Underscoring its increasing market strength and proximity to innovation in motion pictures, games and television, Academy Award-winning motion capture technology developer Vicon recently launched a Los Angeles-based operation for its U.S. entertainment division.
Vicon will leverage the new L.A. home base, a number of key management appointments and its on-the-ground motion capture service facility House of Moves to provide entertainment customers with a set of dedicated local resources and services from technology development all the way through to actual motion capture production.
Gary Roberts moves to the U.S. from Vicons U.K. headquarters. He has been appointed vp, professional services, of the Vicon Feature Unit and House of Moves. Roberts has enjoyed a career at the forefront of motion capture, both in product development and production, for more than 10 years.As vp of the Vicon Feature Unit, he has consulted with the likes of Sony Pictures Imageworks and Square Enix to develop custom MoCap solutions for feature film and game projects.In his former post as development manager with Vicon in the U.K., he guided product development for Vicon iQ and flagship motion capture systems, including the world-leading Vicon MX technology. Prior to joining Vicon, Roberts worked in production for feature film, game and television as ceo of Performance Capture Studios and, prior to that, Motion Capture supervisor at Electronic Arts.
As part of this restructuring, Jon Damush, will be named vp/gm and will head up business operations for Vicons entertainment division.House of Moves founder Tom Tolles, architect of the Diva software package, has been tapped to apply his entertainment-focused solutions and software-development expertise in order to oversee Vicons worldwide entertainment product marketing.
From the products to the personnel to the production space, this represents a dedicated effort within Vicon to offer film, television and games customers the best client experience, technology and services in motion capture, Damush said. Gary has been involved with some of the most landmark productions across MoCap history, and has helped solve many project complexities by working with clients to design the best approaches during pre-production, on set and through to post-production. We are very excited to have his experience and leadership driving our services and production business.
Vicon motion-capture systems are regularly used to create animation for top film and game content, with motion capture shoots frequently taking place at House of Moves in Los Angeles. Vicon was recognized with a Scientific and Technical Academy Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in 2005.
Vicon Motion Systems (www.vicon.com) is a subsidiary of OMG plc with global headquarters in Oxford, U.K., and U.S. headquarters in Lake Forest, California. OMG subsidiary 2d3 Ltd. produces innovative visual geometry software deriving 3D data from moving images. Since 1984, Vicon has been providing professionals with the latest tools to accurately capture the subtleties of three-dimensional human motion for research, medicine, sport, engineering, game development, broadcast and film.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
