The World of Opera: A Behind the Scenes Look at the Creation of Yun Jin

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「云婵娟来花婵娟，风流尽在山水间。」作为云翰社的现任当家，云堇不仅继承了祖上的衣钵，更在千百次的演绎中加入了自己对天下人心的感悟。一同跟随《原神》制作组的脚步，回顾云堇的创作历程吧！
"How gently do the clouds and flowers sway, as dancing winds meander through the vales." As the current Director of the Yun-Han Opera Troupe, Yun Jin has not only inherited the mantle from her ancestors, but also added her own insight on hopes and dreams of ordinary people through her thousands of performances. Let's take a look at how the *Genshin Impact* team brought Yun Jin to life!

## Character Conceptualization

豆 《原神》IP：云堇是我们IP方面比较早着手构思的角色之一。她的定位是璃月港内的一位艺术工作者。在这个阶段，我们选择了戏曲这个关键词，也希望这个词能够成为人物身上比较核心的一个设定基点。在我们设想中，璃月港是一个比较繁华的港口、商业都市，市民生活是非常丰富的，其中自然也会包括文娱方面。那璃月民众在一天劳作之余会去做些什么呢？当时就很自然地联想到了生活中的种种参考，也联想到了传统戏曲这个要素。所以我们想试着去还原茶馆和戏台文化。基于这个想法，这一行的代表人物——云堇，也就诞生了。
Dou, Creative Concept and Writing Team: Yun Jin is one of the characters that we (the Creative Concept and Writing Team) started to conceptualize early on. She is known as an artiste in Liyue Harbor. At this phase, we chose the keyword "Chinese opera." We also hoped that this term would be a basic foundation of this character's core. In our vision, Liyue Harbor is a relatively prosperous port and commercial city where citizens lead a diverse and fruitful life which naturally also includes entertainment and the arts. So what do the people of Liyue do after a long hard day of work? At the time, of course, we thought of various references from life and thought about the element of traditional opera. We wanted to try to restore the teahouse and opera culture. Based on this idea, the representative of this culture, Yun Jin, was created.

确定基点之后，我们的下一步是着手让她跟已经有的一些角色产生关联，通过构架人际关系，细化地区文化背景的方式，让这个角色的形象变得饱满和清晰。我们为云堇构架的社会关系中有两条，是跟两位已经成型的角色建立关联：行秋和钟离。这两位角色见多识广，云游四方，结识云堇也是非常自然的。此外还有一个角色就是辛焱，一个热爱摇滚的艺术家和一个戏曲表演艺术家。这两个角色之间如果能够产生关联的话，我们认为是一个比较有趣的碰撞。并且这种碰撞也一定不是竞争或者辩论的关系，而是互相欣赏的关系。
After determining this foundation, our next step was to let her interact with some existing characters by framing interpersonal relationships and refining the cultural background of the region. This allows her characterization to be more vivid and clear. There are two social relationships we have constructed for Yun Jin. It is to create a connection with two already established characters: Xingqiu and Zhongli. These two characters are very knowledgeable and have traveled to many places, it's only natural that they can get to know Yun Jin. Another character is Xinyan, an artiste who loves rock 'n' roll and an opera performer. If there is a connection between these two characters, we think it's quite an interesting collision. This collision is not a matter of competition or debate but a relationship of mutual appreciation.

云堇虽然是一个传统戏曲工作者，但是这并不意味着她只关注跟自己工作本身有关的内容。她的骨子里还是一个非常能够接纳，然后欣赏新鲜事物的人。在她的认知里，接触更多更新鲜的事物是一种有益的行为，能够拓展自己的眼界，吸收新鲜的知识和文化形式。通过这种碰撞和学习过程，她自己的表演和整个知识体系都会更加地完备。所以从这个角度来讲，云堇是一个既有传承精神也有创新精神的角色。她身上的这种多元性也体现在了我们角色设计的方方面面。
Although Yun Jin is a traditional opera performer, that doesn't mean she only focuses on what's relevant to her work itself. She is still very open-minded and is a person that appreciates new things. In her mind, she believes that being exposed to more and newer things is a good thing as it helps to broaden one's horizons and absorb fresh knowledge and new cultures. Through this collision and learning process, her own performance and knowledge will be more complete. So from this perspective, Yun Jin is a character with both the spirit of heritage and innovation. This dichotomy is also reflected in all aspects of her character design.

