the license. We had to create something that didn't step on the license's toes in other categories. So driving home from work one day, I'm like, how am I gonna do this? And I thought pixels, old school, from my background in Mortal Kombat.'
- **[licensing_signal]** Godzilla licensing was initially considered impossible to secure; licensor satisfaction with custom animation quality was high enough that licensor couldn't distinguish 3D models from original footage (confidence: high) — Ernst: 'Basically, everybody told me it was an impossible license again. And Jody pulled it off' and 'The licenser was just like, Where did you get the footage? You can't tell that that's not original footage.'
- **[personnel_signal]** Chuck Ernst recruited from Mortal Kombat video game development specifically for technical art expertise and 3D capabilities; brought game industry animation practices to pinball (confidence: high) — Ernst: 'I worked in video games for a while and ended up on the Mortal Kombat team... George called me up and he was like, We're putting this screen on the pinball machine. You know how do I make content for this?'
- **[product_concern]** Hidden complexity in game mechanics—Deadpool's fighting engine controls are integrated with shot sequences in ways players may not consciously notice; design includes non-obvious technical sophistication (confidence: high) — Ernst: 'What people don't know is Deadpool is actually a real fighting engine, and the shots actually control the joystick movements of the game. So when you're watching it, that's not canned. You're actually fighting the other guy... people don't quite notice.'
- **[technology_signal]** Stern is implementing advanced animation techniques including real-time motion capture with facial tracking, 3D physics simulations, and procedural animation tools—team constantly innovates to solve production challenges (confidence: high) — Bicycle helmet motion capture rigs, tracking software with facial dots, lip-sync animation, 3D modeling of creatures and environments, physics simulations for collapsing structures

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## Transcript

how's your drink good what are you spilling oh my god i hope this was an expensive equipment sitting with me to my right we have chuck ernst CGI art director uh the gentleman who oversees all the stuff that's moving on the games and then to my left is Godzilla Godzilla how you feeling good good um so chuck the amount of stuff that goes into generating a visual package for a game you've got the user interface for just the main gameplay then you've got maybe there's some animations there's like text that comes on that's got to be structured just right where are you coming from that you had this skill set already that now you're like leading a team to create this awesome uh visual package i was i was going to art school and programming video games to put myself through art school and at some point our art changed and got really technical so they needed a technical artist that knew 3d and then i just was already tinkering in that world so i worked in video games for a while and ended up on the Mortal Kombat team you know the company making Mortal Kombat i did a bunch of Mortal Kombats and uh and at some point george called me up and he was like we're putting this this screen on the pinball machine you know how do i make content for this and i'm like i know how to make content for this you know i've got a mad you know lab you know mechanical lab in the basement 3d printers and i'm like i'm a tinkerer so i'm like this is great you get to make toys you get to make graphics you get to have an art piece it's basically furniture that's interactive furniture yeah you know it's it's i don't know there's nothing in my opinion there's nothing quite like pinball i've got a team that generate all the content they really do like challenges and animating and creating they had a lot of fun with Turtles and and uh you know Deadpool and and trying to create something nobody's seen before like Deadpool being one of my favorite games um can you go into a little bit of detail on what we're looking at there because i i hear stories of what i'm seeing i see what is going on on the screen there's like some more complex stuff going on that maybe some people don't understand that's going on with that game so yeah so what people don't know is Deadpool is actually a real fighting engine and the shots actually control the joystick movements of the game so when you're watching it that's not canned you're actually fighting the other guy it's it's crazy i know it's like it's one of those things where people don't quite notice but there was like when you watch it you're like oh it is actually once you know you can see yourself controlling you're actually they're actually fighting in the case of Deadpool we we were kind of limited by the license we had to create something that didn't step on the license's toes in other categories so driving home from work one day i'm like how am i gonna do this and i thought pixels old school from my background in Mortal Kombat and 2d and pixels and Sega Genesis the whole team had to like learn how to do pixel art but now they have a skill set they'll never use again but right that's great so i've got the uh the business question i'm supposed to ask you oh good question for you is what is the importance of a license and a good licenser when it comes to pinball licenses are very important and uh and it's also more important to have people that just don't pick the license they like uh it's it's everybody at work has got their thing you know like i i really think chess would make a great pinball they would though there's castles and stuff come on you guys don't like chess but we we actually have really really good licenses and and when i first came to Stern i was just like Godzilla can we do Godzilla i have Godzilla shirts i got toys i got all this stuff basically everybody told me it was an impossible license again and and Jody pulled it off on this on this one good job great job Jody one of the cool things with Godzilla's i didn't realize that everybody had their favorite monster i just assumed everybody was like Godzilla's my favorite monster and like deny he was like oh no no Mothra Mothra is the bomb i want to model i don't want to animate Mothra you know i'm like okay when Jody said we got the license everybody lost their minds calling dibs on their favorite monster that i'm i'm the one that's going to animate that or exactly or it's like a big part of it is we actually animated buildings collapsing and bridges collapsing and and physics simulations and stuff like that and and everybody kind of learned a skill set they didn't use before we modeled all the monsters so in some of the animations you'll see um where Mechagodzilla is spinning around that's actually our model i was gonna say that is it's seamless you can't tell that that's not original footage in fact the licenser was just like where did you get the footage i've gone into the animation room at Stern where you and your team are sitting there and they'll have like helmets with like phones strapped to their faces and contraptions that are all like you're trying all sorts of weird stuff Keith will come up and go i got a thousand call outs in this game that we want the zillions for Godzilla we want the zillions to say how hard is that and i'm like that's really hard and then sure enough one of the other guys will go i saw a tool that does something for this hold on and then they'll then next thing i'm coming to work and they've got a like a bicycle helmet with a camera and and they have some tracking software like tracking dots all over their faces and then next you know they've got the characters all lip syncing too exactly so that was actually something that we used through oh yeah and i'm always like yeah that's ever gonna work and it does right it looks so cobbled together that when i saw it i'm like yeah they're trying something but that's awesome that it actually worked out to get it so with this job everybody puts on a different hat like every day yeah like i modeled a thing i exploded a building you know i motion captured a guy's face it's a it's it's and it's such a small team that everybody has to be firing on all cylinders uh Godzilla do you have anything else you'd like to add you are correct the Godzilla pinball game is way cool ladies and gentlemen chuck ernst chuck thank you for joining me uh Godzilla thank you so much for being here folks have fun tonight and i'll see you out in the field there

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: f19d8cab-fa02-40ee-81e3-0f9eb42602c7*