Permanent Collection

Roof Studio & Pedro Allevato Stay Hands On for Clash Royale

Posted on Thursday, November 12, 2026

Working to Supercell’s brief that no AI be used in their newest Clash Royal trailer, director Pedro Allevato and the animation team at Roof Studio in New York, responded with this handcrafted, frame-by-frame watercolor treatment.

Pedro Allevato: Roof and I have been pitching projects together for a while, and this time we got the wonderful opportunity to create a cinematic 2D version of the Clash Royale game.

Roof had worked with Supercell many times, but this time we wanted to take things in a different direction. The brief was to create something highly crafted in 2D, mixing watercolor techniques with frame-by-frame animation.

“The brief was to create something highly crafted in 2D, mixing watercolor techniques with frame-by-frame animation.”

We had a lot of creative freedom and the guys at Supercell were incredibly excited about the direction we were taking. In our meetings, they were very clear about wanting something handcrafted, with no AI involved.

This project was a little outside my comfort zone, as most of my 2D animation work is vector-based, with a more graphic, comic-book aesthetic. But with this one, it became very clear we needed a stronger emotional touch and a real sense of craft, moving away from anything that felt computer-generated.

We recreated some of the backgrounds in 3D, allowing us to move the camera around and use the renders as references for painting over them frame-by-frame. The whole process was incredibly handcrafted and polished.

One thing that blew my mind was that, after Supercell posted the video online, people started tagging me in pretty aggressive comments about using AI. Nowadays, you feel the need to post a BTS breakdown after releasing a video to show how it was made. If anything, this project couldn’t have been more human-made.

Images

A Clash Royale character design reference sheet featuring a color palette, a scene of a warrior battling bats, and a color usage guide in the style of Roof Studio. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

Storyboard for a Clash Royale cinematic by Roof Studio, featuring a red-haired warrior character battling various opponents in a stylized art style. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

Abstract painting in the style of Pedro Allevato, featuring bold red, black, and white brushstrokes and splatters reminiscent of Clash Royale. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

A blue stone tower with a small crowned figure on top, beside a dark circular hole surrounded by an explosion of red and yellow paint, in the signature style of Roof Studio. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

An ink-wash style illustration in the vein of Roof Studio, depicting a red-haired Clash Royale warrior in black armor holding a bat and a yellow object, standing amidst misty grey clouds and red smoke. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

Credits

Client: Supercell

Agency: DAVID New York

Production: Roof Studio
Director: Pedro Allevato
EP: Fernanda Curi
Line Producer: Fernanda Fraiz
Storyboard/Animatic: Julien Becquer
Designer/Illustrator: Valentina Lorizzo, Pedro Allevato
Art Director: Pedro Allevato
Cell 2D Animator: Shashi Shekhar, Diego Ferrero, Sungmin Yoo
Animator/Compositor: Pedro Allevato, Eric Dias, Diego Ferrero, Claudio Berinato
3D animator: Claudio Berinato

Stephen Price

Stephen is the co-founder/CD of Stash Media Inc. and the executive editor of Stash Magazine and the Stash Permanent Collection.
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Category: Animation, Character Animation, Explainer, Featured, Games, Illustration · Tags: DAVID New York, Pedro Allevato, Roof Studio, Supercell