危危 《原神》角色原画：早在璃月初期构架的时候，原画就考虑过要做一个含有戏曲要素的角色。这个想法正好跟IP也不谋而合。讨论过后，我们就开始着手云堇相关的设计内容了。从《原神》的角色角度出发，他们本身都是真实生活在提瓦特大陆上的人。那云堇作为璃月港的居民，除了从事戏曲工作外，也有着自己的日常生活。那她的外形设计有几个重点就在于，既要能看出职业，含有一定的戏曲要素，又同时要有亲切感和日常感，并且符合人物性格。
Weiwei, Character Concept Artist: As early as when Liyue was being conceived, the original inspiration was to create a character with opera elements. This idea coincided with that of the Creative Concept and Writing Team. After a discussion, we started to design content related to Yun Jin. From the perspective of *Genshin Impact* characters, they are all people who live on the continent of Teyvat. Yun Jin is a resident of Liyue. Other than her occupation in opera, she also has her own personal life. With regard to her appearance design, there are a few important points: it has to reflect her occupation and contain certain key opera elements. But at the same time, there must be a sense of intimacy and everyday life to fit the character.

另外还有个非常非常重要的一点是，必须能带给玩家新鲜感。所以云堇的常服设计就比较有挑战性了。不过我们已经习惯被这种有挑战性的事情折磨啦。首先，云堇是个非常有个性的姑娘，虽然她出身在传统家庭，又从事与戏曲相关的，有着悠久历史文化的工作，但却很欣赏对璃月人来说非常新潮的摇滚。从这种性格特质入手，我们参考了历史上很多文学作品里边既有成就又有自己想法的女性，比如花木兰、穆桂英、梁红玉这类角色，参考了她们的戏曲装扮来做设计。期间出了很多方案，在配色上，尝试过用传统戏曲服饰的大红大蓝这类配色，但考虑到云堇的个性，最终我们为她设计了这套含有戏服元素，又与传统色彩印象有所区别的日常服装。
Another very, very important point is it must bring a sense of novelty to the players, which is why Yun Jin's outfit design was a bit challenging. But we are used to being tormented by such challenges. Firstly, Yun Jin is a girl with a lot of character. Although she was born in a traditional family and engaged in traditional opera, an occupation with a long history and culture, she appreciates rock 'n' roll that is deemed as trendy and new in Liyue. Starting with this trait in mind, we referred to many literary works in history — women who are both accomplished and have their own ideas such as Hua Mulan, Mu Guiying, Liang Hongyu, and others — and thought of designs with reference to their opera costumes. Many ideas came into fruition in this period. In terms of color scheme, We tried red and blue which were often seen in traditional opera costumes but with Yun Jin's personality in mind. In the end, we designed this costume for her that had elements of Chinese opera and a type of daily wear that is different from the traditional color schemes.

制式上，我们考虑到了她的年龄和性格，同时又要满足日常以及战斗的动作需要，避免模型穿插。最终选定了这套半裙的设计。设计细节方面，我们把很多传统要素融入到了日常装扮里，例如戏帽上的绒球、翎子、云肩，还有下摆飘带等等，并使用了云纹和方胜纹来做点缀。
In terms of the design process, we took into account her age and personality while simultaneously meeting the standard for daily wear as well as combat to avoid model intersections. Thus we finally selected the design of this overskirt. In terms of design details, we incorporated many traditional elements into daily wear such as the pompoms, feather plumes, and cloud collar (*Yunjian*) on her opera headwear as well as ribbons on the skirt hem and so on. We also used cloud patterns and diamond grid-like patterns for the embellishments.

我们希望通过这类把传统要素趋于日常化的设计来使角色更具亲和力，从而试着让大家从不同的渠道稍稍接触戏曲文化以及戏曲艺术。如果能借此产生兴趣，适当体会到戏曲的魅力就更好了。
We hope that through this type of design, which brings traditional elements into the everyday. This makes the characters more relatable. And by using different channels, we can expose everyone to Chinese opera culture and art. It would be great if this allows the audience to develop an interest in Chinese opera and experience its charm.

