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Live Digital Puppetry is a form of real-time computer animation developed by Phillip Reay into a software platform called "Onamation." It is like regular practical puppetry - but uses digital graphics and real-time sensing instead of wire, felt, sticks and strings. Just as in practical marionettes and hand puppets, the art involved is two-fold: making an expressive character and getting the live performance up to the level that the character is present and in the room. Unlike machinanima, an animation method using gaming engines, these live digital puppets rely on a foundation of traditional animation methods and skills and can manifest live characters drawn using computer graphics, hand-drawn animation, stop-motion, claymation, and literally any other traditional method of producing character artwork.
Phillip Reay is a co-founder of Onadime, a company developing Onamation software products and production services. He has produced a number of polished digital puppets and finished animation products for world-class clients. He is currently working with Dale Stammen, another seattle area digital media artist and programmer, on the next generation of the Onamation platform.
Onamations purpose is to bring multiple arts together into a strong character presence and a brilliant live performance. Originally based upon Onadime Composer and its real-time sensor-to-media mixing abilities, it has grown into a dedicated production tool managing larger high resolution media assets. Onamation lip synchs immediately with the live character voice actor, and the body and mood dynamics are choreographed by the puppeteer's physical controls. The software interprets sensors tailored to the performance situation, and working together, the puppeteers and voice talent unify their performance to bring the digital puppet to life and put them on any set or stage, available to interact like any other person, or bunny.
Under the hood, the technology literally reinvents animation, creating multi-dimesional character controls of HD resolution assets. In the studio, Onamation produces multiple camera views, allowing the character to be digitally placed into live action shots, which are then edited in real-time. This produces unlimited amounts of final finished animation product as fast as they guest and character can improv.
Several of these projects were produced with the puppet masters Bruce Lanoil and Dave Barclay of PerformFX. They have brought to life and screen major characters such as Yoda, Audrey II (little shop of horrors), Daffy Duck, Roger Rabbit, and many many more.
→ Contact Us for more information about using Onamation live digital puppets.
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