The Other Large Thing isn’t just one of the most visually ambitious episodes of Love, Death + Robots—it also features what might be the most technologically advanced Persian cat in CG history.

We caught up with the team at AGBO who animated the furry feline to talk about how they broke new ground using Unreal Engine’s Path Tracer—and why fur was the final boss.

Here’s how it all came together.

So… why this cat? What made it such a VFX breakthrough?
This was, as far as we know, the first short film to feature a fully furred character rendered with Unreal Engine’s Path Tracer. The real game changer? We had a real-time version of the groom throughout production. That meant immediate insight into how much visual space the cat would occupy in each shot. Instead of waiting for long FX sims, we could instantly test composition, framing, and performance—speeding up everything from pre-vis to polish.

Most unexpected challenge?
Easy: strand count limits. Unreal caps each hair groom at about one million strands. Sounds like a lot, but for a fluff monster like Sanchez the cat? Not even close. To maintain the soft volume we wanted, we had to get clever: splitting the groom into components and strategically layering or swapping them per shot. What started as a limitation ended up becoming the innovation.

Tools of the trade?
We used Houdini for grooming and guide simulation—total control over direction, clumping, and density. Those guides were then rendered using Unreal’s Path Tracer, letting us iterate with the fidelity of final frames while staying in a real-time workflow.

Real-world reference? Or all vibes?
Persian cats were the foundation, of course—how they move, how their fur reacts to light and physics. But our team also studied stylized animal animation from Zootopia and The Secret Life of Pets to strike the right balance between realism and charm.

Did different departments have to stay in tight sync?
Absolutely. It was full-on cross-departmental collaboration:

• Animation focused on movement and performance
  
  
• FX pushed for a groom that looked good in motion
  
  
• Lighting worked to elevate every final frame

Having a real-time groom in animation meant we weren’t waiting to see how fur behaved. We could instantly flag clipping, fix silhouette issues, or even amplify a moment if the fur was hiding emotional beats.

Be honest—any weird inside jokes on this one?
Oh, absolutely. The space between Sanchez’s brows was tricky. At certain angles, the fur clumped in a way that made him look a little... Klingon. Once someone pointed it out, we couldn’t unsee it. We called it “The Klingon Fix,” and it became a recurring note.

What do most people not know about animating fur?
Most people don’t realize animators usually work with bald characters—fur gets added much later. But on this project, we had the groom in real-time. That changed everything. We could animate knowing exactly what the final silhouette would look like. It made everything—from framing to performance—more intentional and efficient.

Did this raise the bar for how you’ll work in the future?
Completely. It’s hard to imagine going back. With the groom available from the start, everyone could make better creative choices, earlier. It saved time. It saved stress. And the end result? Better across the board.

If you had to top this—what would you animate next?
We’ve all done dragons at this point. The next frontier? A Chimera. Multiple anatomies, multiple textures, multiple behaviors. It’s the ultimate flex for a creature team. And creatively? The sky’s the limit.

Want more behind-the-scenes breakdowns like this one?
👉 Stay tuned at AGBOVERSE.com
👉 Or rewatch The Other Large Thing on Netflix and keep an eye on the fur. Literally.

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