## 3D Character Design

大仙 《原神》3D角色：云堇其实在2018年左右就已经完成了3D的制作，但正式出场前，我们发现最终品质和现在的要求相比，还存在一定的差距，所以我们又对她进行了一些迭代和打磨。比如早期的原画设计，其实并没有考虑到游戏内摄像机存在的一些广角畸变。云堇本身的头饰设计极富特征性，但存在广角畸变就会使它成为一个问题，使得她跟其他角色相比起来，她头又会显得非常大。这种对于最终效果不可控、不能达到一致的情况，让原画设计和3D修改就变得非常麻烦。
TT, 3D Character Design: Yun Jin's 3D model was actually completed around 2018. But before the official release, we found that there was still a gap between the final quality and the current requirements, so we made some iterations and polished her up again. For example, in the early original design, some wide-angle distortions of the camera in the game were actually not considered. Yun Jin's headdress design is very characteristic but the presence of wide-angle distortion makes it an issue. Compared to the other characters, her head would seem very oversized. This uncontrollable and inconsistent situation for the final result made the original design and 3D modification very tedious.

阿勇 《原神》3D角色：为了提高制作的直观性和准确性，我们找工具组开发了一款能够让MAYA与引擎之间实现实时同步的工具。有了新工具，我们在模型修改的同时就能及时观察到真实游戏环境下的最终视觉效果。这样就不用盲目否掉原先的设计，能够更好地配合原画，准确快速地调整出理想效果，大大降低了沟通和修改的成本。同时，这种优化也能让我们之后的设计和制作流程更高效化、更准确。云堇整体的美术设计在3D制作方面来说相对还是比较简单的，但头发和披肩部分对于动画来说表现是非常不友好的。为了尽可能避免动画过程中出现不合理不美观的模型穿插。
Cloud, 3D Character Design: In order to improve the intuitive immediacy and accuracy of the model, we asked our tool development team to create a tool that enables real-time synchronization between MAYA and the engine. With the new tool, we are simultaneously able to modify the model and view the final visual effect in a game environment in real time. In this way, we didn't have to blindly negate the original design. We could better collaborate with the Concept Art team and speedily adjust to the desired effect accurately. We were able to greatly reduce the cost of communication and modification. This optimization also allows us to make our subsequent design and production processes more efficient and more precise.

我们进一步调整了布线的绑定和骨骼动画。此外，云堇的眼妆又是比较特别、比较浓烈的，这是之前角色没有出现过的情况。
Yun Jin's overall art design in terms of 3D production is relatively simple but animation for the hair and shawl was quite difficult to display. In order to avoid illogical and unsightly model intersection in the animation process as much as possible, we further adjusted the binding and skeletal animation of the skinning. Furthermore, Yun Jin's eye makeup is quite special and strong — this is something that has not been seen before in our characters.

由于眨眼动画的时候，拉伸会比较厉害，为了不显得违和，我们又和原画一起尝试调整了几版设计，尽力让最终的表现效果更加完美。为了配合角色设计，表现出更丰富的卡通渲染效果，我们研发了动态脸部阴影贴图，来让脸部的光影转变效果更加自然稳定。同时，角色身上也改用多层阴影色，来表现原画中手绘处理的一些美术效果。
As for the blinking animation, the stretching effect would occur more strongly in order not to look out of place. We tried to adjust a few versions of the design along with the Concept Art team to make the final effects more perfect. To match the character design and show a richer cel shading effect, we developed a dynamic face shadow mapping to make the light and shadow transition effect of the face more natural and stable. While simultaneously, the character is also rendered in multiple shadow layers to express some of the art effects in the hand-drawn processing in the Concept Art.

金属部分的质感，我们也有别于其他游戏的PBR做法，采用了更偏向手绘赛璐璐风格的金属感。但纯赛璐璐的色块表现会导致它在阴影里显得细节过少，所以贴图绘制方面我们也加入了更多明暗细节处理。
As for the texture of metallic parts, we do things differently from other games' PBR practices. We used a metallic feel that is more partial to the hand-drawn celluloid style. But the color block performance of pure celluloid will result in too little detail being displayed in the shadows, so we've added a more detailed light and shadow process to the mapping production.

