© Nickelodeon.

Is motion capture animation here to stay? And if so, will it find a place of legitimacy in the animation and entertainment community at large? These are just some of the questions Jeffrey Beers, Executive Producer of the Digital Animation Group at Nickelodeon, is trying to answer.

Since its inception, motion capture animation as an art form has been criticized by animation traditionalists, who view this `performance animation' as more part of the acting world than that of animation. Many creators of 2D animation characters find it difficult to see their two-dimensional worlds collide with the realities of a three-dimensional world, and sometimes greet the motion capture reincarnations of their characters less than enthusiastically. For others, these reincarnations are too `life-like,' something they never intended their creations to be.

The network and broadcast industries have also failed to embrace motion capture as a legitimate form of animation, most likely because of its prevalence in computer CD-ROM games. Is there a way to make this still relatively new technology work for television networks? Jeffrey Beers says, "Yes."

Nickelodeon, like its sister company MTV, has dabbled in motion capture, bringing some of their own well-known characters like Arnold (Hey Arnold ), and the Angry Beavers to life using this technique. Most recently, a 3D version of Rugrat Stu Pickles was created last fall to promote The Rugrats Movie. This three-dimensional Stu appeared on the VH-1 show Hollywood and Vinyl, where he was interviewed by pop musician Lisa Loeb.

"Motion capture animation is perfect for live or hosted events like the Kids Choice Awards when you need to do real-time animation," says Beers. In these instances, motion capture offers instantaneous animation at a level of quality that is acceptable for these types of shows. Plus, when no post-rendering is needed and the animation is truly `real-time,' the cost benefits are quite evident. The VH-1 interview with Stu Pickles lasted about seven minutes, and cost less than $60,000 to produce.