WIZZ, a new game show for Radio Canada public broadcasting station, is using Kaydara Inc.'s 3D production tool Online 3.5 to integrate 3D character animation and live video in real-time. Bo and Pixel, the 3D characters that are part of WIZZ's cast, interact with the host and contestants in real-time and serve as virtual game pieces -- walking, running and flying their way through WIZZville's animated game board. "Our goal was to create very human characters that could provide a connection between the real and virtual worlds for the audience and contestants," said Johanne Bouchard, producer and coordinator, Culture and Entertainment at Radio Canada. "Kaydara helped us to imagine all of the options that would allow this to happen in real-time, and then provided the tools and training to put our plans into action. In fact, Bo and Pixel are so real and engaging that WIZZ contestants often end up speaking with them like they're old friends!" Using Kaydara's Online 3.5 and a custom control panel, the game show's operator uses six individual keystrokes to trigger the combination of moves that advance Bo and Pixel through WIZZville. Puppeteers using a combination of joysticks and Kaydara Voice Reality, a real-time phoneme-extraction tool for lip-synchronization, control the characters voices, facial expressions and upper-body movements. Bo and Pixel appear on 52-inch plasma displays, rendered in real-time by Online 3.5's PC-based graphics production servers.