要画到什么程度才算合适，这一点很难把握，我们跟原画一起尝试了很久，争取把握住最好的那个度。否则，万一太过了，画面效果会变得非常像厚涂的感觉，而这并不是我们想要的。
To find the appropriate amount of detail is a hard task to grasp. We tried for a long time with the Concept Art team to strive to grasp the best degree. Otherwise if it's too much the artwork effect will look like its applied too thickly and this is not what we wanted.

大仙 《原神》3D角色：角色渲染方面，我们也在不断地迭代，陆续给角色渲染增加了自身动态AO、场景动态投影、场景光源、雾效影响的效果，让角色更好地融入场景，使得颜色光影更加协调统一。但由于性能的限制，一些效果没有办法应用到移动端，这是比较遗憾的一点。后续，我们也会不断地在不破坏现有风格的情况下，加入更多的效果来丰富细节和质感。可能唯一比较担心的就是性能组的同学，可能下班后就要来提刀找我了.
TT, 3D Character Design: We are also constantly iterating on character rendering, continuously adding its own dynamic AO to the character rendering — dynamic projection for scenes, light sources for scenes, fog effect — to allow the characters to better integrate into the scene, to make the colors, light, and shadow more coordinated. But due to performance limitations, some effects cannot be applied to the mobile application. This is a bit regrettable. In the future, we will continue to try to add more effects to enrich the details and texture, without changing the existing style. Our only worry would be our coworkers in the performance function division. They might come after me after work.

## In-Game Animation

李小熊 《原神》游戏动画：说到云堇这个角色，刚看到她形象的时候，我们所有人都很喜欢。马上我们就开始了很多激烈的讨论。但是，大家聊太久了，不开工也不行。所以我们就给自己定了一个命题作文，就是在「璃月戏」这个核心的设定下，怎么样只用一个动作，就能把云堇的独特气质传达出来。那说到「璃月戏」，很自然就会去联想到戏曲文化的相关内容。同时问题也来了，就是我们对戏曲文化了解得还不够深。但是呢，做动画设计是一定要有敬畏之心的，所以大家还是花了不少的时间去恶补了相关的内容。在这个补习的过程中，我们发现戏曲中的「亮相」动作非常有借鉴价值。原因是因为这类动作它短促有力，然后有停顿感，不仅能够塑造角色形象，又能够形成鲜明的记忆点，非常适合去融入到我们的战斗设计里面.
Xiaoxiong, In-Game Animation: Speaking of the character Yun Jin, when we first saw her appearance, we all really liked her. We immediately started getting into some heated discussions but everyone spoke for too long and we had to get to work eventually. So we set ourselves a themed task under the core setting of "Liyue Opera": how to use only one movement to convey Yun Jin's unique temperament. Speaking of "Liyue Opera," it's natural to think of the relevant content of opera culture. At the same time, a problem also popped up: our understanding of Chinese opera culture was not deep enough. But when creating the animation design, you must have a sense of reverence, so we spent quite a bit of time to research on the relevant content. In this learning process, we found that the action of "striking a pose on the stage" in Chinese opera is very valuable for reference. The reason is that this type of movement is short and powerful. And there is a pause — not only can that shape the character image, it can also form a distinct impression. It was very suitable to be integrated into our combat design.

小游 《原神》游戏动画：在了解戏曲文化的这个过程当中，我们注意到就是演员在上场和下场的时候都会有一段亮相动作。为了展现出这一特点，我们在实际的制作当中就先确定了它的叙事流程，就是把她的整个战斗动作想象成是一段完整的表演，让整段普攻的开始和结束对应演员的上场和下场。为此加入了「单刀亮相」和「双刀亮相」的设计，并且酌情修改了她亮相动作的一些细节和节奏，让这个动作更符合她少女的气质.
Shaoyou, In-Game Animation: In the process of understanding Chinese opera culture, we noticed that when the actors are getting on and off stage, there will be an action of striking a pose. In order to show this characteristic during the actual production, we first had to determine the narrative process to make her entire combat sequence and imagine it as a complete performance, allowing the Normal Attack to begin and end as correspondence to actors getting on and off stage. To this end, the designs of "striking a pose with a blade" and "striking a pose with two blades" were added and modified some details and rhythm of her poses as appropriate to make this action more in line with her girlish temperament.

