Animazoo supported students at Dubai Mens College through an intense seven-day production with Gypsy motion capture systems.
Using Gypsy as their core technology, the students managed the MoCap pipeline for a popular animated mascot nicknamed Mobda conceived to improve relations between children and the Dubai police force.
Driven in realtime using a Gypsy 4 motion capture system in conjunction with Alias software, the character appeared simultaneously in kiosks across the city. The avatar welcomed visitors into Dubai International Airport, as well as appearing live in shopping malls, handing out movie tickets, refreshment tokens and rewards.
Mobda also featured daily as a realtime virtual presenter on the students TV channel, broadcast during the event to an audience of around 500,000 viewers. On the final day, he was honored with a birthday party broadcast live on air.
The avatar was conceived as part of Knowledge Surprises Week, the high point of the annual three-month childrens entertainment event, Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) 2005.
The learning experience derived from the students' hands-on application of motion capture technology to their own large scale project was beyond comparison and has left them with a solid foundation in live animation and an enthusiasm for taking the technology to the next level, said Jeff Rossiter, faculty member of Dubai Men's College.
Established in 1993, Brighton, U.K.-based Animazoo (www.animazoo.com) manufactures Gypsy motion capture systems used in computer animation, film and live performance, as well as in research and design applications. The client list includes such universities as Warwick, Glasgow Caledonian, Yale and MIT; plus Kuju Ent., the BBC, Suzuki and the Toyota Motor Corp.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
