FIFA commissioned Diwa™ as the mascot for the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup™ (Philippines, November 2025). Unlock Brands designed the initial 2D concept, drawing from the Philippine Eagle, the mythical Diwatas, and the Carabao.

Working alongside the team at Nebula Studios, I co-directed the project and executed the 3D pipeline to transition the mascot into a fully realized 3D animation.

I started the visual development using ComfyUI to test 3D translations of the 2D design. I also evaluated AI for upscaling low-resolution 3D assets and establishing lighting concepts.

While the AI-generated visuals provided baseline reference points, they lacked the controllability and temporal consistency required for final production. Consequently, I shifted the project to a full 3D workflow. I built procedural systems for the jungle environment to ensure precise control over the visual development and final render.

To optimize production, I generated an initial 3D mesh of the character using ComfyUI before traditional modeling started. This provided a custom asset for the animatic and pre-visualization stages.

I rigged this preliminary mesh using Mixamo and the Cinema 4D Mixamo Rig, enabling rapid application of motion data and custom keyframing. Using an approximate character model instead of a generic proxy accelerated the animatic phase and provided accurate spatial reference for the animation team.