云堇元素战技的机制，按照策划的设计描述，是「通过蓄力打出全力一击」的这么一个玩法。所以我们很早就确定了「全力一击」这个特点。另一方面，云堇的动作风格融合了戏曲元素，表现又要足够地优雅。而怎么把优雅很好地融入到这个攻击方式里呢，这确实给我们的设计产生了一些阻力。当然有问题我们就尽力去给它解决。在我们看了大量的参考和素材之后，我们选择了「旋子」这样一个动作作为它的基本形式，同时加入了一些古典舞和传统武术的特点，让这个动作在保持优雅的同时，又能体现出强劲的力道。在最终呈现的效果中，我们可以看到云堇通过摆臂、带动腰身，在旋起来的同时挥出长枪，使得她整个动作看上去线条舒展，起伏轻盈。那像这样的修改和打磨，我们其实还做了很多，最后才呈现出云堇独有的一套动作风格.
For the mechanics of Yun Jin's Elemental Skill, according to the developers' design description, is one that "accumulates power to strike a heavy blow." So we decided on the feature of "heavy blow" very early on. Another aspect is that Yun Jin's action style incorporates elements of Chinese opera and it is also very elegant, but how do we integrate elegance into this attack method well? This did create some obstacles to our design. Of course, if there is a problem, we will try our best to solve it. After we looked at a lot of references and materials, we chose the movement of "butterfly kick" as its basic form, simultaneously adding some features of classical dance and traditional martial arts, allowing the movement to remain elegant while also demonstrating strength. In the final effect displayed, we are able to see Yun Jin swing her arms. To drive her waist while she spins upward, she swings out her polearm. This makes her whole series of movements look smooth and flowing with agile grace. We actually had to do a lot of such modifications and refinements to finally create Yun Jin's unique action style.

那除了战斗，我们还想通过她的待机动画来讲述云堇这个角色她本身的故事，让她看上去更有人情味。而云堇这个角色她又是一个对自身的艺术造诣很有追求的这么一个人。为了更好地体现这一点，我们很深入地再次学习了很多戏曲文化相关的知识，最终围绕一段「舞花枪」来展开设计。不过，动画设计在尊重文化作品的同时，除了自身的表达，我们也要考虑客观条件的限制。比如其中一段踢枪，灵感来源自「打出手」这么一个动作。它其实是由「上把」为中心，也就是主角，另外有几个「下把」互相配合。光靠云堇一个人她是做不出来的。所以我们很小心地保留了这个概念，让她像踢毽子一样，就是自己踢自己接，改编成了一个人也能完成的版本.
Other than fighting, we also wanted to use her idle animation to tell Yun Jin's story, to make her seem more human, and the role of Yun Jin is a person who is very much in pursuit of her own artistic attainments. To better reflect this, we learned a lot about opera culture again in depth. Finally, her design revolves around a "spear flourish." However, while animation design respects cultural works, in addition to its own expression, we must also consider the constraints of objective conditions. For example, for one of the moves of kicking a spear, inspiration came from the action of "strike." It is actually centered around the "*shangba*" (attacker) who is also the main character, along with several "*xiaba*" (support characters) who cooperate with each other to respond to the strike. Yun Jin is unable to do it alone. So we carefully retained this concept, allowing the movement to be like kicking a shuttlecock — that is kicking it up yourself and picking it up yourself — and adapted it into a version that can be completed by one person.

李小熊 《原神》游戏动画：在云堇的角色设计中，我们借鉴了一些传统的舞蹈和戏曲，但同时她作为璃月角色，我们也从璃月地区的整体动作风格中提炼了一些设计要点给她。如果要去概括璃月地区的动画设计关键词的话，我觉得「圆美」两个字是最适合的。南齐诗人谢朓有一句词，叫做「好诗圆美流转如弹丸」，它形容的是一种诗句上的行文流畅。而在云堇的设计中，这种流畅它不仅仅是指动画表现上的圆转流动，浑然天成。其实我们更希望的是云堇的招式设计能够呈现出她本人得体优美的一面。进一步地，「圆美」这两个字也代表了我们想为玩家带来优质体验的美好愿望.
Xiaoxiong, In-Game Animation: In Yun Jin's character design, we took reference to some traditional dances and Chinese operas. But since she is a Liyue character, we took the overall action style of Liyue and extracted some design points for her. If you want to summarize the keywords of the animation design for characters in Liyue, we felt that "simple perfection" would be the words to describe it. Xie Tiao, a poet from the Southern Qi Dynasty, has a line saying that "good poems have the quality of simple perfection like that of a sphere." He is describing a type of fluency in the verse. In Yun Jin's design, this smoothness does not only refer to the polished flow of animation performance that exudes naturalness. In fact, what we hope more is that Yun Jin's moves are able to show her elegant and graceful side. Furthermore, the words "simple perfection" also represents our wish to bring a high-quality experience to players.

## Audio Production

豆 《原神》IP：云堇是一位很有灵性的表演者。她登台的时候呢，不会只按照流程表演，需要她来进行临机应变的时候，她也是会有非常不错的即兴发挥的。比如说在原有的戏曲唱段基础上，加入她自己特有的解读，我们2.4版本主线剧情里的「神女劈观」这段戏就是一个非常集中的体现。
Dou, Creative Concept and Writing Team: Yun Jin is a very vivid performer. When she is on stage she doesn't just follow the process. When she needs to improvise, she will also improvise skillfully. For example, based on the original opera singing, she added her own unique interpretation. The scene for "The Divine Damsel of Devastation" in the main plot of Version 2.4 is a very concentrated expression of that.

在1.1版本中，璃月是处于一个交接的关键期，但在我们2.4版本中，经历了这么久的积淀，我们希望能够在故事面貌中适当刻画出「人治」这个时代的特点。那我们游戏里面已有的关于戏曲的内容，以及大世界所投放的文本，很多讲的都是魔神战争时期的故事。这些在游戏世界内大多也都是璃月普通人耳熟能详的故事。
In Version 1.1, Liyue was in a critical period of handover. But in Version 2.4, after a long period of efforts coming together, we hope that we could appropriately portray the characteristics of the era of "human rule" in the story. With regard to the content about Chinese opera in our game and the text shown in the open world, many of the stories told are derived from the Archon War. Most of these stories in the game world are familiar to ordinary people of Liyue.

但云堇作为璃月的新生代艺术家，她所拥有的艺术创作流向既是由外向内又是自内而外的。所以会自发地反映时代精神，也就是「人的时代」这个主题。所以她本身会更倾向于创作一些有关「人」的故事。这也是云堇对自身的艺术要求。她的作品和艺术态度都会比较符合当下的璃月港年轻人的心态.
But Yun Jin is a new generation artiste in Liyue. The flow of her artistic creation Is both from the outside in and from the inside out, hence naturally reflecting the spirit of the era which is the theme of "the age of man." So she is more inclined to create some stories about "people." This is also Yun Jin's artistic requirement for herself: her works and artistic attitude will be more in line with the current mentality of the young people in Liyue Harbor.

在我们的设定里，云堇唱的是「璃月戏」。这是一种流传很久的戏曲形式。尝试创作相关的戏曲内容对我们来说也是一个较为大胆的尝试。我个人的话，小时候跟大家一样，也都会收听戏曲频道，然后偶尔也会跟着家人一起去听戏。那长大以后呢，自己平常也会抽空买票到京剧院去听。我们整个IP组都觉得传统戏曲的艺术魅力是很强的。只有人到现场去听戏曲老师自己现场演唱的时候，你才更能体会到这种力量。所以确定要做这样一个有戏曲元素的角色的时候，我们是希望能够抓住这个机会，制造一个游戏跟传统戏曲的小小接点。如果能够借此让玩家朋友们稍微感受到戏曲的魅力，那就是一件非常荣幸的事情了.
In our setting, Yun Jin sings "Liyue Opera" which is a long-standing opera form. Trying to create relevant opera content was a bolder attempt for us. For me, personally, I was the same as everyone else as a kid. I would also watch the Chinese opera channel and occasionally go to the theater with my family. After I grew up, I usually take the time to buy tickets to the Peking Opera Theater to listen. Our entire Creative Concept and Writing Team team feels that, the artistic charm of traditional opera is very strong. Only when people are able to watch opera live can you appreciate that charm and power better. So when we decided to make a character with a Chinese opera background we hoped to seize this opportunity to create a small intersection between the game and Chinese opera. If we can use this to let players feel the charm of Chinese opera just a little, that would be a great honor.

Seeyu 《原神》音频开发：有关云堇的音频制作，当时其实最大困难是我们的开发周期真的是比较短，需要在一个月内完成分镜设计、谱词、谱曲、小样录制、试音还有正式录制。实际上时间来说是非常紧张的。
Seeyu, Audio Production: Regarding Yun Jin's audio production, the biggest difficulty at the time was that our development cycle was really short. We needed to complete the storyboard design within one month; lyrics, music composition, sample recordings, auditions, and the official recording. Actually, the timing was very tight.

云堇的配音因为涉及到戏曲唱段，为了达到一个最好的效果，我们当时是很希望能够找到合适的戏曲老师来演绎的。不过大家也知道，大部分戏曲老师都不太会涉足游戏配音这一块，所以当时要在短时间内匹配到声线、风格、档期都很合适的老师，对我们来说其实是一个非常大的挑战。
Yun Jin's dubbing involves Chinese opera singing. In order to achieve the best effect, we were hoping to find a suitable Chinese opera professional to perform it. But everyone knows most Chinese opera professionals are not really involved in game dubbing, so it was necessary to match the vocals in a short time, style someone with a suitable schedule. It was actually a very big challenge for us.

所以当时我们也是决定同时去寻找有戏曲表演能力的配音演员。当然很幸运地，我们最后经过两到三轮的试音，找到了一位各方面都非常合适的戏曲老师，也是因此确认了现在的方案，让我们的台词和唱段由配音演员、老师和戏曲老师分别来演绎。
So at that time we also decided to look for a voice actor with the ability to perform Chinese opera. Of course we got lucky. We went through two or three rounds of auditions and found an opera professional who was very suitable in all aspects, and so the current plan was confirmed. To allow our lines and opera singing be performed by the voice actor and the opera professional respectively.

当然这也是我们《原神》第一次尝试，由两位老师分别为同一个角色的不同台词来配音，自己创作的东西被专业老师演绎出来会是什么样的效果，其实在正式录制前，我们都是只有一个非常模糊的概念。
This was a first for *Genshin Impact* where two professionals dubbed different lines of the same character, to see what we created and the effect it will have when performed by a professional.

但当时在现场听到京剧老师演唱的一瞬间就觉得，哇就是这个味儿，就是想要这种非常震撼的感觉。这次在合作的各个阶段都跟戏曲老师做了大量的沟通，非常非常感谢杨老师的配合。这对我们音频组来说也是一次非常难得的学习机会.
Actually, before the official recording, we only had a very vague concept. But when we heard the Peking Opera professional sing at the scene, we felt: wow, this is it. This is the feeling of awe that we were going for. This time around, we have had a lot of communication with the opera professional at all stages of the collaboration. We are very grateful for Ms. Yang's cooperation. This was also a very rare learning opportunity for our audio team.

杨扬 上海京剧院演员：这一次合作对我来说首先是非常新颖的一个体验，把游戏和传统戏曲做结合。在这之前我感觉是一件很难想象的事情，但是在和《原神》团队接触的过程中，以及了解了云堇这个角色之后，我能够感觉到团队对这个角色倾注了非常多的心思和努力。如何把戏曲的魅力巧妙地融入到虚拟的世界中，融入到一个少女的形象里，大家确实下了很多的功夫和思考。很高兴能够参与到这个项目，用我的声音和我所学的专业来演绎这个角色，演绎幻想世界里的故事。通过这种形式向玩家传递我们的传统文化，也希望大家能够喜欢我的表演，喜欢上戏曲这门艺术。
Yang Yang, Performer, Shanghai Jingju Theatre Company: This collaboration was a very novel experience for me. To combine gaming with traditional opera — before this, I felt it was a difficult thing to imagine. But in the process of collaborating with the *Genshin Impact* Team and learning about the character Yun Jin, I could feel that the team put a lot of effort into this character how to subtly integrate the charm of Chinese opera into the virtual world into the image of a young girl. Everyone really did a lot of brainstorming and research. I am very happy to be involved in this project, using my voice and field of study to create this character, interpret the story in a fantasy world, to convey our traditional culture to players in this form. I hope everyone will like my performance and like the art of opera.

## Closing Remarks

小螺号 《原神》IP：就像云堇会对老戏进行翻新再创作一样，时代也在不断翻新。观众的年龄、群体都一直在变化，这股浪潮不断推进，而云堇是能感知到这种文化变化的人。所以她会去翻新一些可能对当代璃月年轻人来说比较有距离感的作品，让它变得更加容易接触感受。而我们身为游戏工作者，做的事情在这个方面也算是有点类似的感觉吧。
Xiao Luohao, Creative Concept and Writing Team: Like Yun Jin who innovates and remakes old operas, the times are also constantly changing. The age of the audience as a whole is always changing. This wave keeps advancing and Yun Jin is someone who can perceive this cultural change, so she will revitalize some works that may be more distant for the younger generation of Liyue, making it easier for them to relate to. As workers in the gaming industry, it's a bit similar in this respect.

戏曲本身随着时代变化不断流变，在各种领域延伸拓展。我们也会去想，当戏曲文化来到游戏这个舞台的时候，本着保留核心精神的前提，再结合我们《原神》本身的世界观、语言风格和美术风格，它会在这个世界中呈现出怎样的故事呢？云堇就是我们这样的一次尝试。
Opera itself is constantly evolving with the changes of the times; it extends and expands into various fields. We also thought when the opera culture came to gaming, based on the premise of retaining the core spirit then combined with the lore of *Genshin Impact*, language style and art style, what kind of story will it present in this world? Yun Jin is our attempt.

起先我们也犹豫过，要不要把云堇做成一个和戏曲有强关联的角色。最初想到这个点的时候，心里多少是很没底的，然后也会考虑到会有一些风险。但随着我们工作的不断推进，包括和各个部门同事一起研讨和戏曲老师的交流，我们愈发感觉到戏曲文化真的是博大精深，有着令人惊叹的深度和广度，涵盖了我们中国人所能感知到的许多事物。
At first we also hesitated if we wanted to make Yun Jin a character heavily associated with Chinese opera. When we first thought of this, we weren't too sure. We also had to consider that there would be some risks. But as our work continued to advance, including discussions with colleagues from various departments, communication with the opera professional, we realized that the opera culture is really broad and profound with amazing depth and breadth. It covers many things that we Chinese can perceive.

我们很想用自己的方式来致敬这门古老的艺术。作为一个中国游戏团队，我们怀着敬畏之心，努力把一些我们觉得比较好的东西，一些来自不同文化的元素，化用到这个包罗万象的幻想世界里，让各个地区不同文化背景的玩家都能试着去接触体验。
We really wanted to pay tribute to this ancient art in our own way. As a Chinese gaming team, we do so with reverence and awe as we try our best to include some things that we feel are interesting, elements from different cultures into this all-encompassing fantasy world and let players with different cultural backgrounds in various regions access this cultural experience.

我们游戏作为一种大众娱乐载体，受到许多条件限制，很难去承载戏曲艺术千百年来的厚重积淀。但如果有机会通过《原神》这种较为通俗、容易被人所接纳的娱乐形式，让更多人知道有中国传统戏曲这种非常好的艺术结晶存在，甚至借此产生对这门艺术本身的兴趣，进而去接触真正的戏曲文化的精髓，我们觉得如果能够起到这种浅显的引入作用，就已经是非常非常值得的了。
Our game as a mass entertainment carrier is subject to many limitations. It is difficult to carry the profound accumulation of Chinese opera art over thousands of years. But if there is a way to use *Genshin Impact*, a form of entertainment that is easily accepted by others, to expose people to the artistic crystallization of Chinese traditional opera and even generate interest in the art itself, and then to get in touch with the essence of the real opera culture — we felt that if the game can serve as a simple introduction, then our efforts would already be very worthwhile.

云堇是在海灯节上线的角色，正好赶着我们中国人的春节，过年的时候就着年夜饭的烟火气，打开电视或者电脑手机，听听戏，也算是很有中国味的事情了。在这里希望大家可以在游戏内外都感受到节日的气氛，在《原神》的陪伴下度过一段愉快的时光。
Yun Jin is a character released during the Lantern Rite, just in time for our Chinese New Year. During the New Year with the warm atmosphere during Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, turn on the television, computer or phone and listen to operas. It's also a very Chinese thing to do. We hope everyone can feel the festive atmosphere inside and outside of the game and have a wonderful time accompanied by *Genshin Impact*.